Review // Eton Messy: All Night Long

Went raving in Ardwick and wrote the lead live review in Mixmag recently! You can also read the full, unedited version below!

The follow-the-trail excitement of secret locations are getting the country’s dancefloors buzzing on the regular and as Manchester plays host to a returning Eton Messy, the boxes seem to all be ticked for the herds of house devotees preparing to sweat it out.
 Trekking to an unfamiliar Ardwick, a stretch from the bustling students of Oxford Road with mouths spilling chit-chat, cider and who knows what else, it’s the youth connection across the online social world that propelled Eton Messy to touring artist status, sharing smoked-out house and future garage for this ‘deep’ cohort of new heads via YouTube. It’s this notion that makes me want to believe that Eton Messy can transport their brand into the live game, as with almost 80 million views and a plethora of original artists blossoming on their roster, the facts surely speak for themselves.
The boys are well into the mix when we take to the dancefloor, bringing the bass from label mainstay Bodhi, Ten Ven edits and Waze & Odyssey screamers in what is an undisputedly stern effort - sometimes even anthems can’t resurrect a mood.
 The swarms of ravers may well be gyrating and bouncing to no end but as we flitter through, many are visibly reeling after disappointments casting a gloomy cloud. From a birthday couple met with rude door staff who jack it all in for another club, to the exasperating inclusion of not-enough portaloos that add little to the “secret warehouse” vibe and rather just feel like an inconvenience - paying a couple of quid for a glass of rolla cola blatantly poured out of a corner shop bottle, also adds insult to injury.
 As lazers bleach out the concrete cavern in swathes of red, green and blue with the pairing’s extended live lazer show, corkers booming off the decibel scale, it finally feels akin to the fully immersive experience that clubbing can be. Yet when the chips are down, it doesn’t feel like the Saturday night, on-a-level spectacle we hoped for, thanks to a setting that seems a whole lot better in theory than in practice.

Words & Images by Yours Truly X

Listings & News // The Skinny - November

Completely forgot about blogging because it's been a crazy/ stressful/ amazing/ draining/ whirlwind year, but here are some recent listings I wrote for The Skinny telling you all where to rave and misbehave in Manny and Liverpool. Onwards and upwards with some sick projects in the pipeline for 2016...

Words & Images by Yours Truly X

Review // Theo Parrish @ The Ritz

My first post in an age, I'm sorry! In between all the madness that is currently my life, I was lucky enough to catch Theo Parrish's live show in Manchester, a fortnight ago, with my review up now on the award-winning 405's website. Isn't that nice? Click here to read, or scroll down for the unedited version... 

Review // Theo Parrish @ The Ritz

Following an exclusive album playback of his anticipated release ‘American Intelligence’, Detroit luminaire Theo Parrish, proves the only way to better a jazz-laden dish of electronic indulgence, is when a prestigious squad joins their selector. Oh and a decent back catalogue helps, of course. A favoured face on the club scene, Theo’s first first live shows in a decade led to a mass turnout at Manchester’s Ritz, a high-energy crowd readied for the transition of projects- usually sacred to the studio or club- in an immersive, hypnotic live experience. 

As dancers bound out onto the stage; brass, keys, guitars encasing them, the energy levels soar as a funk led introduction, effortlessly sets the tone. Sporting the furthest thing from uniform, including a bucket hat in one case, the performers taking centre stage dazzle with their moves and solos, ‘Walking Thru The Sky’s acid-jazz, fluently layering in. Vocalist Ideeya’s notes project far and wide, gleaming and demanding attention, before drum snaps crack in, each member of the troupe indisputably given to the beat. 

As personally a huge fan of Theo’s Sound Signature productions, when favourites like ‘Chemistry’ are performed well-seasoned, with synths full of body and sticky sweet croons, deviating away from the electronic-led original to a jazz jumped adaptation, is anything but sour and a welcome variation. Of course there are more prominent keys and a digital basis with the likes of ‘Control’, but taking a route more smooth, more brooding, makes it less explicitly sexy than the accompanying fan videos of the track found on YouTube, and allows itself air to breathe, the odd improvisational flurry maintaining a specifically rich tone, rather than something more rigid. 

With a blistering drum solo ahead of ‘Solitary Flight’ and formidable popping and locking to ‘Going Through Changes’, it’s easy to understand why London’s seated Barbican venue was chosen to house the same performance on this mini UK tour, with so much to also visually stimulate, the whole thing omitting an essence of a relaxed and comfortable- but excellent- enactment. This years Pièce de résistance ‘Footwork’, proves itself a worthy inclusion alongside his extensively impressive inventory, hi-hats shimmying in and then, that bass! Oh so unforgiving, oh so infectious. 

