LTW Newsletter 42

Welcome Warriors!

It’s that time of year when we peer up at the skies and hold our fingers to the wind whilst consulting the endless array of weather apps - yup festival season!

This is a time of the year when the great British weather rudely interrupts everything with its endless tears and ancient fields are full of clothing combinations that you would never be seen in like baseball caps and wellies that suddenly emerge at opposite ends off most bodies - not that we would wear such a thing at LTW!!

We are currently typing this week’s newsletter from the muddy fields of Bluedot festival that takes place in the shadow of then iconic Jodrell Bank in Cheshire. The festival mixes science and music in that grand tradition of northern culture like the festival that Louder Than War put on a couple of years before Bluedot in Manchester were we interviewed CERN scientists on stage and was headlined by the Membranes.

It’s not all been festivals here though!

There has been lots of other stuff going on…

Pixies played a secret gig at Manchester’s Band On The Wall. The 41 song strong set that was being filmed in the 400 cap venue was the hottest ticket in town and of course we were there to review it. The band had only just played Manchester but over the years have been such a part of the city’s musical eco system that they feel like a home town band! There was a time in the early nineties when their then manager lived in the city and they would spend months here rehearsing and popping up at local gigs and very welcome they were too…

The Manchester of the early nineties that Pixies knew then has transformed from the world’s first post industrial city of the time to the world’s first post punk city of the now. The latest addition to the new look city is the conversion of one of the abandoned iconic railway viaducts in the city centre Castlefield are into a stunning urban walkway and garden. The original structure was built by the same people who built Blackpool tower and it looks amazing from street level and to actually walk on it through the new gardens is really fab. A whole new vista of the gloriously confident surrounding city whose buildings chime to the endless vibrations of Joy Division’s architectural music gleams in the rain!

The Rare Vitamin Records Diversion event finally took place after 2 years of Covid interuptions and the Northwhich festival headlined by the heroic Lovely Eggs was a big success according to our reviewer.

New artist Camilla George plays a stunning sax that she entwines around afrobeat grooves and trip hop shuffles - its enticing and hypnotic and definitely recommended.

The Manic Street Preachers had a clean out behind their settee and discovered a long lost track called ‘Rosebud’ which had remained unreleased until now - have listen to this period piece here…The song will be featured on the deluxe edition of Manic Street Preachers’ sixth album Know Your Enemy.

This deluxe release includes two previously unheard tracks Studies in Paralysis and Rosebud, which is available online today. With its ringing guitars and electronic organ in the chorus, the song has a distinct Britpop flavour. Fittingly, the accompanying video induces nostalgia. Directed by Kieran Evans, it contains 70s footage from the BBC archive.

Ty Segall has returned from his synth dabbles with a new album that is mainly am acoustic trip that passes through shades of plaintive yet melodic desire, casting an irresistible spell as it goes.

Our reviewer add. ‘Surely with his prolific nature, he must have at least another album’s worth of this, and I for one would love to hear more. That said, you can bet that his next album will probably throw us another curveball. For now, as we melt, let Hello Hi just wash over you and let it take you drifting away.’

Over the past thirteen years, Dawes have carved out a distinct sound, with a warmer and brighter feeling than many of their more autumnal sounding contemporaries in the indie-folk world. Their new album with its very timely dystopian title has caught the eye and ears of our reviewer.

Punk Festival, Scotland Calling, has given us a the last few tickets to sell - so if you feel like an evening of loud and noisy punk classic in a sweaty big hall full of wild eyed yet golden hearted folk then hurry up to this link and secure yourself a ticket…

One of the weird things about doing a website for years it to see which articles have the real longevity. Of course some of the classic written pieces stand for ever and massive bands tick along but one that seems indestructible is ’50 worst band names’ that gets hundreds of hits every day from all over the world. The frankly revolting band name list is endlessly popular...

Being former glam rock kids many of us at LTW towers have always held a special devotion to Marc Bolan. We will celebrate his genius at the drop of a stove pipe mad hatter hat! Those endlessly brilliant songs with those beautifully image laden lyrics that soared our hearts and minds back in our teenage years still resonate to this day!

So we are happy to support the upcoming gig in September that is to mark the 45th anniversary of his tragic and heartbreaking car crash.

Eater released the third punk single - imagine that! After the famous Pistols and The Damned stand off for the first punk single it was a bunch of 14 year old kids who got the next one out. They were sniffed at the time for their impossible youth but time itself has been kind to the band and their catalogue stands the test of decades and many bands have been name dropping them recently - including Dinosaur Jnr whose upcoming September tour sees a special slot for the punk classic group for their first comeback gig.

Like everyone in the Manchester music family we were heartbroken at the death of the Happy Monday’s iconic bass player, Paul Ryder.

Remembering Paul Ryder is a brilliant piece written by a fan of the band and talks about Paul as a person, a human being and how it helped the writer himself deal with his own drug issues.

At LTW we have always loved people who swim up river and somehow boycott the prevailing wind of fashion and the deadweight of consensus. Grunge Pop Records have been trying to ignite a grunge revival for a couple of years and they have great stable of bands to to do this with. Their secret weapon could be the 17 year old youth in Manchester band, Stereotyped. The band’s debut album is a magnificent work with the required power, intensity and dynamics but also great heartfelt songs.

Paul Conroy : the John Robb interview is an in depth conversation about the famous war photographer’s experiences on the frontline in Syria where he was blown up next to his Sunday Times collage and leading war correspondent, Maria Calvin who sadly died. It’s a harrowing and powerful story beautifully told by the photographer who was also once the engineer on the La’s 'There She Goes’ in one of those Rimbaud style double lives that you cant quite get your head around.