Mick Birchall Reviews

It’s been a hot minute since I have talked about South African blues star, Dan Patlansky . He’s always been one of those artists that has lingered in my music collection and I have so much respect for the man. I first caught wind of him with his 2014 album, Dear Silence Thieves and since then I listen to his records here and there. The last time I spoke at length about him was when he opened for guitar legend Joe Satriani . So yeah, it’s been a fair few years. Well, it appears, Dan is back with a new record in 2024 and I have an an early chance to listen to it. The new album is titled, Movin’ On . This album is completely blues in all the best ways: deep, personal and introspective. An exploration of Patlansky’s moods, emotions and filled to the brim anecdotal poetry. The album flickers back and forth between soulful beauty and gritty, harsh old school blues, in all the best ways. If you like loud fuzz rock and noodling guitar solos then this is certainly the album for you! I think wh...

Another rainy night in Manchester, another great night of music. I don’t those things exclusively go hand in hand but it does always seem to be the case. Anyway, it’s been so long since I’ve been able to see the blues maestro, Joanne Shaw Taylor . I think the last time I saw her perform a headline set was in this very venue right after her fourth album, The Dirty Truth . I’ve spoken about Joanne at length on other websites but never on my own blog. So this has been overdue. I remember first discovering her with her first record, White Sugar . Between 2010 - 2015, I saw her live in concert five times. This show made for six. She’s been one of my favourite artists since that first album and I have kept up to date with all of her releases up to now. So, with her new album Heavy Soul on the horizon and this show being on a Saturday night in Manchester, it felt like the stars had aligned for me to attend another show!  The Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester is such a wonderf...

  Infected Rain has just put out their sixth album, Time . An album set to revitalize the band and bring them into a new era. Join me in my discussion with frontwoman, Lena Scissorhands as we discuss the change in the band and their journey from their humble origins to the titans of the modern metal world! In this interview Lena talks about the new album and the journey to it's release and the time spent on the music videos for all of the singles. Lena gives her take on taking to the stage and how sometimes a change is for the best. Mick: How have you found the reaction to the new album, Time since its release? Lena: It was beyond our expectations for sure. We definitely knew that people would be able to relate to at least some of the themes on the album. However, we were not prepared for the outpouring of love, that we received for this record. It was quite pleasant to hear the song-by-song reaction as well because we released five singles before the album's release. Which br...

Infected Rain is one of those bands that I have always admired, ever since I discovered them. However, for some reason, I’ve not talked about them on the blog. They’re one of those bands that I don’t feel get the love they truly deserve and I have no idea why. They’re an extremely competent metal act that dances in between hardcore punk, metalcore and nu-metal. They way their music is delivered is always something special and something that gets me slam dancing in my living room. I discovered them via their second album Embrace Eternity and ever since I have been a fan of some sorts. This new album Time is their sixth studio album and I think this album has the tough job of following up their critically-acclaimed Ecdysis but I think this one will hit even harder. Once again produced by Valentin Voluta, Time delivers on the heavy in an all new way. The big difference on this record is the band now being armed with their new bassist, Alice Lane. She joins the band bringing a whole ne...