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oCTOBER 2008
In the City
sEPTEMBER 2008
J-Ana, Thingumabob and the Thingumajigs,
Nicole Cox, Ed Blaney
aUGUST 2008
Jealous, the archives, Briggzy.
jULY 2008
The Fake Kings,
Party in the Park, Suite 57, Jealous, Tigerside,
Suzuki Method.
jUNE 2008 Salford
Music TV, The Deodates, Monton Music Festival, The
Mekkits, The Lab, Blueprint, Swerve Unsigned.
mAY 2008
David Nolan, The Ting Tings.
aPRIL
2008
Shanty Town, The Deodates, Kings Have Long Arms.
mARCH
2008
Jealous.
oCTOBER 2008
Carry On
In the City
Oh Lors! Quick! Hide! It's that time of
year again when all manner of shysters, liggers, Mr 20%ers,
wannabes, sneering music journos and hangers-on invade the
city in search of their next quick buck. Yep, it's In the
City 2008.
Thankfully- the event may well be saved
by a throng of Salford acts this year. We have
Suzuki Method and
Tigerside at The Kings
Arms, Thingumabob & The
Thingumajigs, Aidan
Smith and The
 Mekkits!
at The Green Room, The Fake Kings
and Shanty Town at Dry
Bar plus an album launch by Ed Blaney and Mark E
Smith (see below).
sEPTEMBER 2008
Fiends
Reunited
Musical everyman Ed
Blaney has got back together with his old mucker Mark
E Smith to produce a couple of CD singles and an album
to follow.
The album,
Smith and Blaney will be released by Voiceprint
Records and launched at this year's In the City
festival on October the 5th, and Ed, former manager of
The Fall reckons that there could well be some gigs
coming up off the back of it.
Ed also has his own radio show on
Salford City Radio
on which he regularly champions local music and unsigned
bands. He'll be doing a little spot on
Salford Music TV very shortly we hope; as soon as we
track him down.
SMTV Episode 3: The Premiere
 Salford’s
Social Media Centre will be showing the latest
episode of Salford Music TV on
Tuesday 16th September as part of their
Autumn Film screening evening. The evening runs from
6.30pm till about 8.30 and is open to the public- so get
down there and get a sneak preview. Popcorn will be
provided.
The Social Media Centre
is part of the Salford Innovation Forum in that
big pink building on Frederick Road- you can’t miss it.
We’ll be there with our best gear on.
Episode 3 features
Salfordian
 singer/songwriter/party
animal Nicole Cox who will be gassing on about
stuff and singing her little heart out. You can also
catch the latest video by Suzuki Method and Big
Vern will be reading the news. Can’t wait.
I’ve not seen it meself
yet.
Thingy In The City
We've put a picture of
Thingumabob & The Thingumajigs
below for a couple of reasons; first of all it's because
we love them here in
salfordmusic
mansions, with all our foolish hearts. Secondly, because we
think that you should see them in all their preposterous
glory (there'll be more to come on SMTV
shortly). And thirdly, because they are one of the few acts
that have been announced as appearing at this year's
In The City
festival.
Thingumabob & The
Thingumajigs. Be afraid.
This year's festival will
take
place on October 5th, 6th
and 7th at The Midland hotel in
Manchester
and at various other venues across the city.
Ed Blaney
and Mark E Smith will be launching their album at the
festival too; details to follow- as soon as Ed lets us know.
We'll keep you up to date with all Salford-based acts
appearing as and when they're confirmed.
Little Hulton's got talent
LIttle Hulton's very own
R&B diva
J-Ana
is through to the regional final of Idol 2008 to be
held at
The
Willows Variety Centre on the 14th September.
This is excellent news for us here at
salfordmusic
mansions as we're always up for a good night out- and if we
can find an excuse to put our strappy shoes on; we're THERE.
Anyway, J-Ana had to fight her
way through several gruelling heats to land herself a shot
at the big time- and now she's got the chance to sing in
front of a packed house of punters and some industry big
nobs. Get in there!
HERE
is a taster of her stuff.
Get yerselves some tickets and go and
support her- it's your civic duty. We'll be there, freshly waxed and
exfoliated with our best underwear on- dancing at the front-
on the pull as usual.
