Chloe Foy’s debut album ‘Where Shall We Begin’ has been a long time in the making. The Manchester-based singer-songwriter’s latest folk release features haunting, introspective lyrics that tell a story spanning ten years. I caught up with Foy to discuss the album, her difficult relationship with streaming services and the live music scene in Manchester.…
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A distinctive concrete frieze overhangs the entrance to Leigh Library. It was designed for the building’s opening in 1971 by the late William Mitchell, an experimental sculptor and artist from London. His work, which pioneered new ways of working with glass-reinforced concrete and poured resin, can also be found on the grounds of Salford University…
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Graffiti-covered streets, flamboyant outfits, alleyways soaked in punk rock. This was my first impression of Manchester. I scoured the streets as the sun set, looking for the Soup Kitchen. It’s a small basement venue in the Northern Quarter, with low lighting and grungy brick walls. I was there to see the experimental artist Ecco2k whose…
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On the day that Boris Johnson announced lockdown, Liam Fallon’s studio set on fire. He got out safely, but the building burnt down. One year later, Fallon received a message: Johann König, founder of the esteemed KÖNIG GALERIE in Berlin, had bought some of his work. “I was just lying in bed. At that point…
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The brand spanking new skyscrapers at Deansgate Square are enormous. You can’t miss them; walking through Manchester it feels like all roads lead to these four glass towers. If you look down Mosley Street or Oldham Street, they’re looming at the end. Inside, it feels like you’re in a hotel lobby – lots of glass,…
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Festival organisers across the UK must have watched this year’s launch of Abandon Normal Devices (AND) with a great deal of envy a fortnight ago. Despite the planned easing of Covid restrictions, many festivals have announced a second year of cancellations. Boomtown sold out in February but have now had to call the music festival…
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Un, dos, tres…responda otra vez was a hugely popular Spanish game show that aired for ten series between 1972 and 2004. In-between quiz rounds, there were dance numbers with extravagant costumes and high energy music. Yos Clark used to watch it every single day with his family growing up in the suburbs of Abidjan, the…
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In a time in which everything has felt increasingly sanitised, Manchester-based art collective Studio SCUM is returning to the idea of filth as something liberating and transgressive. FILTH is the title of their most recent project. It takes the form of a zine: fifty pages of text and imagery. There is poetry, prose, photography, sculpture,…
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We’re excited to share the playlist we made for Levy Market’s mixtape series. The market has asked local record labels, venues and independent music organisations to put together playlists that are played at Levenshulme Market and available to listen to online. The series is raising money for the Musician’s Union Coronavirus Hardship Fund and listeners…
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As part of her Masters at Salford University, filmmaker and spoken word poet Lissi Simpson created Mėxed. The short film combines poetry and dance to explore mixed-race people’s relationships with the word ‘frizzy’ and draws on her own experience as a bi-racial British-Jamaican woman. I caught up with Simpson ahead of the film’s screening at…
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