MY BLOODY VALENTINE (London Royal Festival, 23/06/18)

YOU MADE ME REALISEZZZRTKZZZRTVRRRRRROOOOOOMMMMMMMMKZZTBZZZTBZZZTBZZZZ

MONO (London Queen Elizabeth Hall, 22/06/18)

The sixth and (by far) the best show I've seen from the exquisite Japanese post-rockers. The closing run of Halcyon/Ashes In The Snow/Everlasting Light was so uncompromisingly epic it genuinely made me emosh.

YAMANTAKA//SONIC TITAN (London Electrowerkz, 20/06/18)

Noh-inspired Canadian psych-rockers with a glorious sense of theatre and unstinting commitment to the heaviest of grooves. Shame that so few people turned up, but that certainly didn't deter them from putting on a memorable show.

DAVID BYRNE (London Hammersmith Apollo, 19/06/18)

Davie B's show at the Royal Festival Hall in 2009 remains one of the most remarkable live performances I've ever seen (Eno in a tutu!), but somehow, he's managed to up his game even further. A minimalist set-up with maximum results which placed the focus on his multi-talented entourage rather than fancy stage-craft, it's a show that marries glorious invention, marvelous choreography and some of the best songs of the last 40 years with an unmatched, unpretentious sense of fun. Incredible.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE (London Royal Festival Hall, 18/06/18)

Ben Gibbard and his coterie of emos were the last ever band I saw as a student (apart from Goldie Lookin' Chain at Grad Ball), so it's always a nicely nostalgic experience to catch them live. Sound man wasn't exactly on the ball, and the new stuff was as unmemorable as most of their post-Narrow Stairs work, but I'll never tire of the stately brilliance of "Transatlanticism".

PORTALS FESTIVAL (London Dome, 17/06/18)

Yndi Halda's stunning cinematic epics, Big Lad's uncompromising electro-percussive cacophonies, Axes' superior math-rock and Valerian Swing's crazy Italianosity- Portals may be Raw Power without the eclecticism, but it's still a most satisfactory way to spend a Sunday evening.

JAMBINAI (London Purcell Rooms, 16/06/18)

Magnificently epic metal-tinged post-rock centered around traditional Korean instruments. One of the more obscure selections for Robert Smith's Meltdown, but almost certainly one of the best.

ROSTAM (London Scala, 14/06/18)

Review: HERE

BARDO POND (London 100 Club, 06/06/18)

Gravity-warping shoegaze from the veterans of the US alternative scene. They're a tad one-note, but at least that note is exceptionally loud.

ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO (London Jazz Cafe, 04/06/18)

With their hippin' and the hoppin' and the bippin' and the boppin', the kids don't know what the JAZZ is all about. Roscoe Mitchell does however, and his avant-garde saxophone playing remains one of the most virtuoso sights I've ever witnessed.

ALL POINTS EAST: NICK CAVE AND THE BAD SEEDS (London Victoria Park, 03/06/18)

Bo Ningen. Nadine Shah. Courtney Barnett. Patti Smith. Nick Cave. Do I need to say more?

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE (Birmingham Academy, 31/05/18)

If this truly is, as Kevin Drew intimated, Broken Social Scene's last European tour, at least they left us on a high note. The show may have only been two-thirds full and half of them had lost their voices, but they nonetheless delivered two straight hours of premium Canadian indie-rock. Park that car, drop that phone, sleep on the floor, dream about me...

CONFIDENCE MAN (London Village Underground, 30/05/18)

A post-detox Die Antwoord, a lightning-sharp pastiche of 90's Euro-pop, a simultaneously ironic yet strangely honest celebration of sex and music and fun. Confidence Man are all these things, but most of all, they're the most straight-down enjoyable new live act of 2018.

TRACEYANNE AND DANNY (London Rough Trade East, 30/05/18)

Wistful Scottish pop that's almost indistinguishable from Camera Obscura, but let's be honest- that's not exactly a bad thing.

ALL POINTS EAST: BJORK (London Victoria Park, 27/05/18)

Still not that much of a fan of Elton John Misty, but the Eldritch Queen of Icelandic was bewitching, even if her setlist veered distinctly towards "Cafe Oto" rather than "festival bangers". Plus, she managed to steer away a literal thunderstorm, which is pretty cool by anyone's book.

ALL POINTS EAST: LCD SOUNDSYSTEM (London Victoria Park, 25/05/18)

Tunelessly bellowed "All My Friends" during a rather downbeat LCDSS set, got Karen O'd right in the face, was sugar-rushed by the ever-peppy Superorganism and threw inappropriate shapes to the formidable Confidence Man. An impressive statement of intent from the latest addition to London's festival calendar.

SPARKS (London Kentish Town Forum, 24/05/18)

Enter the Maelstrom! It's pretty astonishing Ron and Russell have successfully committed to their idiosyncratic brand of pop music for 50 straight years now without sacrificing a jot of their integrity, but not nearly as astounding as the fact that half a century into their career, they might well be at the top of their game. An absolute joy from start to finish.

CAR SEAT HEADREST (London Roundhouse, 23/05/18)

Will Toledo will never be the world's most confident frontman, but at least he's shifted his persona from "deer in the headlights" to "reluctant dad asked to do some DIY". It's amazing to watch the extremely youthful audience shout every word back at him, especially during the dynamic, thoroughly engaging first half, but I couldn't help feel things tapered off a bit towards the end.

OLAFUR ARNALDS (London Royal Albert Hall, 14/05/18)

Review: HERE

EX-EYE (London Milton Court, 13/05/18)

Sax-o-mo to the max-i-mo from Colin Stetson and his ferociously cacophonous metal cohorts. A true force of nature.

ANNA BURCH (London Old Blue Last, 09/05/18)

A competent if unspectacular set from the up-and-coming Detroit songwriter. "Tea-Soaked Letter" is quite the tune though.