A superbly well executed live show doesn’t mean that Theo is hanging up his headphones any time soon, and as disciples to the House of Parrish, you’d forget it was his name atop the posters emblazoned across the building out front, each performer, musician and dancer, bold in their duties. Just don’t leave us waiting another decade, to sample the silky-soul setting of such an astonishing live show, and judging by the strong-hold applause and hollering as everyone erupted out onto the streets come 11pm, It's a unanimous contemplation that leaves me believing I'm not the only one...

Words by Yours Truly X

Feature // Skiddle April Electronic Listings

April's listings have to be some of my favourite of the year. Where Easter used to mean chocolate eggs for breakfast on a Sunday, it now means an extra excuse to dance your legs into a state of numbness all in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You can read all about my picks for Skiddle over here (Or huuugely unedited below, this month), including a run-down of Stones Throw-er Jon Wayne's hotly anticipated UK dates, as well as Andrew Weatherall playing a 'rave in a cave' for 4/20 (!!!).
Skiddle Electronic listings- April

As April and Easter rear their delectable confectionary-shaped heads around the corner, it seems that the North’s showcases this month are anything but fluffy and plucked from a pastel palette. If you planned a quiet one in pawing over your dissertations or catching up on that paperwork (I did until I composed this very piece…), then the club spaces throwing out the masculine chiefs and underground sizzlers, say otherwise. 

 With the intrusion of the significant LA hip-hop label Stones Throw Records, quite literally submerging the North this month, the opportunity to catch label boss Peanut Butter Wolf in the intimate setting of Leed’s Hi-Fi Club on April 4th, rings as a set that you’d literally kick yourself for being stupid enough to miss. Also making one of it’s UK premiers is the ‘Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton: This Is Stones Throw Records’ feature documentary, as Gorilla’s spacious club area in Manchester is converted into an independent, mini-cinema for the eve come the 3rd. Expect popcorn, hotdogs if you’re lucky, and definitely never-before-seen interviews with the likes of Snoop, Common and Tyler The Creator, talking about the surrounding birth of the influential imprint, over to the growth of hosting one of the most well-respected artist rosters and releases in hip hop. Don’t be thinking it’s all over though, as Jon Wayne plays his debut Manchunian show later on April 30th, bringing the illest beats, soulful undertones and fiercely intelligent flow to Soup Kitchen’s basement. With a little helping hand from local bad boys Metrodome and Sparkz paving the way with their take on classics the only way they know how, it’s set to be a hazed-out, impeccable month. 

 Fancy your bass a whole lot more beefy and home-grown? Then Butterz aficionado Royal-T heading up BPM at The Roadhouse should add a slick of oil to your motor, before Slew Dem veteran JT The Goon orchestrates his instrumental take on nu-grime over at Joshua Brooks. It’s not even close to over yet though, as Youngsta then takes on a rubble-shaking, 90-minute set at the under-renovation Antwerp Mansion thanks to Hit & Run. It looks like you better get your Monday morning sick voice practice in now, whilst I take a look what’s accumulating for the house heads and techno terrors. 

 Moving things along to our old favourites Chibuku and to slow things down after their insane Andy C-headed session in March, Good Friday will bring Columbia’s Shift K3y and Radio 1’s late night chameleon B Traits together, for one of the city’s top holiday bashes. Heading further afield and with Chester’s The Live Rooms turning up the dial with the mid-tempo, deep sounds of Black Butters duo Gorgon City, Ibiza-head Josh butler steps-toe-to-toe in an outer-city clash this month, flaring up behind the decks at Frodsham’s Mersey View. Feel like you need to breathe into a paper bag should you step out of anywhere remotely central, never mind a place where the Tesco Extra’s don’t even stay open till 11pm? Don’t worry, me too but luckily Leeds have our backs should we ever be so silly again. Glasgow’s Optimo nights have gained momentum for over a decade now, spinning out Sunday fun-days’ into a hedonistic powwow of diversity in Scotland, so their three-hour set at Wire should tide you over to Theo Parrish’s Easter Thursday doubled, six hour extension at Nest. 

