When: 7.30pm on Thursday 25 March 2010
Where: Dulcimer, 567 Wilbraham Road, Chorlton, Manchester M21 0AE

We’re proud to present the first visit of Toronto’s Picastro to Manchester since 2007!

Since their formation in 1997 and the release of their debut album Red Your Blues in 2001, Canada’s Picastro have continued to mine a rich seam of beautifully melancholic (and sometimes menacing) avant-folk/rock.

Their fourth album, Become Secret, finds them on top form once again, with the familiar accompaniment of cello, acoustic guitar, drums and piano employed to great effect on songs that incorporate Eastern-European folk themes, bleak cinematic soundscapes and dark, unsettling pop.

Front woman and songwriter Liz Hysen shares vocal duties on several songs with guest vocalists including Tony Dekker (Great Lake Swimmers), Brendan Massei (Viking Moses), Colleen Kinsella (Fire On Fire, Cerberus Shoal) and John McIntyre. Greg Weeks (Espers) also plays on the album, and recorded several of the songs at his Hexham Head studio in Philadelphia.

Lyrically, Hysen drew inspiration from a variety of sources, including Cormac McCarthy, Westerns and the Bible, as well as Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1975 film The Passenger. In fact Hysen, an avid film buff who also makes Super 8 films as a hobby, says that the final album track, The Stiff, synchs up perfectly with the final scene of The Passenger.

Picastro have appeared in Wire and Comes with a Smile magazines, and on the soundtrack of TV series 24, believe it or not. Final Fantasy’s Owen Pallett previously played viola in the band.

‘Somewhere between the Dirty Three and Electrelane‘ – Sunday Times

‘This Toronto quartet continue to mine a dark yet fuzzy and warm soundscape of violin and guitar, fronted by the compelling, haunting vocals of Liz Hysen. Comparisons to Godspeed You Black You Emperor! and Dirty Three are inevitable, but Picastro also lay down all sorts of eastern European folk vibes’ – The Independent

‘Picastro bring lo-fi minimal classicism deeply etched with lyrics of a dark loneliness to the masses. The Nico-like Liz Hysen is their chief muse, vocalist and Dada fiddle player. Cellist Rachel McBride, drummer Evan Clarke and guitarist Zak Hanna join her fragile but deliciously morose sonic universe’ – Straight, No Chaser

Support comes from Paddy Steer. This Manchester music mainstay is one half of Homelife and has played with the likes of Toolshed. As a solo artist, he released his debut album on Red Deer Club recently – and at last year’s Best of Manchester Awards, he was recognised as ‘unsung hero’ for his contribution to Manchester’s music community.

Tickets available from the bar, Piccadilly Records, Ticketline.co.uk and on 0161 832 1111.

When: 7.30pm on Monday 29 March 2010
Where: Dulcimer, 567 Wilbraham Road, Chorlton, Manchester M21 0AE

Hey! Manchester is excited to present The Besnard Lakes‘ first show in Manchester since 2007.

The Besnard Lakes, from Montreal, Canada, were formed by husband-and-wife duo Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas in 2003. They are currently a four-piece, centred around the couple’s atmospheric songs. Their second album, The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse, was recorded at singer Lasek’s own Breakglass Studios, with members of Stars, The Dears and Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt. Zion making guest appearances. It was nominated for the 2007 Polaris Music Prize.

A third studio album, The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night, will be released on Jagjaguwar in March 2010. It will be prefaced by a 12-inch record featuring the single Albatross. The band also provided the score for Sympathy For Delicious, the directorial debut from actor Mark Ruffalo, which premieres at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

‘They’ve retrofitted classic-rock grandeur to indie-rock dimensions and forged their own special niche – space-rock that’s down to Earth’ – Pitchfork

‘Like Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah before them, this Montreal band have released an indie classic from completely out of the blue. Not that they sound at all similar to the aforementioned three, but you feel the band’s elegiac mix of shoegaze, downbeat pop and post-rock would have struggled to formulate from anywhere other than underground indie’s own Mecca’ – Drowned In Sound

Support comes from Copenhagen’s Alcoholic Faith Mission – a band we’re expecting big things from if they carry on like this. Plus their new album, Let This Be The Last Night We Care, is something special.

Joining them on the bill are the Besnard Lake’s label-mates, London’s psychedelic Wolf People, whose debut album will be released in June.

Tickets available from the bar, Piccadilly Records, Seetickets.com and on 0161 832 1111.

