• 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.

• 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

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.

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.

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.

One of the most exciting line-ups of Manchester artists in a long while. Celebrating the launch of Tim and the Sam Band’s single launch on Static Caravan, a very cool band… and a very cool label.

Opening the night is the jaw-dropping talent of Denis Jones, then there’s Liz Green, Humble Soul veteran and writer for some of the loveliest folk songs to come out of Manchester.

Spokes are the main support and having been working on material for their debut long player on Counter Records they promise to show what an exciting prospect they are too.

Doors open at 7pm, with Denis on at 8pm. It’s £7 in and there’s promise of a raffle, cakes and a DJ set by Pull Yourself Together.

June
11 – Jonquil, Ish Marquez @ Kro Bar
18 – Acoustic Ladyland @ Mint Lounge
19 – The Wave Pictures @ The Deaf Institute
21 – The Thermals @ Ruby Lounge
22 – A Hawk and a Hacksaw @ Ruby Lounge
29 – M Ward @ Club Academy
29 – Deerhoof @ The Deaf Institute

July
2 – Kraftwerk and Steve Reich @ Manchester Velodrome
2 – Svarte Greiner @ Sacred Trinity
3 – Anthony & The Johnsons @ The Opera House
10 – Prima Donna @ The Palace Theatre
13 – St Vincent @ Night & Day
14 – Fever Ray @ Academy 2
15 – Prefuse 73 @ Ruby Lounge
18 – Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson @ The Palace Theatre
20 – Mark Kozelek @ St Philip’s Church, Salford
30 – Arbouretum @ Night & Day

August
3 – Final Fantasy @ RNCM
18 – Gang Gang Dance @ The Deaf Institute
24 – Bill Callahan @ The Deaf Institute

September
4 – Okkervil River @ Club Academy
14 – Sunset Rubdown @ The Deaf Institute

We don’t want you to meet something amazing, after all! For more information, just google. And if there’s anything good we’ve missed off (we’re sure there will be), please leave a comment.

Last year’s event complemented the more mainstream In The City conference – but with its early summer slot this time around, the event is even more tempting. Here’s what’s on offer panels-wise (click on each for more information):

• The Artists Panel
• ‘Outside the Box’
• The Modern Role Of Collection Agencies
• ‘Music as Culture’
• Bands As Enterprise
• It’s Easier to Ask For Forgiveness

And the music programme isn’t bad either, with Everything Everything, The Loose Salute, Arthur Delaney, Magic Arm, Jake Flowers and I Am Kloot among the potential highlights.

Plenty of familiar names are signed up: Peter Hook, John Robb, Jay Taylor, Howard Monk from The Local… plus BBC DJ Tom Robinson is lending his support in the form of an Introducing show featuring 22 tracks from artists involved, and sessions with Kyte, Sisters of Transistors and Gallops.

Un-convention 2009 kicks off next Thursday, 4 June, and continues throughout Friday and Saturday. A full pass costs £40 and live music tickets cost £7.50 per night or £18 for all three nights. Check out the Un-convention site for more details, and follow the event on Twitter.

• The previously mentioned Hungry Pigeon festival, which will have an outdoor stage in Piccadilly Gardens. Friday-Sunday, £19.50 weekend or £10 per day. Tickets
• The Eurocultured street festival, with two outdoor stages and five venues around New Wakefield Street. Sunday-Monday £3/2 each day. Website
• Friends of Manchester summer party, which features 11 bands on two stages in the Chorlton Irish Club. Friday, 7pm-1am. £7. Facebook
• Hedge at St Margaret’s Church in Whalley Range, with John Smith and Denis Jones. Sunday. £8. Myspace
• A Switchflicker night at the Deaf Institute, with three bands plus DJs until 3am. Saturday. £5. Website
• Strummercamp, which brings the likes of Billy Bragg, the Damned, the Alarm and Goldblade to the Manchester Rugby Club in Cheadle Hulme. Friday-Sunday. £59.50 weekend or £30 per day. Website
• John Cooper Clarke will be DJing and ‘taking to the mic to tell us what the tracks mean to him with his comical and intelligent verse’ at South. Friday. £5. Facebook
• And of course Hey! Manchester’s own celebration of folk music at – where else? – Chorlton’s folk bar Dulcimer. Sunday, 6pm-midnight. £10. Website

Plus there are some more straight-up gigs by the likes of Morrissey, Black Lips, Akron/Family, Inspector Tapehead and Jean Michel Jarre. Good luck planning your weekend!

Tomorrow, Tuesday, Canada’s Great Lake Swimmers are playing for us at Dulcimer in Chorlton. This show’s pretty much sold out now, which was predictable as it’s a great lineup with New York’s Sharon van Etten and Manchester’s own Last Harbour also playing.

Deerhunter, meanwhile, are doing something quite unusual – they’re playing two shows at the Deaf Institute tomorrow. The early show starts at 3pm, with the band on at 6pm, and the late show is from 8pm. Looks like the evening performance has sold out. And on Wednesday, the much-tipped Telepathe play another Now Wave night at the same venue. More info and tickets for both here.

Also on Wednesday, Chorlton-based label Broken Horse are promoting a rare performance by AC Newman (of New Pornographers  fame) at Retro Bar. He’s playing with his band, and Andrew Morgan is supporting. Tickets from here.

There’s nothing much happening on Thursday, but on Friday there’s the debut appearance by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. They’re from New York, they’re into Sarah Records-era c86 and we love them. This one’s a Friends of Mine night, at the Chorlton Irish Club. Tickets are here. Or local female-fronted Norweigan folkies Kalbakken are playing an intimate show upstairs in Briton’s Protection.

On Saturday, you’ve got a choice between Manchester’s Magic Arm, who’s launching his album with a full band show at the Deaf Institute, or Akron/Family at the Ruby Lounge. Both have their merits – the latter being one of the most fun bands we’ve put on, while the former has excellent support from Homelife and Beth Jean Houghton.

Finally, make the most of the bank holiday weekend with a Sunday show. We’ve pulled together some of the best folk talent in Manchester including Denis Jones, John Stammers, Starless & Bible Black and Sparky Deathcap – plus Drag City-signed headliner Alasdair Roberts – for an all-evening event at Dulcimer. There’ll also be barbecue (if the weather’s fine) and DJs playing. More info and tickets are here.