Cool Manchester

So the most exciting time of year is just one month away... That's right, 30 days to the next episode of Doctor Who!!!

As well as that it's Christmas, a time when we listen to music we usually wouldn't go near for eleven months of the year... I'm carefully selecting my Christmas playlist this year to only have the best Christmas tracks.

What suggestions would you give? I've listed a few tracks here to get you all thinking

Bananarama Baby It's Christmas (Radio Edit)
The Carpenters Merry Christmas Darling
Darlene Love Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
David Bowie And Bing Crosby The Little Drummer Boy
Elton John Step Into Christmas
Hurts All I Want for Christmas Is New Year's Day
Mariah Carey All I Want For Christmas
Matthew Hall and Megan Moore When Christmas Comes To Town
The Muppets It Feels Like Christmas
Andy Williams It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
Boney M Mary's Boy Child / O My Lord
Chris Rea Driving Home For Christmas
Dean Martin Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
Greg Lake I Believe In Father Christmas
The Pogues Feat Kirsty Mccoll A Fairytale Of New York
John & Yoko Merry Christmas [War Is Over]
Judy Garland Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Wizzard I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day

I know there's probably loads and loads of songs that I have not put on here, these are just my very favourites

Are there any particular Christmas songs that are your personal favourites? Let me know

High on Hope is a film which presents the real story behind what acid house meant in Northern England in the late eighties and early nineties. The explosion of electronic dance music has since become a multi-million pound global industry, but for the hundreds of people in Blackburn during this time period it was much more than that; an escape route from the crippling effects Thatcherism was having on their livelihoods and communities. High on Hope tells their story.

Whilst stories in the past have focused on the people who carved careers, adulation and financial muscle out of the acid house revolution, High on Hope is different. Instead it centres the attention on two elements; the hysterical reaction of the media towards what these young people was doing, and the ordinary people who made it so special.

The folk who lived for the escapism it served, and whose involvement in the period was the lifeblood that it centred on. Their stories, and their histories and the paths they have trodden since that time, form the fulcrum of the film’s central premise. There are no interviews of suited superstar DJs regaling the period from expensive recording studios, just heartfelt recaps of why the music and the togetherness was so intoxicating.

The film has already been premiered at several film festivals, winning best film in Barcelona's In-Edit festival and won the audience Award at Leeds Film festival, beating the Kings Speech in the process. But whilst the film has been finished, financed by a combination of borrowing, call in favours, waiving fees and sown together by director Piers Sanderson’s hard work and determination, there are still costs relating to licensing the music and various scenes within the film.

For the film to be released on DVD and shown in independent cinemas, a small amount of money needs to be raised. There is a Crowd funding appeal set up which has already received support from across the globe, with people donating from Sweden, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Russia and many more. You can donate as little as £3 towards the film’s cost, or go as far as £100. These donations indicate the level form which you can get involved with the project:

• £3 - gets a free link to watch the film when it comes out
• £10 - a DVD and link when it comes out
• £25 - 2 tickets to the premier when it tours the country and both of the above
• £100 - Your name in the credits, alongside all of the above.

If you’ve been touched in any way by electronic dance music, this is the way to help the story of how the music came to become so important be shared across the globe.
Watch a trailer of the film:

Follow High on Hope here and on Facebook. And donate here

For all press enquires please contact Jimmy Coultas / jimmy@sentricidgital.com / + 44 (0)20 7100 3254

The movie Top Gun is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary so I thought I'd take a look at the UK Top 40 from 25 years ago - no surprises at what was the number one!

1 Berlin Take My Breath Away (Love Theme From 'Top Gun')
2 Kim Wilde You Keep Me Hangin' On
3 Mel & Kim Showing Out (Get Fresh At The Weekend)
4 Swing Out Sister Breakout
5 The Bangles Walk Like An Egyptian
6 Spandau Ballet Through The Barricades
7 Europe The Final Countdown
8 Bon Jovi Livin' On A Prayer
9 Peter Gabriel & Kate Bush Don't Give Up
10 Status Quo In The Army Now
11 Red Box For America
12 Nick Berry Every Loser Wins
13 Cliff Richard & Sarah Brightman All I Ask Of You
14 Duran Duran Notorious
15 Shakin' Stevens Because I Love You
16 Debbie Harry French Kissin' In The USA
17 Simple Minds Ghostdancing
18 Nick Kamen Each Time You Break My Heart
19 The Pretenders Don't Get Me Wrong
20 Madness (Waiting For) The Ghost Train
21 Midnight Star Midas Touch
22 Letitia Dean & Paul Medford Something Outta Nothing
23 Erasure Sometimes
24 Madonna True Blue
25 The Smiths Ask
26 Kate Bush Experiment IV
27 Bob Geldof This Is The World Calling
28 Paul Simon You Can Call Me Al
29 Glass Tiger Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)
30 Roger Whittaker & Des O'Connor The Skye Boat Song
31 Cyndi Lauper True Colors
32 Pet Shop Boys Suburbia
33 We've Got A Fuzzbox And We're Gonna Use It Love Is The Slug
34 Gwen Guthrie (They Long To Be) Close To You
35 Billy Idol To Be A Lover
36 Cutting Crew I've Been In Love Before
37 Boris Gardiner You're Everything To Me
38 Five Star If I Say Yes
39 Marti Webb & The Simon May Orchestra Always There
40 Frankie Goes To Hollywood Warriors (Of The Wasteland)

As usual in the late 80s there are some very good songs in the chart, but you can't help but notice some very... erm... uncool songs! Roger Whittaker & Des O'Connor? Marti Webb & The Simon May Orchestra? Nick Berry?????

