thefreethinkingmovementProducers of grown up pop music from Manchester. Influences from Talk Talk to Peter Gabriel.
Here we are at the start of a new decade. And, here we are with a relaunched site and a new look for the freethinking movement. Refreshed, and ready to dive in. I’m looking forward to further re-invigorating these pages, and discovering more music… There’s no better way to breathe some life back into the […]
I’ve been posting an annual ‘best of’ list for a few years now – this is the fifth run through. I can honestly say that this is the easiest year by far. That isn’t a reflection on the scarcity of good material. Rather, the ten albums listed below stand head and shoulders out there as […]
OK, I’ll come clean. While the summer has been more than a little hectic, I did manage to squeeze in Latitude. All very last minute, all very opportunistic. Despite the trenchfoot-friendly conditions, I’m chuffed to have made it. A festival with headliners including Weller and Elbow? Count me the hell in. Latitude is becoming firmly […]
The perils of writing a ‘best albums of the year’ list are many. First of all, I know that I’ll be missing some albums which probably deserve to make the cut. Last year, for example, while calling out I Am Kloot’s ‘Sky At Night’ as the album of the year (which I still stand resolutely […]
Even the most casual reader of these pages will know that I’m a bit of an Elbow fan. I feel that I need to put that out there straight from the off, so you know what you’re dealing with, here. That said, I’ve largely held back on commentary around ‘Build A Rocket Boys!’, save for […]
Call it blues, delivered with an operatic sneer. Sounding like the nasty sister of Bat For Lashes – the one who grew up listening to dirty rock, as opposed to Kate Bush – Anna Calvi demands your attention. Take one part Florence Welch (the voice bit), one part Patti Smith (the attitude) and one part […]
So I am heading to Manchester. You see, I’m a bit of an Elbow fan, as posts on this site have already been testament to. As soon as the Elbow date at the MEN Arena was announced, the tickets were booked. I live in NYC, but my heart is in Manchester. There’s no finer place […]
I’ve been biting my lip for a little while now. The idea of the freethinking movement is to celebrate good music, to recognise innovation, and to highlight some of the overlooked heroes who should be more well known than they are. I recognise that it’s all a matter of taste, and that just because I […]
It seems appropriate to dedicate my first post of 2011 to the material that I’m most excited to hear this year. We’ve got a few months to wait for the full glory of ‘Build a Rocket Boys!’, but I’m just going to put this out there now: based on the first track to be unleashed […]
I buy a lot of music. I really do mean a lot. At time this can mean that I’ve got a stack of music that I just haven’t got around to listening to yet. Delights just sitting there, on my dining room table, waiting for me to check them out. I finally got around to […]
Today has been ‘an Elbow day’. A day at home, listening to a Guy Garvey narrated radio documentary about Manchester (more specifically, the influence and importance of rain in Manchester). With genuine feelings of pride and affection for Manchester, there was only one way to follow the programme. No band captures their love for a […]
From my last post celebrating one of Manchester’s overlooked bands, it seems appropriate to turn my attention to one of their finest current exports. OK, technically they’re from Bury. And OK, their studio is in Salford. But when I’m sitting here a few thousand miles away, it seems academic to draw too fine a distinction. […]