Golden Ticket 

 Cream-affiliate 303 are making the necessarily bold leap away from traditional venues that hanker most regular evenings in Liverpool, bringing their ‘rave in a cave’ treat of accommodating eclectic master Andrew Weatherall, in the unique Williamson Tunnels heritage site. It’s an wonderfully varied venture that puts-to-shame the saturated Warehouse-venue market the North over, whilst certainly not standing dubious from providing attendees with the rousing, scintillating evening they deserve; Plus it’s all held on 4/20 and if you need your arm twisting any more, then hey, even Lauren agrees…

Words by Yours Truly X

Review // Drake @ Phones 4 U Arena

The absolute angels over at Universal sent me to the opening night of Drake's 'Would You Like A tour?' here in Manchester earlier in the week. I (willingly/ unwillingly? Delete as appropriate) dragged Ceej along for throwing out some moves to my favourite non-guilty pleasure, it was an ostentatiously brilliant way to spend a Tuesday night and you can read all about it below!
Drake @ Phones 4 U Arena
Aubrey Drake Graham; Canadian child television wonder, rap superstar and poster boy for the millennial generation of emotional hip-hop, kicked off his ‘Would You Like A (UK) Tour?’ at Manchester’s Phones 4 U Arena on Tuesday. With a surplus of pyrotechnic explosions and splashing out on a reported two million dollar production budget, an additional invite to fellow Canuck The Weeknd to hop aboard his tour bus for this latest ten date run, extends further great promise and growth for tens of thousands of attendees.
 As soon as darkness dawned upon the stage, it seemed that spectators were more interested in Vine-ing blurry six second clips of the self-proclaimed Champagne Papi, rather than allowing their breath to be taken away by a, literally, sparking Tuscan Leather introduction. Holding down his on-stage territory with great audacity and a modest-sized, in-house band setting off his routine every step of the way, Graham distinguishes himself more self-assured and high-energy than ever. Alongside a mean-sounding rendition of Worst Behaviour, 305 To My City and the serenade-worthy Hold On We’re Going Home, non-album track Trophies and flutters of his guest spots on French Montana’s Pop That and A$AP Rocky’s Fuckin' Problems, make crystal clear that the So Far Gone-era classics don’t always have to be present.
 As mentioned, two million dollars is a ridiculously large amount of money by anyone’s standards to reserve solely for production value, however, surely on this titanic scale such bucks can be justified, presented and executed to an outstanding level, of which engages in nothing less than astonishing, a million times over. Or so you would believe. Realising that throughout his ninety-minute spectacular that the colossal chrome lighting rig suspended on the roof of the building, enlisted for Graham to interact more with his crowd, was utilised once for an unnecessarily lengthy period, suddenly the setting felt like a dilatory, showy attempt at being lavish purely for the sake of being lavish. Then comes the corny fifty-foot high monochrome portraits onscreen, tarnishing somewhat the latter-part of the show as wincingly self-appreciating, compared to the unpretentious aura that was present half an hour previous... and don’t even get me started on the cringe-worthy lyric adaptions of Manchester-based puns that were unavoidable come every other verse.
Nonetheless, it’s near impossible to question the OVO head’s methods of practice and sentimental lyrical ease, when he is the solitary figure on stage operating with impeccable execution. Before we know it, it’s a little after eleven and warnings of the impending climax approach; a hip-bumping portrayal of The Motto here, a smoke-rocket led swagger of HYFR there, ‘Would You Like A Tour?’ achieved the career-spanning setlist desired with formidable brilliance and just the perfect side-order of showmanship. Shouting out mentor-figures in the industry including Jay Z and Lil Wayne before bidding his sophomore arena audience goodbye, he needn’t look up nor fall back in comparison when four full-lengths deep, Aubrey Drake Graham has finally graduated with his soft-side flow crown, polished in place.

Words by Yours Truly X

Feature // Skiddle February Electronic Listings

I've been in dissertation hibernation (Along with a month full of suprise visits and big birthdays...), so completely forgot to post my Skiddle picks for February when they first went live earlier this month, whoops! You can read all about my championing of high-denier hosiery and bowing down to Valentines Day over here, with picks including Moderat, Hudson Mohawke and Gilles Peterson. Hold tight, more (Frequent, I promise) posts coming soon!

Words by Yours Truly X

Review // Arctic Monkeys @ Phones 4 U Arena

The lovely people at Domino sent me to watch Arctic Monkeys on their AM tour last week, I'm obviously biased and almost cried three times but in all seriousness, my boys have still got it. My review is now live on Artrocker here or you can cop a sense of the amazing show below!
Arctic Monkeys @ Phones 4 U Arena

