We’ve been busily booking for the months ahead and we’re suitably excited about our list of upcoming show:

• Ryan Francesconi + Birdengine @ The Castle – 16 February
• Dan Michaelson & The Coastguards + The Wooden Sky @ The Castle – 9 March
• Death Vessel + Rozi Plain @ The Deaf Institute – 14 March
• Arbouretum + Samson & Delilah + Milk Maid @ The Deaf Institute – 20 March
• Jesca Hoop + Magic Arm @ The Deaf Institute – 26 March
• Simone Felice (The Duke & The King) @ St Ann’s Church – 9 April
• Singing Adams (ex-Broken Family Band) @ The Deaf Institute – 17 April
• The Radio Dept. @ The Deaf Institute – 11 May
• The High Llamas @ The Deaf Institute – 15 May
• Team Ghost + Daniel Land & The Modern Painters + Anoraak @ The Castle – 18 May

As such, we’ve put together a Spotify playlist featuring one song by each band above (Ryan Francesconi – video below – and Death Vessel excepted) – click here to listen now. We’ll be adding to it as more acts are confirmed, so please subscribe.

Just wanted to drop in a list of recommended gigs for the months ahead:

• Tim Hecker @ Islington Mill 6/12
• Matthew Dear @ The Deaf Institute 6/12
• Belle & Sebastian & the London Contemporary Orchestra @ Apollo 7/12
• Godspeed You Black Emperor @ Academy 1 7/12
• The Rural Alberta Advantage @ The Deaf Institute 8/12
• Arcade Fire + Devendra Banhart @ Manchester Central 11/12
• Saint Etienne + The Radio Dept @ The Ritz 17/12
• Justin Townes Earle @ The Deaf Institute 14/1
• The Walkmen @ Central Methodist Hall 20/1
• Band of Horses + Mojave 3 @ Academy 1 1/2
• Wire @ The Roadhouse 4/2
• Penguin Cafe + Portico Quartet @ Bridgewater Hall 7/2
• The Hold Steady @ The Ritz 13/2
• Ryan Francesconi @ The Castle Hotel 16/2
• Gruff Rhys + Y Niwl @ St Philips Church 17/2
• Suuns @ The Deaf Institute 22/2
• Efterklang @ Academy 2 25/2
• King Creosote + The Earlies @ Band on the Wall 25/2
• Mogwai + The Twilight Sad @ Academy 1 26/2
• Admiral Fallow @ The Deaf Institute 8/3
• The Decemberists @ Academy 1 10/3
• Iron & Wine @ Academy 2 15/3
• Arbouretum @ The Deaf Institute 20/3
• Josh T Pearson @ The Deaf Institute 27/3
• Deerhunter @ Sound Control 30/3
• Noah & The Whale @ The Deaf Institute 30/3
• Explosions in the Sky @ Academy 1 17/5

Hope you see something there you’re interested in!

Sounds From The Other City, Salford’s celebration of new music, returns on Sunday 2 May – and this year it’s expanding. If you’re lucky enough to bag one of the £15 passes, you may well find yourself watching space rock in Islington Mill, a bike orchestra in The Salvation Army, ex-shoegazers in St Phil’s Church, and even poetry in the excellent ale pub The New Oxford. Here’s the one-day festival’s first daytime (3pm-11pm) announcements:

Lamb and Wolf at Islington Mill (club space)
Chrome Hoof
Bo Ningen
Divorce
Breaking Colts
Klaus Kinski

Mind On Fire vs. Wotgodforgot at The Salvation Army
Seaming
The Laze
The Legend Of The Seven Black Tentacles
Levenshulme Bicycle Orchestra

SWN vs. Hey! Manchester at St Phil’s Church
Damon & Naomi
Jesca Hoop (solo)
Y Niwl

Room Tones at Islington Mill (engine room)
The Boats
Danny Norbury
Dean McPhee

Ya Mamas Cooking at The Crescent
Liz Green
Serious Sam Barrett & David Broad
Elvis In Disguise
Zacc Rogers
‘Rockabilly Bingo’

Paradox at The New Oxford
Neil Bell
Mike Garry
Neil Campbell
Chris Killen

Bring On The Dancing Horses at The Old Pint Pot (upstairs)
Egyptian Hip Hop
Wu Lyf

Postcards From Manchester at The Old Pint Pot (downstairs)
The Rural Alberta Advantage
Islet
Help Stamp Out Loneliness

Comfortable On A Tightrope at The Angel Centre
Talk Normal
Pheremoans
Levert
Way Through
Sex Hands
Dinner Party
Waiters

And rather than just an over-crowded Islington Mill, SFTOC will be offering three different options by night:

The Old Pint Pot
Upstairs – Bring On The Dancing Horse vs. Now Wave
Downstairs – Under Achievers Please Try Harder vs. Pull Yourself Together

The Kings Arms
Upstairs – Mind On Fire, Herbal Sessions, This City Is Ours & Drum Music
Downstairs – Naive Melody vs. Stop Making Sense

The Black Lion
Upstairs – Contort Yourself residents party
Downstairs – Bollox vs. Bad Dancer

There’s also a Mount Pleasant Exhibition at the Gallery Space in Islington Mill, plus a ‘Box Office’ artist project to be announced. To stay up to date, join the Facebook group and follow SFTOC on Twitter. Tickets are available from Piccadilly Records, Islington Mill and Quaytickets.com.

The Kraak Gallery, the Northern Quarter’s short-lived but widely approved-of underground music venue, is hosting a photography exhibition next month, featuring photographs of people like Will Oldham:

Steve Gullick has photographed for NME and Melody Maker as well as his own publications Careless Talk Costs Lives and Loose Lips Sink Ships – and has impeccable taste, with Nirvana, Bjork, Beck, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Neil Young and Nick Cave among the familiar names that will feature.

The Photography of Steve Gullick runs from 12-27 March at the Kraak Gallery (11 Stevenson Square, behind Hula Bar). It’s open Tuesday to Sunday, 11am-6pm. What’s more, Steve’s band The Tenebrous Liar play the opening party at the Bay Horse on 11 March (£2, 8pm), and he’ll be giving a guided tour of the exhibition at 3pm on the final day – email him directly to book a place.

Everyone’s favourite baritone-voiced Yorkshire funnyman, Richard Hawley, is doing an in-store set at Piccadilly Records on Oldham Street tomorrow. To get a ticket – of which there are only a few remaining – you need to go in and buy a copy of his new album, Truelove’s Gutter. He’ll sign it after his performance, from 4pm tomorrow.

And Piccadilly Records’ weekly newsletter also flags up an appeal that may be of interest to Manchester music history fans:

Manchester District Music Archive is currently seeking information, photos and artifacts relating to gay clubs and bars in Greater Manchester from the 1940s to the present day. They are planning a large-scale event in February 2010, hosted by writer Jon Savage, which will celebrate the history of gay music culture in Greater Manchester. This will be followed by an in-depth virtual exhibition on their website MDMArchive, so they need photos, flyers, tickets, posters, fanzines, membership cards – that kind of thing.

They are also looking to interview any regular attendees of gay clubs and bars over the years (across the whole of Greater Manchester), or anyone who has been a member of a musical group, such as a choir or band that had an LGBT focus.

If you can contribute, get in touch by emailing info@mdmarchive.co.uk.