STAG & DAGGER FESTIVAL (Various Hoxton Venues, 19/05/11)



Echo Lake’s voluminous spectral shoegaze aside, this year’s edition of EastLondonMoodyHipsterFest failed to impress. D/R/U/G/S was a bit too bleepy-bloopy for a 9pm time-slot and Post War Years had promise but were too slavishly in hock to LCD Soundsystem and Foals to stand out on their own merits.

(Photo: Tony Coleby)

HANDSOME FURS (London Lexington, 16/05/11)



Man, Handsome Furs are awesome. As well as being the most lovable (and loved-up) couple in the whole of indie-rock, their ferociously dynamic performance, combined with some blinding new material made this one of the most exhilarating sets of the year so far. RADIO KALININGRAD, STATIC ON A BROKEN WIRE!

(Photo: John Gleeson)

SUFJAN STEVENS (London Royal Festival Hall; 12/05/11 & 13/05/11)



Review: HERE

(Photo: John Gleeson)

REVERBERATIONS FESTIVAL: SESSION 6 (London Barbican, 08/05/11)



God knows what Owen Pallett was doing at a festival dedicated to one of the forefathers of minimalism in the first place, but I couldn’t help thinking his orchestra-augmented performance of “Heartland” was a slight disappointment. Fact is, Owen’s own looping skills are so phenomenal that not even a full retinue of classically-trained musicians could really add that much to his sound, and indeed, only the last song truly made full use of their talents. Also could have done with 90% less drums. Ah well.

On the plus side, Clogs were excellent. The lullaby they performed with a children’s choir was one of the most beautiful things I’ve heard this year.

(Photo: John Gleeson)

REVERBERATIONS FESTIVAL: SESSION 3 (London Barbican, 07/05/11)



Review: HERE

DEERHOOF (London Garage, 04/05/11)



It’s Deerhoof. Of course they were great. My admiration for Greg Saunier’s drumming skills and bemusement by his raconteurship remains unabated, and Satomi Matsuzaki can still star-jump like the best of ‘em.

(Photo: Anika "Tang Fiend" Mottershaw)

O’DEATH (London Cargo, 02/05/11)



First time I’ve seen O’Death in two and a half years, and I fucking miss “Adelita.” Grrr. That apart, I'm glad to report there’s still no-one who can match them in the frenzied, Deliverance-tinged hoedown stakes. Nearly lost my voice during "Lay Me Down"...

(Photo: James Evans)

SUFJAN STEVENS (Copenhagen Vega, 01/05/11)



If you're a stickler for subtle, low key performances, you may not enjoy Sufjan Stevens' current tour. If you like things that are totally awesome, I suspect you will. "Age of Adz" is a glorious mess of an album, and his live set-up accentuates that a hundredfold; I don't wish to spoil too much for those who are yet to experience it, but we're talking Flaming Lips levels of audio-visual ridiculousness here. But unlike the Lips, there's no undue reliance on backing tapes; Sufjan's gathered together an incredible band that takes the material from the new album and significantly enhances it ("Vesuvius" was an absolute fucking blinder). I was expecting good things, but last night blew all my expectations out of the water – one of the most riveting, over-the-top, luscious live performances I've ever seen.

Oh, and he played "Casimir Pulaski Day." That was pretty sweet.