Ahoy there! What’s that smell of dubious vodka and sound of
ambulances carting hoards of passed-out teenagers in the air?
Ah yes, must be Fresher’s Week, again, already...
If you are indeed one of those “freshers”, you’ll most likely be
reading this with the ominous prospect of yet another night out
at The Printworks, or perhaps Walkabout, looming over your
day like a dark cloud of tequila-driven, Taio Cruz-filled misery.
But fear not, Other Sounds is out to save the day for the music
lovers of Manchester.
Think anarchic collective of various weird and wonderful
characters with nothing necessarily in common except a shared
passion for everything that Maroon 5 are not and you’ll probably be on the money. This year
Other Sounds is going to be bigger and better than ever: gigs, club nights, mix-tape swaps,
ticket discounts, film nights and other random music-related meet-ups, and of course a regular
edition of this lovely Journal – basically anything we can unconvincingly connect to those
lovely alternative sounds we all indulge in.
So get stuck in, check out our blog and Facebook page, make mixtapes, listen to music really
loud to piss off your flatmates, and remember that Other Sounds is here to help you in any way
we can (musically). You’ve come to a city with one of the best music heritages in the world – let
this society help you make the most of it. P.S. That photo on the front cover is me.
Adam Sharma Head of Other Sounds
Hello everyone, fresher or otherwise. I hope you all had a fun
summer. I managed to walk the entire length of a swimming
pool whilst doing an underwater handstand. It was a life
affirming moment for me and has since become my new
favorite skill, I hope you spent your time as, if not more,
productively.
When not upside down under water, myself and a team of
industrious writers have been hard at work, putting together
the first issue of the Other Sounds Journal. Whilst this issue of
the journal has been billed as a ‘Freshers Guide’, I hope it will
prove useful to any music lovers that should happen to pick it
up; for freshers, as an invaluable source of knowledge to help you get the most out of
Manchester’s brilliant music scene as quickly as possible, for grizzly veterans, student or
not, may you discover something new, for anyone else, I’m sure this Journal will make a
perfectly serviceable fly swatter or door-stop, have fun with it.
That’s my Albus Dumbledore like welcome speech out of the way, enjoy the journal!
Eliot Haworth Editor
design and illustration: Hari XRC
cover photo: Magnus Aske Blikeng
photography: Edwin Dorley
Design a Wave is Tom Hirst from the brilliant
Cleckhuddersfax, making synth sounds;
funky and otherwise. Apparently named after
a gang from the film Surf Nazis Must Die (2.9
on imdb means I have to see this film NOW),
he has released a cassette on Sex is Disgusting
and an LP on Alter records, Brighton and
London based respectively. The story is
familiar: home-recorded, one man pop songs,
but Design a Wave is not well suited for
comparison to John Maus or Ariel Pink.
Whilst not as pop as these guys it’s still ‘pop’,
just drawn out and groaned; 10 minute
repetitive bass-lines and lots of songs about
snakes. Side B of Snake Jam (the cassette)
starts off with ‘Magicar’, where a bass-line so
in debt to ‘Rappers Delight’ it’s unreal
accompanies scratched barely-funk guitar
and a freezing cold synth- the song just keeps
on going, it is bizarre, no vocals of course.
The only track on the cassette with any
developed vocals is the opening to side A:
‘You Don’t Know Hey’. Tom’s vocals are
deep, drawn out, reverbed and delayed to
shit (even more so live). Repetition is the key
here, same words, same bass line. Design a
Wave is inherently funky, it’s 100% the basslines. It grooves. The last track of the side,
‘Rat Jam’ is weirdo stoned-out dub, here the
bass leads, synths weave over the top,
scraping and scratching along. After at least 8
minutes of the same bass over and over and
over, it becomes pretty much impossible not
to shake hips a little. It’s an odd experience to
listen to 10 minutes of someone moaning
‘snnnaaaaaakkkkeeeeeeeeeee’ into a mic
followed seamlessly by stunning 3 minute
pop songs - Design a Wave is a dance party
for sure, just a slightly weird one.