When: 4pm until 11pm on Sunday 2 May 2010
Where: St Philip’s Church, Encombe Place, Salford, Lancashire, M3 6FJ

Hey! Manchester has been invited to organise a stage at this year’s Sounds From The Other City! SFTOC is a one-day music festival that celebrates the diversity of Greater Manchester’s ‘other city’. The 12-hour aural orgy is moving west this year, taking in the Kings Arms, Islington Mill, the Salvation Army’s music hall, the Crescent and the Pint Pot’s two-tiered venue. Hey! Manchester is teaming up with Cardiff’s Sŵn Festival this year in a very special venue: St Philip’s Church:

Our first acts to be confirmed are Cambridge, MA’s Damon & Naomi (ex-Galaxie 500 members who return to the city following their extra-special show at Dulcimer last year), Californian Jesca Hoop (one of our rising stars for 2010) and Wales’ Y Niwl – the first selection from our friends at Sŵn Festival. We’ll be adding to this line-up over the coming fortnight.

To check out who else is playing, visit the Sounds From The Other City website or join the SFTOC Facebook group.

Tickets, giving access to all stages, cost £15 and are available from Quaytickets.com, Islington Mill and Piccadilly Records.

When: 7.30pm on Thursday 20 May 2010
Where: Sacred Trinity Church, corner of Chapel Street/Blackfriars Street, Salford M3 5DW

We’re proud to be promoting the debut Manchester show by Montreal’s Tim Hecker.

Tim Hecker is a Canadian-based musician and sound artist, born in Vancouver. Since 1996, he has produced a range of audio works for Kranky, Alien8, Mille Plateaux, Room40, Force Inc, Staalplaat and Fat Cat. His works have been described as ’structured ambient’, ‘tectonic colour plates’ and ‘cathedral electronic music’. More to the point, he has focused on exploring the intersection of noise, dissonance and melody, fostering an approach to songcraft that is both physical and emotive. The New York Times has described his work as ‘foreboding, abstract pieces in which static and sub-bass rumbles open up around slow moving notes and chords, like fissures in the earth waiting to swallow them whole’.

Hecker’s Harmony in Ultraviolet received critical acclaim, including being recognised by Pitchfork as a top recording of 2006. Radio Amor was also recognised as a key recording of 2003 by Wire magazine. His work has also included commissions for contemporary dance, sound-art installations, minimal techo works under the name Jetone, as well as various writings.

Tim has presented his work in a live setting around the world, including performances at Sónar (Barcelona), Mutek (Montreal), Primavera Sound (Barcelona), Victoriaville (Quebec), Vancouver New Music Festival (Vancouver), and Transmediale (Berlin). He currently resides in Montreal.

This jam-packed bill is completed by Rotterdam’s Machinefabriek, Cambridge’s Simon Scott and Leeds’ Fieldhead – so please arrive promptly.

This is a co-promotion with Room Tones.

Tickets available from Piccadilly Records, Seetickets.com and on 0161 832 1111.

When: 7.30pm on Monday 24 May 2010
Where: Band on the Wall, 26 Swan Street, Manchester M4 5JZ

We’re excited to welcome back Jesca Hoop, last seen performing to a sold-out audience at the Deaf Institute!

Hoop was born in Southern California to strict Mormon parents. She grew up singing traditional folk tunes in four-part harmony, but soon broke away from this background, becoming a homesteader in the wilderness areas of Northern California and Wyoming, and worked in the remote mountains of Arizona with a rehabilitation programme for children.

As a nanny for Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan’s three children, Hoop gained both musical experience and notoriety. Waits said of Hoop, ‘Her music is like going swimming in a lake at night‘. Her contact with Waits led to her initial exposure, through Nic Harcourt at the Southern California radio station KCRW in 2003. Seed of Wonder became a fixture in KCRW’s top five requests for eight weeks straight – a station record.

In 2007, the Los Angeles Times announced Hoop as one of California’s most notable artists. Later the same year, she toured with Polyphonic Spree. In 2008, meanwhile, she supported Mark Knopfler on tour, and in 2009 she shared a bill with Andrew Bird and Elbow – with Guy Garvey also dueting with Hoop on her latest album Hunting My Dress.

‘Hunting My Dress confirms her as one of alternative folk-pop’s most arresting recent arrivals, singing like an outcast angel and writing like a restless explorer’ – The Sunday Times

‘A sensual, eccentric and often frankly odd-sounding record, Hunting My Dress exudes oodles of charisma and originality, thanks mostly to Hoop’s delightfully freaky take on traditional folk convention‘ – BBC Music

‘There’s a thin line between genuine eccentricity and precious affectation of weirdness, but Jesca Hoop walks it well’ – The Guardian

‘No doubt lazy journalists will lump her in with that one who plays the harp, but if you ask me they’re worlds apart, and equally brilliant. If you get the chance to see her live, go’ – Now Then

Tickets are available from the venue, Piccadilly Records, BandOnTheWall.org and on 0161 832 1111.