Air Cav played a gig at the Manchester Night & Day a few weeks ago (Saturday 10th May), and the Channel M cameras were there to record the show. The gig was broadcast on the channel over the Bank Holiday weekend (Mon 26th May @ 10pm) - but if you missed it you can check it out below:

The songs aired were:

‘A Call to Arms’
‘Friendly Fire’
‘Alliance’
‘Branches’
‘Embers’

You can catch Air Cav live at the Wychwood Festival in Gloucestershire on Friday 30th May, and at Manchester Fuel on Saturday June 7th

The band release their new single ‘Embers/Picking at the Bones’ on 7th July 2008 and plan to hold a party to celebrate the release of the record on Saturday 5th July

Air Cav Links:
- Air Cav Official Site
- Air Cav MySpace

The very wonderful Manchester-based The Tim and Sam band (and their tune ‘Put Your Slippers On’) have been used by the Co-operative bank in an advert to “celebrate the Co-Op’s 15th anniversary of their unique customer-led Ethical Policy”

IndieMusicBlog were lucky enough to catch the band (billed as Tim And Sam’s Tim And Sam Band With Tim And Sam) live last month at Blowout in Chorlton, and we’re definitely new converts.

We’ve been obsessed with San Diego’s The Album Leaf for the best part of a year, so we were delighted to discover a homegrown band that plucked similar heartstrings

The band are currently recording their debut album, and have a few Manchester dates coming up in the next month - check their MySpace for details

You can watch the advert on Youtube or check it out below:

Tim And Sam Band - Put Your Slippers On

The 2-minute animated feature has been created by matteblackfilms / Aaran Brady

If you like the sound of that, then you can also watch/listen to the beautiful ‘Join The Dots’ on Youtube or listen to 5 songs on the Tim And Sam Band’s MySpace

Tim And Sam Band - Join The Dots

Manchester bands Autokat, Carlis Star and Whiskycats are playing tonight (Monday 28th April 2008) at the Manchester235 casino as part of the Manic Monday broadcast live on 96.2FM The Revolution

To gain entry to the casino you have to bring along Photo ID…..it’s £5 entry on the night but if you email Jacquie at The Revolution before or early on Monday you can get on the FREE guestlist. The doors open tonight at 19:30pm, but if you can’t make it then you can still listen to the show online

Meanwhile, Autokat are playing again later this week (Friday 2nd May 2008) at Blowout at the Chorlton Irish Club in Manchester. Also on the bill are Delphic, Mutineers and Autokat’s new drummer Mike Joyce (ex-The Smiths) will be DJing alongside the Blowout residents. Doors at 9.30pm

Related links:
Autokat’s official website
Autokat’s Facebook Page
Autokat’s MySpace
Carlis Star’s MySpace
Whiskycats’ MySpace
Blowout’s MySpace
Mutineer’s MySpace

So this year’s Manchester In The City has been and gone - how was it for you? A fixture pile-up in the days before ITC even started (on Friday last week), meant that I went to gigs five out six nights in the row… and have been paying for it all this week. I took photos at most of the shows I went to, but only on my smaller digital camera - I didn’t trust myself getting pissed whilst trying to look after expensive equipment!

In the days leading up to ITC I saw:-

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It’s rare that I anticipate or think about a gig months in advance, but for this week’s incredible double header of Midlake and Sufjan Stevens I’ve been counting down the days since I bought my tickets way back in August…

Tonight saw the mighty Midlake play the Manchester Academy 3 (Sufjan plays tomorrow downstairs at the Academy 2). I’ve hammered Midlake’s album - The Trials Of Van Occupanther - to death this year. It’s a definite contender for my album of the year, and one that gets better with each listen. Lush orchestral arrangements and a real pathos about it… it feels like a classic album from the 70s/80s… Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, (with a bit of Flaming Lips and Grandaddy thrown into the mix)

And talking of the mix, this is perhaps where tonight’s gig was a slight letdown… Before I’d even stepped foot into the venue I’d already given this show 10/10 in my head. I guess it was always going to be hard to reproduce the album live onstage with just 5 band members. The vocals at time seemed buried under the bass heavy sound, and the absense of a live violinist or trombonist, for me, meant the difference between this being a classic show and just a great gig. I’ve probably give it around 7.5/10 but I’d love to see them again

Here’s a couple of wonky photos from the audience:

• 20061101 Midlake - Manchester Academy 3

Loose Canon played Akoustik Anarkhy last night at the Manchester Gardens Hotel. I figured things would be starting around 9pm, so I got there about 8:50pm only to find I’d missed the whole of It’s A Buffalo’s set and half of the Canon. Ah well… at least I managed to get a few snaps:

More photos after the jump…

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WOW! Cansei de Ser Sexy were off the scale tonight. What a fucking rickydiculously amazing show! Do not miss this band on their current UK tour. A few quick pics below - this post will be updated later today with a few more snaps…

^ thanks to the lead singer Lovefoxxx for posing for this shot after the show!

• 20060905 Cansei de Ser Sexy - Manchester Roadhouse

Last week, as well as watching Broken Social Scene (see photos here), I also saw sometime BSS-member Emily Haines aka Metric at the Manchester Life Cafe:

(^ thanks to the girl who let me take a photo of her setlist!)

More photos after the jump….

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I took a roadtrip to Sheffield on Friday night with a group of friends to see Broken Social Scene at the Leadmill. This gig has gotta rank as one of my favourite gigs of all time… flawless from start to finish. Here’s my photos from the night:

More photos after the jump…

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I caught The Aliens at Manchester Night and Day last Friday. The band comprises former Beta Band members John Maclean and Robin Jones, along with original Beta and Lone Pigeon (Gordon Anderson). Make sure you check out their videos for Robot Man and The Happy Song on YouTube .. some incredible dancing!

Here’s a few photos from the Manchester gig:

More after the jump….

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