After eight years of making music and thirty-six imprint releases later, seminal Manchester music collective and label Swing Ting has announced its last drop – and it’s a belter.
Finishing on a high, the Swing Ting label has dropped a collection of remixes of Manchester MC Fox’s debut 2019 album Juice Flow, which focused on his own journey whilst working with the collective over the years.
A stalwart of the Manchester scene, Fox has appeared regularly as a vocalist on Swing Ting’s releases as well as acting as a resident MC at the now-discontinued club nights that once filled Soup Kitchen’s basement with ravers every month.
So it seems only fitting that he’s all over the final release, too.
MC Fox pictured outside Soup Kitchen, the home of the Swing Ting dance in Manchester, where the collective hosted monthly parties from 2011-2019. / Image: F_13zm
The culmination of a decade of performing at Swing Ting dances, the originalJuice Flow album featured a star-studded guest-list of worldwide collaborators, friends and family.
Now, this new Juice Flow Remixed package sees producers Lenzman, Nowheretobefound, Sam Binga and Sherry S retouch and revisit four of the original thirteen tracks with a contemporary edge.
Firstly, North-Quarter’s Lenzman flips the Tappa Benzfeaturing Day Ones into a sweet, soulful drum and bass roller that has already been getting rotation from scene heavyweights. Opening with the line “Out to my day ones and my day twos / Shout to my bredrins and my stay trues,” it all feels a bit emotional.
North-Quarter’s Lenzman / Image: Izzy Gramp
Next, mysterious Nowheretobefoundtakes the eponymouse title cut on a breezy, blissed-out soulful garage tip, before Sam Bingatakes the Coco-featuring Rebel Souljah on a bubbling, percussive UK funky-ish workout.
Last but not least, Sherry Ssteps up for the final rework, ramping up the tempo of the Anz-produced Live Life for a roughneck, two-step banger set to cause club damage.
Set to drop on Friday 4 February, it is the last ever release on the Swing Ting label – first founded in 2014.
Over the years, the Manchester label has achieved global acclaim from the likes of Mixmag, Resident Advisor, DJ Mag, Pan African Music, Riddim Magazine and The Wire with wide support across BBC 1Xtra, Radio 1, NTS live and more.
Just like Swing Ting itself, Fox has never been one to be held down to one particular sound and this final release seems a fitting tribute to both.
A mix of bass-heavy party sounds spanning a range of genres, Juice Flow Remixed sees them exit out on a high in a fitting tribute to many years of hard work and floor-filling party bangers.
Feature image – Swing TIng
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An Oasis lookalike competition is happening in Manchester city centre this weekend
Emily Sergeant
Manchester, we’ve made it.
It was only a matter of time, but after celebrity lookalike competitions absolutely took the world by storm last summer, with droves of Timothée Chalamet, Paul Mescal, and Pedro Pascal wannabes gathering in the streets of New York and London over several different weekends, Manchester is finally getting in on the action this year.
And of course, what else could be more fitting on the weekend Oasis returns to their hometown than a Gallaghers Lookalike Competition?
In case you (somehow… really, how?) hadn’t heard, Liam and Noel have finally buried the hatchet and reformed as Oasis for the first time in more than a decade – with the long-awaited Live ’25 tour getting underway in Cardiff over this past weekend.
Now that Cardiff is done and dusted, the brothers – along with more than 300,000 fans – are returning home and will be descending on Manchester’s Heaton Park from this Friday (11 July) for five nostalgia-drenched gigs full of iconic tunes.
Anyone heading to the second Oasis gig on Saturday 12 July, or even anyone who isn’t, is invited to practice their best Gallagher impressions and make their way over to St Peter’s Square in the heart of the city centre to take part in a lookalike competition that’s bound to get plastered all over social media.
The competition is being hosted at The Manchester Shop – the legendary local gift emporium on the ground floor of Affleck’s – from their dedicated stall at the MCR Live ’25 pop-up markets in St Peter’s Square, which is set to see hundreds of Oasis fans gather to soak up to atmosphere during the day, before journeying over to Heaton Park.
An Oasis lookalike competition is happening in Manchester city centre this weekend / Credit: Stefan Branding (via Wikimedia Commons) | Flickr
At the markets – which are part of the wider MCR Live ’25 events – you’ll also find local makers, artists, and indie traders gathering for a celebration of sound, style, and city pride.
But we have no doubt the Gallaghers Lookalike Competition is going to draw in crowds.
“Think you’ve got the swagger of Liam? Or the scowl of Noel? Prove it at our Gallagher Brothers Lookalike Competition,” event organisers wrote on social media.
So, no matter whether you’re ‘mad fer it’ or you just fancy a bit of a laugh ahead of what is one of the most important gigs of the century so far, make sure to dig out your parkas and tambourines, come dressed to impress, and get ready show off your best Gallagher vibes.
Prizes, tunes, and Mancunian mayhem are ‘guaranteed’.
You’ll even get ‘extra points’ for donning bucket hats, and Manchester City tops too, as well as for having sideburns and big thick eyebrows.
So if reckon you got what it takes, or just fancy watching the madness unfold, then head down to St Peter’s Square this Saturday 12 July from 1pm.
Featured Image – Simon Emmett (Publicity Picture)
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Stereophonics have announced another UK tour this winter, including a massive Manchester gig
Danny Jones
British rock legends aren’t waiting around for long as after wrapping their most recent raft of shows, Stereophonics are getting straight back on the road at the end of the year for a UK winter tour, with big gigs in Manchester, London, Glasgow and more.
With tours in Australia and the US also coming in the interim, not to mention having just played multiple festivals right off the back of their own springtime shows, they’ve got to be one of the busiest and hardest-working bands around right now.
The legendary Welsh group released their new album, Make ‘Em Laugh, Make ‘Em Cry, Make ‘Em Wait – which happens to be their 13 studio LP to date – back in April, and haven’t wasted any time in touring it, nor the all-time classics that have made them such a much-loved named here in the UK.
Now, though, fresh off a huge sell-out crowd at Finsbury Park down in the capital, lads are gearing up for more domestic shows,
Legendary Welsh band Stereophonics announce a UK Arena Tour for December 2025.@coopuk members get first in line for tickets Find out more: https://t.co/amNXniakHf Co-op Member Presale: 09:30 9 July 2025 General Sale: 09:30 11 July 2025 pic.twitter.com/BXLs7ZXftU
Their latest record went to number one back in May, which is then the ninth time they’ve achieved the feat, and the Cynon Valley veterans seem to show absolutely no signs of slowing down whatsoever.
We’ll Iechyd da to that.
Other shows here in the North of England include South Yorkshire’s Utilta Arena (our friends over at The Sheff will be buzzing with that one), as well as a Liverpool date at the M&S Bank Arena.
Earlier this month, the band also played another showstopping headline set at this year’s Isle of Wight festival, with music outlet Rolling StoneUK dubbing the band’s set as “the highlight of the night” that “upheld every expectation” for 55,000 festival goers.
It was much the same story at Finsbury this past weekend, too, which has already seen the likes of Fontaines D.C., Slayer, and soon Drake arrive for Wireless Fest 2025.
Making their Co-op Live debut when they arrive in Manchester this winter, Stereophonics are to play the world-leading arena on 12 December.
Official Co-op members get the first lot of early access via the venue’s presale window, which opens from 9:30am on Wednesday, 9 July, but general admission tickets will be available from the same time on the following Friday (11 July).
Georgina Pellant -
25th January 2022 
