I know that headline is hardly a shock, it's simple Maths, but to me it seems like a few years ago at most!

Historically in the UK not much was happening.  Obviously,  too much had already happened in the previous month and after all the funerals, referendums and Candles in the Wind, the news decided to take a break :)

Personally though, and very significantly to me, this was the first month of my life that I had spent completely out of the UK as I had decided to complete my final year of studies at l'Université de Bourgogne in Dijon, France. If you have a spare few months I will tell you all about that!

Looking back at the Cinema in the UK, these were some of the biggest films you could see:

1 An American Werewolf in Paris
2 Bean
3 Volcano
4 Free Willy 3: The Rescue
5 Event Horizon
6 Air Force One
7 Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
8 Volcano
9 Spawn
10 Chasing Amy

This is not exactly the most classic list of films, in fact most of them are bloody terrible! Two films for me though stand out, Chasing Amy as I love Kevin Smith's films and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery which at the time was a breath of fresh air after a long spell of bad comedies we had to sit through in the 90s.

This now leads me to look at the Top 40 Singles at the time:

1 Elton John - Something About The Way You Look / Candle In The Wind
2 Dario G - Sunchyme
3 Oasis - Stand By Me
4 Chumbawamba - Tubthumping
5 Louise - Arms Around The World
6 Janet Jackson featuring Q-Tip & Joni Mitchell - Got 'Til It's Gone
7 Will Smith - Men In Black
8 M People - Just For You
9 Backstreet Boys - As Long As You Love Me
10 Tina Moore - Never Gonna Let You Go
11 The Verve - The Drugs Don't Work
12 U2 - Please
13 Eternal - Angel Of Mine
14 Bellini - Samba De Janeiro
15 2 Eivissa - Oh La La La
16 The Lighthouse Family - Raincloud
17 Sly & Robbie featuring Simply Red - Night Nurse
18 Blackstreet - Fix
19 Puff Daddy & Faith Evans - I'll Be Missing You
20 No Doubt - Spiderwebs
21 Ricky Martin - (Un, Dos, Tres) Maria
22 Hanson - Where's The Love
23 George Michael - You Have Been Loved
24 Boyz II Men - 4 Seasons Of Loneliness
25 Foxy Brown featuring Dru Hill - Big Bad Mamma
26 The Rolling Stones - Anybody Seen My Baby?
27 Mariah Carey - Honey
28 All Saints - I Know Where It's At
29 House Traffic - Every Day Of My Life
30 Coolio - Ooh La La
31 Pixies - Debaser
32 The Seahorses - Love Me And Leave Me
33 Third Eye Blind - Semi-Charmed Life
34 Super Furry Animals - Play It Cool
35 Gala - Freed From Desire
36 Chris De Burgh - So Beautiful
37 Sleeper - She's A Good Girl
38 Mark Morrison - Who's The Mack!
39 DJ Flavours - Your Caress (All I Need)
40 Shola Ama - You're The One I Love

If the films around at the time were unremarkable, you couldn't say that about the music. Some of the biggest selling singles of all time are included on this list and there is plenty of variety to be had. In 2017 the UK Top 40 rarely sees Dance and Hard Rock sitting happily with cheesy pop and Chris de Burgh. Here are a selection of my favourites:

Do you have any favourite memories of the time? Why not share and let me know :)

Finally, here's picture of Foxy Brown for my little brother...he was a fan of her hits [autocorrected]

Single Review By Andrew Barclay

Before I get to the review, here’s a little bio provided by the group to give you a background of this excellent band.

“We are The Madding Crowd; weary purveyors of songs of love, hate, happiness, chaos, rebellion, glamour, intelligence, wit, imagination, bile, passion, despair, rejection and sheer humanity. Hailing from Manchester, formed in April 2010, we are comprised of Singer and Guitarist Ben Corry, Lead Guitarist Dominic Corry, Bass Guitarist Claud Corry and Drummer Sav Patel. Our music contains elements of Glam, Punk, Rockabilly and Prog among other influences, and we have often been told that we possess a sound that is hard to describe and pigeonhole.”

