Browsing Tag

manchester

Precious McKenzie: For the Love of God – A Visceral Gonzo-Style Tour De Force of Secular Derision

Posted on 23 March 2026

With their unorthodox approach to genre styling and lyricism that frequently borders on Machiavellian nihilism, Precious McKenzie has reached their sardonic zenith with their latest single and debut gonzo-style music video, For the Love of God. The Manchester-based independent artist continues to push further into their own angular, confrontational corner of alternative music, building on the attention drawn by earlier releases and carving out a space that feels wilfully abrasive in all the right ways.

Through visuals that are as affrontingly visceral as the sonic aesthetic, which swaggers between the intersections of Mansun and the Manics, (Richey era obviously), while augmenting the echoes of indie by salaciously teasing in the timbres of early 00s metal, Precious McKenzie delivered a harbingering exposition on how salvation is just another vice for people who move through life replacing one addiction with another.

Angular guitar notes pierce the vocal-forward production with math rock-esque rhythmic cerebralism as refrains of “You found God at the bottom of the bag” and “Collapse the walls then Heaven calls” become as instrumental to the mercilessly secular derision of people who fall into the hollowness of piety. The track lands as a personal tale of friendship lost first to drugs and then to religion, framing both as different faces of the same emptiness people spend their lives trying to fill.

If you’re clinging to dogma or your dealer’s burner number, this cataclysmic tour de force is going to sting.

For the Love of God is now available on all major streaming platforms.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 Manchester’s Mat Thorpe Confronts Widespread Malaise in the Sermonic Dark-Folk Reckoning of ‘Jaded’

Posted on 20 March 2026
Mat Thorpe

As a fledgling goth coming of age in Manchester, fellow native Mat Thorpe appeared more as a monolith than a cornerstone in the city’s scene. His presence behind the decks at goth nights and his performances with The March Violets and Isolation/Division kept the alternative undercurrent vital, alive, and reverent to Manchester’s post-punk legacy. That lineage runs deep, and now, writing and performing under his own name as a solo dark-folk spectre on the airwaves, Thorpe is summoning sermonic atmospheres entrenched with ritualistic energy and iconography.

His seminal piece, Jaded, stands as a hymnal intersection between post-punk influence and pagan folklore. The track addresses widespread malaise through vivid imagery that flashes past you while you are harbingered away from letting apathy swallow you whole. There is something almost liturgical in the pacing as the instrumentation draws from traditional folk textures while allowing cinematic shadows to gather at the edges, reflecting both Manchester’s industrial ghosts and Thorpe’s own lived past.

The final crescendo is the epitome of an aural reckoning. That symphonic visualisation of overcoming adversity to find the light lands as a broadsiding cinematic touch, promising far more as Thorpe continues to explore his talent in uncharted territory. For those who hold New Model Army close to the soul and playlists alike, Jaded feels like an ethereal awakening rooted in grounded conviction.

Jaded is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Bandcamp. 

Review by Amelia Vandergast

 

Thee Spicy Leviathan cut through the ‘Noise’ with their latest alt-rock juggernaut

Posted on 28 October 2024

The latest stoner rock-adjacent single, Noise, from Manchester’s freshly formed outfit, Thee Spicy Leviathan, borrows a few salacious leaves from Deftones’ sonic playbook, scrawling their sonic signature across the pages. Once lured by the seductive rhythmic pulse of the single, subversion sinks in as the euphonic deadpan vocals transition from crooning to screamo snarls, unveiling a vicious sense of duality in the production that mirrors the hypersonic drama reminiscent of Muse. It’s practically the stoner rock equivalent of a horror film jump scare, heightening the immersion in the technically cultivated, tumultuously ingenious track.

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to say that Manchester harbours a new, truly prodigious outfit, but no one can deny the powerhouse is cutting through the nostalgic banality of the scene, blazing a similar trail to Dirty Laces, Deja Vega, and The Virginmarys.

As they gear up for their debut album launch later this year, Thee Spicy Leviathan is poised to ignite the alt-rock genre with their explosive, primal energy.

The official music video for Noise premiered on October 2nd; stream it on YouTube now.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Dance in the spectral shadows of GETNER’s Irish folk fable of moonshine madness, Poitín

Posted on 13 June 2024

After a killer debut single, which posited GETNER as one of the most promising Mancunian rock n roll acts since Oasis, the four-piece fully embraced their Irish roots with their intoxicating tour de force of a sophomore single, Poitín.

