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

We’re now deep into festival season with Sounds From The Other City and FutureEverything (look out for our Steve Reich review in the next few days) already having passed us by. But the festivities, along with the weather, are just warming up; here’s what to look out for in the closing days of May.

Tonight (Thursday 19th) at 6pm is the launch of Chorlton Arts Festival (CAF) in Chorlton precinct, as artwork created in line with the {this way: UP} theme will be unveiled by special guest, Chorlton resident and CAF Patron, Damon Gough (aka Badly Drawn Boy). BREAD Art Collective have positioned the artistic contributions in unannounced locations through the town; above eye level to provoke shoegazers into a varied view. Amongst the art portrayed will be a preview of a project co-curated by Doodlebug and Alexandra Arts, which takes a lead from JR’s Inside Out socially cohesive guerrilla art by asking local schoolchildren to take and pose for portrait photographs while considering what the area's parks mean to them.

Friday 20th is the first day of action at Friends of Mine’s three-dayer in a Cheshire field (FOM Fest 2011), which boasts Walls, From The Kites of San Quentin, The Fall, Toro Y Moi, Jim Noir, Working For A Nuclear Free City, The Longcut, plus plenty more besides.

All the while Chorlton Arts Festival will be ongoing until the end of the month; best to check their listings to pick out a selection of the live music, spoken word, literature, DJs, comedy sketches, visual arts, drama and participatory improv.

Retro soul maestro Bill Withers is the subject of a night in homage to his recording career at Soup Kitchen on Sunday 22nd, featuring recent documentary Still Bill, live performances (not by the man himself, albeit) and DJs. More music follows on Monday 23rd in the form of Three Trapped Tigers at Night’n’Day Café; the avant garde noise merchants have been booked in to top a bill ahead of Tall Ships by the ever-progressive and ambitious promoters WotGodForgot. That is unless you’d prefer the alt-folk dabbling of Hey! Manchester of a Monday evening; in which case they’re offering Juliana Barwick’s solo choir dreamscapes at Kraak Gallery, with past Now Then Manchester interviewee Najia Bagi providing support.

One for environmental activists next: Kindling Trust has organised a get-together for otherwise disparate groups all striving for similar goals. The Bull’s Head pub on Thursday 26th.

And soon enough there’s another Bank Holiday weekend. Wet Play and Hoya:Hoya are vying for attention on Saturday 28th; they have Deep Space Orchestra at Kraak and Brainfeeder’s mind-melting Lorn at Roadhouse respectively.

The standout for Sunday 29th / Monday 30th is Eurocultured, nucleated along the New Wakefield Street bars and inclusive of another veritable multinational line-up. The headline-grabbers are Scando-techno sextet Slagsmalsklubben, Israel’s Balkan Beat Box and the effervescent performer David Thomas Broughton, but fail to explore at your peril; Mind On Fire, Doodlebug and Hoya:Hoya are amongst those flexing curative muscle, with Naomi Kashiwagi, Aardvarck and Vieka all confirmed. Not to mention the must-see live street art.

Monday 30th is also the day to catch another festival: Dot to Dot.

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

Arts, Music & Events Preview, April 2011 (Part Two)

Earlier this month I wrote a few words to report on the aftermath of the Arts Council England funding allocation; specifically its effect on Manchester arts groups. A major casualty, the article stated, was greenroom, which has since announced its closure to the public from the end of May. So a fitting way to start off this second instalment of April’s should-attend events waffle is with a greenroom event. Wednesday 20th is the launch of Blank Media Collective’s final exhibition at the Whitworth Street producing house, Who’s Laughing Now?, which takes on ideas within taxidermy such as personification, lasting images, death and guilt; relevant topics given greenroom’s situation.

On a lighter note, Islington Mill hosts the debut screening of Manchester based Fritz von Runte’s project merging Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey with David Bowie’s career output as a recording artist on the same night. That one will include a discussion about the film, Bowie2001: A Space Oddity, and the finer points of intergalactic references in Bowie’s music, while Thursday 21st welcomes another screening before a fancy dress disco.

Thursday 21st also beckons through another short stint for the Warehouse Project. The opening night is the pick of them with 2manydjs and Aeroplane topping the bill. More follows nightly until Sunday 24th.