Back to top
aUGUST 2008
Grime of the Century
 Salford's hip hop/grime
genius
Briggzy
has been a busy lad- he doesn't mess about- knocks out the
tunes for fun. Here in
salfordmusic
mansions we used to think that rap didn't get any better
than the
Sugarhill Gang, but we were so so wrong.
Anyroad- Briggzy's
got a new CD out on the 6th September called The First
Bout and we've been checking out a few tracks; I am a
Ginger is our particular favourite- but if you are of a
nervous disposition then you'd best not tune in as it
features some
bad words.
You can find out how to
part with your hard-earned
HERE in exchange for a copy of The First Bout.
Probing the Annals.
We've been burning the
candle at both ends recently here at
salfordmusic
mansions; gallivanting round numerous gigs, mithering
various bands, getting stuck into the hospitality and
generally making a fool of ourselves- so we decided to get
down to some real work lately.
salfordmusic.com
staff sifting through the archives this morning.
Yes, dear reader, we've
been down in the basement blowing the dust off our
impressive archives
 and uploading them onto the site. We've
got loads of new (old) stuff on the
60s, 70s and
80s pages for your delectation and
there's more to come.
We've also been preparing
the next episode of Salford Music TV,
which will hopefully see some new musical delights, live and
recorded, the latest news, and a couple of interviews coming
your way.
But
we need your help oh Salfordian populace! Yes indeed. So if
you can help us with any info or pictures to aid our quest
for an exhaustive back catalogue of Salford music; then
please get in touch
HERE.
Similarly, if you want to
get involved in the TV project in any way; performing live,
presenting or just submitting a DVD of your act; then get in
touch HERE.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jealous Guys.
Freddie's gonna get
yer.
We've
already popped
along to the
Jealous gig on the 12th and we'll probably pop
along to a few more in the coming weeks-
feel free to buy us a light ale if you see us lurking about
at the back.
They rocked along in their
usual exuberant way- no doubt spurred on by the support act;
a troop of burlesque dancers- no kiddin'. My particular
favourite being
Miss Cherry Scorn. Anyway- top marks to Jealous's
drummer who obviously couldn't decide whether to come as
Freddy
Krueger or one of the
Droogs from Clockwork Orange- so went for a mixture of
the two. Respect brother.
Back to top
jULY 2008
Weekend World.
Saturday the 12th of
July:
11.30am: Get up, count
remnants of cash in pocket, look at self in mirror and
wonder WHY OH WHY did I have that last cheeky vimto?
11.45: Eat last night's
kebab leftovers whilst grunting, smacking lips and wiping
chilli sauce from end of nose onto sleeve.
12.00: Pop into local for a
livener and to apologise to the landlord and his
daughter.
1.30: Get taxi over to
Radcliffe to catch
Jealous at the SOS festival at Radcliffe
Civic Hall. Have great time but make a mental note
NEVER to move to Radcliffe.
4pm: Get taxi into
Manchester to catch the teatime slot as performed by the
mighty
Suite 57
at Moho Live
and marvel at the soundscapes created therein. Have
great time again but shake head knowingly at the hilarity of
calling the arse-end of town The Northern Quarter.
 6pm: Wander back through
Manchester towards Chapel Street, stopping only to urinate
behind Trinity Church and check that you've got enough cash
to get in to see
Tigerside
and
Suzuki Method
at The
Kings Arms.
8pm onwards: Revel in an
orgy of musical wizardry and fine ale before texting maudlin
and slightly pornographic messages to an ex-girlfriend on
the way home.
Right; that's Saturday
sorted. How about Sunday?
Suzuki
Method
Party in the Park
 If you don't know what the
Amber Project is
then you should click
HERE now and
find out.
And now that you've done
that I can tell you that there will be an all day party held
at Douglas Green Park, Whit Lane on the16th August from
11am-9pm;
which means that you can be
safely tucked up in bed by 9.30pm, get lots of kip and
you'll be bright and fresh for church on Sunday morning.
Sorted.
The
line up will include
Ed Blaney
& Guests,
John
Herring,
Briggzy,
Silky DJs,
Compass
Roses, MC Wes and much much more.
We're as busy as
ever with SMTV in our
continued commitment to TAKE OVER THE KNOWN WORLD
so please feel free to
contact us
if you have any useful ideas on how we can achieve
outright global domination- or maybe if you just
want to sing a nice song for a future episode.
