The Moods - Video Of The Week

Brian's favourite video this week is Hidden by The Moods from their Missing Peace album.

After a monumental 2017, The Moods accelerate into 2018 at an exponential rate.

 Hailing from Manchester and the North West, The Moods are a ten-piece collective creating socially charged rap dealing with topics such as corruption, poverty, injustice and inequality. 

This new 10 date UK tour showcases songs from their acclaimed album, Missing Peace, and provides an opportunity to witness the brilliant moods show live in some of the UK,s classic indie venues.

The Moods will be playing Brian's #RoyalBeddingDay event in St Helens in support of Musicians Against Homelessness and local charity Teardrops on May 19th as part of their UK tour and A1 (M) Records are co-sponsors of the all day festival in Ruskins Sports Club.

Mar 10th – DONCASTER – Vintage Rock 

Apr 28th – MANCHESTER – Bred Shed (MoodsFest) 

May 5th – LIVERPOOL – Zanzibar 

May 6th – BARNSLEY – Solidarity Festival 

May 19th – ST HELENS – Brian's MAH Festival 

May 26th – LONDON – Nambucca 

The Moods - Video of The Week

Ralph's favourite video this week is Joy by Manchester band The Moods.

The Moods released Joy ahead of UK tour. Joy is accompanied by a thought-provoking short film starring actor and musician Steve Evets, who found fame in the leading role in 2009 film Looking For Eric, and formerly played Bass for The Fall.

Shot on location in Salford and Manchester, the story follows two wildly different characters as an average day unravels and they both meet dramatic and contrasting fates. As well as Evets, the video, directed and filmed by Croftwerk Productions, features established local actors Nicole Evans, John Mackie and radio broadcaster James Stannage.

Video - www.croftwerk.co.uk

Produced & Released by - www.a1mrecords.com

The Moods

Ralph has been featuring the Blackthorn Festival on the blog recently due to the fact that it's near Manchester and probably the best value for money small festival in the UK.

We've also been singling out a few Manchester bands for some special attention and today it's The Moods turn.

They are the city's premier electro hip-hop reggae outfit, and their message is loud and clear. This 9-strong band unifies rap, brass and beats, delivering potent, political lyrics for a post-2016 world to make you dance make you think. Born out of a musical experiment in North Manchester's Boomshack Studios in early 2014, The Moods quickly gathered members and momentum. 

With thanks to trust a fox photography

A dizzying amalgamation of producers and poets, they swiftly honed their very own sound, which, when taken live, quite simply blew their audiences away. 

It wasn't long before The Moods attracted the attention of local radio stations (Ralph's giving them a spin again on next Sunday's Indie Show on Radio KC) and journalists like John Robb and Terry Christian.

The Moods ended 2016 on an absolute high, with raucous, sell-out gigs in London, Glasgow and Manchester. 

As the world reflected on the travesty that was 2016, The Moods channeled their energy into writing and performing their vital, mighty music.

They have now signed an artist development deal with the fiercely independent A1(M) Records (Ralph's just featured their Music From The North Live EP to raise funds for Salford 94.4 fm) in Manchester. Further to that, their new single JOY is to be released on June 23rd and we gave it a pre-release spin on Sunday 4th June.

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'.