Arts, Music & Events Preview, March 2011 (Part One)

It’s already been a busy month so far, hence the lack of preview until today. Chances are that the omission of a neat, overly wordy events navigation has spun your social compass into a magnetised frenzy. So to prevent any further blind stumbles through Manchester’s happenings, here’s a rundown of what’s to come.

Friday 11th’s evening seems as good a place to start as any, being as it is the starting point for Continue, a new post-dubstep, IDM styled affair at Sankeys. Hotflush Recordings label boss Paul Rose headlines in the split musicality of dark electronic sub-bassman Scuba and tech-fuelled alter-ego SCB, while the likes of Dark Sky and Mind On Fire compilation favourite XXXY fill other slots across the night.

Sunday 13th is one for Debt Records, who’ve lined up their entire roster plus a couple of extras for a charity-oriented Band on the Wall show. Keep the earlier-than-expected kick-off time in mind so as not to miss a stellar cast from John Fairhurst to Josephine.

Oliver Stone’s recent documentary, South of the Border, is free to waltz into on Monday 14th at the university's Open Media society. Fill your head with thoughts on the various propagandising of a North/South American divide before emptying it again amidst the mellowing tones of Submotion Orchestra, who top a Hit&Run bill at Mint Lounge. Keep an eye out for their forthcoming single ‘All Yours’; released later this month on Thursday 24th.

From the Americas to Africa in the space of a day; Ethiopian jazzman Mulatu Astatke (whose recent album was reviewed in Now Then Sheffield here) is booked in on Tuesday 15th for a Band on the Wall gig of the ilk you won’t see every day. In short: Do. Not. Miss.

Shifting marginally across the jazz plateau, highly recommended 2005 Mercury Music Prize nominees Polar Bear are Hear Here’s next offering on Wednesday 16th. They’ll be joined onstage at Sound Control by Portuguese rapper Jyager, and in support by former Now Then Manchester gig-closing soundwall merchants, King Capisce.

The sea of green fancy dress you’ll encounter on Thursday 17th is the major clue for the Ireland-related Guinness-athon that is St Patrick’s Day. Bar Centro plan an artistic angle under the eyebrow-raising moniker of The Trials and Tribulations of a Romano-Briton Snake-Hater. DJs are promised to give the visuals some audio accompaniment. Also in art that day, Blank Media is hosting an intriguing interpretation of the artworld’s similarities with religious dogma. MMU’s Ryan Higgins curates No Offence Intended at BLANKSPACE.

Finally for now, Friday 18th sees WARP’s Seefeel perform scuzzy mind-tingling shoegaze, courtesy of Now Wave and Islington Mill.

Words: Ian Pennington