Music
Liverpool’s music scene featuring local bands and musicians as well as news on upcoming gigs from international and national touring acts
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The Ultimate Liverpool Gig Guide: March 2024
Orla Foster is back with a selection of some of the best gigs taking place in Liverpool this March. Low Girl (Saturday 2 March)The Shipping Forecast Tickets Hemel Hempstead might not be known for its musical exports, but Low Girl are about to change that. Describing their latest EP as an exercise in “desperate optimism”, their pensive yet uplifting dream-pop comes laced with 80s synth influences, masking their darker side with their appetite for a bop.…
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Africa Oyé Announces Julian Marley & Les Amazones d’Afrique As 2024 Festival Headliners
The son of music legend Bob Marley and a female supergroup will headline the acclaimed Africa Oyé Festival this summer. The powerful and creative force of Les Amazones d’Afrique will close proceedings on Saturday 22nd June, whilst Julian Marley, fresh off his Grammy win for Best Reggae Album earlier this month, tops the bill on Sunday with his band, The Uprising. The country’s biggest celebration of African and Caribbean music and culture is returning to Liverpool’s Sefton Park in 2024 following…
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In Conversation – Paul Iwan
Paul Iwan is one of the local musicians who operates the contemporary radar, but to those who know of him and his work, he is very much appreciated and respected. Lyrically challenging and sonically ambitious, we caught up with the man that Ray Davies of The Kinks called “…a songwriter of considerable skill…” Liverpool Noise: What have you been up to recently? Paul Iwan: Since releasing Present in 2022, I’ve been busy gigging, mainly in…
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Yard Act Support Release of Second Album With In-store Gig At Jacaranda Baltic
Where’s My Utopia? the follow up to the Yard Act’s critically-acclaimed debut record The Overload will be released on 1 March 2024. The new album is a co-production between Yard Act and Gorillaz member Remi Kabaka Jr. ‘Dream Job’s video was directed by James Slater, the band and director’s 7th collaboration (“with many more to come”). Speaking about ‘Dream Job’, Yard Act’s James Smith said: “‘Dream Job’ feels like an apt introduction to the themes…
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The Libertines To Play Liverpool As Part of Autumn 2024 UK Tour
The last gang in town The Libertines, who release their hotly anticipated new album All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade on 29 March, have announced a UK & Irish tour commencing in September and taking in two Liverpool’s Mountford Hall on Saturday 19 October 2024. The Libertines’ once-seen-never-forgotten live shows are here to save humanity from holograms, virtual reality and AI auto-tuned bullshit, so switch off your pocket-held marketing machine and come and experience raw…
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Micro-disco, The Fandangoe DISCOTECA, Comes To Royal Albert Dock
This spring, Royal Albert Dock Liverpool will be home to The Fandangoe DISCOTECA – a vibrant micro-disco offering a unique opportunity to dance away life’s worries. Created by multidisciplinary artist Annie Frost Nicholson, the dock will welcome the art installation for six weekends from 2 March to 6 April, including Mother’s Day and Easter bank holiday weekend. Located in Britannia Courtyard by The Beatles Story, The Fandangoe DISCOTECA will invite visitors to step inside from 12pm-3pm and…
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Red Rum Club’s Fourth Album ‘Western Approaches’ Makes Waves
It’s hard to believe that Red Rum Club are on their fourth studio album. This particular record has felt like we’ve been waiting a little longer than usual from their album-a-year releases between 2019-2022 but it’s definitely been worth the wait. Having been holed up in the industrial outskirts of the city in their rehearsal space, the title of the album Western Approaches is also the name of the area in Liverpool where cargo was sent from…
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Live Review: No Play Presents Blanket At The Kazimier Stockroom
The Kazimier Stockroom is a small venue. It’s tucked away on Seel Street as part of the Kazimier Garden. Tonight this tiny venue was packed out with fans eager to hear some live music. This evening’s showcase, held by No Play, has something for everyone. From shoegaze to metal; the bases are covered. The main attraction tonight is Blanket, with support from Rozemary, The Throwaway Scene and Split Chain. Rozemary. Credit: Will Robinson – @eyes_widephotography…
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Bunny Alex’s ‘Soft Spot’ Is A Melodic Manifestation of Romance
Bursting her way into 2024, Liverpool-based singer-songwriter, Bunny Alex provides a track for all of us hopeless romantics just in time for Valentine’s Day. With angelic vocals and an engagingly hopeful melody there’s something rather ethereal about this whole track. Taking us on a three-minute journey of finding and embracing those forming feelings of love, its beauty shines through so effortlessly. Sharing a similar bedroom pop style to that of Beabadoobee and MUNA it’s hard…
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Live Review: Malevolence At Liverpool O2 Academy
Following a sellout UK tour and an EU tour at the end of 2023, Sheffield hardcore band, Malevolence return to the stage for a run of intimate UK shows playing smaller venues than on their previous tour. With support from fellow Sheffield band Rough Justice, and New York hardcore band Pain of Truth, this was a tour not to be missed! So, let us set the scene: It’s a Monday night; The evening of the…