Friday 22nd is another one at Islington Mill – a line-up composed of Scotland’s finest folkies. Fence Collective bring along Lone Pigeon and The Pictish Trail, while Song, By Toad Records cohort Jonnie Common offers a tune or a few in support. Red Deer Club Recordings, who’re co-promoting it, have some other worthwhile news: another Awesome Wells record (Carry On Awesome Wells), released on Monday 25th and containing wilfully askew bandstand park-fillers, whimsically oblique in its varied instrumentation and modern Animal Collective harmonies.

Back on track, there’s more to mention for the 22nd courtesy of Naive Melody residents at Charlie’s. Here’s a taster of their cosmic grooves.

Fast forward a little to Wednesday 27th and you’re met by a Bonobo show at Band on the Wall. See this if you can. Another gig the following night, Thursday 28th, is a Little Red Rabbit promotion in the form of Nick Cave sound-alikes Last Harbour at Sacred Trinity Church.

And so to the much-discussed Bank Holiday on Friday 29th. Without going too far into the anachronistically outdated reason behind the holiday, it has served up an enticing array of artistic options. Rotters Golf Club label ringleader Andrew Weatherall will take on the role of chief tune-selecter, mixing funky tech for Content at Joshua Brooks. Or there’s Mount Kimbie, who need no introduction to anyone familiar with this blog. Now Wave have booked them the Deaf Institute stage for the night.

More conjugally conscious are Islington Mill’s Off With Their Heads assorted festivities (including a tug of war between royalists and republicans) and an early afternoon Funeral Procession, a satirical stab at mourning the public services that have passed on in favour of archaic feudalism. Vive la République.

Moving onto Saturday 30th, Denis Jones headlines a show at Fuel Café, presumably partly as a warm-up for his Sounds From The Other City appearance, where he’ll be soundtracking a film on the Bad Uncle / HearHere stage. There’s plenty more besides; the festival has grown again, flexing more musical muscle down Salford’s Chapel Street.

Words: Ian Pennington

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

This latest preview feature again hits after a small bite has already been digested. There’s plenty more to chew on, so without further ado...

Can you believe that it is four years since Prostitutes & Policemen’s first uptempo clubnights raved the Attic’s roof off? Well you can take your nostalgic disbelief with you tonight to Sankeys where they’ve listed the wacky mix-merchants Crookers atop an electro-ridden bill.

Another one for this evening – as well as tomorrow, Thursday 7th – is a film showing screened by Manchester Friends of the Earth. They’ve organised ‘The End of the Line’ in Didsbury to highlight over-fishing, followed by Pete Postlethwaite’s climate change insight ‘Age of Stupid’ on Thursday in Levenshulme. They’re asking a few quid per night.

Thursday 7th is a packed night all around. There’s the monthly An Outlet musical showcase Some Drum I Would Never Hear, which is pitched against a pair of art exhibition launch nights. New collective Underground Separation – art students at Salford Uni – promise a varied Soup Kitchen spread, curated across a broad range of disciplines within visual arts. And to evoke an audio mood Now Then Manchester favourite Paul Green has stepped in to soundtrack the space.

Across town BLANK SPACE has another outsourced exhibition adorning its insides; Perception/Deception is the title that No Such Thing Collective will be wrapping their creative arms around.

For Friday 8th Northern Groove are involved in the staging of Horace Andy, of Massive Attack fame, and his regular backing band Dub Asante at Band On The Wall. That’s not enough reggae? A second dose awaits on Saturday 9th. More for Friday, though, is offered by Micron and their booking of Kiki for funky Finnish frolics. They set up shop at Joshua Brooks, as ever.

In the DJing vibe, Piccadilly Records staff clubnight project Wet Play finds itself again in fresh surrounds, unsurprisingly given its sporadic, nomadic existence thus far. That’s Soup Kitchen on Saturday 9th, where you’ll find John Morales rubbing shoulders with the regular sound providers including Ruf Dug. Around a corner or two This City Is Ours bring the curtain down on their stay at An Outlet, whose neighbours would prefer the bustling clamour of their inner-city living space to be untouched by the relatively chilled-out beats of Blood Boy et al’s combined record collection.