designawave.co.uk
soundcloud.com/deswav
Chris Piggot
Lambrusco
Made in Italy, via Bulgaria
R.R.P. £1
Somewhat the unisex counterpart to
the radge-ambrosia that is Lambrini, at
7-10.5% Lambrusco has a more mansized alcohol content. Though batches do
vary, at a pound a bottle this has become the
tipple of choice for many students with a
gutter low budget. Possesses a vinegary
and tangy aroma, with a lively
acidity, and depending on the batch,
a sweet or sour tendency. Look out
for the crystals that form in the
bottom of some bottles, allegedly
the sign of a quality vintage. Good
to serve with fish, poultry, or more
commonly a punch around the face
and a pack of lambert and butler
superkings.
Sophie Slater
If, like me, you spend much of your time
working out what things you don’t really need
in your life in order to have more money to
spend on round bits of plastic, then you’ve
found yourself in an ideal city. Manchester is
full of quality record shops, most helpfully
clustered around Oldham Street just north of
the city centre. This is far from a complete
s urv ey; for that I can’t recom me n d
www.recordshopcity.co.uk enough.
The first record shop I went to in Manchester
was Clampdown Records on Paton Street
after stumbling across it on an idle wander. I
entered, heard they were playing the 12” mix
of Hard Times by The Human League and
bought a mint copy of The Drill by Wire. This
is in many ways typical of Manc record shops
– excellent variety of stock, new and old, in
varying conditions, slightly cramped, friendly
staff, and a specialism in local music. Vinyl
Revival on Hilton Street is the best example of
this last characteristic, with about a third of
their racks being given over Factory Records,
and much of the rest of the shop focusing on
Manchester’s 60s music scene. If you’re after
that missing Crispy Ambulance 7”, this is your
best bet. The excellent collection of original
Factory poster art on the walls is also worth
going to have a look at.
If you’re a fan of anything from post-Disco to
whatever they’re calling post-Dubstep this
week, Eastern Bloc on Oldham Street is the
shop for you. Founded by 808 State, it was
one of the centres of ‘Madchester’, but hasn’t
stopped moving forwards. Stocking mostly
Joshua Brooks
Although a friend once
said to me on having invited her to this
popular student hang-out, "never again that
den of iniquities" JB is a rite of passage for any
fresher. The sweaty, murky depths play host to
a variety of events; from decent DJs to shit
dubstep and deserted northern soul nights.
However, it is perhaps best known for the
increasingly packed out and daunting
wednesday ritual of Juicy. If you like grinding,
being sweaty and listening to R. Kelly, (which
12” and almost entirely new releases, it can be
a bit of an intimidating experience to the
uninitiated, but is well worth a visit even if
you’re not after anything specific. In the same
vein, but on a much more general and larger
scale is Piccadilly Records, also on Oldham
Street. In many ways the primus inter pares of
Manchester’s music emporia, it stocks mostly
vinyl, and is split about half between bleeding
edge releases and a well fleshed back
catalogue. My personal favourites are the
psych/drone and weird shit sections, though
there really is something for everyone. They
have an excellent, comprehensive website, and
you can order to collect in store – they run out
of popular new releases quickly! It is also one
of the few places left in Manchester where
you can buy gig tickets with actual cash in an
actual physical building.
Finally, my favourite, the shop that has taken
the most of my money in Manchester: Vinyl
Exchange (again on Oldham Street). A
frighteningly comprehensive back catalogue,
one floor is CDs, the other vinyl. A whole
range of prices can be found, from £1 promo
CD-Rs to mint condition rarities edging near
£100. The fact that only a selection of the stock
is on display at any one time and the frankly
disorienting filing system (be prepared to lose
a couple of hours in a good browse) means
that their absolutely comprehensive website is
a must if you’re after something specific. Me,
I’m still trying to justify my desire for their
£25 copy of the first Current 93 album, with
the hours’ worth of bonus tracks, rather than
the £10 without.
