Wednesday, December 23, 2015

MISTY’S BIG ADVENTURE (London Islington Academy 2, 22/12/15)



As good as Mew’s brand of Danish post-rock was last week, I'm glad my *actual* final gig of 2015 involved 80's prog interpretations of "The Snowman", Christmas ditties featuring Jeremy Corbyn, Nice biscuits and the nightmare-inducing antics of Erotic Volvo. For a band often dismissed as a bit of a novelty, they’re also a surprisingly competent set of songwriters and musicians. God bless Misty’s, and all that sail within her.
MEW (London Village Underground, 14/12/15)


The Danish post-rock veterans have never really clicked for me live, but tonight’s intimate set, featuring both acoustic and standard versions of twenty songs from their back catalogue was certainly a cut above. Great sound, fantastic lighting, and a timely reminder that Mew have a more eclectic output than they perhaps get credit for.
A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN (London Barbican, 12/12/15)



Whilst I went primarily for Hauschka’s customarily brilliant prepared-piano antics, AWVFTS weren’t too shabby themselves, adding some orchestral flourish to Stars of the Lid’s classically-styled ambiance.
EL VY (London Electric Ballroom, 10/12/15)



I’m not sure this louche lovechild of The National, Menomena and Wye Oak transcends the sum of its parts, but that full-throttle cover of the Fine Young Cannibals “She Drives Me Crazy” must be a contender for one of the most gleeful gig moments of 2015.
ANNA VON HAUSSWOLF (London Oslo, 08/12/15)



I must admit a certain degree of scepticism that Anna Von Hausswolff would be able recreate the gloriously OTT gothic majesty of her recent release “The Miraculous” in a sweltering attic next to Hackney Central, but as usual, I was proved embarrassingly wrong. Music to herald the literal Apocalypse.

Sunday, December 06, 2015

CHAIRLIFT (London Oslo, 01/12/15)



Review: HERE
NEKO CASE (London Lexington, 30/11/15)



Neko Case's last London show was a pretty big disappointment. They'd had major technical problems, they were suffering from flu and end-of-tour fatigue and quite simply, they look like they couldn't be arsed. This time round it's quite the opposite - Neko's in extremely chipper form and babbling about the Kaiser, and the band's actually putting in the effort to bring the songs to life, rather than listlessly going through the motions. A very enjoyable performance, albeit a little brief for the asking price.
LIGHTNING BOLT (London Electric Ballroom, 26/11/15)



I deeply regret not seeing Lightning Bolt when i) they played on the floor guerilla style and ii) I was young enough to have the energy for this sort of thing, but regardless of my ill-disguised scorn for the over-stimulated youths determined to elbow me in the torso, their noise-rock onslaught certainly blew away a few cobwebs from the ol' earholes.
BUILT TO SPILL (London Electric Ballroom, 25/11/15)



Doug Martsch is a little greyer around the whiskers than the first time I saw him in 'aught seven, but Built To Spill's lo-fi, hook-heavy indie rock remains as fresh as ever. Bit gutted "Conventional Wisdom" and "Distopian Dream Girl" didn't make the cut that night, but 1999's eight-minute epic "Broken Chairs" is one hell of a closer.
MERCURY REV (London Oval Space, 24/11/15)



Review: HERE
EZRA FURMAN ( London The Dentist, 19/11/15)



An acoustic set from Ezra in a venue so trendily deshabille, you could see mice peaking through the holes in the ceiling. Good fun.
CAR SEAT HEADREST (London Rough Trade East, 18/11/15)


Crap name, decent band. Will Toledo's tendency to overuse the same chord progressions makes it hard to distinguish between songs at times, but he's got a good ear for melody and an engagingly nonchalant lyrical style.
TITUS ANDRONICUS (London Old Blue Last, 17/11/15) 



I first listened to Titus Andronicus the day after they played the Old Blue Last in 2008, and after watching YouTube footage of "Fear and Loathing In Mahwah, NJ" from that gig, I knew that I'd missed something pretty special. So to hear them play that very song at the very same venue seven years later was a really rather cathartic experience.
THE BESNARD LAKES (London 100 Club, 16/11/15)



