Music From The North

Ralph occasionally strays from the path and rather than focus on an individual band or artiste, will feature an event, festival or release by an independent record company. 

Such is the case with today's blog as we're having a look (and a listen) to the release on A1(M) Records of the Music From The North EP.

It's a 9 track EP featuring the music of The Moods, The Nouvelles, The Backhanders and the spoken words of North West poet extrordinaire J.B. Barrington recorded live at Manchester's reknowned and eclectic Band On The Wall venue in the Northern Quarter's Swan Street.




The Music From The North EP; mixed, mastered and produced by award winning producer Dave Tolan in his Hope Mill Studio, is officially available on iTunes and limited edition (300 copies) CD (dedicated to Yvonne Doyle) from tomorrow.

The Music From The North EP had an exclusive on-air debut on Wednesday night, during a special episode of Steve Doyle's Sonic Diary on 94.4FM Salford City Radio. A1(M) Records will be donating copies of the Music From The North CD to the radio station, who will in turn sell them to their listeners in aorder to raise funds towards the much-loved station's ongoing fight for survival.



Ralph will be featuring tracks by the bands on the EP in next Sunday's Indie Show on Radio KC. 


The 9-track EP features live music from The Moods, East Manchester’s premier electro hip hop reggae outfit, The Backhanders with their 'Swirling guitars and intensely-spat lyrics that brim with authentic Strummer soul', The Nouvelles who purvey 'upbeat, powerful, tight and well-crafted tunes' and of course Ralph's Life favourite spoken wordsmith JB Barrington 'His quick fire comedy sits well alongside his machine-gun spoken word performance. He's witty, wise and wonderfully eloquent with his unmistakeable Salford twang'.

Ralph's Top 10 Blogged Band Chart - 1.8.15

OK bands you know the score .....

the more hits your blog gets by the fans ..... 

the higher you go .....

So Tweet it, Facebook it .....

Generally expose yourself .....

                                                 ralphslife.co.uk

Follow Ralph's Life Indie Music Blog on Pinterest.

Now Mr Snuggles and I have been sitting with our heads down counting the hits on each blog to see which band's got what place.

The Top Ten Blogged Band Chart is played every Sunday 5-7pm on Radio KC as part of Ralph's Indie Show.

No 1 ...Lynn Gerrard

It's not often you get an invitation to go and listen to a gargoyle grumble as well as listen to live music, so Ralph sent out his roving reporter to cover the Lynn Gerrard (aka The Grumbling Gargoyle) live book launch in The Citadel St Helens recently. 

To celebrate signing a four book deal with Wallace Publishing to produce her poetry she took over her local theatre for an evening of music, comedy and spoken word.

No 2... Vukovar

Ralph's ideally placed to find out what's happening musically in St Helens and a quick trip to Kaleidescope Records on Westfield Street proved to be worthwhile as local band Vukovar have produced a gem in the shape of their recently released album Emperor on Small Bear Records.

I may have invented the phrase Bleak Pop just for Emperor as it lays it's foundations in all that's good from the likes of Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground to The Fall and Joy Division. 

No 3...Fiona Soe Paing




Ralph's long been a fan of the immaculate electronica produced by Fiona Soe Paing and is delighted that she's now developed a new multi-media experience that she's taking to the Edinburgh Fringe in a series of shows in The Capital's Summerhall venue. 

She's combined her stunning live vocals and electro soundtracks with animation from New Zealand artist Zennor Alexander to create a unique and surreal live performance called Alien Lullabies - Songs From A Decaying Future, which will both surprise and delight the Fringe audiences.

No 4...JB Barrington

Ralph's new found interest in Spoken Word Poetry was further piqued recently when St Helens Central Library announced that 

J B Barrington was performing there courtesy of St Helens Arts Service. So on Friday it was off to the library (and not to pay a fine for a change) to catch the show!

No 5...Officer

The last time Ralph's keyboard vibrated as he listened to the sounds of London singer/songwriter Officer was when he was bringing news of his then forthcoming album Myriads whilst listening to Glass Ceiling which had just been released as a single back in March. 

Well the wait is over as the album is available now on pre-order prior to it's release on the 31

No 6...All The King's Men




With a new video out and a headline gig in top Manchester venue the Soup Kitchen coming up on the 7th of August it's all go for All The King's Men at the moment. 


The psychedelic video for rheir debut single Fever brings us a choppy, guitar driven, raunchy vocalising piece of in your face alt rock.