George Rayner Law
most of us, in the deepest, darkest, most
shameful realms of our secret subconscious
do), then this is the night for you. Juicy has
been known to turn even the most introverted
hermits into drunken gyrating messes; we’re
talking open mouth kissing, clammy-faced
honeyz, grinding up against slimy walls to the
beat of 'Fantasy' by Ludacris. To avoid the risk
of the frequent dance-floor punch ups and
inhumanely long queue wait, go on a quiet
night. Also one to avoid if you hate people,
but then you probably don't want to be out
clubbing anyway.
Islington Mill
The ten minute trek from
Manchester city centre to Salford, often done
late at night in disheartening drizzle, can be
off-putting for your average fresher. Yet if you
want to be a hardened, cultured regular on the
Manchester music scene, the walk to the Mill
is by far necessary. Inside is a treasure cove of
a gig space, recording studio, art gallery, cafe
and whatever else it decides to be that week.
Bearded men in wedding dresses, feminist
drone bands smashing their percussion
instruments onstage, Damo Suzuki falling
asleep on one of the comfy sofas before his set
and more have all been beheld in this magical
old cotton mill turned music venue.
Depending on the bill for that night, you can
take up a seat in a squidgy sofa, gaze up at the
fairy lights and be lulled into a stupor, or find
yourself in the armpit of a hirsute gentleman
as you tear each other apart in good spirits to
some blaringly loud punk. Whether they’re
either sat cross legged and transfixed in
hypnotic awe, cavorting onstage or rolling
around on the floor, the crowd at the Mill is
always at least 30% more fun than most
places you could be instead, and the best acts
will always be drawn there too.
Manchester Academy
Located next to
and in the Student’s Union, The Academy
consists of 3 halls of decreasing size and a
basement room. The Academy, along with the
MEN and Manchester Central (though not on
the same level) is one of the venues where big,
charting acts are more likely to play in
Manchester. You can get tickets for all shows
at the box office inside the union
(unfortunately a rarity in most venues
nowadays), so it’s possible to avoid annoying
booking fees. Unfortunately the stage in
Academy 1 (the largest hall) is far too high,
and if you’re not at the front it’s a fairly
dismal place to see a gig. You don’t really get
those problems in the smaller halls though.
Overall, The Academy is generally lacking in
atmosphere but if you’re
seeing
something good, that
doesn’t matter.
Sophie Slater
& George Rayner Law
The Castle Hotel
Situated on the Ancoats
end of Oldham Street, The Castle Hotel is an
interesting venue in the back of an interesting
pub (of the same name). Because of its size
and the fact that there’s no booking fee, you
get a real range of bands and events. Good if
you want to see live music at the smallest
level. Also, the pub is one of the few places
you’ll find the Manchester Egg (a kind of
mega-sized scotch egg with pickled egg
instead of boiled and black pudding instead
of sausage, sounds disgusting but tastes
amazing), and has an excellent jukebox. The
Castle also sells Old Tom, a beer so strong
they only sell it in half pints. Which is
considerate of them.
The Roadhouse
You can find the
Roadhouse up in the Northern Quarter,
opposite Fan Boy 3, Manchester’s premier
Warhammer, Dungeons & Dragons and
Magic: The Gathering retailer. It’s also on the
same road as Empire Exchange, a first-rate tat
shop with a killer line in vintage 70s
pornography. If you can tear yourself away
from those delights, you’ll find one of
Manchester’s better basement clubs – not too
big, not too small, good soundsystem, and
reasonable drink prices. Their Revolver club
night, which plays 60s pop and group sounds,
is particularly highly regarded. However, as
a live venue it falls flat; the stage is so low it is
impossible to see from anywhere except
immediately in front of it. I once went to see
Wire there with some other largish members
of Other Sounds, and
every post about the
gig on the band’s
forum complained
that the stage couldn’t
be seen, mainly because
of the “basketball team
outing up there”.