Fast-forward to Monday 11th for some more visual mind food. This one’s Manchester FoE endorsed but run by Man Met Uni in the All Saints Building, who’ve picked out ‘Food Inc’ to tickle your optical taste buds. Back on the aural of the senses, 80s throwback Aussie indie ensemble Architecture In Helsinki’s tour stops off at one of the Academy venues on Wednesday 13th.

Thursday 14th is one of those inexplicably arduous nights in terms of narrowing down what to attend from a long list, as follows... Japanchester, featuring From The Kites Of San Quentin, Day For Airstrikes, Plank[!] and Trojan Horse, is an effort to raise money to help to support post-quake Japan; A Hawk And A Hacksaw at Islington Mill, supported by Dan Haywood and the New Hawks (keep an eye out for an interview to be published here very soon); Saki Bar’s Grand Reopening Weekend misjudges when the weekend is by starting up on a weekday with Reggae Thursdays; finally a factual one in Chorlton for those looking to align their house with a more environmental norm (or just save money through efficiency) – it’s a precursor to Saturday 16th’s Big Green Festival, both taking place at St Clement’s Church on Chorlton’s Edge Lane, where the theme is Bike To The Future (geddit?) and the best all female dance troupe in the UK, Spokes, will perform.

Deep breath. Friday 15th is one I’ll pinpoint a little better. Cutloose present Theo Parrish at the Roadhouse. Cosmic disco grooves aplenty. It’s Record Store Day during the following day, Saturday 16th, so if you’re keen then maybe try an all-nighter to beat the early birds into the inevitable queue outside Piccadilly Records. And ignore this fella (not that anyone’s paid much attention to the NME for a long time anyway).

More for the Saturday, you say? Here’s a couple: Carefully Planned reach ten in their All-Dayer series at Castle Hotel, while Eastern Bloc Records eclipses that milestone with a second instalment of quarter-century back-slapping at Islington Mill.

In other news, Sounds From The Other City tickets are on sale so catch them before the guaranteed sell-out (based on the evidence of all previous years), or get involved with the volunteering team to see the festival from a different angle and make a few new friends. The Imploding Inevitable Festival, a recent regular at the deed poll office, is another with a nod from Now Then Manchester; June 10th & 11th, Fell Foot Wood.

Chorlton Arts Festival has a volunteers open day on Saturday 16th – and make sure you pencil in 29th April as their deadline for The Flash Mob Writing Competition, organised by a group of Manchester bloggers - many of whom can be found on our Manchester Blogs section (left).

And in the immortal words of Columbo, just one more thing: have a little listen to Big Block 454 for some wah-wah funky tones, mellow acoustic oneirism and deadpan lyricism.

Words: Ian Pennington

Arts, Music & Events Preview, December 2010 (Part One)

Your teeth are iced together, you can see your exhalation condensing, your gas bill is going to be astronomical, but the length of this city’s independent what’s-on list is showing no signs of diminishing in the same vein as the height of mercury in your thermometer. If you’ve been taking part then a Movember ‘tache will help mask some of the cold, but otherwise I’d recommend braving the outdoors for the following.


Welcoming in the final month of 2010 will be Trof Fallowfield’s regular Cool Runnings activism and dub reggae clubnight. Arrive early on Wednesday 1st and you’ll learn about the intentions of Manchester Social Centre and autonomous social centres in general.

Still on the political activism slant, there are a couple more educational evenings soon after on Thursday 2nd. University of Manchester-based group, Open Media, are screening Crude: The Real Price of Oil in University Place Theatre A; open for students and non-students alike. On the same night Salford’s Working Class Movement Library open their Object Lessons Part Two exhibition, in collaboration with the curators at Islington Mill, which sees the results of artists digging through the WCML archives and interpreting their findings for display. There’s no rush though since it’ll adorn those walls until the end of January.

Also on Thursday 2nd, Format invites you to its dubstep infused 2nd birthday. Billed as live and in 140bpm are Pinch and Distance, while local favourite Illum Sphere is set to fill your ears in support.

Shifting tempo and pitch a little along the dance music spectrum for Saturday 4th, Wigflex host a tech-flecked discotheque at Sound Control with Shed and Al Tourettes mixing their beats and pieces. In the arts, Kraak Gallery house a weekend arranged by local artists collective Lead Pencil under the cosmically themed Pluto & Uranus Are Missing heading.