Today Cool Manchester review the bands most recent single ‘’Gods Greatest Flaw’’.

The single begins with a deluge of fuzzy bass and frantic drumming before the vocals take us from a Stooges like intro into something more akin to the pastoral psychedelic moments from Pink Floyds ‘’Atom Heart Mother’’ and ‘’Meddle’’ albums, which comes as a pleasant surprise. The single weaves its way through dynamic changes and somehow remains catchy, a strong single and one that’s wetted my appetite for the bands forth-coming EP.

B Side ‘’Sylvia Burned’’ is a slow haunting acoustic track with soaring vocals and an almost Brett Anderson type lyric and delivery. Of the countless Mancunian groups around right now The Madding Crowd are certainly one of the best and I really hope they gain a mainstream audience.

 The Madding Crowd have received radio airplay and made live appearances on North Manchester FM, Sine FM, All FM, Salford City Radio, Mersey Radio, Roundsound Radio among others. They have also been played by Stuart Maconie on BBC 6Music and quite rightly too.  Highly Recommended.

The Madding Crowd online links

Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/Vivalamaddingcrowd/?fref=ts

Sound Cloud https://soundcloud.com/vivalamaddingcrowd

The Statler Project

Mechanical Intervention album review

By Andrew Barclay

I first saw the Statler Project live back in 2009 at The Star And Garter.

They were like the cosmic collision child of Happy Mondays, Joy Division and Primal Scream.

They are back with a new album, fronted by Bob Spiers The Statler Project really are a fresh sounding band and its my pleasure to relate to you the brilliance to be found on ‘Mechanical Intervention’

‘Industrial Temptation’ marches off into a slick and sleazy disco funk, Spiers vocals are a barrage of rhyme and intent until he sings “all things will disappear” and it’s here echoes of Primal Scream can really be heard. A fine song to start the album off with.

‘Escape The Mundane’ is clever tight funk-dubbed up and sprayed with keys and guitar to heighten the impact. The vocals lead strongly and the chorus pay off if I have to compare, reminded me of Depeche Mode mixed with some Fad Gadget. Repeated listens make this an ear worm you’ll be singing to yourself all day long.

‘Sasquatch’ shows the band have a sense of humour, something seriously lacking in some artists. Its disco beats and strange synths add up to a tidy little ditty about, well… bigfoot of course!

‘Buzz Buzz [prelude]’ fades into what is a brilliant sounding funky jam with edges of modern jazz in there, my only complaint is that this wasn’t 8 minutes longer

‘Contrast’ is aptly named, the bass and kick drum start this intense dark number off.

Bobs spoken verse reminded me of Robert Kings vocal delivery on one of the Scars more well known tracks. The whole track is musically veering into prog rock territory put always pulls back into that brilliant dark sound that’s now all their own.

‘Head Down’ is bellowing synth disco with ace bass descending lines that get you moving upon hearing them. The vocals, fast and clear again, burst into an infectious chorus ‘’they say you have to keep your head down”. Love it.

‘Superiority Complex’ is a crashing disco animal with a duel vocal that really pins Spiers voice upfront. A lovely guitar riff comes in around 2.36. The whole song works and the pay off is thrashing guitars being brought down into a strange psychedelic guitar/synth chanting end.

‘Ma Buzzer’. Sample ‘well I have a sort of suggestion’ … over a dubby funky bass.

It moves into a free form sounding jam of funk, dub funk and soul. More sampled voices.

A nice little instrumental break.

‘Buzz Buzz 1 & 2’ well my patience was rewarded. The song prelude from earlier comes back and its disco bouncing funk reminds me of the more funk fuelled moments from the stones in the 70s.

It ends the album on a high upbeat note and I highly recommend you check it out now.

