Sunday, November 13, 2011

ST VINCENT (London Queen Elizabeth Hall, 10/11/11)



Over the years, I’ve seen Annie Clark a number of times; twice she’s been brilliant, twice dreadful (with one other show falling somewhere in between). For the first two songs, I genuinely feared tonight's show would fall into the latter camp, with an atrocious, bassy mix decimating the 80’s-tastic brilliance of “Surgeon,” the best song off her new album. But things rapidly improved, with an stellar “Cruel”, a beautifully brutal Pop Group cover (complete with Mark Stewart strutting around and screaming like a madman) and a beastly rendition of old favourite “Marrow.” I sometimes think that her experimentation with loops and pedals leads to performances easier to admire than enjoy, but tonight she got the balance between the accessible and the avant-garde just right. Plus, she stormed into the audience repeatedly screaming “MOTHERFUCKER” at the top of her lungs, shredding wildly on her guitar and falling into the laps of certain (bloody lucky) audience members, a practice I always approve of.

(Photo: John Gleeson)
BRAIDS (London XOYO, 09/11/11)



XOYO may be the second worst gig venue in the whole of London (after Proud Galleries, a den of such unspeakable dreadfulness that it may, in itself, constitute a whole new circle of Hell), but not even its crap acoustics, lack of air conditioning, ill-placed pillars and clientele straight out of “Being A Dickhead’s Cool” could ruin the blissful majesty of Braids. I’ve been a fan since first hearing “Liver And Tan” back in 2009, and although their set was rather front-loaded, their lush, synth-driven pop (think a chilled out, female-fronted Alvin Band) ticked all the right boxes for me. Hope to see them back soon- but in a less relentlessly shit venue.
DUSTIN WONG (London Old Blue Last, 02/11/11)



Ex-Ponytail guitarist brings his kaleidoscopic, tropic-tinged guitar-looping brilliance to London once again. Perhaps a little more reined-in than his joyous show at the Lexington, but still a marvel to behold.

(Photo: Shanda Boyett)