Fundraising Event for St. Mary’s Hospital @ Ruby Lounge, 31.10.13

Ghoulish figures moved deftly across the floor of the Ruby Lounge on this Halloween night. That’s nothing to do with trick or treating for the kids, this is the real thing. People who haven’t been seen for years have gathered together for the fundraising event that’s hoping to contribute towards a scanner for St Mary’s baby unit, and is linked in with the initiative set up by Clint Boon and his family.

The live sets are short and sweet, allowing the likes of Cornelius Crane to show off the contents of their goodie bag with songs from the past, present and future.

It’s not laughs that the Chevy Chase impostors deliver, but beguiling and enchanting Americana tinged melodies. Supported by the clear soundsystem they draw the ever-increasing crowd closer to themselves, the listeners eager for more.

In between sets, the vast expanse of the musical field is criss-crossed by DJs whose knowledge of the respective scenes is displayed in their record bags. Mark Burgess strides onto the stage to take his place amongst the other musicians, including Yves Altana on guitar, ready to start.

His disgust that this sort of event is required in the first place is revealed before the band starts up. Despite shouts of “In Shreds”, Mark stays away from his Chameleons back catalogue apart from one relatively obscure and seldom played number.

His voice is in fine form as he delivers lines such as, “It’s a long time since I was this fucked out of my tree / It’s a long time since I swam this river.” Difficulties are dealt with as a matter of routine, so that when a drummer can’t make it, two others swap between songs. It seems that as long as the Burgess/Altana axis is there, everything else will flow sweetly around it.

Is it really 11 years since I last saw Dub Sex play, when everyone else is quoting 24? Ah well, the advantage of taking pictures proves I’m right and I caught them at the Roadhouse in 2002 playing at Alex’s birthday bash. Despite having seldom played or released new music in over 20 years, the band can still draw upon a fervent support to witness them. After that period of time, changes to the line-up are inevitable, and for this performance Mark Hoyle, Cathy Brooks, Chris Bridget and Mark’s son Stefan are all included in the line up.

‘Instead of Flowers’ begins proceedings and it’s clear that the intensity and passion is still present within Mark Hoyle. His face contorts whilst his upper body twists with the menace that can still generate fear. Even asking “Are you having the time of your life?” seems to be a threat.

The band has been practicing for a few weeks, still respectful of putting on a decent performance for those who have paid. ‘Swerve’ is last up and is met with cheers of recognition from friends and followers who think they can do no wrong. It’s only a six-song set, and with the possibility of more gigs to tie in with a forthcoming compilation release, there may be more dubious sexual pleasures to be had in the near future.

Words & photos: Ged Camera

Tom Vek @ Ruby Lounge, Monday 13th June 2011

There is, at the same time, everything and nothing to say about Tom Vek. His rise and rise of 2005 yielded great plaudits, but that instant has long since perished. The now and the next should be anticipated very differently. More than six years separates full-lengths We Have Sound and Leisure Seizure and the sparks of the former remain in a realm of music history now wholly separate from the ever-shifting electronic progressions of today.

But such is Tom Vek’s allure that many would cite him as an influence on their music. In this context, support act Breton appear almost to be a tribute band, as if Vek’s last five years or so since touring have been spent training up another vocalist in his image. It’s that same deadpan delivery, but instead the accompanying notes are also drained of melody en route to anticipant eardrums. As a unit, Breton can be pinned to the same board as fellow synth/sampler-friendly hoodies D/R/U/G/S and Fixers.

It doesn’t take long into his Ruby Lounge set to realise that it’s the same slender art scholar with his same monotone vocal, same passion for suave bassline slides; all the same in fact, apart from somewhere along the line he’s given the feathers a trim. Potential Sterling Cooper employee or post-adolescent scruff – it matters not.