You have been warned.
In some ways it’s probably a good thing that
Fresher’s Week itself is looking very slow on
the gig front, as I imagine most people will be
spending their nights getting vodka-ed up
and heading to the next exciting (and terrible,
most likely) club night on the Fresher’s
calendar rather than experiencing the best in
live music. If, however, your love for the live
stuff is enough to drag you away from that
next round of pub golf, you’ll find there are a
couple of things worth checking out. Firstly, if
you’ve picked this up early while it’s still
Monday, and you’ve got a teen-pop-punk itch
to scratch, then head down to Moho Live
where Wheatus will be the entertainment. I’m
not personally a fan, but could probably still
see myself having a good old pogo to Teenage
Dirtbag with the, ahem, teenagers down the
front...
Moho Live. Make of that name what you will
– four bands in a night dedicated to The
Governator was about as much as I could
deduce – and bear in mind the instruction
“Arnie fancy dress optional”. This one could
be a winner on so many levels.
Come Monday 26 th Scouse electronic
maestros Metronomy visit Academy 2, this
outfit seem bound for bigger things in the
future so may be well worth checking them
out while they’re still playing smaller venues
such as this. Then, for a complete change of
scene, on Tuesday 27th the Islington Mill’s the
place to be for Death Grips and their (to quote
our Editor) “insane drumming and incredibly
angry rapping” – it’s always worth making
the most of a brilliant venue / band combo
such as this. Wednesday 28th sees the first
show you have to attend: Male Bonding at the
On Thursday we’ve got the much talked- Ruby Lounge. The venue’s not the best, but as
about Slow Club at Ruby Lounge. Twee and many people already know Male Bonding are
cute but clever and beautiful is the order of fucking fantastic, no two ways about it.
the day from that Sheffield duo. And Friday
If you can tear yourself away from getting a
night at Kraak Gallery (an almost annoyingly
ticket for The Kooks at the Academy (no
cool venue hidden away in a corner of the
sarcasm intended), then you can check out the
Northern Quarter) sees a Drowned in Sound
lovely Beth Jeans Houghton at the Deaf
Manchester night featuring a few bands I
Institute on Saturday 1 October. This way
doubt either you or I have heard before, but
you get to experience both her bewilderingly
look proper Interesting nonetheless. All the
clever and exceptionally lewd song-writing
cool kids will be there, as will I.
and the rather gorgeous Deaf Institute itself, a
Come the weekend, Echo & The Bunnymen night sure to be rather more warming and
play the Palace Theatre; this comes much wholesome than one spent watching indie
recommended not only because of Ian shite-twits from Brighton.
McCulloch and Co being on top form last time
It has to be said, you’re not getting a vintage
I bore witness to them, but also because unless
period of Manchester gigs to start off with, but
you happen to frequent musicals (unlikely on
I imagine the stuff above will be more than
a student budget?) this is a rare chance to see
enough during a time in which you’ll all have
inside what is a truly fabulous venue.
rather a lot else to be thinking about...
Lastly for Fresher’s Week, Sunday night sees
Adam Sharma
an event I wanted to mention without any
knowledge of the bands on offer, or the style
of music, or the likely crowd, or anything
further listings on our website:
really: it’s “Arniegeddon 2, Moshment Day” at
othersoundssociety.wordpress.com/gigs
This week: Adam Sharma, our dear leader and god-head.
Height: 6’1.5” Weight: 10.5 st
Eyes: Blue, Hair: Dark brown, Allergies: The X-Factor,
Identifying Features:
Large ears, scar in the Harry Potter position (but
nowhere near as outlandish), football obsession.
Sexual-orientation scale:
(with 1 being perfectly straight, 10 being perfectly gay)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Fish:
1.. Footballfish (This fish chooses his
sport wisely)
2. Northern Hogsucker (I’ve met a few of
these in Piccadilly Gardens at 4 in the
morning)
3. Salmon (Orgasmically tasty)
4. Sarcastic Fringehead (Name could make
a great insult...)
