Another fine performance from Manchester City women's team at the local derby. Goals from Knaak, Shaw and Hemp, but also a shout out to Aoba Fujino for her Bobby Gillespie haircut, her tenacity and her ability to be seemingly everywhere.

Gwenno was fantastic, doing songs in Welsh, Cornish and even a bit of English. And being a cat at one point. And great support from Quinquis, who sang in Breton about mermaids. Obviously.

Another great gig, with Kathryn Joseph doing her usual beautiful, dark and haunting songs with some added banging beats.

A trip to Sheffield for our third gig of the week to see a (partly) reformed Cabaret Voltaire doing some full-on but danceable industrial electronics, 50 years after their first gig.

Another wonderful gig from Robyn Hitchcock with his usual stream of consciousness and train chat - he promised to check out Manchester Victoria on his next visit.

I'm still reeling from the awesome guitar skills of Gwenifer Raymond at Gulliver's on Wednesday. Originally from Wales, I think she must have sold her soul to the devil at a crossroads, possibly in Cardiff on a Saturday night.

The much sampled Cymande are now getting credit in their own right and got the whole of the Albert Hall dancing in their seats on Thursday.

2 great Celtic gigs this week. Edwyn Collins on his farewell tour brought back lots of wonderful nostalgia, and was joined by his son William (who looked nervous but has a terrific voice) for one of his newer songs. Then Cate le Bon with her distinctive, dreamy and gloriously off-kilter sounds.

Another great gig, revisiting the wonders of The Beta Band and the 3 EPS, including a glorious audience sing-along to the end of Dry The Rain. "If there's something inside that you wanna say Say it out loud, it'll be okay"

Self Esteem and her backing singers put on a brilliant, inspiring show on Monday night. I think more bands should end their set by conga-ing off stage to Shirley Bassey. Great acoustic support set from Tom Rasmussen too.

Brighde Chaimbeul sounding bewitching at Band on the Wall last night.

Highlights from the Supersonic festival in Birmingham a couple of weeks back. Mermaid Chunky and friends, Maxine "F**king" Peake slaying the forces of gentrification in the Supersonic mummer's play, Poor Creature with some atmospheric folk, Jennifer Reid doing Lancashire broadside ballads.(1/2)

Had a great time at Shambala festival a few weeks ago, as a volunteer steward for Oxfam, but with enough free time to see some acts too. Moonchild Sanelly, Ustad Noor Bakhsh and The Zawose Queens were particularly good. And went to a Balkan singing workshop. Top tip, try to sing like a nasaly goat.

After a summer drought of live music I now suddenly have lots to share. Let's start with the majestic Mohammad Syfkhan.

The fabulous Sparks going down a storm at The Apollo last night.

Joyful sounds with Kanda Bongo Man and friends at Band on the Wall on Friday.

A great night out with the full on relentless beats of Factory Floor

Only just got around to posting these photos from the Wide-Awake Festival in London Town last week. A strong look and some Turkish psych from Gaye Su Akyol. More strong looks and trancey folk from Mermaid Chunky and friends. Martin Rev growing old disgracefully and noisily.

She's done some wonderful stuff solo and with 50 Foot Wave but Kristen Hersh is back with a new Throwing Muses line up, including her son. Good to hear some old stuff and the new songs sound great too.

I had a really nice 3 day break in London doing music, art and theatre. I'll be posting a load of photos from the Wide-Awake festival soon, but in the meantime here are some photos of Sam Amidon and his band playing some folky, jazzy tunes.

Nice afternoon out at the Manchester Jazz Festival yesterday. Ex-Easter Island Head making strange and wonderful sounds by doing strange and wonderful things to guitars. Followed by Levenshulme's Ellen Beth Abdi with some beautiful live looped vocals.

Another great, shouty, funny gig from proper Cardiff girls Panic Shack, with lively support from Duvet.

Another excellent Sounds From The Other City. Started with some country krautrock from Marsy, then Gwenno being a piano diva in English, Welsh and Cornish, followed by Jennifer Reid and her joyous renditions of traditional Lancashire (and one Yorkshire) folk songs.

Some intense but joyful jazz from Alabaster de Plume and friends, supported by the ethereal vocals and layered synths of Lucy Gooch.

Lovely to see Richard Dawson live again, playing some new stuff. And the Stoller Hall is a great venue.

Sending love and support to all trans, non-binary and gender queer people today (and every day). 💜 💜 💜

A great nostalgic night out to see 80s Manchester indie pop favorites The Man from Delmonte. And support act The Mudd Club got the evening going with some punky garage rock.

Some lovely mesmerising music from Jane Weaver supported by The Memorials. Nice to go to a gig in Stockport for a change too, big up the viaduct!

Bab L'Bluz were excellent at Yes last night. Yousra Mansour has a wonderful voice and plays a mean guitar/gimbri hybrid and the whole band got a trancey groove going with a mix of Moroccan Gnawa and rock/blues. And great support from Crimewave, with some dubby electronics mixed with live guitar.

Some old and new indie pop at Gulliver's last night. The Loft took us back to the 80s but also showcased a lot of new material. And local favorites Autocamper were excellent as ever.

RIP Roberta Flack. This is my favourite track of hers. youtube.com/watch?v=wDUk...

Some great folk drones and harmonies from The Shovel Dance Collective at Halle St Peter's last night.

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First gig of the year, Tristwch Y Fenywod conjuring up some musical spirits before giving us some splendid Welsh language psych goth with added zither. Great support from Leucotome.

I absolutely adored Marianne Faithfull. She was a hero to me. I'm so sad she's gone, and forever grateful for her beautiful music, badass attitude, wicked laugh and divine rasp. RIP.

Hurrah! Bandcamp Fridays are back. There will be 5 Bandcamp Fridays this year, starting on March 7th. And on February 7th they are donating their revenue share to a charity supporting members of the music community affected by the Californian fires. daily.bandcamp.com/features/ban...

This is a fascinating documentary about the history of Scottish girl bands, from the 1960s to the present day. I love a deep dive into niche and neglected areas of music history. www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

I thoroughly recommend this short series on music technology, including the theremin, space echo and the 808. I particularly enjoyed the modern interpretation of Daphne Oram's early ideas on turntablism. Only available for about another week. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand...

Some great Christmas presents from @diskono.bsky.social including a geeky early electronic music compilation and a DJ Paulette glitter ball umbrella.