The re-branding of Manchester arena’s usually canary-yellow exterior, transitioning over to project immense logos’ of a certain mobile phone company famous for it’s hand-signalling jingle, was always going to be a strange sight to get used to- yet, this is corporate branding and advertising at it’s peak and what else did you expect? Look around, simple cotton t-shirts hitting the twenty-five pounds mark (And that’s from just tonight’s opening act The Strypes…) and if you’re after a pint during one of the gig’s intervals, you better be prepared to que for half an hour, hand over that crisp fiver and not expect a shrapnel of change back. If only the old Sheffield boys could see themselves now…
Entering the venue though the city’s Victoria Railway station, as thousands upon thousands of individuals pool in and enlist themselves into the nearest snaking que, there isn’t just the usual sleek femme fatales and bowl-cut boys polishing off their mac coats for the occasion, as we spy. Amongst the plethoral swarm lies families with children in attendance that look as if they were actually born post- ‘Whatever People Say I Am…’, along with the expected congregation of leather-clad fashionistas and the odd Dad on hand to chaperone, hopefully leaving their unappreciated dancing at the door. Even before we’ve taken to our seats, there is no denying precisely how much Arctic Monkeys have blossomed and adapted, in a formative seven years since their debut release.
With three-quarters of the quartet gracing the stage suited and booted (It’s ok Matt, we imagine it’s quite the challenge drumming in a double-breasted number…), quad screen set-ups with individual portraits of each member horizontally span, accompanying a swaggering, brooding and bold introduction of ‘Do I Wanna Know?’. Before the astronomical audience, phones in the air bouncing to every beat get straight into ‘AM’ mode, renditions of ‘Brianstorm’ and ‘Dancing Shoes’ really do deliver as electric and strikingly rolling, as they did upon their first listens of yesteryear. ‘Don’t Sit Down Cos I’ve Moved Your Chair’ urges the audience to coo a range of ‘Oooh’s and ‘Yeah’s, whilst Alex Turner cheekily sculpts his greased-up quiff initiating the Macarena, whilst Helder’s lightening beats blister out from behind his 0114 duct-taped kick-drum. See that’s the thing about these ‘Monkeys’, they may have been arena-worthy for what feels like a lifetime now, yet they never have yet forgotten to bring their personality to the forefront, with Turner’s light cockiness sometimes being construed for arrogance, but does it really matter when they write, perform and interact better than ever before?
Latest single ‘One For The Road’ is elevated with a whole new stronghold of elegance and croon-ready slickness, even if that is a noticeable American twang we can hear sneaking on through- and as one spectator in front of us exclaimed “This is better than seeing John Lennon on ice!”, we really couldn’t agree any more. As ear-splitting encore roars present themselves, the bulb-dotted sky-scraper initials that tower over illuminate, to welcome in a shoo-wopping rendition of ‘Snap Out Of It’ and a semi-acoustic interpretation of ‘Cornerstone’, cheekily altered by ‘Don’t Look Back In Anger’ come its execution. As metallic ticker tape rains all over the mammoth venue, our favourite Yorkshire boys we realise, have really only just hit their peak. Listeners’ of the Arctic’s music cannot simply request their indie classics over and over again and by managing to expand, flourish and experiment whilst never straying too far from their formula that works, it is an exciting sight to behold as they strike record number five off their lists with pride.

Words by Yours Truly X

Review // Indy Man Beer Con @ Victoria Baths

On a very rainy sunday, Georgia and I headed down to the Independent Manchester Beer Convention over at the phenomenal Victoria Baths to sample some ales. My piece will be live soon on Quays News but until then, you can read it below! Special thankyou to the lovely Jamie Hargreaves for hooking a Sister up!

Independent Manchester Beer Convention @ Victoria Baths

As a first-time attendee of the Independent Manchester Beer Convention this year, one could be easily reprimanded for their naivety in assuming that these events were awash with stodgy ales, poor pub nibbles and a population of middle-aged males' nursing their beer guts. Yet here in Manchester, the teams behind Common, Port Street Beer House and The Beagle have joined forces to present a four-day extravaganza of unique high-quality beverages, live music and an apex of local street food traders, to help soak up all that liquid indulgence. Held in the striking setting of the grade II listed Victoria Baths, the IMBC team managed to bring an element of alternative class, turning the Edwardian-era converted swimming pool into a bustling maze of interest.

With periodic features flowing rife alongside flags and bunting streaming wall from wall, we were nothing short of being blown away by the kitsch presentation, excellent organisation and brilliant value for money offered. With over ten tastings of your choice available for a mere ten pounds, we joined in with the noticeably unconventional crowd of attendees’ for the Sunday leg of the occasion, after a run of preceding sold-out developments. Being welcomed inside with a ‘grab-a-glass-and-jump-right-in’ attitude, as a multitude of locally and nationally-praised breweries presented their goods, specialists’ were also on hand to offer tasting sessions and an ear of advice for those of us who were uneducated in knowing the difference between the Kvasss’ and Weisses’ on offer. 

With mouth-watering offerings permeating their way through room two, the likes of smoky barbeque brisket, creamy mac’n’cheese and venison parcels for those with taste buds tingling for a more upmarket culinary delight, showcased that this event ran deeper than most in order to support resident companies, within the business. Take for example the stalls from Manchester native award-winners’ such as North Tea Power (roasting the perfect coffee to shake off those hangovers on the event’s final day) and winners of ‘Second Best New Brewery In The World 2012’, Magic Rock Brewing, hosting within the treasure trove of Turkish Baths; the variety available was mind-bogglingly impressive- and the entertainment didn’t terminate there. One of the country’s most burgeoning free publications, The Skinny, curated the weekend’s music portion, over in room three.