Some mediocre bands sell out headline arenas, whilst some amazing ones are destined never to graduate from the pub circuit. Such is the fickle nature of the music business. But it's a particular shame that the Besnard Lakes are playing to a half-full 100 Club, as their Fleetwood Mac-do-shoegaze grandeur deserves a far larger audience.
KAMASI WASHINGTON (London Barbican, 14/11/15)



Kamasi Washington's been declared by several reputable sources as the new great hope of jazz, and on the basis of this, that might be an understatement. Combining multiple traditions of the genre into one scintillating, unpredictable, breathtaking whole, it's without a doubt the most sublime hour of jazz musicianship I've ever had the pleasure to see.
MONO (London Electric Ballroom, 06/11/15)


I'm not sure why one would book Mono to play a 70 minute set given that timeframe allows them roughly two and a half songs, but if I'm to be entirely truthful, that's not entirely a bad thing. For as brilliant the Japanese post-rockers can be at their ostentatious best, they're not the most varied band in the world, and the brevity of the set meant what we did get was all-killer, no-filler.
TITUS ANDRONICUS (London Village Underground, 05/11/15)



I think it's fair to say Titus Andronicus have struggled to match the quality of their second album "The Monitor", that rollocking, impossibly anthemic masterpiece that could well be my favourite album of the last half-decad. But as a live act, they remain an absolute riot. I've been to a lot of gigs this year, but the audience response to the likes of "No Future Part 3" or "Four Score and Seven" was simply unmatchable in terms of vitality and good old fashioned, beer swigging, singalong bonhomie.
CASPIAN (London Dome, 02/11/15)



For reasons too boring to iterate here I was unable to stay for the whole of Caspian's performance, but the thirty minutes of uncompromisingly abrasive post-rock I did catch did leave a most satisfying ringing in my ears for several days afterwards.
JOANNA NEWSOM (Brighton Dome, 01/11/15)



After being left curiously unmoved by Sufjan's sad-jams earlier this year, it was left to popular harp-caressing songstress J-New to successfully elicit emotion from my black and joyless heart. The new material happily lived up to expectations (even if there was perhaps one too many mid-tempo piano ballads), it was nice to be reminded that "Have One On Me", despite its 500 hour running time, actually has some stunning moments, and of course the classics remain some of the most sublime works of music these ears have ever heard.
PATTI SMITH (London Roundhouse, 31/10/15)



Patti Smith is cooler than you. Indeed, Patti Smith is cooler than pretty much any other live act out there. Yeah, her band does at time tend to adopt a pub-rock bludgeon on songs that demand a bit more nuance, but to hear "Horses" in full is one of those majestic, electrifying, heart-swelling, experiences few others could possibly come close to replicating.
DESTROYER (London Islington Assembly Hall, 30/10/15)



Has there ever been a more unlikely crooner of louche soft-rock than Daniel Bejar, he of the ever-cryptic lyric and perpetually moody temperament? Yet, while the mellow, sax-heavy jams may occasionally threaten to go full Mick Hucknell, Bejar's natural inscrutability and his band's effortless proficiency ensures an experience more celebratory than cheesy.
MATES OF STATE (London Birthdays, 29/10/15)



The last time I saw Mates of State, I was twenty, had considerably more hair, and was pointedly not writing my dissertation. Many things have changed since then, but their sugar-coated synth pop remains as straightforward a delight as ever.
RATATAT (London Electric Brixton, 28/10/15)



I still maintain their Cargo show in '08 was one of the most fun gigs I've ever been to, but the limitations of Ratatat really came into sharp relief tonight, despite an impressive light show. Their signature sound still works well in short doses, but their reliance on backing tracks and significant quantities of filler are all a bit "B-rate M83".
MASAYOSHI FUJITA (London Vortex, 26/10/15)



It's not often an artist piques my interest purely through description, but then again, not many artists dabble in vibraphone-based minimalism. Masayoshi Fujita's sound is very much as you'd expect for an act associated with Erased Tapes, but his cute stories around each piece and Hauschka-esque creativity adds a unique and endearing character to his music.