The Fabulous Faker Boys.
We've been keeping our eye
on those Swintonian whipper-snappers
The Fake Kings
for a while now here in
salfordmusic
mansions. Oh yes- we've been casting our beady eyes over
their progress from a distance, nodding appreciatively
whilst listening to their mercurial brand of frenetic guitar
pop.
And then the other night we
took the plunge; we put a bit of slap on and wended our way
down to
The Night and Day Cafe
to see 'em in the flesh. What a treat, fair reader- a great
combination of old favourites like I Might Just Complain
and Turning off the Programme- punctuated with some
belting newies- the highlight being the set-finisher: Let
Him Go.
They've got a busy time
ahead so it's time you checked 'em out- they're playing at
The Roadhouse
and Moho Live soon (see the
dIARY for details), and they're the featured
band in the upcoming edition of the
Salford Star magazine, and I reckon an appearance
on Salford Music TV is pretty
imminent too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back to top
jUNE 2008
Salford Music TV.
We don't like standing
still here in salfordmusic mansions- especially when the
boss is around- and innovation is our middle name; so we
proudly present
Salford Music
TV. Our aim is to present a monthly show highlighting
the talent of Salford musicians and to bring all the latest
musical news using the aid of electrickery and moving
pictures.
If you click on the Salford
Music TV thingy up there at the top right hand side of the
page then you will be magically transported to the smtv
page. Therein you will find a mini taster of the shape of
things to come in the form of a four minute taster.
Now the idea is to get you
lot involved in all this. If you would like to be featured
in some way then let
us know- if you have a DVD of your band you would like
us to show, or you want to be interviewed, or perform a live
acoustic number-
 or
indeed- if you would like to present or narrate on an
episode- then the ball is in your court. All the contact
stuff is on the smtv page so you've got no excuse. Get on
with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Deodates: Second
Best Looking Band in Irlam.
salfordmusic.com put
its best gear on a couple of weeks ago and went to see
The Deodates
at The Castle in Manchester. These lads are dynamite.
No messin'. There's only two of 'em but it feels like having
your face repeatedly smacked against Phil Spector's wall
of sound- but in a good way.
 They're
tighter than two coats of Ronseal and there's real raw
energy in their performance so I urge you all to check out
the salfordmusic dIARY over yonder and get along to their
next show.
Gary Hope is the singer's
name and he's a lovely bunch of blokes; the proud owner of
an English Lit degree and a criminal record. And he's
possibly the best dressed man we've ever met; like a cross
between
Martin Fry
and
Flash Harry- and paired together with the rugged
drummer, Tom Pickford, it's little wonder that their gigs
are rammed with female beauties. Seriously.
And if you've not already clicked on
one of the links above to their myspace site then you should
do it NOW 'cos they've got an EP out entitled "Don't
Expect Too Much" which you can buy from iTunes
via their site. And 'cos they're a couple of nice lads- they
gave us one for nowt. So ner.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ain't no Monton high
enough...
...ain't no valley low
enough, ain't no river wide enough, to keep me.. [yes, we
get the picture-Ed].
Monton Music
Festival is imminent fair reader- and they've got a
shed-load of good stuff to keep you entertained- I kid you
not.
The festival runs from
June 26th till the July 6th. If you would like to feast your
eyes on the full listings then you could do worse than to
click
HERE, and if you would like a run-down on who's who at
the festival then do likewise
HERE.
It has come to our
attention that some notable Salfordians will be performing
for your delectation; namely
Kaoss,
Razor Cuts, the irrepressible
Harpbreakers
and the irresponsible
Roach
Twins. We first
encountered the Roaches outside Cathedral Arches
about eighteen years ago and they brought Manchester to a
standstill.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don't mention the beard!
Here at salfordmusic mansions we’re always wary of
people with ambition, drive and energy. Y'see dear reader;
we're lazy, and to be perfectly frank, we’re never happier
than when we’re lounging around in our pants, eating Pot
Noodle and watching Britain’s Most Dangerous Pets.
Which is why we’re a bit unnerved by
The Mekkits.
 For
a start off; they’re always doing stuff. They’ve just
returned from a tour of The Netherlands, including dates in
Amsterdam, Arnhem and Doetinchem where they went down a
storm, to the extent that they’ve been invited back due to
popular demand.