With DJ’s such as Andy Carroll and Rob Bright spinning the likes of Nouvelle Vague, alongside other continental delights, in order to get feet shuffling way into the evening, students of the Royal Northern College of Music also staged impromptu performances, injecting a sense of anticipation into the affair.
 What the Independent Manchester Beer Convention managed to exceptionally pull-off, was the forward-thinking approach and demeanour of something much grander than being presented on this scale, whilst also remaining loyal to it’s niche and breaking down the commerce to customer barrier. Sourcing every minute detail down to a tee, whether the full-of-character merchandise from artist Steve Hockett over to the intricate programmes provided free of charge, IMBC effectively bestowed elements of this ever-growing industry in a fresh and approachable light, overflowing with charm.

Words and Images by Yours Truly X

Review // Rudimental presents... @ WHP

I attended the Modeselektor / Rudimental double weekender at Warehouse recently and reviewed the latter for Artrocker! My flatmate also met Andy C and nearly cried with joy but that is for a whooole other time; it was fun, sweaty and warpy- you can read my words over here or scroll below!

Rudimental presents... @ WHP

2013 sees the now world-celebrated line-ups of Manchester’s Warehouse Project, still only in infancy at it’s Victoria Warehouse Old Trafford home, hit an all-time high- but it’s not as if we expected anything less than superiority. With note-worthy bills uniting music legends and fresh faces off the block, we here in the Artrocker camp headed off to our first official outing of the season where love-ins, Craig David and see-it-to-believe-it talent supervened…
Wriggling into the massive five-thousand strong capacity venue , security has always been a high priority on the agenda here and in light of recent headlines (That shouldn't be the be-all-and-end-all to tar seasons with, may I add.), I personally, can say I've never felt so safe nor welcomed in the past. With security staff tripled (and armed with hilarious conversation), sniffer dogs multiplied and free water for revellers, there is a cooperative sense of wholeness between everyone involved and whether it is your first or fiftieth visit, excitement and anticipation still runs rife. These nights are where stuff of legend materializes without warning or pre-conception.
Cryptic London duo Snakehips were first on our schedule in the ambitiously colossal main room with their balmy electronica, fusing remixes for next-up Bondax and late-nineties’ r&b classics (Kp & Envyi, anyone?), enrapturing 80’s Vice City-esque visuals of blunts and bling sculpted across a multitude of screens throughout, for a fully-immersive audio-visual experience. Yet Snakehips’s early releases are where their production flairs really shine through. ‘On & On’ accumulates with waves of plush, glossiness thanks to George Maple’s vocal callings, whilst chopped beats sound drenched as if they stem from a warmer climate than the duo’s native Camden. Then there is the hyperactive ‘Make It’ with super-speed impressions sampled from Mary J Blige’s ‘Just Fine’, wrestling with punchy bass-heavy beats to create rousing proficiency. They aren't exactly trying to innovate an already saturated genre of tinged “future bass”, yet adding their individual catchy imprint is undoubtedly party music to take notice of.
Adorning the stage with their ever-amplifying presence next up was the Lancaster coupling of Bondax. This particular ‘Rudimental Presents…’ evening revealed itself as one of the first across the calendar to sell out and the age old debate (Not to mention uncomfortability) of whether the in-house organisers’ had actually over-sold the event cropped up across many attendees’ we spoke to- and was an attribute of which was highly noticeable. As the one-way system became increasingly swelled a little after eleven and entry into the main room became something of an unbearable task, we managed to maneuver ourselves in just in time for these now-seasoned producers to blow us away.