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Liverpool ONE Calls On Talented Buskers To Showcase Their Talents
Talented musicians will have the chance to showcase their skills as part of a brand new busking programme at Liverpool ONE. Launching on 8 February, Liverpool ONE Live offers buskers the chance to take to the streets at 12 locations across the retail and entertainment destination, providing a backdrop of music to visitors from across Liverpool City Region and beyond. From experienced performers and up-and-coming talent to budding music maestros and visiting artists, the programme…
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Motel Sundown Return With Upbeat Anthem ‘Lost Time’
Fresh from their triumphant appearance at the Black Deer Festival and the latest single Midnight Blue, Motel Sundown unveils their latest musical offerings Lost Time, and the timing couldn’t be more impeccable. This upbeat and driven anthem marks a change from their slower folkier style, showcasing the band’s versatility and songwriting talents. As you dive into Lost Time, it’s evident that Motel Sundown have found a new gear in their sound. The chorus, with its echoes of rich harmonies and…
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New Noise February 2024 Music Roundup
January doesn’t seem to be the longest month anymore, and as life seems to get quicker, the first month of the year seems to disappear in a flash. But the second month of 2024 gifts some great local musical releases to our ears… First up we have The Guize, who never ever disappoint. Bardo House, their new single, is full of great tune-age and riff-age, delivered with a huge dollop of Guize campness. This would…
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Jim Pearson And Mike Ryan Win The Liverpool Acoustic Songwriting Challenge 2023
The Liverpool Acoustic Songwriting Challenge 2023 Showcase Final took place at LEAF on Bold Street on Saturday 27 January 2024. A packed venue saw each of the finalists performing their song with a picture of the work of art that inspired it projected onto the big screen for all to see. At the end of the night Jim Pearson was announced as the winner of the Judges’ Award for 2023 for The Boy With The Red Hat, a song…
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Sound City Announce More Acts, New-Look Conference & Sponsors For 2024 Festival
Sound City is set to land in force this May with another essential weekend pointing towards the future of new music into 2024 and beyond. With even more unmissable artists confirmed across the weekend and news of a new-look and industry-leading conference programme there’s plenty to get excited about. Sound City Forum Sound City Forum is a fresh new voice in the music industry landscape bringing together those working across the music industry, artists, entrepreneurs…
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Milap Announce Spring 2024 Programme of Indian Music
Whilst Autumn saw the return of the renowned Indika Festival, a New Year offers an opportunity to embrace fresh starts with Milap’s thoughtfully crafted Spring season. Immerse yourself in a harmonious blend of Milap favourites, innovative East-meets-West compositions, and a headline performance by “India’s leading sitar player” – appearing for the first time ever in Liverpool. The Spring Season will begin with Milap’s annual return to the Liverpool International Jazz Festival, on Saturday 24 February, with The Attuned Quartet. The…
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The Ultimate Liverpool Gig Guide: February 2024
Orla Foster once again provides a rundown on some of the best gigs happening in Liverpool this February. Black Borough (Thursday 1 Feb)MetrocolaTickets An unmissable line-up boasting some of the premier names in Liverpool hip-hop, from the award-winning Blue Saint to a headline set from Black Borough: a dextrous trio combining the skyhigh talents of MC Nelson, Dayzy and Starkey the Messenger. Expect big things from MC Nelson in 2024 – he’s almost ready to…
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LIMF Academy To Host Unforgettable Musical Experience At Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Liverpool International Music Festival Academy has partnered with Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Session Orchestra to create an unforgettable musical experience in the iconic Liverpool Philharmonic Hall this February, putting the city’s finest young musical talent on one of the country’s most illustrious stages. Taking place on Saturday 3 February, this annual collaboration brings together musicians from Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Company with the best of LIMF Academy artists. Guests can expect to hear an extraordinary blend of musical flair…
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Novelty Island ‘Taped Over’ EP Review
Following the release of his single 1102, Novelty Island (aka multi-instrumentalist and producer, Tom McConnell) is set to release his next psychedelic-pop EP, Taped Over. A companion record to Wallsend Weekend Television, also recorded during his time at Abbey Road Institute, Taped Over is the awaited addition into McConnell’s imaginative, sonic world. It’s a sound that could easily be praised for its dreamy melodies and solid progressions but instead takes it that bit further with…
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Bill Ryder-Jones ‘Iechyd Da’ Album Review
The word “masterpiece” has dogged Bill Ryder-Jones’ career. It’s been used to anoint the elegant, conceptually-driven If…, the sparse and sorrowful A Bad Wind Blows in My Heart, the more radio-friendly West Kirby Country Primary and sombre Yawn. But being so heavily garlanded doesn’t always seem to sit well with him. If you’ve seen him live, brusquely fending off demands to play Two to Birkenhead, you’ll recognise a tortured relationship between writing authentically about his…
