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FESTIVALS 2012: PRIMAVERA SOUND PART ONE
31 May 2012 / Forum Park / Arc de Triomf / Barcelona
:: Spiritualized :: M83 :: The Walkmen :: The Cure :: The Chameleons :: The XX :: Rufus Wainwright :: Iceage :: Wilco :: The Wedding Present :: The Rapture :: Black Lips :: Archers Of Loaf :: Grimes :: Mudhoney :: I Break Horses :: ::
For a few days in late springtime, music fans from all over the world head to a concrete park by the sea in Barcelona for what's widely regarded as the best alternative music festival in the world. David Edwards explains why...

VICE SQUAD
31 May 2012 / The Deaf Institute / Manchester
:: Ghosting Season :: Swansong ::
Sex sells so they say, but on tonight’s evidence, it can’t persuade the punters into a music gig...

CRASH COURSE IN POP MUSIC
22 May 2012 / Ruby Lounge / Manchester
:: The Primitives :: The School ::
Their own chart hits (both the indie and the Top Of The Pops variety) from 25 years ago mixed with revived pop nuggets from a couple of decades earlier - so how come The Primitives still sound so contemporary?

ARTISTS IMPRESSION
20 May 2012 / Band On The Wall / Manchester
:: Alex Chow :: Suttree ::
...there’s an artist sketching the bands as they play...not sure if he’s part of the night or a regular or was just there to get out of the cold...

BOMBING RUN
17 May 2012 / Ruby Lounge / Manchester
:: Dead Wolf Club :: Gaz Coombes ::
Coombes' performance suggests that his experimental side could yet see his future look as bright as his past.

NOW WAVE MEETS FUTUREEVERYTHING: A GOOD DAY AT THE OFFICE
18 May 2012 / Quay House / Manchester
:: Great Waves :: No Ceremony :: ∆ (alt-J) :: Money :: Stealing Sheep :: Pins ::
One abandoned office block, a makeshift bar, a row of deckchairs and six of the hottest new bands in the north.

MM GOES TO THE SEASIDE: GREAT ESCAPE 2012 PART 3
12 May 2012 / Lots of places / Brighton
:: O Children :: Ghost Outfit :: The Louche :: Mmoths :: Cercueil :: The Naturals :: 8otto :: Tall Ships ::
In which we attend a panel debate like proper grown- ups, before ending the weekend getting messy with some of Manchester's finest...

MM GOES TO THE SEASIDE: GREAT ESCAPE 2012 PART 2
11 May 2012 / Lots of places / Brighton
:: Nils Frahm :: The British Expeditionary Force :: PLANK! :: The Longcut :: Great Waves :: Thomas White :: Pond :: Seward :: Furguson :: The Suicide Of Western Culture :: A Winged Victory For The Sullen :: Seams ::
Manchester turns up on the south coast - and they've brought the sunshine with them! Meanwhile the Erased Tapes label celebrates its fifth birthday in a rather more civilised manner...

MM GOES TO THE SEASIDE: GREAT ESCAPE 2012 PART 1
10 May 2012 / Lots of places / Brighton
:: Savoir Adore :: Nina Nesbitt :: Abi Wade :: Francois And The Atlas Mountains :: Savages :: Zulu Winter :: Fossil Collective :: White Arrows :: Sykur ::
With Manchester's music scene descending en masse on Brighton's Greay Escape festival we thought we would tag along for the ride. We arrived the day before they did, and this is what we found...

SFTOC 2012 : SOUNDS FROM THE OTHER CITY - OUT WITH A BANG
06 May 2012 / Various Venues / Salford
:: Lovely Eggs :: Ghost Outfit :: Klaus Kinski :: Laser Dream Eyes :: Embers :: HipshakessekahspiH – Palindromic Performance ::
Bright, angular pop is a sweet way to end a day of self indulgence...

SFTOC12: SOUNDS FROM THE OTHER CITY - SALFORD'S FINEST MOMENT
06 May 2012 / Various Venues / Salford
:: Great Waves :: Monster Island :: Day For Airstrikes :: From The Kites Of San Quentin :: Daniel Land And The Modern Painters :: Easter :: Victories At Sea :: Embers ::
With 83 bands on offer across 14 venues along Chapel Street, this is one event which is to celebrated for the variety of artists that highlight the vibrancy of our local music scene and beyond...

OUT OF THE ABYSS
02 May 2012 / Academy 3 / Manchester
:: We Are Augustines ::
It has been an emotional journey for We Are Augustines but one which only appears to be beginning for a band on the verge of something very big indeed. It may be some time before they occupy a stage this small again.

SOUNDS FROM A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CITY: LIVE AT LEEDS 2012
05 May 2012 / Various Venues / Leeds
:: ∆ (alt-J) :: Savages :: I Like Trains :: Kleine Schweine :: Black Moth :: Novella :: Peace :: Random Impulse ::
I Like Trains play to one of their biggest ever crowds, Alt-J step up to a vacant headline slot and make a fine show of it, Kleine Schweine shout about Albania in an overstuffed bar. All this and more on our favourite annual trans-Pennine day out.

SFTOC12: ALL DAY AND WELL INTO THE NEXT MORNING
06 May 2012 / Various Venues / Salford
:: Islet :: Patterns :: Great Waves :: Daniel Land And The Modern Painters :: Teeth Of The Sea :: Wode :: Shigeto :: Laser DreamEyes :: Stalking Horse ::Waterworld :: Seaman :: Meddicine :: Withered Hand :: Verity Susman ::
From the opening sax tones of Verity Susman's 3pm set to Patterns' 2am stage invasion, Cath Aubergine attempts to wring every last drop out of a Sounds From The Other City wristband, despite the best efforts of the Trinity Way pedestrian crossing

SFTOC12 : THE END?...SOUNDS FROM THE OTHER CITY
06 May 2012 / Various Venues / Salford
:: Victories At Sea :: New Hips :: No Womb :: Easter :: Daniel Land And The Modern Painters :: Ghost Outfit :: Butcher The Bar :: Wode :: Shigetto :: Alphabet Heaven ::
The last SFTOC...?

STRANGEWAYS RIOT
01 May 2012 / Strangeways Studio AKA The Führer Bunker / Manchester
:: Savages :: Pins ::
On a deserted looking road up the side of the prison, past a building with a number of structural necessities absent, is a near-mythical new venue featuring a wooden cage: inside it, one of the most exciting new bands of 2012.

SOUNDS FROM THE OTHER CITY 2012 - PREVIEW & INFO
05 May 2012 / Various Venues / Salford
:: SFTOC2012 ::
ManchesterMusic's preview of what to look out for at this year's Sounds From The Other City - it's been our northern event of the year since its debut - don't miss out...