CLARE AND THE REASONS (London Luminaire, 24/03/10)



Another excellent performance from the underrated New Yorkers. Clare Muldaur’s voice can tend towards the syrupy, and there’s moments where they’re a bit too kitschy for their own good but when their sophisticated, lusciously orchestrated balladry hits the spot (as it does on “Pluto”) they’re a marvel to behold. Good work, Team Allotment!

(Photo: Anika Mottershaw)

SLEIGH BELLS (London Madame JoJo’s, 23/03/10)



Despite basically being a karaoke band with a bit of guitar laid on top, Sleigh Bells certainly know how to bring the party. Sounding like Times New Viking covering MIA, the charisma of their frontwoman and the sheer catchiness of “Crown On The Ground” et al makes up for the fact there’s very little live instrumentation on offer here. Reckon they’ll go down fantastically at Coachella.

(Photo: St. Fleur (Flickr))

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS (London Barbican, 22/03/10)



When I grow up, I want to be Stephen Merritt. The amiable grump is on sparkling form this evening, his subterranean baritone the perfect counterpoint to the sugar-sweet melodising of his songwriting, and even if the quality was somewhat uneven towards the end, the encore of “Papa Was A Rodeo” was worth the price of admission alone.

(Photo: John Gleeson (Flickr))

ACTUAL AIR (London Gramaphone, 18/03/10)



Actual Air covered a song from the soundtrack of Tommy Wiseau masterpiece “The Room,” which automatically makes them best band I've ever seen.

(Photo: Leah Pritchard)

THE HIDDEN CAMERAS (London St. Leonard's Church, 18/03/10)



Review: HERE

(Photo: John Gleeson (Flickr))

WHY? (London Heaven, 16/03/10)



I knew we were due for a treat from the moment Yoni Wolf bounded on stage, yelled “GET THE FUCK UP” and launched into “The Hollows”. Previous London shows cast Yoni as a rather miserable presence, appearing to resent his frontman status but tonight he's on fire, quipping to the audience, high-kicking in an inexplicable manner and generally seeming like he's enjoying himself as much as we are. There's a hell of a lot of Alopecia in the setlist- which is fine by me- and although we don't get Sanddollars there's still enough nods to the rest of their back catalogue (not least the airing of Hymie's Basement's “21st Century Pop Song”) to keep the old school happy.

(Photo: Jonathan Fisher)

THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH (London Bush Hall, 15/03/10)



For a solo singer-songwriter guy, The Tallest Man on Earth (who for the record, is pretty diminutive) is really rather good. He's not normally the sort of thing I'd elect to see, but his cracked, characterful voice and strikingly intense demeanour, pacing around the stage like a caged animal, makes him far more engaging than most of his ilk.

(Photo: Anika Mottershaw)

GRIZZLY BEAR (London Roundhouse, 13/03/10)



No matter how much I try, I can't love Grizzly Bear. I appreciate what they do, I'm a fan of their exquisite harmonies (even if they're drenched in way too much reverb tonight), they've got a few exceptional songs but I ultimately find them a little insubstantial, and this show did little to change that. But Beach House were magnificent, having taken the M83 route by bolstering the drums and cranking up the volume several notches- so much more immersive than the previous occasions I've seen them, I wish they always sounded this good.

(Photo: John Gleeson)

PANDA BEAR (London Heaven, 11/03/10)



Animal Collective is a maddeningly hit-and-miss experience live, and it appears the same applies to Noah Lennox's highly-acclaimed side project. Eschewing "Person Pitch" material for for a set of almost entirely new songs, the show flits between atrociously self-indulgent noodlings and blissful neo-psychedlia, unsure whether it wants to entertain, challenge or simply wash over an audience pummelled into submission by Kode9's insanely loud DJ set.

(Photo: abzpunkphoto (Flickr))

GET WELL SOON (London Borderline, 10/03/10)



Get Well Soon are basically a German "Divine Comedy," which tells you pretty much all you need to know about them. Their lushly orchestrated pop is an acquired taste to be sure, but when they hit the mark (as on "Christmas in Adventure Parks" and "If This Hat Is Missing I Have Gone Hunting"), they sure hit it good.

(Photo: spiral-stairs (Flickr))

ZUN ZUN EGUI (London Notting Hill Arts Club, 05/03/10)



The best live band in Britain? Quite possibly. Like Deerhoof covering Fela Kuti, or Ponytail tussling with Vampire Weekend, their mish-mash of tropical grooves and raucously inventive rock 'n roll never fails to entertain. Originality is almost a dirty word in UK music nowadays, so the fact these guys manage to both innovative and massively fun is to their utmost credit. Brilliant stuff, I can't recommend them enough.

(Photo: Miss Jarvis (Flickr))

THE ANTLERS (London Union Chapel, 03/03/10)



The combination of Union Chapel's famed acoustics and the bleak intensity of “Hospice” should have been a match made in Heaven, albeit a pretty depressing one with a propensity to make you cry, but alas, it was not to be. Whilst Peter Silberman's voice broke the heart at times and individual moments (especially “Wake” and “Epilogue”) almost met my, admittedly, impossibly high expectations, the whole was just too muted to fully capitalise on the opportunity. The drums seemed too brash with the more reserved performance, and the horns were underutilised, most disappointingly on “Sylvia”. That's not to say it wasn't a very good show, but it could have been so, so much more.

(Photo: John Gleeson (Flickr)

HILDUR GUDNADOTTIR (London King's Place, 27/02/10)



Review: HERE

(Photo: Sebastien Dehesdin)

UNGDOMSKULEN (London Madame JoJo's; 25/02/10)



Scandinavians may be awesome, but they also tend to tread a thin line between charming idiosyncrasy and outright ludicrousness. For example, The Good, The Bad had a fantastic sound, really energetic with stellar riffs but their efforts to look and act cool made them look, as one observer put it, a bit like sex pests. Ungdomskulen on the other hand had no truck with anything approaching “cool”, embracing their intrinsic ridiculousness with obvious pride. Whilst the dazzling percussion of “Modern Drummer” established their musical credentials, it was the infectiously anthemic “Spartacus” that confirmed them as a band definitely worth your time.

(Photo: remake_remodel (Flickr))

YEASAYER (London Heaven, 23/02/10)



Review: HERE

(Photo: theefer (Flickr))

IMOGEN HEAP (London Shepherd's Bush Empire, 19/02/10)



Review: HERE

(Photo: Kikishua (Flickr))