Sunday, October 25, 2015

THE SUN RA ARKESTRA (London Cafe Oto, 25/10/15)



One of the great things about watching the Arkestra perform during daylight hours was watching people walk by Cafe Oto and gawp in bewilderment at the be-sequined free-jazz space wizardry contained within. Of course, there's a whole load of other great things about watching the Arkestra, not least Marshall Allen's forceful, eccentric presence, which remains undimmed at 91 years of age.
REVERE (London Lexington 23/10/15)



Nine years ago, I went to see a short-lived Hope of the States spinoff band at the London Water Rats (remember that place?), and to be perfectly frank they were dull as hell. Their support, however, was not. Revere trod an intriguing line between post-rock and orchestral indie-pop (my two favourite genres at the time), and although nearly a decade later I'm not so in love with that sound as I used to be, on the evidence tonight they're still a band that deserve to be much bigger.
EZRA FURMAN (London Shepherd's Bush Empire, 22/10/15)



I never thought when I saw Ezra Furman at the Sebright Arms last February he'd be selling out Shepherd's Bush Empire 18 months later, but it's a (rare) credit to Britain's music fans that he is. One could argue that the first half of the set was not quite up to his usual gleefully anarchic standards, but when he started throwing out the hits (and there's quite a few of these now) "My Zero", "Body Was Made", "Wobbly", "Lousy Connection"- it swiftly became the chaotic, gloriously celebratory experience that's become his hallmark. And of course, there was that set-closing cover of "Crown of Love", that was essentially the most perfect thing ever.
SON LUX (London Village Underground, 21/10/15)



"It's a show that flits between haunting, echoey balladry and full on barrages of Boredoms-esque noise rock, a show that's cerebral yet also dancey, a show that on paper is the epitome of Pitchfork hipsterism, yet also delivered substance to back up the style." That's how I described Son Lux's 2014 show at the Lexington, which remains one of the best introductions to a band I ever did see. Needless to say, they're ever better now.
METRIC (London Kentish Town Forum, 14/10/15)



Although the heyday of alternative Canadian music is sadly long past, it's good to see some of the leading lights from back then are still doing their thing. Metric are a tiny bit older, quite a bit more theatrical, and sound a lot more like Goldfrapp these days, but what hasn't changed is that Emily Haines is still one of the most magnetic frontwomen around.
KYARY PAMYU PAMYU (London Roundhouse, 11/10/15)



Given that the first thing one thinks of when considering "Harajuku-style" is a balding Polish-Algerian blogger of minimal renown, I naturally had a duty to put on my most fluorescent crop top and join the gothic lolitas and pervy otaku to experience one of J-Pop's most engaging and quirky stars in the flesh. I must admit £35 was somewhat steep for what was a glorified karaoke show, and Kyary isn't exactly blessed with the most varied compositional range, but hey, the choreography was impressive and it was certainly lively.
DAHKABRAKA (London Village Underground, 01/10/15)



I've not seen many self-described "ethno-chaos" bands in my time, but if they're all as good as this Ukrainian four-piece, then perhaps I've been missing out. Marko Halanevych's vocals, veering between a high-pitched falsetto and an guttural Eugene Hutz-ish growl is quite the experience in itself, but it's the stunning Slavic-style harmonies of Olen Tsybulska, Iryna Kovalenko and Nina Harenetska that really mark out DahkaBrakha as something special.
THE OCTOPUS PROJECT (London Shacklewell Arms, 29/09/15)



Anyone who has ever had to endure my awful views on music may know that I reckon Austin's The Octopus Project to be one of the most underrated live bands in the world. Tonight's show at the Shacklewell Arms did nothing to undermine this opinion. Like a psychedelic take on Holy Fuck with additional theremin, they deliver an electrifying fusion of propulsive percussion and kaleidoscopic progginess, and if there was any justice in the world they'd be headlining the Brixton Academy rather than the back of a pub in Dalston.