5. Tuna (The closest thing to proper
meat that you can haul out of the sea)
Countries in order
of musical prowess:
Blue Peter Moments
Groom: “Mmm, what a beautiful
1 Simon
pair of knockers” (Innocent sexual
1
UK
2 USA
3 Australia
4 Germany
5 Japan
innuendo broadcast to thousands of young
children and doubtlessly outraging many a
harassed parent; good stuff!)
the Elephant goes mental (Because
2 Lulu
there’s nothing better than seeing a pissedoff animal giving it back to da man...)
3
Mark Curry destroys the Lego Man
sculpture (Why is it that seeing someone’s
labour of love getting destroyed in one
clumsy instant is so invariably hilarious?)
“Socks” and “Cookie” Scandal (It led
4 The
to a cute cat featuring heavily in the news)
Guides campfire gets out of control
5 Girl
(Reminds me of the good old days before
the letters “H&S” struck fear into my heart)
FIFA GAMES
(1) 07 (The only one on which I can still win most 2-player
matches)
(2) Road to World Cup 98 (That cover featuring a dashing
David Beckham)
(3) Euro 2000 (Still had that great button you could press to
deliberately try to injure your opponent in the tackle, oh how I
miss that...)
(4) World Cup 2006 (Heady days of my best mate and I
winning the tournament together with Mexico )
(5) 11 (I have to concede: the PS3 is quite clever and has some
advantages over its predecessor, brought to the fore by this
generally quite good version of FIFA)
- Most Important Moments in Music 12 3
1950
1
2
3
4
5
1965
1966
1969
1975
1989
1960
1970
4
5
1980
1990
2000
2010
Tony Iommi (Guitarist, Black Sabbath) loses fingertips in an industrial accident
Release of Revolver by The Beatles
Formation of Hawkwind
John Lydon joins the Sex Pistols
The Happy Mondays and Stone Roses appear on same edition of Top of the Pops
ESSENTIALS LIST
There are countless great businesses and
places to explore in Manchester, go wild and
experience everything. Here are our personal
choices just to help you get started. We were
going to include addresses but didn’t have
the space, you’ll have to look them up
yourself, a little sleuthing is good for the
brain.
Venues
Islington Mill - venue, gallery, studios, cafe,
creche, this place is everything and amazing.
Roadhouse - basement club, hosts ever
popular revolver night.
Tiger Lounge - this small, dark and crowded
venue/bar has a curiously devoted
following, go there and find out why.
Joshua Brooks - home of the infamous club
night juicy.
Methodist Hall - on oldham street, looks
suspicious from outside, hosts brilliant gigs
inside.
Sound Control - this building has an odd
layout, but that doesn't really matter as it
draws massive range of great bands.
Night and Day cafe - apparently started as a
chip shop, still serves food, now with added
gigs .
Warehouse Project - lineups this venue
manages to put together are bloody
incredible.
Record Shops
Vinyl Exchange - ridiculously extensive back
catalogue, only a portion of their collection is
on display at any one time.
Picadilly - great selection of newer releases
and classics, you can get your gig tickets
from here too.
Deco - great small place in Withington, deals
only in secondhand stuff.
Beatin Rhythm - best shop in Manchester for
northern soul and rock’n’roll.
Eastern Bloc - this shop has a constant stream
of hot off the press records from every
obscure electronic subgenre you can possibly
imagine.
Vinyl Revival - great place with a heavy focus
on Manchester's glorious music history,
particularly factory records.
Equipment
Johnny Roadhouse - nearest equipment shop to
university, percussion downstairs, guitars
ground, acoustic and woodwind upstairs
with the most brilliantly weird man lurking
on the top floor.
Dawsons - large glass place on the way into
town, very snazzy, you cant miss it.
