FLEET FOXES (University of London, 11/06/06)

Purveyors of Crosby, Stills and Nash-esque harmonic loveliness, Fleet Foxes come to London riding a wave of hype that'd threaten to drown lesser bands. But although they couldn't ever be accused of pushing the envelope, the sheer clarity and power of their hippyish harmonies and lilting folk instrumentation has a timeless quality that makes quibbles about their originality moot. True, a bit of variety wouldn't have gone amiss- they sometimes come across as a rather too straightlaced cousin to Grizzly Bear- but there's no faulting the impressiveness what's there. Absolutely lovely chaps as well- they seemed genuinely overwhelmed by the reaction they got, and were more than happy to chat to the audience after the show was over. Nice to see lovely Baltimore duo Beach House in support too, even if they couldn't quite capture the ethereal beauty of their albums.

(Photo: John Gleeson)

WILDBIRDS AND PEACEDRUMS (London Luminaire, 05/06/08)

Bands like this remind me why I started going to gigs in the first place. The Swedish husband-and-wife duo have garnered a number of (well-deserved) comparisons to Bjork, but they combine their ethereal, stripped down organic sounds with a black-spiritual edge that’s entirely their own. In particular, Miriam’s astonishing blues howl is a marvel to behold, with the audience responding with one of the most respectful silences I’ve heard at a show. Some of their songs aren’t exactly easy listening, but they never seemed pretentious or needlessly left-field, and despite being 90% vocals and percussion (with occasional forays into kalimba and some sort of harp thing) they remained a fascinating, vibrant experience for beginning to end. The revelation of the year so far.

(Photo: Emphotoz (Flickr))

LYKKE LI (London Cargo, 04/06/08)

Swedish popstrel Lykke Li is yet another excellent alumni from the Scandinavian School of Pop, and her headline show at the London Cargo proved that she’s got the personality and infectious charm to back up her ridiculously catchy tunes. Shame though that the sound didn’t do her lilting vocals justice, although occasionally the songs were to blame too; whilst the singles are uniformly fantastic, some of the other tracks on her album suffer from over-similarity. She was actually most intriguing when ditching the hippy-ish indie pop and lovelorn balladry comprising most of her oeuvre for less predictable offerings- the quasi-Daft Punk electro-funk of Complaints Department and a cover of A Tribe Called Quest’s “Can You Kick It?” ended up getting the best audience reactions of the night. A promising, charismatic talent then, but with the potential to be much better. Fellow Swedes The Shout Out Louds delievered a spirited effort in support, but were unfortunately neutered by the terrible mix and indifferent crowd.

(Photo: Dramaqueenraji (Flickr))

SILVER JEWS and MONOTONIX (University of London Union, 29/05/08)

Dave Berman’s literate alt-country outfit returns to Britain in solid if unspectacular fettle, serving up a perfect balance of old and new material with enough proficiency to mask their curious lack of spark. Far more intriguing were Monotonix, an utterly insane Israeli punk band that make Les Savy Fav look like a bunch of pansies- the drummer shifting round the venue whilst beating the shit out of his instruments, the guitarist writhing on the floor as if in the throes of epilepsy, and the vocalist clambering across balconies, mooning the audience, pouring a rubbish bin over the drummer’s head, using every available surface as extra percussion and riding on the shoulders of various crowd members, often at the same time. Destined to be a word-of-mouth phenomenon.

(Photo: Photosinthedark (Flickr))