Salt Magazine

Ambient punk and sexism in Manchester with CURRENTMOODGIRL

By: Joe Ronan 19th June 2022

Last time I called Greta Carroll, the artist who makes music as CURRENTMOODGIRL, she was sitting in a bar in Brighton drinking an Aperol spritz. This time she’s in the middle of buying Iceboy Violet’s new EP — in the middle of listening to it too, judging from the sounds crackling down the line. Carroll’s…

Inside Manchester Camerata as the orchestra turns 50

By: Tom Taylor 6th June 20226th June 2022

MusicDeep Dive

A group of care home residents take up their places in a circle in the living room. In the centre is a table with percussion instruments: bells, shakers, little drums, big drums. A music therapist joins them, playing a cheerful tune on the keyboard that addresses each resident by name. “You might not realise if…

Manchester’s independent bookshop renaissance

By: Morys Davies 24th April 202224th April 2022

ArtsLiterature

When Magma shut its doors on Oldham street almost two years ago, after serving Manchester’s creatives, students and book lovers for almost 20 years, many felt as if a part of the city’s heart had been lost. Tim Bell managed the shop from 2008 and he tells me about the challenges the independent magazine industry…

The joy of queer dance floors in Manchester

By: Vic Saule 16th April 202216th April 2022

MusicDeep Dive

There is something magical about the dance floor of a club. From the early days of house music in Chicago, techno clubs in Detroit and Berlin, and the UK’s rave scene in the ‘90s, comes a well-documented narrative of love, joy and euphoria. The dance floor is a space synonymous with the gathering of queer…

A Blues: Rat Heart’s forward-looking ensemble LP

By: Tom Taylor 28th March 202219th June 2022

MusicReviews

In an interview with Loud and Quiet, Space Afrika’s Joshua Inyang and Joshua Reid were asked to talk about musicians they admire who have slipped under the radar. “Rat Heart is one of the UK’s most talented producers, hands down,” Inyang says. “Honestly, you go and speak to anyone in Manchester. And I think every…

How residential developers are quietening culture

By: Lily Gordon Brown 25th February 20226th June 2022

PhotographyPhoto Essay

In November 2021, Northern Quarter bar Night & Day shared a post on their social media platforms concerning a Noise Abatement Notice that had been served by Manchester City Council. The Notice was the result of a new resident who had moved to the area during lockdown and filed a complaint, not the first the…

How an art project is preserving British-Pakistani oral histories through cassette tapes

By: Yasmin Al-najar 13th February 202224th April 2022

ArtsGallery

As the anniversary of his father’s death approached, Wajid Yaseen searched for a set of cassette tapes holding recordings of his father singing naats, a form of Islamic devotional hymn. Listening to the tapes transported Yaseen back to his childhood and days he spent singing with his father. While reminiscing, he came across another set…

The Runner: A beautiful, if self-indulgent, audio-visual album from Boy Harsher

By: Joe Ronan 7th February 202224th April 2022

ArtsScreen

Boy Harsher’s directorial debut, The Runner, is an intriguing project. The moody, Massachusetts-based electronic duo released their short film and its soundtrack together ahead of their US and European tour this year. It’s a beautifully shot horror set in the eerie prairies of middle America, interspersed with a meta documentary about the band’s recording process.…

Rainy Miller: Myspace, Preston and the long 90s

By: Tom Taylor 21st January 202225th February 2022

MusicInterviews

During Rainy Miller’s teenage years, grime ripped through Preston. Kids would write their own lyrics and send for each other on beats ripped from Limewire. “In every friendship group or every estate throughout the city, there was someone who had got hold of a USB microphone or managed to jank some recording software,” he says. …

Cathy Jain on dream-pop, youth and the authentic self

By: Tom Taylor 10th January 202228th March 2022

MusicInterviews

At a time when their formative moments are being stifled by the pandemic, Cathy Jain speaks to an introspective generation’s desire for authentic experiences. Sometimes we just wanna be some melodramatic teens, she reassures fans on green screen, a track from her debut EP artificial. The release explores the curiosity and naivety of youth and…