Simon Jay Catling

Algiers

There Is No Year

Confidence is never something that’s been lacking with Algiers, but with their third album there’s a sense that now, more than ever, they’ve got it down as to how best to direct it, finds Simon Jay Catling

LWW

3PE

A reassuring check-in on a brilliantly inventive artist who proves that he still has plenty of creative paths to explore.

Housewives

Work

Xam

Tone Systems

Sauna Youth

Distractions

Virginia Wing

Measures Of Joy

Hookworms Get Ready For A Lost Weekend

Hookworms invite Vision Fortune, Ultimate Painting, Cold Pumas and more to Salford for a two-dayer at the end of this month

LISTEN: New We Came Out Like Tigers

Stream the Ever-Crushed At Pecket's Well EP in full ahead of its release

Honest To Goodness: Future Islands Interviewed

Simon Jay Catling celebrates the hard-working Baltimore synth pop trio whose moment is at hand after some nifty footwork on David Letterman

LISTEN: New MiSTOA POLTSA

Stream new EP You Could Tell It Was Alive When It Died in full and watch the video for TLD below

Housewives

Housewives

Miracle

Mercury

Straight From The Subconscious: Melt Yourself Down Interviewed

With new project Melt Yourself Down, Pete Wareham of Acoustic Ladyland and his crew of merry travellers whip up a storm of frenzied rhythms and vibrant splashes of colour, inspired by the music of North Africa. Simon Jay Catling enters the hothouse

LIVE REPORT: Sounds From The Other City

Simon Jay Catling reports back his findings from Salford's multi-venue, multi-genre all dayer, care of a literally roof-crumbling performance from Queer'd Science and an outdoor drumming troupe

Blue Hawaii

Untogether

React In Kind Or Get The F**k Out: Queer’d Science Interviewed

Manchester's Queer'd Science are fast establishing themselves as one of the UK's most thrilling and visceral bands, a whiplash whirl of barked vocals, alien-chirp guitars and strobing rhythms. The trio meet Simon Jay Catling to discuss how beneath their harsh exterior lies a message of inclusivity

Gnod

Chaudelande

Esben & The Witch

Wash The Sins Not Only The Face

Ninetails

Slept And Did Not Sleep

Music For Mallet Musicians: Ex-Easter Island Head Interviewed

Using mallets and guitars, Liverpool's Ex-Easter Island Head whip up tropical storm clouds of rhythm and natural reverberation. Simon Jay Catling speaks to the band's Benjamin Duvall about minimalism and making hypnotic music for £5 worth of bamboo

Sam Willis

Winterval

LIVE REPORT: I Like Trains

Simon Catling puts an eloquent case for the brilliance of I Like Trains, a most magnificent and underestimated group after their gig at Manchester Deaf Institute. Picture by Michael J Connolly

Efterklang

Piramida

Muse

The 2nd Law

Erol Alkan

Another Bugged Out Mix & Bugged In Selection

Yeasayer

Fragrant World

Ghosting Season

The Very Last Of The Saints

Mohn

Mohn

Regaining Control: An Interview With Stalking Horse

Neil Widdop, formerly of Leeds post-punk crew This Et Al, returned this year as Stalking Horse with debut album Specters. Simon Jay Catling caught up with him to talk the risks and myths of the music industry

I Like Trains

The Shallows

Blondes

Blondes

Labyrinths: An Interview With Fairewell

Johnny White, the man behind Fairewell's translucent bedroom pop, takes Simon Jay Catling on a pleasingly roundabout tour through his recent album Poor, Poor Grendel