Vek fires the first cylinders with an oldie in ‘C-C (You Set The Fire In Me)’, highlighting his penchant for funky bass twangs with a dual 4-stringed attack, before newbies ‘World Of Doubt’ and ‘We Do Nothing’ sink in with contrasting staccato highs and drolly submerged glistens. Further familiar grooves ‘If You Want’, ‘Nothing But Green Lights’ and ‘I Ain’t Saying My Goodbyes’ are unsurprisingly received more favourably than any newcomers yet to make an impact, but leave it another six years and it might be a different story.

The distinction is that Vek’s lyrical lethargy hasn’t had time to settle; the depth to his rhyming satire as yet undiscovered below the po-faced wall of his David Byrne-ish narrative. Every time this outing is in danger of stagnating, bogged down by the similarity of that detached vocal ennui, it is a tune of the prolonged digestion period that reasserts a freshness of groove.

That’s not to say the newer songs wash over completely. The bouncing conga rhythms of ‘Aroused’ match the energetic beats of ‘Hold Your Hand’ and set-closer ‘A-P-O-L-O-G-Y’ is a suitably uptempo sign-off with its echoes of Digitalism. Just don’t underestimate the power of an extended hiatus to pale any slow-burning stragglers by comparison with the return of long-awaited floor-fillers.

Words: Ian Pennington
Images: Paul Green

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

Beyond another Bank Holiday, we’re now knocking on the door to summer. And in Manchester’s own meteorological way, its showers and sunshine indecisiveness is making us all well aware of this. Don your water proofs, shorts, flip-flops and/or Wellies for a stroll through the next fortnight or so of events.

First up for any calendar month is the 1st so the Chicago noiseniks Disappears’ gig on Wednesday 1st seems as good a place to start as any. The psyche-drone supergroup comprises the drumming dexterity of Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley, a tangled web of reverb and the Gulliver’s stage for the evening.

Skip a day to Friday 3rd for a selection in the suburbs. Wilmslow Roaders might favour Fuel Café’s rock oriented line-up of Day For Airstrikes, Easter and Emperor Zero, hosted by the ever inventive independent music vloggers Manchester Scenewipe. Alternatively, the Blowout promoters’ latest Chorlton’s Irish Club captures include warped 80s electro throwbacks Water Signs.

Caribou and Battles headlining the same show is quite a tussle for attention, but at least Now Wave have allowed them enough space to do so with it taking place at the Apollo on Saturday 4th. Support is too long to list, but think Hoya:Hoya vibes and you’re in the right ball park.

Put your thinking cap on for the latest First Tuesday discussion and debate courtesy of Manchester Salon; the topic to brush up on is The struggle for democracy in the Middle East and Africa. Head to the Shakespeare pub on Tuesday 7th if you think you have more of a solution than major politicians or their mouthpieces in the mainstream media.

After that mind-melter you might need something to relax the senses, so take advantage of the arts students who’re now nearing their long summer holiday and feel ready to showcase their work. The first of two in this preview is on Wednesday 8th at Kraak Gallery, where adorning the walls will be The Manchester College’s Parallax photography exhibition

If you’ve been pencilling the other events in then get the permanent marker out for this next one. Hot on the trail of our last Now Then Manchester show (...ish) is another venture into the realm of live music and spoken word, this time in collaboration with the leftfield arts taste-makers at Doodlebug. Performances for the first of a monthly Thursday slot are sitting in the TBC column, but think along the lines of esoteric music punctuated by spoken word; Dulcimer in Chorlton on Thursday 9th. [NB: We've postponed this to a later date, hopefully within the month of June, but otherwise we'll be starting the stint with a Broken Bubble label showcase on 14th July. Watch this space...]

Catch your breath and steer towards Fuel again on Friday 10th for the monthly Debt Records acoustic dabbling, before a weekend rubbing shoulders with excitable revellers amidst the tents, sideshows and empty pint pots strewn across Platt Fields for the 48 hours of Parklife Weekender. Expect Beardyman, DJ Shadow, Mount Kimbie, Kode9, James Holden and Grandmaster Flash to prove highlights of a festival that never fails to bring sunshine with it, even including the Madferret days.