After going through difficult times and several changes in the band lineup, the latest offering from Gabrielles Wish “Hypnagogic” shows a return to form from the band. Extremely well written lyrics and complex melodies make “Hypnagogic” one of the best albums by Gabrielles Wish to date. The album will appeal to both new and old fans alike, it has darker strong guitar led-tracks (reminiscent of some of the tracks from “Portal”, released in 2003), which will appeal to the hard-core Gabrielles Wish fans, and it has more accessible upbeat tracks for new fans. 

THE NOISE OF ENGLAND, the opening track, is very much in my opinion “The Noise of Manchester.” An excellent dark instrumental with heavy guitars, akin to The Fall, Joy Divison and James (during their experimental “Wah Wah” period). 10/10

DIGITAL STALKER is classic Gabrielles Wish. If you are good at what you do, why deviate from it? Strong guitar from Steven Bunn, great vocals from Rob Corless (reminiscent of Mark E Smith from the Fall), with Eastern undertones. “Freedom is just a word” 10/10

INDISPOSABLE HAPPINESS is a poppier sounding track but with lyrics that are definitely not pop, and more challenging, with a lot of religious connotations. Robert Corless sings “God loves a fool, Christ knows I’m a fool” witty lyrics comparable to those of Frank Zappa. 8/10

 CELEBRITY PIGSTY is a very dark avant-garde track, similar to the work of Peter Christopherson (from Coil, Psychic TV and Throbbing Gristle), with a dig at the status of untalented reality-show celebrities being at the forefront of media in today’s society . 8/10

WANDERING THE STREETS. After the dark offering of “Celebrity Pigsty” comes “Wandering The Streets.” This is a great pop tune, with great vocals from Robert Corless, and excellent heavy drums. No wonder this track was released as a single! 10/10

WAR UPON YOURSELF, starts with an Eastern-feel to it (akin to The Cure’s “Snakepit”) and never strays from it, but also maintains a Gabrielles Wish sound to the track, thus making it their own. A truly original track. “Right on the money.” 9/10

DESTINY IS APPARENT. This track is a mish-mash of traditional Gabrielles Wish melodies with glam rock. Love the saxophone on this! 9/10

SEVEN FOLD. This track is very similar to The Fall. The drumming 2:20 min into this track is excellent, as is the bass guitar throughout the track. 8/10

HIT THE ROAD. The music in this track reminds me very much of The Cure during their “Pornography” period, but again Gabrielles Wish add their own stamp on the track and make it their own. The vocals on this track are almost Floydesque! 8/10

STAND TOGETHER. The most accessible track on the album. An excellent pop track, well deserving of it’s single release. Great complex guitar melodies, great vocals, and a really well produced track....LOVE IT!!! 10/10

ROUND AND ROUND (SQUARING THE CIRCLE). This track reminds me of Gabrielles Wish’s albums “Reformer” and “Circa”. I like the retro 80s/90s synth-feel to this song. 8/10

WASTED. Superb bass guitar on this track from Darren Moran. This is one of the weaker tracks on the album, however, it is still a good one! 7/10

ALPHABET FIVE ONE TWELVE. An epic track, with slightly gothic undertones, and romantic lyrics from Robert Corless. “Always be there for you, she is my true love, look in your heart now.” 9/10

 QUADRA is an excellent track, and an fitting finale to the album. Gorgeous melodies, superb use of the flute, which further enhances the track. Both stunning and beautiful, and nice female backing vocals too! 10/10

I thoroughly recommend checking out this album, if you haven’t done so already, and purchase a copy to keep supporting our talented local bands. Long live Gabrielles Wish, may they continue for many years to come!

Ewan Saum INDUSTRY BIO.

Ewan Saum has spent nearly 10 years in the music industry, as both a band manager and a gig promoter; having raised money for cancer charities inc. “Gig 4 Life” and “Versus Cancer”, and helped out with music festivals. 

Ewan started out as a Music Supervisor in the Film Industry, due to his knowledge of the current music scene, and of bands across the world. He has won 3 awards, from the radio station “Radio Gets Wild,” for “Best Soundtrack,” and was nominated for the award of “Best Soundtrack” at the prestigious East End Film Festival in 2014.