No 7...The Winachi Tribe

Seeing as they're almost next door to Ralph it's about time The Winachi Tribe from Warrington (and Leeds) got a shout out. They've just released their debut single Time For Love and it's seriously funked up in their own inimitable grooved up style.

Although Time For Love is a debut release for The Winachi Tribe, individual band members are already well established on the music scene. 

No 8...The Holy Orders

It's been a while in the making, but well worth it. Hull four piece and long-time Ralph's Life favourites The Holy Orders have released a new single on the indie Mono Sound Records and it's a corker.

Recorded at Mountain Sound Recording Studio in Hull with Patrick Tobin and mixed by Mark Osborne-Lawn, The Deuce Of Hearts sees The Holy Orders taking their uncompromising guitar sound into new territory.

No 9 ...White Boy

If Marc Bolan and David Bowie had produced a bastard son to give their music a twist for future generations, then White Boy is the result. Although recently formed (frontman Joe Jones was previously with the much vaunted Janice Graham Band) they've produced 'Glitoris', an album of ten quality tracks that'll see them quickly rise to become firm favourites in their home city of Manchester (where they're already playing to sold-out venues) and beyond.

No 10...Peur

Ralph's been a fan of Manchester trio Peur since catching their debut EP We Can Build Astronauts back in 2013 so it's with great joy that today sees the release of their much vaunted Future Architects EP.

Their music has earned them airplay on BBC radio, most recently on the Huw Stephens Radio 1 show, an up-coming visit to The Shift Radio HQ, and a range of independent and commercial FM and internet radio shows including Ralph's Indie Show on Radio KC.

Ralph's Top 10 Blogged Band Chart - 11.7.15

OK bands you know the score .....

the more hits your blog gets by the fans ..... 

the higher you go .....

So Tweet it, Facebook it .....

Generally expose yourself .....

                                                 ralphslife.co.uk

Follow Ralph's Life Indie Music Blog on Pinterest.

Now Mr Snuggles and I have been sitting with our heads down counting the hits on each blog to see which band's got what place.

The Top Ten Blogged Band Chart is played every Sunday 5-7pm on Radio KC as part of Ralph's Indie Show.

No 1 ...White Boy

If Marc Bolan and David Bowie had produced a bastard son to give their music a twist for future generations, then White Boy is the result. Although recently formed (frontman Joe Jones was previously with the much vaunted Janice Graham Band) they've produced 'Glitoris', an album of ten quality tracks that'll see them quickly rise to become firm favourites in their home city of Manchester (where they're already playing to sold-out venues) and beyond.

No 2...JB Barrington

Ralph's new found interest in Spoken Word Poetry was further piqued recently when St Helens Central Library announced that 

J B Barrington was performing there courtesy of St Helens Arts Service. So on Friday it was off to the library (and not to pay a fine for a change) to catch the show!

No 3...The Winachi Tribe

Seeing as they're almost next door to Ralph it's about time The Winachi Tribe from Warrington (and Leeds) got a shout out. They've just released their debut single Time For Love and it's seriously funked up in their own inimitable grooved up style.

Although Time For Love is a debut release for The Winachi Tribe, individual band members are already well established on the music scene. 

No 4 ...Lynn Gerrard

It's not often you get an invitation to go and listen to a gargoyle grumble as well as listen to live music, so Ralph sent out his roving reporter to cover the Lynn Gerrard (aka The Grumbling Gargoyle) live book launch in The Citadel St Helens recently. 

To celebrate signing a four book deal with Wallace Publishing to produce her poetry she took over her local theatre for an evening of music, comedy and spoken word.




No 5...The Fireflys


The Fireflys were headlining Runcorn's Brindley Theatre to a sold out crowd supported by The Spase and Chasing Infinity on the Saturday, so it was time to investigate further.

The 'Storyteller' gig gave an insight into both The Fireflys extensive back catalogue and the new tracks including the recently released single 'Branches' as Lee Wylding availed the audience of the thinking behind each track prior to them being performed, more of which later.

No 6... Nieves

Ralph's been a fan of Glasgow band Nieves since playing their simply sublime and sublimely simple Straight Line last year on his Radio KC Indie Show, so it's no surprise there's a bit of excitement in the kennel on hearing that their new single Black Tie is released today as a precursor to an EP later this year.

Initially a duo (Brendan Dafters, vocal/guitar and Herre De Leur, keyboards) Nieves have strengthend both their ranks and their sound by becoming an extremely tight four piece.