One more who might’ve tipped that line-up over the edge and into a spectacular abyss is Tom Vek, who’ll make a reappearance even longer overdue than Now Then Manchester events. Instead he’ll be at the Ruby Lounge on Monday 13th, which is a date shared by Merril Garbus and her wildly capitalised alter ego tUnE-YaRdS’ trip to the Deaf Institute.

Part two of the aforementioned student arts displays is one by University of Cumbria MA scholars at CUBE on Tuesday 14th. Born from interpretations of philosophical texts, this one’s another photographic assortment under the title of Touching Space. Or, if you’re more into preserving natural environments than seeing snaps of them, there’s always CityCamp, which is launching itself to those who shares their ideals ahead of a Manchester sustainability festival in September; Northern Quarter’s Noho bar.

Closing in on the month’s halfway mark is the recently renamed ad rehoused Imploding Inevitable’s choice of live music for Dulcimer bar’s Wednesday 15th; alternatively for town dwellers, there's another helping of Soul Sessions headed up by Beggar Joe, which has also rehoused to Oxford Road's Revolution bar. Then Thursday 16th is one for Little Red Rabbit’s Fuzzy Lights who entertain at Salford’s Sacred Trinity Church, with Red Tides lending support.

Words: Ian Pennington

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

Thanks to Sounds From The Other City (review to appear very soon) and a subsequent hectic week, another preview has missed a large bite out of the month. But no longer must you wait!

This evening (Monday 9th) Post War Years stride the Deaf Institute stage with earnest indie pop, then tomorrow (Tuesday 10th) PVT make a prompt return to this city with support from From The Kites Of San Quentin and The Narrows (see penultimate and final paragraphs).

Soon after that, FutureEverything hits hard with a variety of live music (previously under the FutureSonic moniker) and plenty more besides (hence the Everything alteration). From Wednesday 11th ‘til Saturday 14th, the Now Then Manchester pop picks are Gang Gang Dance at Ruby Lounge (11th), Steve Reich at RNCM (12th), Das Racist at the Roadhouse (13th), King Kong Soundtracked by Sunday Best linchpin Rob Da Bank - and with support just announced from Veí(13th) - and Martyn / Daedelus / Kyle Hall at Jabez Clegg (14th), but you’ll seldom leave any FutureEverything show disappointed.

In the ‘plenty more besides’ column, the Handmade fair at Victoria Baths on Saturday 14th is a standout. It includes a fanzine convention organised by Shrieking Violet, Antony Hall’s physical oscillators and Fablab workshops. You’re better browsing the official website for more info on the whole four days...

Outside of the main FutureEverything programme is a one-off for Concrete Moniker’s The Electronic Exchange, who’re taking on a full band format in the Umbro Design Space HQ on the Friday. The following night at the same venue is another worthy option; Mind On Fire curating a record label showcase.

Saturday 14th holds a couple of other cards up its sleeve; spoken word specialist Kate Tempest’s funky backing band Sound of Rum have been booked in for a Deaf Institute show, while Contort Yourself return to Ruby Lounge with DJ Funk in tow. Tough choice.

The deadline for your Manchester Art Crawl submissions is Sunday 15th, so keep that one in mind. It’s a Manchester International Festival fringe event and is welcoming of “all visual, audio, digital and time based artists of all career stages. All non artists wishing to deliver ideas in a contemporary art context (information available via website),” so say the organisers, who’ll consider shows proposed to be staged from 2nd to 16th July.

If you’ve already submitted your proposal, mellow your body while sharpening your mind for a Sunday afternoon Scrabble Club showdown at Deaf Institute. Best to brush up on those match-winning two-letter obscurities before you go.

Onwards to Thursday 19th when Hit‘N’Run welcome back previously lauded Submotion Orchestra for a quick return to the Mint Lounge. Friday 20th at Islington Mill is hard to say no to; a free gig featuring Google-unfriendly Baltimore curios Thank You. Unless, that is, you’d prefer to attend a thought-provoking (and very relevant) greenroom theatrical show by Michael Pinchbeck named ‘The End’.

More events to follow later in the month, including Chorlton Arts Festival (which launches on Thursday 19th).

