About Us

 

Too much to say really so we'll keep it brief...

 

Suffice it to say we've been part of the independent grass-roots music scene from the beginning.

Musicians we like: Lennon & McCartney/Stones/Kinks/Joni Mitchell/Neil Young/Joan Baez/Don McLean/Joe Cocker/Dylan/Springsteen/The Smiths/West Coast Laurel Canyon Folk Scene/Gladys Knight/Tamla Motown/Marvin Gaye.

Take care and stay safe, (and throw your arms around each other once in a while as life is short).

 

Apart from playing in bands and writing songs, also extremely passionate about conserving the natural world, so aim to raise funds/awareness for the following organisations below, (which rescue/rehabilitate wild/captive animals). 

 

AMBOSELI TRUST FOR ELEPHANTS, (Amboseli Elephant Research Project).

HERD ORPHANGE in South Africa, (rescues orphaned baby elephants).

SHELDRICK WILDLIFE TRUST in East Africa, (rescuing orphaned elephants).

RETETI ELEPHANT SANCTUARY in Kenya, (community-owned sanctuary rescuing/rehabiliatation of orphaned elephant calfs).

ELEPHANT NATURE PARK in Thailand, (rescues enslaved/captive elephants abused by, 'elephant owners', logging industry/circuses, etc).

ASIAN ELEPHANT PROJECTS, (www.asianelephantprojects.com).

WILDLIFE SOS, INDIA, (Kartick Satyanarayan).

SAVE THE ELEPHANTS, (Research/Conservation organisation in Kenya).

 

If you see captive wildlife on your travels, (ie, elephants/cetaceans/bears, primates etc), please consider your actions and don't swim with them or ride them or pay to have photos taken etc. All such  captive animals will have been abused for years by their 'owners', and enslaved into a miserable life of servitude (forcibly separated from their own family species to be financially exploited on an endless cycle of misery until the animal dies).  My favourites are probably elephants and cetaceans, (and much like human primates), cetaceans and elephants are extremely intelligent, emotionally complex, and have developed their own tool-using culture/societies and languages over millions of years. Truly awe-inspiring species which are in perfect sync with nature and possess the famed elusive spindle-neurons. If you wish to work with these fascinating mammals at ethical sanctuaries, then check above re: staff/relevant organisations in Africa & Asia. Check below for other interests;

 

WHALE AND DOLPHIN CONSERVATION SOCIETY

THE WHALE SANCTUARY PROJECT, (WHALES WITHOUT WALLS)

DIAN FOSSEY MOUNTAIN GORILLA FOUNDATION

RSPCA

GLOBAL WITNESS

WAR CHILD

EXTINCTION REBELLION

GREENPEACE

WWF

PETA

Also:  UNICEF/CANCER RESEARCH/MIND/SHELTER/REFUGE/GREAT ORMOND STREET HOSPITAL FOR CHILDREN, MANCHESTER CHILDRENS HOSPITAL.

 

Wasn't that brief but, hey ho, we could go on, (and frequently do).

Independent music reviews below;


 

 




  
 

MUSIC PRESS - ALBUM REVIEWS

Press Reviews 'Glory Days' Review By Kelvin Leigh CARPE MUSIC Featured Mandrake - Glory Days

'Glory Days' Review By Kelvin Leigh
CARPE MUSIC

Featured
Mandrake - Glory Days Album

Following in the long-time Manchester tradition of great indie bands, Mandrake join their forebears and contemporaries as they continue their ascent towards noteriety. With a plethora of auspicious shows already under their belts and promising airplay on the other side of the Atlantic, this band really are set to shine as they release debut album "Glory Days". Full of well-crafted songs it is sure to be on your playlist for the rest of summer.

I was so enthralled from the first listen of "The Honeymoon Stranger", which reminded me of the smoothness of the Kinks but with the raw lyrics and prose of "The Reverend" John McClure. Although whopping 6 minutes long, I still found myself pressing "repeat" in order to fully absorb Oscar Novak's impactful lyrics and the laid-back melodies over which they are layered. The band are adept at penning forlorn songs such as "If I Had the Answers" and "Walking Down Your Way''.

This album is a great introduction to the band. Every track feels inspired by other acts, (rather than simply mimicking those who have gone before). It is immediately apparent that Mandrake have taken great care to hone their sound. "Glory Days" is full of melodic, wistful ballads about love and loss but there is far more to this band than Coldplay-esqe level of depression. I found myself especially drawn to "No-one Ever Says Goodbye", which has the feel of a song played in dancehalls slipped in between the Kinks and Hermans Hermits. With a rich, call-and-repeat hook ("Come on (come on), Hey you (hey you)") and imbued with the "poppy-ness" on which all great 60's songs were built, this tambourine-laden number is one of the highlights of the album and an early-summer personal favourite.