Following an intro that allows you to imagine joining Oscar Wilde in an opium-scented den of iniquity, folk rock rancour insidiously riles up as GETNER as the vocals seductively reverberate through the devilish fable which narrates a tale of an old man in Emerald Isle’s rocky hills brewing moonshine during the prohibition era, inhaling the fumes and succumbing to the eerie spectral manifestations of his inebriated with disillusion mind.

It’s a darkly debauched slice of arcane reverie which doesn’t stop short of portraying a mind-altered protagonist. Poitín ensnares you within the metaphysical atmosphere, enabling you to slip back in time and alter your own mind with the hallucinatory vapour which GETNER efficaciously sonically visualised.

After hearing Poitín, Devil Went Down to Georgia is never going to hit the same ever again.

Poitín was officially released on May 31; stream the single on Spotify.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The Manchester-based producer Tao Mitsu liberated his listeners with his transcendent mix, Just Let Go.

Posted on 20 August 2023
https://soundcloud.com/tao_mitsu/tao-mitsu-just-let-go

With textures and melodic progressions that go beyond immersive to offer aural escapism, when you’re enmeshed with the pulsating rhythms in the latest instrumental mix, Just Let Go, from the Manchester-based producer Tao Mitsu, space and time may as well cease to exist.

By starting with emotional impulses and constructing musical landscapes around them, each creation of Tao Mitsu is an evocative trip tinged with the full spectrum of human emotion rather than just riding euphoric waves. The fragments of melancholy within the groove and bass-driven ambient techno beats in Just Let Go capture the bittersweetness of loneliness, encompassing the primal pain of heartbreak and the first teasings of hope that appear on the periphery.

Just Let Go may not carry the definitive Manchester sound, but with the cover art depicting one of the cosy corners of the iconic Night & Day Café, Tao Mitsu succeeded in paying homage to the vibrant and eclectic music scene via his nostalgia-driven, transcendently liberating leftfield electronica anthem.

Just Let Go reached the airwaves on August 13th; stream it on SoundCloud.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Bay Bryan’s debut LP is a reverie of ubiquitous art-folk revelation

Posted on 9 June 2023

Life often imitates art, but LPs which emphasise realism and naturalism to such a vivid degree that you find yourself open to the purity and vastness of reality on this 1,000-mph spinning rock are a little harder to find, making the debut album, The Meadow, from Bay Bryan a ubiquitous revelation.

With vocals as diaphanous as the quiescent folk motifs, the omnipresent grace of the 10-track release becomes a paradox in its freeing yet arrestive proclivities. With sounds of the forestland flourishing in the same vein as Cosmo Sheldrake’s nature-sampled work in the opening singles before the LP embraces some folk traditionalism and elevates it through tantalisingly minimalist guile, The Meadow unravels as a release you should consume whole so that the euphonic album can return the favour.

There may be a lot to lament in this Anthropocene. Yet, as euphonically alluded by the Colorado-born, Manchester, UK-based artist, beauty still exists in the totality of our existence. Allowing the release to spill the solace of resonance; around the brushstrokes of pure rapture are conjurings of pensiveness, which give the LP as much soul as the euphoric dream-like layers.

The concept album may portray the tale of a protagonist trapped in an endless daydream, but with the infectious flower child celestiality, you may just find the inspiration to forego reality too, if only for the duration of The Meadow.

The singer-songwriter is often gratifyingly guilty of bringing their theatre-making talents into their imaginatively cinematic soundscapes, which have garnered rave reviews and airplay from BBC Radio 3. In an era when there is so much hate and fear, artists able to implant us in the sanctity of a daydream away from the waking terror are worth their weight in gold; Bay Bryan may just be the richest artist in the UK.

“I want you to stop. I want you to breathe. And for the next 30min I hope that you let yourself go —immerse yourself in world of the meadow —and get lost with me in it’s golden hue. The adventure is yours for the taking.” ~ Bay Bryan

Stream The Meadow via Spotify

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Americana Meets British Acoustic Indie in Champagne on the Rocks’ Sentimentally Cinematic Single, Golden Hour

Posted on 9 May 2023

UK singer-songwriter, Champagne on the Rocks, tantalised timeless Americana tones and tinged them with British acoustic indie in his latest cinematically rendered single, Golden Hour.