Bandcamp is proving more and more popular in cutting out the bloodsucking major label middle man and a couple of local tips on that bandwidth are The Narrows, whose single went live last month, the Well Weapon Records alt-indie compilation (and art fanzine) and Broken Bubble, who’ve been prolifically been distributing more than their fair share of high-quality ambient glitch-tronica; most recently with Macka’s bittersweet twinkly callousness Piano Works.
And finally, recent interviewees From The Kites Of San Quentin have challenged laptop remixers to rehash their upcoming single ‘Stoopid’.

Words: Ian Pennington
Images #1, #5 & #6: Courtesy of Well Weapon Records

Tame Impala @ Ruby Lounge, Wednesday 27th October 2010

Decent antipode rockers have been at a premium of late, which could go part way to explaining the sell-out crowd here tonight at this, Tame Impala’s second trip to Manchester.

After a quick test on the delay trigger, the Perth four piece drift in with debut album InnerSpeaker’s adagio opener, ‘It Is Not Meant to Be’. The slow, woozy intro may make little early impact, but the first single to be lifted from that album, ‘Solitude is Bliss’, soon moves through the gears; room-filling effects eagles swoop overhead, their talons turning attentions stagewards.


The bombast of another single, ‘Lucidity’, keeps up the tempo, but between songs there’s an ever-present temptation to play around with palm-muted strums that is the downfall of many an effects pedal embracer. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of musicians who, to their credit, wield artificial oscillation masterfully; Tame Impala are one such band. Indeed, since its popularisation in the late 1960s, many balance non-stop on a wah-wah pedal, but the inter-tune fidgeting can detract and grate.

Nevertheless, when used in composing melody the array of sound warpers is a definite plus point. Where ‘Expectation’ ends on a combination of fuzz and delayed chorus flange, there’s an interlude during which retro sci-fi special effects permeate recalcitrant bassline scuzzes, which relax into a soothing chillout before upping the tempo to its finale.


‘Desire Be Desire Go’ cranks into screaming guitars to signal the end to newer material with a closing medley of older tunes to look forward to. First there’s the poppier ‘Remember Me’ with its pout-worthy stomper of a riff, then ‘Skeleton Tiger’ emerges through pounding heartbeat drums, breaking down to jam mode and seamlessly reviving the original rhythm, to the crowd’s obvious appreciation. Finally, a Krautrocky steadiness akin to Neu! closes the show with ‘Half Full Glass of Wine’; not so much half-full of wine as of Cream – namely their song, ‘Sunshine of Your Love’.

True to their word, an earlier insistence that they don’t do encores is upheld and we’re left with a psyche racket simmering in our ears.

Words & Images: Ian Pennington

Arts, Music & Events Preview November 2010 (Part Two)

It doesn’t seem long since the last one, but the time is right for another of our bi-monthly preview write-ups. There’s not a lot of preamble I can think of to introduce the second half of November, so we may as well dive straight in.


Continuing that vaguely aquatic theme are Red Tides, whose folky ballads are due an appearance at the Night’N’Day Café, Tuesday 16th. On the same evening there’s a Manchester Friends of the Earth initiative hosted by Nexus Art Café under the exclamatory moniker of Swap It! Stitch It! Style It! Bring at least three items of clothing to throw into the mix and leave with something brand new and unique. What’s more, you’ll feel far cleaner than you would do if you’d spent the time rushing around Primark before filling their filthy coffers.

Wednesday 17th sees a couple of gigs worth tossing a coin between. Heads says The Phantom Band @ Deaf Institute (Now Wave); tails and you go to Holy Fuck (with Buck 65) @ Academy 3 (High Voltage). Both have released sterling sophomore LPs this year.

Keep that coin handy because you’ll need it again the following night. Different kettles of fish this time, so that might ease the Thursday 18th decision. Firstly there’s local songsmith Jim Noir at Ruby Lounge, who gained infamy a couple of years ago for a pair of TV advert spots with his debut album jangles ‘My Patch’ and ‘Eanie Meany’. If that’s not for you there’s a photographic display launch night at The Art Corner. Delphine Ettinger, aka Ashes57, is showcasing her snaps of dubstep’s rise to prominence while Jehst (DJ) and the Format residents will provide some musical accompaniment. The exhibition remains viewable until mid-December.