 Playing out re-fits of close collaborators Aluna George’s ‘You Know You Like It’ construed out into an indescribable influx of marathon dimensions, an almost unrecognizable yet brilliant melancholic presentation of Brandy & Monica’s ‘The Boy Is Mine’ also spiralled off, as the fact that these boys perform way older than their years has been widely reported- and rightly so. Scoping our way through to catch DJ EZ’s set albeit at an early rate, we unexpectedly stumbled into Buraka Som Sistema’s DJ set, booming out of a vibrating room two. The usually African-influenced Portuguese group span an admirable wave of UK Garage including Artful Doger’s ‘Re-Rewind’, causing an upsurge of rapture unlike any other- yet- of the night.
Spot-on midnight garage aficionado DJ EZ took to the decks to completely smash the titanic crowd ensuing. Fusing the benchmark of Missy Elliot’s ‘Get Ur Freak On’ with current cheeky French Montana releases, as well as a whole load of cleverly spun indie anthems that exceeded at least 110bmp, EZ not only held his own among the evidently unfamiliar crowd, yet managed to completely blow the roof off and astound visitors to the site.
Here is the thing about us writers- opinion does form some critical reception, to suggest otherwise would be blatant fiction, no matter how much we try and deny it, it’s in our human nature. Yet one thing is for certain; I’m no drum and bass fan but there is no one as unrivalled, prestigious and technically talented in the genre than Andy C. The Ram Records head honcho bought GQ along to assist in keeping the on looking “warriors” parading the front row into a militant throng of pounding limbs and stamina. Caning drum-&-bass-meets-jungle Friction remixes of Jonny L’s ‘Back To Your Roots’, A quint of Chase and Status smash-hits and a whole host of Shy Fx and Wilkinson; this was literally a paradise of go-hard proportions. Enlisting renowned multiple deck strategies, lengthy sets and an appreciation for not only the tracks projecting out but also his fans, all collectively assist in confirming the attributes of which ensure that Andy C remains at the pinnacle of dexterity.

Words by Yours Truly / Images by WHP (via here) X

Review // Jon Hopkins @ Gorilla

I went and caught Jon Hopkins's 'Immunity' audiovisual show with Lone on a quiet and extremely sweaty Tuesday evening over at Gorilla, whilst avoiding all the Oxford Road influx of freshers'! My review is now live which you can read here or below!
Jon Hopkins @ Gorilla

After one of the most deserving Mercury Music Prize nominations in years – and his second in three after 2011’s Diamond Mine King Creosote collaboration – Jon Hopkins revved back into his forerunning role with Immunity, a true masterpiece and an impressive, cinematic statement of potency. The record manages to retain the essence of being reassuringly wonky, while Hopkins’s key training and lush production see him reiterate his skills as an electronic artist, like no other.
For tonight’s show, Manchester promoter marvels Now Wave are celebrating their fifth birthday, roping in Lone to play a punchy set of deep and exuberant techno – housed in a floating booth within the stage rigging, may we add – to open up the night’s proceedings. After an hour of hands-in-the-air grooving from front to back, Gorilla’s roof becomes a saturated sweat den as punters shuffle expectantly for tonight’s headliner, cramming into any discernible inch of floor space they can. From the instant Hopkins sets his Kaoss pad hubs alight, constructing his signature fuzz and loops of analogue hardware circulations, you can sense a warmth, a glowing energy being transitioned to a thrilled and valued audience.
As Open Eye Signal radiates forth over the throbbing system, Hopkins comes across as a tremendously modest and bashful individual, open and exposed to his audience rather than being shrouded away. When technical difficulties come into play and his system cuts out for a short amount of time, every hand in the room takes the opportunity to finally show their gratitude as rapturously as they can, Hopkins responding with a timid grin. He needn't be embarrassed: this crowd aren’t here off the back of a Coldplay affiliation or a Brian Eno collaboration. Make no mistake, they’re the vinyl purchasers and the connoisseurs who are aiding Hopkins in receiving the recognition and appreciation he deserves.
 Visuals are a prominent focal point, with enlisted artist Dan Tombs projecting viscous, lava-like, saffron liquids and rapidly multiplying bubble pools to inspire the mindset and conduction of Immunity; tones are harpooned by kaleidoscopic, vivid needles of colour, bleeding through the likes of Collider. While this attempt at cross-platform art isn’t fully integrated into the overall set-up, it provides an appropriate accompaniment, and when everyone is reading from the same askew page, it really doesn't matter. Here’s to Immunity and beyond.

Words by Yours Truly X

Review // How To Dress Well @ Whitworth Art Gallery

Bonjour! I'm finally out of exam hell- GOODBYE SECOND YEAR- you were a blast! I celebrated by doing shots with Ryan Giggs in Liars Bar (Who do I think I am?!) and taking my lovely little BK to finally catch How To Dress Well live after I gave Total Loss a 9/10 last year, remember? It was mesmerising, breath-taking and I cried three times; talk about beautiful! I reviewed the gig over here for Crack Mag- give it a little read if you fancy! Also, I have a very ~special~ interview coming up this week and then I'm off to cover Field Day for the Artrocker camp, see you on the other side! May, you the best...

Words by Yours Truly X

Review // FaltyDL and Lone @ Sankeys

Afternoon! Last week I went and finally saw the marvelous FaltyDL (I'm so obsessed with Hardcourage and he was literally, such a gent after his set.) and Manchester's very own Lone smash the shit out of Sankeys effervescent basement, it was enthralling, engaging and magical- you can read about it over here on Crack Magazine. I've also been crazy busy covering Future Everything Festival this week, you'll read all about that soon enough! I hope you're all enjoying the sunshine now the snow has cleared! I'm going to spend my Tuesday evening at a screening for all twenty-two chapters of R Kelly's 'Trapped In The Closet'; this is not a drill...

