Local talent: The Answering Machine

Posted on 26th September 2009 at 6:52 am in The Answering Machine

The Answering Machine are a local Manchester band I’ve been a big fan of since their early days. I think the first time I saw them live was during July 2006 – at an Akoustik Anarkhy night at the Manchester Rampant Lion and a few days later at Salford Islington Mill.

Since those humble Fallowfield beginnings, the band have:

upgraded their drum machine (‘Mustafabeat’) with full-time member Ben Perry
played shows in New York, LA, Ibiza, Glastonbury, T In The Park & SXSW festivals
been personally invited to support the Manics on tour
graced magazine covers
won Steve Lamacq’s 6Music Rebel Playlist
appeared on Channel 4 concert series The JD Set
recorded sessions for Channel M, XFM and the BBC
been selected to appear on the FIFA 10 soundtrack next month

The Answering Machine released their excellent debut album Another City, Another Sorry back in June this year ("perfect pop songs… a fantastic debut" NME 8/10). Annoyingly the only Answering Machine tracks on Spotify are the two from their 2007 lo-fi single ‘Lightbulbs’, but if you like the sound of the YouTube videos from their recent Manchester Ruby Lounge gig (posted today), you can pick up the album from Amazon.co.uk – or even better, go and see them live next month!

The Answering Machine embark on a UK tour in October:

09.10.2009 – Carlisle Brickyard ( buy tickets )
10.10.2009 – Crewe Box ( SeeTickets )
12.10.2009 – York Fibbers ( buy tickets )
14.10.2009 – Bristol Louisiana ( buy tickets )
15.10.2009 – Nottingham Bodega ( buy tickets )
16.10.2009 – London Borderline ( buy tickets )
17.10.2009 – Leeds Cockpit ( SeeTickets )
20.10.2009 – Glasgow King Tuts ( buy tickets )

(Apparently the band are in the process of organizing a Manchester date)

» click to show all Answering Machine concerts and find tickets
or try this search on SeeTickets.com

The Answering Machine Discography

I love the band’s sleeve artwork… the logo, typeface and layout are wonderful but what really stands out are the beautiful images of Manchester by talented photographer Nicola Chipman