Hip US record label Anticon have sent their signee Baths out on tour. The Manchester leg is at Deaf Institute on Friday 19th, courtesy of High Voltage. Fans of Bibio, Animal Collective and the like should make the effort. Or you could keep it local that night by visiting Fuel in Withington for a Red Deer Club conducted event, which includes Sophie’s Pigeons, Christopher Eatough and Stone Butch And The Bear.

Forget your coin for the next decision – you’ll need something closer to dice. Unless, of course, you’re better at making decisions than I am when spoilt for choice, which is quite likely. Anyway, for those who fancy leaving it to chance, roll a one and you could try getting a ticket to my pick of the Warehouse Project this season, the Kieran Hebden-invited bunch (Four Tet, Caribou, Theo Parrish, Mount Kimbie, Actress, Nathan Fake, James Holden – what a line-up that is!) Roll a two: stay at home and watch some shite ‘reality’ telly. No? Best avoiding that outcome then. Roll a three for a Friends of the Earth fundraiser at the Ram & Shackle in Fallowfield. Mount Fabric top the list of music.

Roll a four and find yourself at the 5th Carefully Planned all-dayer. They usually know their folk music so if the Castle Hotel’s walls have ears then it’ll be quite content with the nine acts from 4pm onwards. Roll a five (this is a little too Big Break now, isn’t it?) and a trip to catch the last day of Islington Mill’s current art exhibition, The Doers, The Drifters and The Dreamers. While you’re there you can sample the Contemporary Ceramic Art due to be adorning the Mill’s fresh first floor furnishings, which will have been open from Tuesday 16th. Finally, a sixth side to the die could be Golden Lab’s offerings at Fuel, which features Vibracathedral Orchestra pair Mick Flower and Neil Campbell, who’ve worked with seemingly poly-limbed percussionist Chris Corsano and Tom Greenwood of Jackie-O Motherfucker. A freak-out is on the cards at that one. All that in one day. Phew.

That’s a tough day to follow for choice, so I’ll narrow it down for Sunday 21st: Wotgodforgot have Sun Araw, Zun Zun Egui and Gnod all doing their various warped rock things under the same roof. Islington Mill’s roof to be precise.


Experimental electronic types Hoya:Hoya have kicked off as a record label. You may have already picked up their first compilation on vinyl, but if not then Monday 22nd is the day it’ll go digital.

When passing through Stretford the other day it was hard not to spot the Christmas lights proudly illuminating the night sky and my immediate thought was that they must just be getting their money’s worth. But, to be fair, that festive consumption period is looming ever closer and the folks at Islington Mill have spotted the proximity as well. Their annual crafts fair takes place on Thursday 25th.


Also on Thursday 25th in a Christmassy arts theme, Mooch N4 launches its next Street Art exhibition, Lump of Coal and a Satsuma. Otherwise, there’s music on the same night from northern noiseniks 65daysofstatic at the Academy. Support comes in the form of From The Kites Of San Quentin.

On the final long weekend of the month and Content have a tech-funk disco in store for Friday 26th at The Attic. Recloose’s name is the one commanding the entry fee with a promised melange of chilled grooves and minimal beats. Fast forward another 24 hours and you should look to Now Wave’s double portion of Ratatat. Saturday 27th at Deaf Institute sees a live set followed by the DJ guise under the ‘exactly what it says on the tin’ heading of An Evening With Ratatat.

Still want more for your month? How about harmony addled indie poppers Best Coast at Ruby Lounge on Monday 29th? Sorted.

On a related note, if you’d like to review local events like those previewed, or even just have something to say that you feel is worth publishing on subjects from politics to the arts via local issues, initiatives and good causes, then don’t hesitate to drop an email to ian [at] nowthenmagazine [dot] com.

Words: Ian Pennington