Words by Yours Truly X

Review // Theme Park @ Ruby Lounge

Aloha! Last weekend I went and caught Theme Park on their debut UK headline tour over at Ruby Lounge. It's a critical one you can read over here at Crack Magazine. Also, I have no Artrocker Column this week- It's been pushed back in order to accommodate for upcoming festival antics- keep your eyes peeled!

Words by Yours Truly X

Review // Disclosure @ Manchester Academy 2

It's been a while since I've posted a live review, hasn't it? Well, last Friday I went and caught Disclosure on the opening date of their sell-out, debut headline tour to review the show for Artrocker- of which I'll link to once it is live-  along with taking some shots which can be seen below with the whole article. As for this evening, I'm off to swoon over Cyril Hahn and Maribou State sharing a bill over at NQ Live, Monday has never looked so good! I'm keeping this one short and sweet, enjoy!

Disclosure / Shadow Child @ Manchester Academy 2

 2012 was the year of young, British electronic prodigies’ omitting their frustrations felt in droves throughout their home towns, sparking a movement of garage-infused nostalgia, laced with fresh experimentation that could only stem from a new generation of these mid-90s born beat-makers. Too young to travel far and wide to world-class mecca line-ups held in various cities across the country, the likes of Matlock’s Karma Kid (A chap just barley-legal to purchase a pint.),  now Leeds-based fifteen-year old house crafter Happa and the Lake District’s biggest musical export since- well, ever- Bondax are all note-worthy names to reference, however, where these gents follow, another surely leads…

After a string of underground support upon their earlier ‘Offline Dexterity’, ‘Tenderly/ Flow’ offerings and ‘Latch’ featuring that attention-grabbing Falsetto from Sam Smith, going into 2013, the Howard siblings of Disclosure have only continued to rise to the top. Securing a Number Two chart position with a little help from AlunaGeorge last month, the duo have managed to secure their first ever headline UK tour with a string of sell-out shows; but will the essence of their originality flounder after such a steep rise to popularity, this early on into their careers? We headed down to the first night of their tour at Manchester, to find out.

With the modest size Academy Two playing habitat to tonight’s hostings, supporting act Shadow Child (For a man that is more used to 2am rave sets to students and older techno-head crowds, rather than a 9pm stage time to younger onlookers...), splices together a combination of tracks that ran from Sub Focus’s crowd-surger ‘Tidal Wave’, over to the cinematic build-up and bassline house drops of his own release ‘String Thing’, wrapped with commanding slickness and ease. Despite the initial short-set offering being reduced in stage time from the man himself, as the surveilling packed-to-the-rafters throng displays a rapturous series of applause and appreciatory waves of dropping down low, a spectacle  of chrome and a trio of screens (Embossed with Disclosure’s now-trademark facial logo.) stand brazen upon the stage, as the duo of the moment take to their craft.

Opening their set with new track ‘Infected’ taken from their forthcoming debut Album set to drop this spring on PMR, the unexpected employment of Howard on vocal duties makes for body popping-inducing repetitions of “Because I played the fool before you”, standing supplied with huskingly soulful undertones, that windingly weave around low-tempo beats. Yes it certainly continues on the use of uprising keys and curling snaps that make it recognisable as theirs respectfully, yet the inductions of crooning lyrical delivery and infectious qualities (‘scuse the pun…) help to bring it back to sounding oh so renewed and inventive.

After the bellowings of “Wheelchair coming through!” behind me, boom straight from the lungs of a neon jacket-clad security guard, just as the launching into of old favourite ‘What’s In Your Head’, looking around the venue as something of an evening pre-outing show of a dance nature, it really is alarming to see teens dotted around all wide-eyed and clenched-jawed, resembling the behaviour of those way older than seen at a 14+ occasion. Sure, the crowd aren't the  be all and end all of any event, musical orientated or otherwise, yet this is a signifier of how Disclosure have played such a big part in infiltrating the mass dance market and the younger crowds they've bought in along the way.  The fantastic performances include tracks such as ‘Control’, simmering with its snaps of glittering electronic warps and Ria Ritchie’s soaring vocals; yet seeing a troupe of blazer-clad girls higher than the moon for the first time in their lives isn't exactly the breed of crowd I want to get excited about such a fantastic new pairing with…

Weaving in, at a healthy ratio, new as-yet untitled tracks in with their established and still-amazing offerings- take the foot-stomping, house-led vibes of ‘Tenderly’, over to the fantastic, entwining and dippy buzzes heard on ‘Flow’- the Lawrence boys seem to be achieving their success of heading up the umbrella of cross-generational genre resurrections’, scoping out old-school garage qualities sprinkled across their take of modern day dance music. Closing a triumphant set by anyone’s standards, the chance taken to part ways with the people of Manchester on their smash remix of label mate Jessie Ware’s ‘Running’, results in not one person seen failing to move on the dance floor and a whole host of abandoned shoes upon our departure. It certainly has been a whirlwind year for Disclosure, what with laying down tracks at Red Bull Music Academy’s eponymous studios in London, over to achieving Radio 1 A-list daytime status before they've even had their own tour or full-length out; I, for one, don’t see this success story slowing down any time soon.