They keep on writing, recording and performing knockout
songs- some of which you can listen to
here.
They’re currently locked in their Salford studio recording
more stuff for a future release which will either be an EP,
LP or Double Album- depending on the extent of their
endurance and/or stamina.
“That’s enough!” we scream, tossing another empty Skol
can out of the window. But no; there’s more.
They’re also working on their own TV show, SCHtievey TV
which I reckon will be a Salfordian version of
The
Partridge Family, but I’m just guessing. And if all
that wasn’t enough (and we reckon it most definitely is),
they have the sheer audacity to organise a quarterly club
night at
The Kings
Arms, entitled
Club Los
Mekkitos; the line up for the next show is in the
pipeline. We’ll let you know.
There.
Can't believe I did all that without mentioning the
beard. Well, I might have mentioned it once but I think I
got away with it...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Greatest comeback
since Lazarus!
A long, long time ago, on a
dodgy back street near Greengate, there
existed The Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Society;
whose aim was to “bring love, happiness and sunshine
into the homes of the men of Salford”. We can only
wonder what really went on there.
They held their meetings at
Elizabeth House on Queen Street, which now houses
Blueprint
Studios- and God bless 'em- those lovely
people at Blueprint have resurrected The
Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Society and it will
reconvene on June 21st for the first time since
1900.
The original members of The Pleasant Sunday
Afternoon Society: High on a heady cocktail of
mindbending designer sex drugs.
T he
updated P.S.A.S. will be a Saturday night/
Sunday morning extravaganza of live music, dancing
and joyous felicitations and will therefore lead to
a rather unpleasant Sunday afternoon for most
people- but hey- we don't like to split hairs.
If
you have a quick sken at the salfordmusic dIARY
below then you'll see the line-up so far- but more
acts will be confirmed shortly. As soon as we know-
you'll know.
And
if you want tickets for this then you can pop into
their swanky office at 39 Queen Street, check out
their flashy
website,
or you can ring one of the nice men that work there
on 0161 817 2524.
The slogan of the
original Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Society
was "Brief, bright and brotherly" but apparently
women will be allowed to attend too. If they must.
As long as they don't spoil everything by talking
about curtains and cookin' and stuff.
Taxi!
Nurse! Send
these specimens to The Lab.
At last we have a Salford
record label that actually puts out records. Imagine that!
They're called
The Lab and they're much more than your average
label, they're a movement; they produce artworks and
clothing and exhibitions and musical events. In fact- we
suspect that they're hellbent on taking over the world.
Members of The Lab
plotting all kinds of dastardly acts earlier today.
They
released the CD sampler The Lab: One t'other day. It features ten songs from English and American
bands and has already received lots of critical acclaim;
their website
is the place to find out how to get yourself a copy.
They will also be promoting
live music nights at the
Kings Arms
on a regular basis: keep yer mincers on the ever-growing
salfordmusic dIARY for all the updates.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Swerve Unsigned: The new Superwoman
If it’s multi-tasking you want- then we know someone who
multi-tasks like a go-getting apple-pie makin’ soccer
mom. Honest. He’s called Adrian Wilkinson and he runs
Swerve
Unsigned Limited; and they got it all goin’ on,
sister.
 First;
they’re a fully equipped rehearsal studio and they want
YOU to bring your band to try out their facilities.
Second; they’re
embarking on live, video and audio recording for their
TV and radio stations.
Third; they’re
offering digital distribution to get YOUR tracks on all
major download sites
Fourth; they’re
promoting live shows. The next one is at The Taylor
Brothers in Eccles on 27th June- details
on the dIARY below.
So- if you want to talk about any of the above things
then you need to ring Adrian on 07799 787 245 or if
you’re a bit shy about that kind of thing then you could
write him a nice little note at
swerverecords@hotmail.co.uk and I’m sure he’ll get
back to you quicker than you can say "Cosmopolitan".
Incidentally, the nearest salfordmusic has ever
got to multi-tasking was the night we sat down in
salfordmusic mansions and listened to Level 42
whilst chewing our own arms off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back to top
mAY 2008
David's Magical Musical
Map.
Step right up. Step right
up. The deadline looms for anyone who wants to make their
mark on The Salford Music Map, as created by famous music
author
David Nolan.