Whitworth Park practice room - nice but shabby
practice room with a drum-kit, two pianos
and an organ, all very badly looked after but
great fun to play on.
Pubs/Bars
Hardy's Well - nice and friendly, good for nice
beers and a chat.
Sand Bar - snakes back seemingly forever,
often has live music.
Castle Hotel - serves manchester eggs and old
tom, if you stay there until closing you might
get given a free pie if you answer the
barmans riddle correctly.
The Albert - tiny irish boozer in Withington,
they don’t like students so go in disguise.
The Kings Arms - pub/live music venue in
salford, good selection of ales.
Matt and Phreds Jazz Barr - the cocktails in
here are top notch although pricey.
Marble Arch - our Adam describes this simply
as ‘the world's best pub’.
Lass o'Gowrie - £2 pints of real ale for
students.
The Friendship - great place to watch football
in fallowfield.
The Ram and Shackle - drapey and nice, often
has live music.
The Huntsman Inn - on the curry mile with an
old man perennially asleep in the doorway,
none of us have been in yet as it’s too scary.
Circus Tavern - Impossibly tiny pub squeezed
between two chip shops on portland street.
Off licenses
Gaffs - the king of all off licenses, have regular
truckloads of odd, cheap and suspicious
alcohol turn up from europe which we are
more than happy to drink.
New Zealand Wine - almost next door to gaffs,
better prices on the regular drinks but no dirt
cheap wonder stuff.
24hr Spar - open late, nearer centre of town
than the others listed. Magazine selection
beaten only by MAGMA book shop in the
northern quarter.
A&S Booze - situated in Withington, bizarre
place that has all items and the staff hidden
away behind a wall of bullet proof glass.
Cinema
Cornerhouse - great for independent films and
one offs.
Didsbury cineplex - has a bowling alley and
lazer tag next door.
Deansgate AMC - best prices for blockbusters.
Food: fast
Kebab King - Paz the kebab king is a great
great man, become his friend on Facebok.
Poppolinos - place with rip off Nandos decor
on curry mile.
Chungs Chippy - nearest chip shop to the
islington mill, makes the long walk to salford
worthwhile. Do a discount if you can speak
mandarin.
Rusholme Chippy - the most rundown looking
place on the curry mile, do their chips extra
crispy.
The Battered Cod - not the best fish and chip
place around but has decent prices and is
very convenient for any Fallowfield
residents.
Leo’s Fish Bar - chip shop of choice in the
northern corner, always have a ‘staff wanted’
sign in the window, go and apply!
Pie stall in Picadilly gardens market - the real
food market is in Picadilly gardens
fortnightly, the pies form this stall are D-vine.
Food: café
Gemini - pretty much attached to Whitworth
halls, great greasy spoon.
Soup Kitchen - cool cafe in the quarter, if that
sort of thing tickles your fancy.
Fuel - vegan cafe in Withington, has hearty
food that can appease even the appetites of
carnivores.
Trof Fallowfield - bit pricey but nice breakfasts.
Other
Fanboy 3 - Manchester’s premier Warhammer
and Magic: The Gathering retailer, great for
people-watching
Empire Exchange - Tat shop in the northern
quarter, good section at the back with vintage
porn and sex toys.
Royal Exchange Arcade - sort of fancy looking
arcade place, has a tobacconist in it with
impressive selections for all you avid
smokers.
Southern Cemetery - go for a walk, it’s huge,
why not take your shirt off and act like a
zombie?
The hiding place under the bridge that’s beside joy
division bridge - it's fully furnished, wind
sheltered, and you can watch the traffic go by
all day unless the owner comes home.
COMING SOON:
OTHER SOUNDS PRESENTS
BONG
with WOMB
ORGAN FREEMAN
ELK BLOOD
7.30pm Tuesday 11th October
@ the Islington Mill, Salford
wegottickets.com
othersoundssociety.wordpress.com
facebook.com/othersoundssociety