Never Mind The Terrorists, We Are Manchester

This picture was taken tonight at 25 past 7, not 25 past 6: I haven't adjusted the time on my camera for British Summertime yet.

It is up on a fence around a building site on Stockport Road, directly facing Manchester Apollo.

This is the Place - poet Tony Walsh reads out his tribute to Manchester

Noga Erez - Off The Radar (Official Video)

The girl done good again...

Overcoats European tour dates: 16 - 28 May

Overcoats - Little Memory

'Little Memory' was the first song Hana and JJ wrote together in their final year at college. You can see from this why they've been written of as being a female Simon & Garfunkel for the modern age, but you can also hear a hint of darkness and the sparse bleakness of Chet Baker. An early snapshot of what was to come.

Which Witch - Florence + The Machine - Live Rio 2016

I am very obsessed with this song at the moment.

I went looking for the recorded version on YouTube so I could share it, only then I couldn't find it. I did find this clip of the band performing 'Which Witch' in Rio in 2016 though, which will give you an idea of it. The band also played it in Poland and Italy on the outgoing European leg of the How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful tour in December 2015, but as far as I know, it wasn't performed on the outgoing leg of the UK tour, and definitely didn't feature in the bands homecoming set at Hyde Park.

An extra track on the How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful album, 'Which Witch' was, gleaning from interviews with Florence Welch about the album, an early track that didn't end up on the album proper because although they liked it, it was too like Ceremonials in sound. If you liked 'Breath of Life', you'll like this.

Because I can't find the recorded version on YouTube, I will have to refer you to Spotify on this occasion if you want to hear the demo/extra track version of the song. It is well worth it, believe me.

Laura Nyro - You don't love me when I cry

Like Patti Smith before Patti Smith.

If that makes any kind of sense at all.

Jesca Hoop - Memories Are Now [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

It's taking me longer to warm to Memories Are Now the album than it did to Hunting My Dress and The House That Jack Built, but it's a grower.

The title track is understated genius. It creeps up on you slowly, and gradually overpowers your senses until you give in.

The Staves - Tired As Fuck [Official Video]

There's an unease, a disconnect, a jarring sense of the artificial while at the same time an incredible searing anger and vulnerability mixed in with the weariness that makes this video at once powerful and really quite difficult to watch.

My initial thought on hearing this song ( a few months back now) was "Ye Gods, you can tell that they were on the F+TM How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful tour in 2015", and while as gut reactions go it still holds true, the truth is undoubtably going to be more complex. I suspect that The Staves were on the verge of shifting in a more rock direction perhaps anyway, and that this is the advance guard of this new creative approach.

I look forward to hearing more.

Laura Gibson "The Cause" (Live at WFUV)

It's taken me a while to get into Laura Gibson. As with Julia Holter, I think it's a case of every now and then there's a song that really grabs me, and that I get really into, and then I feel like I have a longish wait for another one to come along. It might be lack of attention and a bit of impatience on my part though, as it took me three or four listens to really get into 'The Cause'.

I am blogging 'The Cause' because, before I started on the Between Two Books odyssey of reading, I'd been reading quite a few books on the suffragettes, and today is local election and mayoral election day. If you have an election to vote in today, go forth and vote.

Official music video for 'Polonia' by Katy Carr

I met the lovely, and staggeringly talented, Katy Carr at two 40 Years Of Punk events in London last summer. We were introduced by Helen McCookerybook, Katy being one of Helen's former students.

'Polonia' is the title track from Katy's 2015 album.

I was going to include the version of 'Hallelujah' from Polish National TV on the basis that it made me cry, but I think 'Polonia' is probably more representative of Katy's work.