Words and Images by Yours Truly X

Feature // Manchester Reborn #5

Bonjour! I spent the weekend dancing my feet off at Hoya: Hoya's fifth birthday party along with celebrating my beautiful Connaugh's 21st birthday over a power of five reunion and losing my shit when Fred V & Grafix AND Redlight played at my work this/ last Monday. Wonderful! Now pass the Berocca and give me some R&R! This weeks Artrocker piece sees me discuss the five powerhoues (and counting) of Trof dotted all around the city, ranging from the humble Salutation Pub over to the opulence of their biggest and freshest project yet, Gorilla- of which all host amazing bands and mind-blowing DJ's along with wonderful food and drink, day through to night. You can read it here!

Words by Yours Truly / Image from Gorilla/ Trof X

Feature // Manchester Reborn #4

Good evening you beauties! My latest Artrocker column is now up over here and this week sees me talk about how the guys behind Underachievers Please Try Harder have announced they are calling it a day on their events- and why you should care. The guys over at Underachievers will also be hosting several 'last' gigs and clubnights with line-ups boasting the likes of Titus Andronicus and METZ, before they finally are laid to rest, so people of Manchester, get involved! Also, apologies for not posting this past week, I have no excuses apart from partying too hard and catching Jackmaster's post-Warehouse set at Afterlife this weekend. Jelly? I thought so. Exciting interviews incoming next week! Until then make like I have and ride out procrastination with a healthy dose of this highly recommended viewing from RBMA's new H∆SHTAG$ series. Thank me later.

Words and Image by Yours Truly X

Feature // Manchester Reborn #3

My third installment of Manchester Reborn for Artrocker is now live! I changed direction this week and strayed away from the usual guitar-driven pieces (all is explained in the article...) to delve into why Manchester has some of the best kept dance nights in the country, with residencies including Lone, Krystal Klear, Joy Orbison and Ben Pearce. Aren't we the lucky ones! Also, if you've got any ~tips~ or subjects you think I should cover for future Manchester Reborn articles, hit me up at the email on the right. HAPPY FRIDAY!

Words by Yours Truly X

In photos // Kendrick Lamar @ The Ritz

How have I not posted since last year?! I'm sorry dear blogsphere, I'LL NEVER ABANDON YOU AGAIN! Now that deadline season is no longer (REJOICE!), my Artrocker column will be back next week and more interviews are on the way along with exciting writing news for moi, sit tight! In the mean time, Kelly and I went and caught Kendrick Lamar's debut Manchester show last night and I took some shots of which you can see below- BIG thankyou to Stephanie at Universal for getting us in, you are a god among (wo)men! It was amazing, overwhelming, humbling and Kendrick is just absolutely off the scale, no debate...

Words and Images by Yours Truly X

Feature // Manchester Reborn #2

Hello! My second column as Artrocker Magazine's Manchester reporter is now live here! I talk about Antwerp Mansion, how WuTang's GZA popped in and other amazing events that the people behind the project put on. Apart from that I've been in deadline hell and spending way too much time in South but more articles (Including my ~records of 2012~ list) coming soon, I promise! Oh and another thing; some fabulous friends of mine and other university students are curating and partaking in an art & design exhibition this Thursday (aka tomorrow!), showcasing numerous photography, graphics and other works over at the Bench Gallery in Northern Quarter- it's going to be fun, free and you can come along too if you just join this group to be on the guestlist. There is going to be booze, tunes, films and beautiful work to see all evening from 6pm-9pm, so come play out whilst I swoon over pieces and take your party pictures! 

Words by Yours Truly X

Feature // Manchester Reborn

Good evening! I'm now a Manchester correspondent for Artrocker Magazine, isn't that nice? For my first feature, I wrote about how the city and more specifically, Salford in its own right (REPRESENT!) is providing itself as the perfect DIY hub for the creatives of Manchester today. I discussed the cult Fuhrer Bunker venue (pictured below) and Sways Records along with mini-reviews of Great Waves and M O N E Y's work- you can read it over here!

Words by Yours Truly / Image c/o Magnus Blikeng  X