tUnE-YaRdS (London Village Underground, 12/05/14)

The marvellous Merrill Garbus' latest album may not be quite as instant as the fantastic "whokill", but her live prowess remains diminished. Her band seemed rather superfluous last tour, adding little to her breathtaking musical talents but they're much tighter this time round, adding extra layers of density to her heady, brilliantly eccentric mix of afrobeat, R&B and indiepop. A couple of the new songs don't quite hit the mark, but the others sparkle with humour and vitality - and "Powa" remains one of the greatest songs of the decade so far.

JULIANNA BARWICK (London Elgar Room, 10/05/14)

Julianna Barwick's stunningly ethereal looped vocals are beautiful to behold, but I'm not entirely sure a packed and humid Elgar Room was the right venue to appreciate them in. Would definitely like to see her play a church or somewhere equally grand someday.

JANELLE MONAE (London Brixton Academy, 09/05/14)

Given my hopelessly pretentious taste in music, very few of the artists I like have any chance of hitting the big time. Janelle Monae has always been the major exception. Gifted with that indefinable star quality, she's the natural heir of Michael Jackson and Prince- slick, funky songs; killer dance moves; effortless charisma and a shedload of talent. Tonight's show almost felt too small for Brixton Academy- it's the kind of thing many stadium-fillers would struggle to match for overall accomplishment. Some might argue it was a little too polished, but that's a minor quibble- on the basis of performances like this, she's got the potential to become one of the biggest stars in the world.

THE HOLD STEADY (London Bush Hall, 05/05/14)

I kinda went off the Hold Steady after mustachioed keyboardist Franz Nicolay left the band and they started playing massive venues far removed from the sweaty bar-rooms that constitute their natural habitat. Nonetheless, I jumped at the chance to see them at the 600-capacity Bush Hall, because that's the kind of venue they've always excelled at playing. And god, if it wasn't the best show I've seen them do since the heady days of 2008, with a stellar setlist (the encore of Massive Nights, Constructive Summer, Hot Soft Light, Stay Positive and Killer Parties was sheer perfection), Craig Finn at his overenthusiastic best and an audience that treated the whole thing like a religious revival. They might be past their best album-wise, but on stage, the Hold Steady can still bring it.

FREAK OUT FANCLUB (Tokyo UFO Club, 01/05/14)

Freak Out Fanclub are a band that listened to "Trout Mask Replica" and thought, "nah, this isn't avant-garde enough." Truly bewildering, although not as much as the Red Hot Chili Pepper-soundalikes that played after them.

PEACH KELLI POP (Tokyo Batica, 30/04/14)

This show could have involved a naked Chad Kroeger playing Skrewdriver covers, and I'd have still come out with a positive impression because THEY SOLD CHEESECAKE AT THE SHOW. But even if no cake of any variety had been involved, this would have been an excellent introduction to the Japanese gig scene. Pink Politics had a vibrant garage-rock Los Campesinos! vibe, the fantastic Miila and the Geeks combined sparse, post-punk basslines with Colin Stetson-style saxophone and the headliners peddled a fun line in Shannon and the Clams-esque surf pop. Great fun.

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT (London Drury Lane Theatre, 06/04/14)

Review: HERE

WHO IS WILLIAM ONYEABOR (London Barbican, 01/04/14)

Who, indeed, is William Onyeabor? A fundamentalist Christian pastor, devoted entirely to the word of the Lord? A Soviet-trained cinematographer with long-standing links to Moscow? A shadowy businessman with whispered links to unsavoury underground elements? A mega-elaborate hoax devised by Damon Albarn? This show didn't answer any of these questions, but it did confirm the 70's Nigerian funk pioneer produced some seriously great tunes. The first half of a show was at times underwhelming, lacking the requisite groove to get things kicked off, but by the end the whole Barbican was on their feet, singing and dancing and ignoring the fact that Albarn fluffed his one and only moment in the spotlight. A solid tribute to a hitherto undiscovered genius, albeit one that was very rough round the edges.

65DAYSOFSTATIC (London Koko, 27/03/14)

Sheffield-based math-rockers 65daysofstatic have always been admirably cynical about rose-tinted nostalgia, but the 10 year anniversary of "The Fall of Math" reluctantly persuaded them to finally play their brilliant debut in full. And what a show it was. Not only did they perform every song from that album, including a couple that had never been aired live before, but they added a second set consisting of almost all the new album, plus fan-favourite "Radio Protector." Ferociously loud, brutally energetic, absolutely superb.