Sunday, September 27, 2015

BEIRUT (London St-John-at-Hackney Church, 25/09/15)



Arch-practitioner of maudlin brass-tinged folk Zach Condon may have once indirectly referred to me as a "bum", but after watching this "Greatest Hits" set I'm very much willing to let that slide. I mean, seriously, opening with "Scenic World"->"Elephant Gun"? What more could one ask for?
THE REFLEKTOR TAPES- The Arcade Fire Documentary



Review: HERE
AURORA (London Hoxton Bar and Kitchen, 18/09/15)



Review: HERE
BO NINGEN (London Cafe Oto, 17/09/15)



OK, "The Night of The Stickmen" wasn't actually a Bo Ningen show per-se, but it did involve the long-haired Japanese psych-wizards in various improvisational guises, combining forces with various guest musicians to provide an experience more avant-garde than their normal gigs, although just as loud and uncompromising. Shame about the lack of air-con at Cafe Oto though *faints*
JAMBINAI (London Rich Mix, 16/09/15)



Whilst Japan has long produced bands that have received critical, if not quite commercial acclaim over in the UK, the Korean music scene has remained decidedly low-profile in comparison. Jambinai may be the act to change all that. Whilst the structure of their music owes a lot to Mono, Sigur Ros and to a lesser extent Sonic Youth and Boredoms, Jambinai introduce traditional Korean folk instrumentation to the mix, adding a hauntingly beautiful, richly atmospheric edge to what could have been just A.N.Other post-rock band. An act that has the potential to become something very, very special.
TONY ALLEN (London Royal Festival Hall, 13/09/15)



Although the Nigerian Afrobeat pioneer is the main-billed artist tonight, this turned out to be more of a full-on collaboration between some of Africa's greatest musical luminaries, including kora masters Toumani and Sidike Diabate, Francophone rapper Oxmo and Senegalese baritone Baaba Maal. Inevitably Damon Albarn also makes an appearance, but he thankfully he didn't bugger things up too much. Perhaps it wasn't as much of a dance party as I was hoping for (at least until the last quarter, where the audience are finally coerced into standing up) but damn, watching Toumani and Sidike in full flow whilst Tony Allen and his band provided the afro-funk was a very special experience for all concerned.
FINAL SYMPHONY II (London Barbican, 12/09/15)



Maybe it's a sign of me being fundamentally wrong as a human being, but I got considerably more emotional at this glorious celebration of Nobuo Uematsu's music than at Sufjan Stevens the previous week. The first Final Symphony was an excellent, if at times uneven night of music, but this was an absolute triumph from start to finish. The highlights in bullet point form:

 - Virtuoso Ukrainian pianist Slava Sidorenko's utterly magnificent performance during the FFIX Piano Concerto. From the off-kilter plinky-plonkiness of "Vivi's Theme" to the manic, key-hammering finale of "The Final Battle", he perfectly captured the magic of one of Uematsu's most underrated soundtracks.

- When the London Symphony Orchestra's string section broke into FFVIII's "Ami" with the richest vibrato imaginable and I was almost paralysed with goosebumps.

-  The FFV Symphony. Little did I know when I was downloading shoddily-translated ROMs on a dial-up connection in1999 that I would I one day hear the FFV Battle Theme performed by one of the greatest orchestras in the world. Like many, I thought the reliance on Lenna's Theme (not Uematsu's strongest leitmotif) was a very rare misstep by the arrangers, but the constant teases of "Ahead On Our Way" ultimately culminating in a full run-through made me so happy.

- Clash de Chocobo. A truly inspired mash-up of two of the series' most beloved melodies, performed with gusto and humour by the LSO.

In summary: a magnificent night of music by any measure, and one that proves once and for all, that the much-derided medium of video game music can stand its own against the very best of them.
THE DELINES (London St Pancras Old Church, 11/09/15)



St Pancras Old Church was a truly lovely setting for the Portlanders' downtempo country-soul, even if it turns out their music really isn't my bag.
a.P.a.t.T (London Brixton Windmill, 09/09/15)


In the dark and distant mists of time (2008), I went to a Casiotone For The Painfully Alone show at the dearly departed Luminaire in Kilburn (yes, an gig in West London! The Noughties were truly a more decadent age.) The headliners themselves were every bit as delightful as you'd expect from a indietronic tweecore act, but what's stuck in my mind over the years is the weirdness of the support acts. The first was Harry Merry, with his uniquely Dutch "Circus Of the Damned-meets-Yewtree" vibe, whilst the second were a Livepudlian collective all clad in white, who veered madcap through every musical genre under the sun. That band was a.P.a.t.T, and I'm glad to report that seven years on, they're still as endearingly batshit as ever.
FFS (London Forum, 08/09/15)