Monday 6th at Deaf Institute is safely the gig of the month as Now Wave team up with HearHere to pair a couple of electronic forerunners in the shape of melodic minimal-tech maestro Matthew Dear and Darkstar, a trio often lumped in the post-dubstep, future-beats niche alongside Mount Kimbie (but just as often recognised as inhabiters of that music journo nightmare; a current genre void). Dear is due to DJ at the Simian Mobile Disco Warehouse Project, but Monday's live show has that extra appeal on a rare tour.

Back at Kraak, a quick turnaround is scheduled to pave the way for an exhibition whose accompanying acronym is one of the more fulfilling you’ll find. Super Awesome Fun Exhibition, aka SAFE, features the idiosyncrasies of Florian Fusco, amongst others, from Wednesday 8th. The 8th is one of those busy days with plenty to choose from, so perhaps save this one for another time before it ends on Wednesday 22nd.


Elsewhere on the 8th there’s a forum going by the poser of ‘How can the third sector help shape transport in Manchester?’ If you have the answer, then bob along to The Mechanics Institute in the early afternoon. For those who like their rave tinged with funky electro-house, Prostitutes & Policeman have pencilled in Fake Blood to paint the town red (or Sankeys at least). There’s also the first instalment of Sounds From The Other City’s winter incarnation, Sounds Like Another Christmas. Aside from being a less impressive acronym than Kraak’s (see above), SLAC is a sort of watered-down, spaced out (as in time-wise, as opposed to ‘whoa man, this is some spaced out psychedelica’) version of SFTOC. The premise is one of partnership promotions with some local music selectors, with fanzine Pull Yourself Together getting the ball rolling at Salford’s Kings Arms pub by asking Liz Green and Dinosaur Planet along to perform.

Second on the SLAC front is Bad Uncle’s planned staging of epic jammers Rangda, Howlin’ Rain and Easter. Don’t miss that.


If you thought I meant ‘spaced out’ in the psychedelic sense then you won’t be disappointed by the Now Wave/SLAC collab that brings both of Ripley Johnson’s soundwalling projects, Wooden Shjips (@ St Philip’s Church) and Moon Duo (@ Islington Mill), to the Chapel Street vicinity, separated by mere minutes. That one’s on Friday 10th; another busy slot for listings.

Another option is Chorlton recycle artists Rubbish Revamped, who take over Beech Road’s new café On The Corner, 6-9pm. Or if you’re out in town, then head to the intriguing, seasonally focussed fare at Briton’s Protection. Folk Threads have set up an open mic night a cut above many others by inviting musicians and poets to try their hand at writing original material on the subject of ‘winter’. To get involved contact the linked email, or just turn up to see the results.


Finally on that Friday, crack out the baubles and tinsel for a pair of nights loosely riffing around the proximity of Western civilisation’s favourite consumer-fest. There’s a couple of stars on top of the Dry Live tree, co-headlined as it is by both The Rook and the Ravens and Ten Bears, who’re then followed up by Revolver and Good Vibrations DJs. And not forgetting the partridge in a pear tree. Over in Withington, Red Deer Club and Cloud Sounds are generating more early festive cheer. There won’t quite be twelve drummers drumming, but with Fuel’s two floors both in action between 5pm and 2am, they’re not far off that tally; Y Niwl and Jane Weaver topping the lists upstairs and downstairs, respectively.

The closing two SLAC nights feature Helmets For Men (Saturday 11th) and Comfortable On A Tightrope (Sunday 12th) showcases. Alternatively on the 11th, Warehouse Project have another mammoth array of floor-fillers, this time curated by Modeselektor and featuring Moderat, Hudson Mohawke and a bunch of others intent on soundtracking your all-nighter.

Everything Everything move swiftly on from debut album critical plaudits by drafting in an orchestra for a one-off at the RNCM on Monday 13th. That one’s on Now Wave’s clock as well.


And last but not least: two records from local musicians worth banging against your eardrums this month. Sheffield psyche label Blackest Rainbow have matched up Mancunian noiseniks Gnod and A Middle Sex for a split 7”, while My First Moth have packaged up Neko Neko’s ‘Pesticide’ on the same format.

Words: Ian Pennington