Walls confirmed for Drowned In Sound stage at Sounds From The Other City

A couple of weeks ago we announced that we were going to be involved with Salford’s grassroots-driven DIY festival Sounds From The Other City. Since then, as well as getting our own stage in order – curated with local promoters and pals Grey Lantern - we’ve been casting an eye over who everyone else has been booking up and it’s almost as much a pleasure to reveal who else will be headlining the various stages that make up this bright n’ boozy festival all-dayer as well as ours.

We say "almost" because we couldn’t be any happier with who we’ll have closing our stage. It’s no big secret that Kompakt duo Walls are pretty large favourites of ours, DiS scribe Andrew Kennedy wrote about them in his 9/10 review of their last LP Coracle, “There is scope, ambition and depth to this album. Fresh, measured and unhurried, yet not in a lazy or turgid manner. It is arresting, but not desperate for your attention like an invalid. Coming down or getting up, Coracle will do the trick,” whilst you can listen to a mix tape the pair made for us here. So it is then that we can announce they’ll be closing our stage on Bank Holiday Sunday, May 6th at the Black Lion, the duo dropping in to play for us ahead of what promises to be a terrific summer festival season for them. We've also added Regal Safari, Embers and New Hips to our stage alongside the already confirmed Eaux, Stalking Horse and Shinies; our good friends Ghosting Season will be joining it all together, DJing in between the acts ...more on which further down …

Elsewhere there’ve been a slew of other names announced; Swedish multi-instrumentalist Loney Dear plays St. Philips Church for local promoters Hey! Manchester, and joining him on that bill is The Cinematic Orchestra’s Stuart McCallum. Islet, meanwhile, play an exclusive soundtrack set for Bad Uncle & HearHere at Sacred Trinity Chapel, whilst electronica-led collectives Mind On Fire and This City Is Ours have Shigeto & MC Selfsays as headliners , Comfortable On A Tightrope can announce Molly Nilsson and Now Wave have unveiled Keep Shelly In Athens, Fear Of Men and Au Palais among others. These are just a few of the notable highlights from a glut of announced names including Pandr Eyez, Ghost Outfit, This Many Boyfriends, Let’s Buy Happiness, Younghusband, Daniel Land & The Modern Painters, Peepholes, a Mordant label showcase featuring Ekoplekz, and Ghost Mutt, Alphabets Heaven, G R E A T W A V E S, Butcher The Bar, The Rebel and Neil Campbell among many more.

More comprehensive line-up details can be found at soundsfromtheothercity.com as well as ticket information; there are a handful of early bird tickets left for just £14, going up to £18 thereafter.

As well as revealing Walls as our headliners we can also introduce the following …

Regal Safari are a Brighton-based duo who came strongly recommended from our friends Grey Lantern; debut EP R G L S F R drips in a sun-soaked haze but never sits still, the group evidently not content to merely provide an atmospheric back drop.

A trio of local acts will open our stage; alongside Shinies we have Embers and New Hips. Four-piece Embers make their debut live outing on May 6th, having already gained the attention of Xfm with the foreboding presence of ‘Tunnel Vision’. With a vocalist that delivers heart-on-sleeve venom, his battle with the towering sounds constructed by his fellow band mates is set to make for an aurally visceral experience live. New Hips, meanwhile, don’t quite take the same direct route; theirs is a complex tapestry that’s made up of jumping time signatures, and influences from math-rock to indie-pop and more jazz-like tendencies all working their way into songs that seem to balance on the edge of disaster only to be held together quite brilliantly.

Check back with us tomorrow for more Drowned In Sound Manchester live news …