Cath Aubergine’s musical guide to Manchester

As for three great unsigned Manchester acts? Right now I’d plump for the gloriously summery indie-pop of AMIDA (yes, the sun’s even shining in Manchester today!), the excellent intense space-rock of THE SECOND FLOOR and the slightly deranged one-man electronic pop cynic that is THE STARFIGHTER PILOT.


As for three great unsigned Manchester acts? Right now I’d plump for the gloriously summery indie-pop of AMIDA (yes, the sun’s even shining in Manchester today!), the excellent intense space-rock of THE SECOND FLOOR and the slightly deranged one-man electronic pop cynic that is THE STARFIGHTER PILOT.

Cath Aubergine’s musical guide to Manchester


 


 


By way of Introduction


Not so long ago (well, last week to be precise), Incendiary asked a close confidant in matters musical, Cath Aubergine, to give her opinion on the state of the music world in her home patch; the fair and industrious city of Manchester.


 


Of particular interest to us were those Mancunians who had got it together enough to put their “product” on the (ahem) “phenomenon” that is Myspace. As you may have guessed by now, this was a particularly lazy attempt to put an article together using Cath’s unbeatable and shamanic knowledge of Manchester‘s current musical map. Well, that’s lazy journos for you. All we offered in recompense was an unashamed plug of both Cath’s nerve centre www.myspace.com/upthedownescalator (for indeed is a bloody sight more together musically than the gossip factory that passes for our myspace site), and the place where her work can be found, which is www.manchestermusic.co.uk.


 


(On a personal note I also promise not to dribble, or jump on you again. Can’t say fairer than that…)


 


Okay, read on.


 


Cath Aubergine’s musical guide to Manchester


 


Here we go Richard, all people have got to do is open my Myspace (www.myspace.com/upthedownescalator ) friends pages; there are loads of bands in there, so to save you the bother here are my personal faves…


 


You can also cross reference most of these with manchestermusic www.myspace.com/manchestermusiccouk (use the search function) for past reviews etc…


 


As for three great unsigned Manchester acts? Right now I’d plump for the gloriously summery indie-pop of AMIDA www.myspace.com/amidaband (yes, the sun’s even shining in Manchester today!), the excellent intense space-rock of THE SECOND FLOOR www.myspace.com/thesecondfloorband and the slightly deranged one-man electronic pop cynic that is THE STARFIGHTER PILOT www.myspace.com/thestarfighterpilot   .


 


 


 


So there you go readers, an excellent recommendation, and a little challenge for you all. To find the bands in question you can either search via the myspace search engine or root through Cath’s friends file on www.myspace.com/upthedownescalator.  (Cath’s myspace friends) page 1 Moco. I just saw them tonight. Been going 6 years and I’ve seen them 40 times. Steve is right up there with Noble (BSP) for onstage stupids. Bobbie Peru. Dark, Chameleons-ish vibes page 2 Mr Thompson. Utterly unique part throat-singing, part opera lunatic…


Air Cav.  Nice violin-based postrock indie. Movement. Dirty and gripping rock and roll in a way the Libertines could never master. Omerta. Soaring North-Manc indie rock with electronic bleepy bits. The Ending Of. Gothy postpunk, saw them tonight too! The VCs. Sci-fi surf punk from Wigan.


page 3 The Tides. Very commercial, could do stadiums. Coldplay with passion and good songs. Liam Frost. Singer songwriter will be massive soon. Starfighter. I love him… No*Tokyo. Stone Roses Dovesy stuff; teenagers, fucking ace live. Fear of Music. They’ve just signed to BMG/Sony. And they deserve it. The Second Floor.  The second coming of Spacemen 3! Laymar. Excellent icy postrock.


 


page 4 Stranger son of wb.  The Fall with a demented sax and scarier. Belief System.  Less than 10 gigs old and making big waves. Talk Talk-style 80s dark pop. Cherry Ghost. Blues-country dark things. page 5 The Children. The biggest unsigned band in Manchester. Retro blues, party Hammond organ music. Amida. Jangly and lovely. The Library Trust. Quiet spooky one man bedroom indie… page 6 Liam Fray. An angry young working class singer songwriter who swears a lot. Bureau. Early Duran Duran!! The Whip. The best electropop band in town. page 7 Billy Ruffian. The Fall meets the ‘Biscuits… DILE. Ska punk goth-pop mentalism; listen to “Garstang” and you will piss yourself. Lord Mongo. Cardboard loving freak, should be sectioned. Enjoy them all! Love Cath x