SONS OF KEMET (London Lloyd Park, 18/07/15)

Shabaka Hutchings may appear to be involved with every other band in London at the moment, but Sons of Kemet may well be the best. Sax, tuba and two drums (one played by the mighty Seb Rochford), and a down and dirty post-jazz vibe that gets the whole of Walthamstow dancing. Awesome stuff for Awesome-stow.

PIKA (London Brixton Windmill, 16/07/15)

Fresh from eviscerating my eardrums with the mighty ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE a couple of weeks back, Pika's solo show is also worth a gander. Her solo guitar material is rough-edged yet kawaii, but its her noisy improvised sets with assorted other musicians that proves the real draw.

KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD (London Scala, 09/07/15)

Review: HERE

(Photo: Kimberley Ross)

EZRA FURMAN (w/ Guildford Boileroom, 08/07/15)

Once again an awkward, queer Jewish guy channeling Lou Reed and Bruce Springsteen puts on one of the scintillating live sets you ever will see. True, the Boileroom more than lived up to its name, but the oppressive humidity didn't put a dampener on Ezra and the Girlfriends' peerless energy and verve.

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE (London Dome, 03/07/15)

Ancient and venerable psych-wizards once again declare war against my hearing, now with auxiliary support from Afrirampo's vivacious drummer Pika. Victory was ultimately theirs.

SEA OF BEES (London St John on Bethnal Green Church, 30/06/15)

Review: HERE

FFS (London Troxy, 29/06/15)

Despite their protestations that collaborations don't work, Franz Ferdinand and Sparks turn out to be a match made in heaven. Ron Mael still is the most terrifying man alive, Russell Mael has more energy in his late 60's than I do in my late 20's, and the whole set, from the Sparksified version of "Michael" to the camp majesty of "Achoo" is an arch, tongue-in-cheek delight from start to finish.

BOREDOMS (London Barbican, 27/06/15)

DID YOU KNOW: sitting a few feet from 88 people hammering cymbals in unison may be something you may want experience with earplugs wedged firmly in your earholes? In truth, this wasn't the greatest Boredoms show I've ever seen- it was overlong at 140 minutes, and cymbals are pretty limited as an instrument even in that sort of quantity, but goddamn, when it was good, it was truly transcendent. Particularly enjoyed the bit when it all went a bit Geinoh Yamashirogumi in the middle. DOOM! DOOM! DOOM!

NATALIE PRASS (London Islington Assembly Hall, 24/06/15)

Natalie Prass is a top songwriter and supernaturally charismatic, but the instrumentation tonight seemed a little weaksauce for someone known for her lush arrangements. Nice cameos from Jessie Ware and Ryan Adams though.

ALDEN PENNER AND MICHAEL CERA (London 100 Club, 23/06/15)

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The Ability To Hit A Note. Michael Cera is fine when playing bass guitar, or playing some socially awkward man-child, but he really should have left the songwriting/singing to the Unicorns frontman. They didn't even play "Careless Whisper". :-(

BLUR (London Hyde Park, 20/06/15)

As someone who was massively disappointed by Blur's last Hyde Park, I'm delighted at how much of a joy this was. Great staging, perfect balance of new stuff and hits, and the circle pit for "Song 2" was one of the most fun things I've been involved with for yonks.

THE STROKES (London Hyde Park, 18/06/15)

Julian Casablancas may have been on a heroic amount of drugs and the rest of the band rather workmanlike, but a bona fide greatest hits set is still not to be sniffed at. More enjoyable than it had any right to be.

THE GO! TEAM (London Village Underground, 17/06/15)

I first saw The Go! Team in 2005 and they were shit, so I'm glad to report they've improved immensely over the last decade. That might because maestro Ian Parton wrote the new albums to fit the live set-up better, but it's also because Ninja and co. have finally matched the energy that made the likes of "Huddle Formation" and "Ladyflash" so infectious in the first place.

DAN DEACON (London Oval Space, 16/06/15)

Review: HERE

LIIMA (London Village Underground, 15/06/15)

Electro-klang. Yeah, they're not as good as Efterklang were at their best- they're still a little loose and unfocused at times, but there's definitely promise here. And Casper and Rasmus remain two of the most endearingly enthusiastic people in music.

LITURGY (London Electrowerkz, 12/06/15)

Review: HERE

(Also, more importantly: Circuit des Yeux's haunting, Nico-ish songwriting was a lot more compelling than what I was sent to review. Very dark and atmospheric)

PERFUME GENIUS (London Royal Festival Hall, 11/06/15)

Glad to see Mike Hadreas has got over his stage fright, and his darker, more dramatic new material does have its merits, but for some reason, Perfume Genius still hasn't really clicked for me. At least I didn't fall asleep halfway through this time.

HEALTH (London Tufnell Park Dome, 10/06/15)

John Famiglietti whips his hair back and forth, their drummer looks like Zangief, and several hundred eardrums implode under a relentless electro-noise-rock barrage. HEALTH haven't changed a jot in the last seven years, and who would want them to?

KIKAGAKU MOYO (London Lexington, 09/06/15)

Japanese psych hippies bring mesmerising riffs, long hair and electric sitars to Pentonville Road. General vibe: "Bo Ningen at Woodstock".

FIELD DAY (London Victoria Park, 06/06/15-07/06/15)

Patti Smith performed one of the best albums ever with more energy than most a third of her age, Mac de Marco crowdsurfed halfway across Victoria Park, Savages and Ex Hex out-rocked half-a-dozen generic garage rock bands, Owen Pallett did his loop-pedallin' thang, Toumani Diabate and son laid on the Malian grooves with aplomb and I didn't get arrested for grievous bodily harm against the confederacy of fuckwits Field Day calls an audience. A not entirely disastrous weekend

PHARMAKON (London Tufnell Park Dome, 04/06/15)

Pharmakon: the sound Milo Yiannopoulos hears every time a woman opens her mouth. So apocalyptically intense that a speaker literally burst into flame.

NIGHT ENGINE (London Blackheart, 03/06/15)


Night Engine's Talking Heads-meets-Franz Ferdinand vibe works fantastically in small doses, but over the course of a full-length set reveals its limitations.