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.

SON LUX (London Rough Trade East, 07/08/15)

Usually I don't review in-stores, but Son Lux truly is something special. From their unusual sound- a hybrid of trip-hop, R&B and indie-rock, to their strange, poised energy their live performances are some of the most spine-tinglingly brilliant I've seen over the last few years. And whilst you might get the impression from their albums that Ryan Lott may be somewhat of an unapproachable, humourless type, on stage he's quite the opposite- down-to-earth and appreciative of even this modest audience. They deserve to be much bigger.

THE MYNABIRDS (London The Islington, 05/08/15)

Pleasant enough show from Laura Berhenn, who at times sounds like the missing link between Carole King and Beach House. But after two energetic gigs earlier in the week, this was a tad too sedate for me.

ANAMANAGUCHI (London XOYO, 04/08/15)

A short, sweet and oh-so-sweaty set from the chiptune masters, whose glistening synth-pop and neon aesthetics are the musical equivalent of downing three gallons of sherbet. And yet even they seemed relatively reserved compared to the utterly bonkers Kero Kero Bonito, who vibe is best described as halfway between "Harajuku" and "CBeebies".

ROY AYERS (London Ronnie Scott's, 03/08/15)

The vibraphone wizard is still a force to be reckoned with at the age of 74 and although his vocals aren't as powerful as they used to be, two-and-a-half hours of premium jazz-funk ain't to be sniffed at.

THE EARLIES (London Shacklewell Arms, 31/07/15)

When I was at Uni I discovered a wonderful half-Texan, half-Mancunian outfit named the Earlies, who combined 60's West Coast harmonies with psychedelic prog (and roughly several hundred instruments). Their live shows were always blissful, and I was deeply saddened when they disappeared into obscurity somewhere in the middle of '07. So you can only imagine my delight when I discovered they had not only reunited for a one-off tour, but that their London date coincided with my 30th birthday.

And what a show it was. Not only did they manage to get the whole 11-piece live band back together (quite a feat given the dimensions of the Shacklewell stage) but they still had that old magic, despite their self-depreciating stage patter. I actually have a greater appreciation of their more outre, abrasive material now than I did in 2006, but it was the likes of "One Of Us Is Dead" that really underlined to all present what a criminally underrated band they were. If this is truly the end for the Earlies, it was a fine note to bow out on - but if it isn't, let's hope we don't have to wait 'til 2023 for the next time.

EZRA FURMAN (London Abbey Road Studios, 30/07/15)

It's not like I'm obsessed with everyone's favourite transgender Springsteen-channelling Jew, but this is the fourth time I've seen him perform live in 2015. Tonight's show is a bit of an oddity as it's actually a recording for a live EP at the prestigious Abbey Road Studios, and as a result it's much more mannered than your typically unhinged Boyfriends gig. But despite Ezra being frazzled by an uncomfortable radio interview earlier that day, the band still put on one hell of a performance, dusting off under-appreciated gems from their back catalogue as well as "Lousy Connection" et al. The perfect pick-me-up on an otherwise awful day.