Unknown Territories In Salford

The Eagle Inn is a pub/ gig venue just over the Irwell into Salford. On Saturday night Rikki Turner's latest/ final musical outfit played their first/ only gig there, a small but committed crowd turning out to see Rikki's last musical endeavours before he retires from the music industry (although like Al Pacino as Michael Corleone in Godfather 3, as soon as he gets out they keep dragging him back in). Unknown Territories are more of a collective than a band, a cast of vocalists led by Rikki on one mic and Esther Maylor, the owner of a powerful voice, on the other with spoken word contributions from Sean Crossey and ex- Inspiral Carpet Tom Hingley. Sean played support as DJ and performs his spoken word sections from behind the decks, the beats and music very much in a Massive Attack/ Tricky  area, while Sean recites his words about the state he used to get into when he was a drinker- 'I was a bad pisshead', he tells us- and his route to recovery. 

After a couple of songs Tom Hingley moves from the shadows to the centre stage, a man who has performed in front of thousands of people in the past, now in a much more intimate setting but still very much a pro, his words delivered with real intent. The beats get thumpier, Martin's synths sound like they should be heard in a much bigger room, Esther's singing and stage presence fills the space, and Rikki grins, overseeing everything from side of the stage. The gig is the latest Rikki Turner victory, after Paris Angels, The New Southern Electrikk and The Hurt, Unknown Territories are off and running. 

Broken was Unknown Territories first release, a single out back in November with the album scheduled for next year. After the gig Rikki is all smiles. Last ever gig? Retirement? Time will tell....

Support came from Ruins, a Liverpool duo, with guitar and melodic New Order/ Cure inspired basslines and the superb falsetto voice of singer Lloyd Rock. This song, Way To Fall, stood out in their set but the rest of the songs they played were just as striking- dreamy, gliding indie pop. 

Unknown Territories

Rikki Turner has a past. He is a former Paris Angel, a veteran of Manchester bands The New Southern Electrikk and The Hurt and more recently San Pedro Collective. He has been working on a project recently that he says will be his last, that once it is done he will retire from music. Rikki always knows who to work with. His previous groups seen him write and play with among others Wags (a Paris Angel who went on to Black Grape), Suddi Raval (of Hardcore Uproar fame), Simon Wolstencroft (The Fall, pre- Stone Roses Stone Roses). 

His latest and last musical outlet is Unknown Territories, a collective based in Manchester's Spirit Studios, with Martin McLaren and bringing ex- Inspiral Carpet Tom Hingley on board along with Sean Crossey and Esther Maylor (from Heavy Salad) and with production courtesy of Callum Croston and Lewis Jones. Rikki wears his heart on his sleeve and has been sending me snippets of the forthcoming album for some time, always with the promise that it is for Isaac. The first fruits of Unknown Territories came out yesterday, a single called Broken...

Broken is heavy duty 21st century music, the lead vocals of Esther front and centre, underpinned by deep electronic bass and the tsk tsk tsk tsk of hi hats, skittish bleeps and crunching drums. There's more to follow with an album forthcoming featuring both singers and spoken word pieces, and a one off gig at The Eagle Inn, Salford, in December. 

Back in 1990 Paris Angels caught the wave of interest in Manchester bands following the explosion of 1988/ 89. The group were from east Manchester, the unfashionable side of the city, out in Guide Bridge and Ashton- under- Lyne. Regulars at The Hacienda and the Boardwalk they were soaking the influences that were in the air- 60s guitars, sequencers, dance rhythms, New Order's late 80s marriage of all those- kaleidoscopic sounds that saw them sign to Sheer Joy and release three singles, All On You (Perfume), Scope and I Understand, before they signed to Virgin for the album Sundew. 1990's All On You (Perfume) is the one everyone talks about (and rightly so) but Scope, released the same year, can also hold its own, both at the time and now, thirty three years later. 

Scope