I look forward to seeing Mandrake in the future and hope that they join the UK festival circuit later this summer, as their laid-back guitar and relaxing beats are perfectly suited to lounging in the sunshine as you recover from the night before. I'm convinced that Mandrake have the potential to become stars of the UK rock scene and I would love to see them given the opportunity to unleash an epic follow-up in the near future.


Kelvin Leigh

The Honeymoon Stranger by mandrakemanchester

Tags: Mandrake, Indie-Pop, Rock, 60s style, Manchester, Glory Days

ALBUM REVIEW

'Glory Days' Review By Bob Osborne - Salford City Radio Aural Delights - Bob Osborne.

By Bob Osborne - Salford City Radio
Aural Delights - Bob Osborne.

Mandrake – Review by Aural Delights – Bob Osborne – Salford City Radio 94.4FM

Glory Days
Self Released – due out in the summer


This took some time to get to me due to the vagaries of the british postal service. Oddly when the jiffy bag arrived the stamp had not been franked….anyway I digress. I’d already had four of the tracks via the band in MP3 form so I was sort of primed on what to expect and I was looking forward to listening to the whole thing. It has been argued on more than one occasion that the conurbation of Mancunia is the pop capital of England, (if not Europe), and that fine tradition is carried on here with some elan, with the added value of some rock elements that raise it above the mainstream of the hurly burly of indie boys and girls out there.

Another observation is that this band is unsigned and I have to say wipes the floor with a lot of the signed bands I get sent product for these days. I understand the majors are being approached and some are interested so I would assume it’s only a matter of time before they get a release and distribution.

This is a good album – it kicks off with the up-tempo “The Honeymoon Stranger ” which demonstrates the bands ability to play loud and hard – it’s full of Manc swagger and four to floor rhythm and very listenable indeed.

The dreamy ballad “If I had all the answers” is lush, evocative and has just the right amount of guitar in it to give it an edge. Vocally, lyrically and melodically it has all the elements of a classic and is my favourite piece on the album. Next up waves of cheeky wah-wah guitar introduce “Last Orders” where singer Oskar manages to fold a Manc twang into his performance which gives it a unique feel. There is something incredibly populist about this music but at the same time it has a subliminal underground edge which makes you think “hang on a minute what have I just been listening to?” This requires further listening as there are many disparate elements in these songs.

“Still Waters” drifts back into dreamy balladeering with, again, some nice guitar and ambient sounds to give it a bit of a kick. “Redemption ” keeps the tempo at medium and perhaps suffers against the other tracks on the album in that it is the one that tends to sound like something else (which I can’t put my finger on). The acoustic guitar and basic standard song piano arpeggios of ”Cult Madness” are more engaging and the emerging trademark sound of soulful songs with keening guitar in the background is best realised here. The song is beautifully understated and there is a very interesting imperceptible dark element to the music which moves it away from pop normality.

The title track “Glory Days ” is a perfect summer festival song. The faster paced “No One Ever Says Goodbye ” is packed with pop hooks to die for. Although a bit maudlin for me, I can easily see the crowds at Wembley with their lighters in the air swaying gently to the string patch drenched ''When Angels Came For Davey''. “Walking Down Your Way ” closes the album and ends on a reflective note.

I wouldn’t normally listen to this type of music but Mandrake seem to have found their way to that part of my brain where I store my love of melody and great song structures. I was struggling to recall what they reminded me of and then it struck me that there is a lot of Grant McLennan’s easy pop sound here – so they are a bit like The Go-Betweens without the angular elements brought by Robert Forster.

All in all a fine debut with a handful of classic Manchester pop tunes. If you like your music well written and melodic then you really should check this out.

www.myspace.com/mandrakemanchester
MANDRAKEMANCHESTER

ALBUM REVIEW

Mandrake Glory. Filed Under Danni Skerritt, genre, Glory Days...Mandrake Glory Days



Filed Under Danni Skerritt, genre, Glory Days, indie, indie rock and roll, Live and Unsigned, Live Music, Manchester, Manchester Unsigned Scene, Mandrake, Quenched Music, The Doors, unsigned, Unsigned Quenched Unsigned

''Glory Days'' is the debut album from the Manchester based band Mandrake. They have a somewhat melodic tone to their songs which immediately puts a listener to rest. As a debut, it was easy to think that each track is a part of a bigger story that the album showcases. Mandrake as a band seem to be moving forward steadily. This album is a credit in that, like their style, they do not rush anything, You have the feeling whilst listening to this album that it has been gentle and carefully put together. This is probably one of the best produced albums I have heard from an unsigned band.

The music itself is reminiscent of the kinks. ''If I had all the answers,’' has a hint of The Doors which is never a bad thing in flashes. I see great things to come from this album. With the way they are growing it will be interesting to hear what the band offers second time round.

www.quenchedmusic.com