Once again, Franz Ferdinand and Sparks prove that collaborations certainly DO work. They even brought joy to the Kentish Town Forum, which is a miracle far greater than anything Jesus accomplished.
SUFJAN STEVENS (Brighton Dome, 04/09/15)



Sufjan Sad Jams: Part 2. Much the same as the London show, minus pipe organ but plus "Casimir Pulaski Day".
THE POLYPHONIC SPREE (London Electric Ballroom, 03/09/15)



Texas' foremost pseudo-cultish music ensemble may be diminished from their mid-Noughties heyday (only fifteen members rather than thirty), but their rushed demo-turned-unexpected indie hit "The Beginning Stages Of..." remains one of the most uplifting collections of songs released in my lifetime, and it was an absolute joy to see it performed in its entirety. The second half, drawing on newer material, suffered from moments of self-indulgence (Tim DeLaughter sometimes doesn't know where to end a song) but nonetheless, for sheer happiness induced, this may well have been my show of the year.
SUFJAN STEVENS (London Royal Festival Hall, 02/09/15)



When I went to Copenhagen to see Mr Stevens for the first time, I described it as "one of the most riveting, over-the-top, luscious live performances I've ever seen." Needless to say, that was on the "Age of Adz" tour, which was a bit of an outlier as Sufjan albums go. This time around, as he promotes an album about the recent death of his estranged mother, things are naturally significantly more subdued. It was certainly a stunningly beautiful performance, with some of the most impressive lighting I've seen at a gig, yet....for some reason it didn't really connect with me. In fact, my highlight was the long noisey done, featuring pipe organ courtesy of Nico Muhly, at the tail-end of "Blue Bucket Of Gold" mostly because it was so at odds with the rest of the set. An excellent show by any benchmark, but alas, not the all-time classic others have declared it to be.
TV ON THE RADIO (London Roundhouse, 30/08/15)



It's easy to forget how many fucking great songs TV On The Radio have put out over the years, and tonight Tunde Adebimpe delivered them with such taut, blistering energy that it made up for the fact the last two albums have been lacklustre by their standards. Also, the sound mix was actually better than "dogshit" (the traditional level for a TVOTR show) so you could actually hear Kyp's vocals for once. A winner all round.
DEERHOOF (London Tufnell Park Dome, 25/08/15)



After 21 years, Deerhoof still sound like no-one else. Some would argue that's a good thing, but in my opinion their quirky jazz/noise/rock weirdness is more exhilarating than 99% of bands out there, even when tempered with Greg's interminable attempts at banter.
GREEN MAN FESTIVAL (Glanusk Park, 20/08/15-23/08/15)


























I led a Dan Deacon dance-off in front of several thousand people. I experienced Natalie Prass' brave but fruitless defense against Powys' impressive wasp population. I saw Calexico bring their dusty, Mariachi-infused Americana to a wet, soggy field in the middle of Wales. I witnessed 91-year old Marshall Allen from Sun Ra ignore set curfews and continue playing until the power was cut. I was made pregnant by Charles Bradley as the sun disappeared behind the mountains. I had my socks charmed off by effervescent Norwegian popster Aurora. I felt my breath taken away by the genius of Son Lux. I flitted between the stark drama of St Vincent in her pomp and the lush, looped strings of Owen Pallett. And most of all, I got very, very wet. Green Man, you're alright.

Sunday, August 16, 2015

VISIONS FESTIVAL (Various Hackney Venues, 08/08/15)



If you like queues, Visions is the festival for you. If you do not like queues, you may want to proceed with caution. To be fair, what I saw was very good, especially Jens Lekman's twee dance party in St John-at-Hackney Church and Holy Fuck's much sweatier dance party down at Oval Space, but overall I spent almost much time moaning with my fellow punters outside venues than actually watching bands.
FUNKADELIC (London Camden Ballroom, 07/08/15)



I'm going to be honest here- Funkadelic have never quite lived up to my expectations live. I love their chaos, I love their character, I love the goddamn funk but sometimes they're just too messy to truly groove. And despite being in a venue with a decent soundsystem for once, the turgid sound-mix did not inspire me to get off my ass and jam. Plus, they didn't play The Best Guitar Instrumental Of All Time, an act worthy of Sir Nose D'voidoffunk himself.