'Factory Fatigue' album review By Jason Waters

In terms of the DJ world, Jon Desilva is a legend. His influence still wades through the mainstream music scene, with bands from 'Primal Scream' and 'The Stone Roses' owing him a huge debt. Desilva can quite rightly claim to be the pioneer of Chicago house music here in the UK, and as his innovative work at the Hacienda club in Manchester during the 80s grew in scope and audience, he was the UK’s only acid house DJ that mattered. So, with a story like that, who wouldn’t want to hear his band 'The Virgo Mechanically Replayed' on their debut album release with Hacienda Records entitled 'Factory Fatigue’? The First track 'Thunder Rise' is a bright sounding instrumental, the kind of track that suggests the album is 'waking up’ and it certainly does. 'Stakked Lightning' draws you into hypnotic beats and a killer bass line, before some very exact and well realised vocals come in, sang almost like a mantra. It’s screaming to be released as a single. 'Bowie' is next, the intro immerses the listener with crunching electro beat's and multi layered synths, and again, the echo soaked vocals add the extra flair to the song, with the clever pay off line "feel lost like Ziggy in Memphis, feel lost like Bowie in the Bronx" 'Never Known' is a more downbeat, beat heavy track, with precise lyrics reminiscent of the American blues techno outfit Alabama 3. (They supplied The Sopranos intro music). But 'Never Known' is more than that, is also has the flavour of fellow 80s beat masters The Stereo MCs, yet retains Desilva’s unique stamp with a swirling psychedelic ending, as synths, keyboards and beats build up into a wall of sound. 'Different City' is a strange hybrid of trip hop, techno beats, and funk. It reminds me of underground trip hop band 'Hedz Jellmo', and with Desilva being on the ball, no doubt he caught their particular brand of dark synths and beats and merged them into his seemingly never ending bag of musical tricks. 'Through The Door' is as near perfection as it gets with experimental house and dance music melted together. The song starts with an oriental sounding synth loop, as guitars chime over the top. Then the song fires into gear and The Chemical Brothers come to mind, but, its Jon Desilva's world, and The Chemical Brothers just happen to live in it. 'Punk Face' is cyber punk rock of the highest order, and a welcome addition to the albums already mounting genres of music. A diversion perhaps, but a welcome one at that. 'Velvet Lips' is my own personal favorite, a sexy funky track that has all the hallmarks of a single. Prince would be jealous on hearing this; it’s the kind of vibe that’s been out of his grasp for years. The Virgo Mechanically Replayed “Factory Fatigue” album can be bought at www.fac51theHacienda.com now. 5/5

No*Tokyo EP
Review by Jason Waters
No*Tokyo have been around the Manchester music scene for a while now, and they seem to be doing all the right things in their quest to get noticed above the plethora of other bands around at the moment.

They have just released their self titled debut EP, so lets have a listen to what we have here ......

'Ego Healer' starts with a tight bass line and attacking riff that The Chameleons themselves would be proud of.
Daz Whittaker’s vocals are strong yet melodic, and you get the feeling that live he can do the business as front man. I'll have to go out and review them live I think.

'More Than You'll Ever Know' opens up all dubby, but any notion of that is quickly dispelled as the band move the music into a more melodic, almost psychedelic sound.

'Renegade' is where things start to get serious musically and the influences, direct or not, like The Durutti Column pour through the bands sound. This is no bad thing, 'Renegade' is a strong track and I’m sure it goes down a treat live.

'Flickering Lights' is a hyper guitar driven number, perhaps not the strongest on the EP, but certainly head and shoulders ahead of many of their peers nonetheless.

It's nice of the band to leave the best for last, and the mammoth '40 Skies' recalls the spacey vibe of bands like Echo & The Bunnymen and early period Verve, but with the unique stamp of 'No*Tokyo' definitely all over it.

My advice is to nip over to the bands website and buy this EP, consider it an early Christmas present to yourself. 5/5
No*Tokyo Online
http://notokyo.net/default.html
https://www.facebook.com/notokyo
http://www.myspace.com/notokyo
And finally ITunes:
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/no-tokyo-ep/id425162437

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Deadbeat Echoes
Review by Jason Waters
Well, this is a little bit of an odd one. The band are working on a release, but the tracks I’m about to review are available to anyone who contacts the website directly, so it’s a release of sorts I suppose.
This band were recommended to me by a member of the veteran Manchester band, Gabrielle’s Wish, so with a recommendation like that, I investigated further.
'A Boy Amongst Men' kicks off proceedings like a tornado heading towards your ears at maximum speed. Whilst there’s not much in the way of variation on the melody, the pulsating beat and restless guitar riff are what this song is all about.

'Get Yer Blues On' has the clunky sound of 'Black Rebel Motorcycle Club', and the guitar ringing in the chorus does raise the hair up on the back of your neck. The track, if anything proves that melody isn’t the only way to get your point across. Early Primal Scream knew the same secret.

And finally, we come to 'Bentleys'. This would be the jewel in the crown if this were an EP release. The extremely camp 'wit-woo-eews' are actually quite endearing, and the whole song has radio play written all over it.

I'll be extremely interested in hearing a full length by these young lads, let’s hope one is recorded soon. 4/5

DeadBeat Echoes Online
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Deadbeat-Echoes
http://www.myspace.com/deadbeatechoes
http://soundcloud.com/deadbeat-echoes