With choruses that made me nostalgic for Semisonic, Deep Blue Something and The Calling while simultaneously affirming that Champagne on the Rocks has what it takes to become a sonic legacy in his own right, you’re damn right we were arrested by the elevated weight of Golden Hour. When the winding Americana guitar solo hits, the stripped-back sentimental hit which will allow all of your most-cherished sun-soaked memories to manifest in your mind, the track transformed into a virtuosic triumph. Repeat attention is practically mandatory.

Golden Hour is now available to stream on all major platforms via this link.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Chxmist drops an instant electronic classic to turn up all night called Rather Be

Posted on 29 April 2023

Seducing our inner party mode with punchy electronic drum lines to start the weekend with, Chxmist does his hometown of Dublin rather proud with a rather excellent soundtrack for summer on Rather Be.

Chxmist (pronounced chemist) is a Manchester-based project formed by the exceptional electronic producer and DJ Conor Barry.

”Pitched vocals and garage grooves complete the sound forged from an ambient project birthed during the national lockdown of 2020.” ~ Chxmist

Scintillating with an assortment of delightfully crisp and saucy music to get enthusiastic about, Chxmist demonstrates so much quality in boatloads as we feel happy and free-flowing excellence to munch on for hours on end here.

Rather Be from Manchester-based electronic music producer and DJ Chxmist is a rocket-fueled mission that Elon Musk might listen to. This is a superbly lit experience which didn’t need too many vocals. Each ear shall feel thunderbolt stuff from a hearty meal of a song that shall change moods and get many dance fans excited. For good reason too.

This is addictive music which will get the body moving. Turn it up.

Listen up on Spotify.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

 

Your Words: Jon Kenzie avoids the weaving observations on Two Plus Two Is Five

Posted on 22 April 2023

Sung with a calm intensity and reminding us of that soulful blues to sip on all night long, Jon Kenzie looks for the all-important truth inside a lie-filled world on the catchy new track to meditate with, Two Plus Two Is Five.

Jon Kenzie is an experienced Manchester, UK-based indie blues solo singer-songwriter and music producer who loves to fuse folk and soul into his wholehearted compositions.

”He has truly worked his way up from the grassroots, first playing on the streets and in the clubs of Manchester and then travelling Europe and the States, performing in every town that he comes to.” ~ Jon Kenzie

Taking our minds into a truly introspective soundtrack which has been made with so much poise and ingrained brilliance, Jon Kenzie sizzles our earlobes in the best possible way. This is quality stuff from an honest poet who sings with so much glorious class and love for his craft.

Two Plus Two Is Five from Manchester, UK-based indie blues solo singer-songwriter Jon Kenzie is a rather intriguing single for anyone who believes that humanity is actually going backwards. Thinking about the past and sending us a quality track to learn from, this is a must-listen single if you like things super bluesy and real.

Turn this up on Spotify.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

The Dirt originated allegorical psychedelia in their debut LP, Agitator.

Posted on 7 April 2023

Few Manchester music fans are strangers to the disquiet deliverances of The Dirt’s wordsmith, Jack Horner, who has been storming stages with his abrasively arresting recitations of the tolls of PTSD and orations of the graffiti on the toilet walls of iconic Manchester venues.

Standing alone, Horner’s words in his solo spoken word project, Leon the Pig Farmer, carry enough metaphoric weight to leave a bruising mark on the psyche. The curveballs in his conceits open a collective of wormholes for the mind to venture down before perceptions shift around his vindicating socialist manifestic narrations. As a part of the dualistic powerhouse, the juxtaposition between his no-prisoners poetry and effect-layered guitars is enough to tear the rug from beneath you and plateau you on a new kaleidoscopic tapestry.

The Dirt’s debut LP, Agitator, starts with a true-to-form snarled spoken word piece, which prises your eyes open in Clockwork Orange style to the systematic failures of our belligerently nefarious government. Right off the bat, the strength of the dystopic imagery sends you into a spin as the psychedelic guitars, courtesy of Sachiko Wakizaka, whirl around the repression rebellion.

From definitively Madchester instrumentals to desert rock droning originations, the soundscapes psychedelically curtail the spoken word conviction just enough to make each of the eleven tracks a palatable mind-altering cocktail. It’s hard to name a favourite, each single has its allegorical merit, but being driven to tears by the existentially delicate single, What’s the Story, had to be a personal highlight before the euphoria surges through Ignorance is Bliss, which transgresses entropy into rapture.

Grab a copy of Agitator via the Golden Believer Records Bandcamp page and watch the live launch on April 14 at the Peer Hat.

May be an image of text

Review by Amelia Vandergast