No 7...Peur

Ralph's been a fan of Manchester trio Peur since catching their debut EP We Can Build Astronauts back in 2013 so it's with great joy that today sees the release of their much vaunted Future Architects EP.

Their music has earned them airplay on BBC radio, most recently on the Huw Stephens Radio 1 show, an up-coming visit to The Shift Radio HQ, and a range of independent and commercial FM and internet radio shows including Ralph's Indie Show on Radio KC.

No 8...Vladimir


Riding the crest a wave of up and coming young Scottish bands currently flooding the UK music scene is Dundee band Vladimir. Their industrial yet infectious brand of 'post-punk' is reminiscent of fellow Scots the late lamented Cinematics w

No 9...Bloodlines

Now it's no secret that Ralph is a big fan of Ayrshire's Vukovi so it's no surprise his ears pricked up when he heard the new single Cathedral by Glasgow based (formerly from Fort William) band Bloodlines from their recently released debut EP Love The Taste. It's accompanied by an atmospheric video, of which more later.









No 10...Rory Wynne




Ralph's first introduction to up and coming Manchester singer/songwriter Rory Wynne was Post Party Confusion, his new, quirky and insightful single which views the travails of being a young party animal in today's night-life jungle. 

Not only has Ralph played it on his Radio KC Indie Show a couple of times it's been featured by Radio 1 DJ Phil Taggart.

J B Barrington

Ralph's new found interest in Spoken Word Poetry was further piqued recently when St Helens Central Library announced that J B Barrington was performing there courtesy of St Helens Arts Service. So on Friday it was off to the library (and not to pay a fine for a change) to catch the show!


Having recently published some of his spoken word and supported the force of nature that is Sleaford Mods (who have just played Glastonbury) he is very much in demand, so it was great to be able to catch him in the intimate surroundings of Central Library's Reference Room, ably accompanied by Carol Robson.

Both will be performing during The Greater Manchester Fringe in July. Carol in The Kings Arms and J B in Salford Arts Centre.

Carol Robson's performance was both forthright and brutally honest, talking not only of her own health problems but commenting on what ails the NHS. Having overcome her own battles she now, through her poetry and spoken word battles for others. Not only that she performed her show at last years Edinburgh Fringe to rave reviews.

Tonight she regails us with both spoken word from her book Words Of Darkness And Light as well as some wise and witty monologues. 

One highlight for the audience was her poem Debris with it's heartfelt commentary on the plight of the homeless.

J B Barrington takes the stage to enthusiastic applause and immediately gets the audience onside with his charming cheeky chappie style. Setting down his Addidas bag of tricks he launches into a well practised, quick fire comedy routine that sits well alongside his machine gun spoken word performance. he's witty, wise and wonderfully eloquent in his Salford twang. His asides about his Mam seem comfortingly familiar, evoking memories of similar events and sayings in my past life

Me Mam Dunt Like To Text’: ‘She said Margaret’s got rid of her BT line/ She don’t ring anymore she just texts all the time/ She sent one Tuesday saying Harry’s had heart attack/ Then I have to pay cos I ring her back’


Smartly attired and reading from his book Woodchip Anaglypta and Nicotined Artex Ceilings J B Barrington takes us from heartwarming to heartbreaking to politically astute and incisive in swift assured steps. A highlight for me is his rendition of She Holds His Hand with it's simple but emotionally effective words.

She holds his hand
He’s no longer as strong as what once he could be
They fell in love in Salford 1953

She holds his hand

His legs have grown weak on his feet he’s unsteady
She cleans him she feeds him she helps him get ready
She holds his hand

Never once does she wish to let go
Through the 65 years of blood sweat and tears
He’s the most wonderful man she’s ever known

She holds his hand
Just to make sure he’s alright
She sings him to sleep with a sweet kiss to keep
And she holds his hand all through the night

She holds his hand

Just like she did before
Time got the best of those pains in his chest
She’ll still hold his hand for evermore.

It's hard to avoid the obvious similarity between J B Barrington and John Cooper Clarke, but really it's only the accent and the nervous swagger that are the same. J B is capturing the mood of a younger generation and the travails that affect them in his often angst filled but equally poignant words. He is as likeable as he can be acerbic and if you get the chance, catch his Manchester performance in Salford Arts Centre on July 25th.

Carol Robson will be appearing in The Kings Arms, Salford on July 4th and 9th.