As you can see from this rather
frightening photograph, David has been undertaking this
task with all the zeal of a slightly camp
Herr Flick.
Anyway- the map will highlight
numerous iconic locations from the glorious history of
popular music in Salford. It also aims to focus on the
not-so-obvious but equally important locations that have
shaped the city's musical heritage.
And it's time to get you
shizzle together pretty sharpish if you want to make any
suggestions as to what/who should be included; the deadlines are imminent: 30th May
(too late!) to
propose any sites to be included on the map and 13th June
for the submission of any images that you would like to see
on it.
You can do this through his
myspace site
HERE
or
by emailing him directly at
salfordmusicmap@googlemail.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ting Tings' Horn
Hey!
Them there Ting Tings are number ONE in the charts
with That's Not My Name.
Now;
they've released this record before and it got nowhere- but
after a favourable review from salfordmusic.com
they've gone to the TOP.
Coincidence? We don't think so friends 'n' neighbours.
Admittedly, we only put them on here as a refreshing change
from pictures of hairy-arsed blokey bands from Swinton, but
hey- we'll take the plaudits wherever we can find 'em. And
we are proud blowers of The Ting Tings horn.
photograph by karen
mcbride
Anyway, The Tings’ song Shut Up And Let Me Go has
been chosen as the new song to appear on the iPod and
iTunes advert, which is going out in the States as we
speak, and will be broadcast here in the UK later on in May.
This will also be their next single after That’s Not My
Name.
So how to describe them?
Well if I was a proper music journo I’d go on about their
angular pop sensibilities and the innate joie de vivre
of their insistent and infectious tunes but I can’t be arsed
with all that; Just believe me when I tell you that they’re
Knockout! “Great DJ” is my particular favourite and the
current tune of choice in
salfordmusic
mansions.
You can watch the new ad
HERE.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back to
top
aPRIL 2008
"Shotgun!"
The mullioned
windows of salfordmusic mansions have been
shaking this week- what with us dancing round the
servants' quarters to
Shanty Town.
"Shotgun!"
We've sussed out
how to illegally download their stuff from the 'net- and
it's easier than snatching a flaming torch from the puny
grasp of Konnie Huq. And if you're wondering why we keep
shouting "Shotgun" then you obviously haven't clicked on
the link to their myspace site yet.
"Shotgun!"
I really think
that we all need to get down to The Aftershow at MoHo
Live on the 25th to experience them in the flesh;
details are on the
salfordmusic dIARY below. I'll see you
there.
Rumour has it that
they've got a single coming out soon; let's hope that
they don't smooth off those rough edges. If the future
of Salford music lies with Shanty Town then I
reckon we're in safe hands. Oops- sorry Konnie.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If looks could kill.
And I know we're a
bit slow on the uptake- but we eventually discovered
The Deodates; I know that loads of cool people
have known about them for ages but give us a break; we
got there in the end.
As you can see,
they look nails and they sound ace and they're
playing loads of shows in the next couple of months at a
venue near YOU. You can see how popular they are by the
amount of room they're taking up in the now-famous
salfordmusic dIARY
below. They've been on telly and one of their shows is
in a record shop: do you really need any more of a
recommendation than that? Get down there you fools!
And if you've not
already clicked on one of the links above to their
myspace site then you should do it NOW 'cos they've got
a new EP out entitled "Don't Expect Too Much"
which you can buy from iTunes via their site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disgraced former
Salfordian Adrian Flanagan brought his modest
effervescence to the right side of the pennines this
month with legendary outfit
Kings Have Long Arms. They played a rare
live show at The Deaf Institute on Grosvenor
Street in Manchester on April 12th.
Over the past
couple of years, KHLA have teamed up with pop
legends Mungo Jerry and Phil Oakey (amongt
others) and they currently have a single out featuring
the inimitable vocal talents of Candie Payne. The
new single is called "Big Umbrella" and you can
hear it and/or buy it
HERE.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back to
top
mARCH 2008
And
Jealous continue
their relentless campaign across the North West with an
ever-growing list of gig dates to note in your diary- as
well as a couple of sessions on the wireless. All the
relevant dates and times are included in the
salfordmusic dIARY.
They've also got
an EP out called "We Love You" and it's
apparently available from several outlets including
Vinyl Exchange and Vinyl Revival.
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