BEST FRIENDS FOREVER (London Old Blue Last, 25/07/11)



Shambolic, good-natured and thoroughly entertaining anti-folk courtesy of two Minnesotan mentalists, whose wit and enthusiasm more than makes up for any minor deficiencies in actual musical talent.

(Photo: Odhran O'Donoghue (of the amazing Wears The Trousers))

TWO GALLANTS (London Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, 19/07/11)



Review: HERE

(Photo: Anika Mottershaw/The Line of Best Fit)

BJORK (Manchester Campfield Market Hall, 16/07/11)



The previous Bjork show I went to was the best gig of my life. This show was, sadly, the third best gig of the week. The “Biophilia” set-up is a triumph of invention and innovation, but bassy sound, amelodic and challenging new material and the alienating effects of a stage ‘in the round’ made this a much less engaging and immersive experience than I’d hoped for. A show more to be admired than enjoyed, although they did have LIGHTNING ARCING OUT OF GIANT SPEAKER-THINGS WHICH WAS PRETTY SWEET.

(Photo: Can You 'Ear Me)

YNDI HALDA (London Lexington, 15/07/11)



Review: HERE

RAINDOGS REVISITED (London Barbican, 13/07/11)



Kinda suspected this tribute to Tom Waits’ seminal album would be a pretty mixed bag, and I certainly wasn’t wrong. Camille O’ Sullivan’s eccentric cabaret and St. Vincent’s fuzzed-up rawness worked a treat, but the rest of the acts veered from poor imitations to over-zany quirkiness. Can’t stand the Tiger Lillies either, which made their contributions a chore to sit through.

(Photo: Anika Mottershaw)

CONGOTRONICS VS ROCKERS (London Barbican, 12/07/11)



Review: HERE

(Photo: Robocod)

PULP (London Hyde Park, 03/07/11)



They played Mis-Shapes. THAT IS ALL. <3 <3 <3 <3

(Also enjoyed the mad granny diva posturings of Grace Jones, the OTT showmanship of the Hives and the euphonium gypsy-folk dance party of Devotchka. Didn’t approve of TVOTR’s appalling sound mix though.)

(Photo: NME)

ARCADE FIRE (London Hyde Park, 30/06/11)



Not a classic AF show by any means. Setlist was average, although the unusual running order (Wake Up as the second track!) was a bit of a treat. The fact most of the show was in daylight seriously impacted on the atmosphere, and the crowd where I was standing were really passive and unenthusiastic. Enjoyable enough, but Warsaw was considerably better.

Also, tried to give Mumford and Sons the benefit of the doubt, but they were utter bollocks. True, their session musicians delivered some nice brass flourishes but at the end of they day, they've only got one song and it ain't a particularly good one. And as one of my friends pointed out- Marcus sure does look a bit like Nick Griffin.

(Photo: Lickmybattery)

ARCADE FIRE (Warsaw Torwar, 24/06/11)



Despite taking place in a soulless, half-sold, alcohol-free stadium, this turned out to be my favourite show of the Suburbs tour so far. The Polish crowd were great – receptive but not aggressive - and the band put 100% into the entire performance. Particularly dug the extended version of Modern Man, with its 80’s-tastic electro-synth outro; would appreciate more of this in Album 4.

PATRICK WOLF (London Garage, 20/06/11)



Too many screaming fangirls and overwrought love songs for my tastes, but worth it just for the glorious guilty pleasure that is “Magic Position.”

(Photo: John Gleeson)

BORIS (University of London, 19/06/11)



Review: HERE

(Photo: Matt Brown)

tUnE-YaRdS (London Scala 08/06/11)



Review: HERE

(Photo: David Emery)

MONO (London Koko 07/06/11)



Review: HERE

(Photo: Kristian James)

PRIMAVERA SOUND FESTIVAL (Barcelona Park del Forum, 25/05/11-29/05/11)



HIGHLIGHTS
-Pulp, naturally. Managed to pogo my way to the front during opener Do You Remember The First Time?, sang my heart out to the likes of Disco 2000, This Is Hardcore and Babies, absolutely lost my shit when they played F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E and managed not to die during the inevitable insanity that accompanied Common People. Everything I could have hoped for, really.
-Mercury Rev playing Deserter's Songs. Absolutely magnificent, I nearly cried during “Opus 40”.
-Girl Talk's 5am dance party extravaganza. Ended up with several hundred hipsters singing along to Lulu. Yup.
-El Guincho, and not just because of the hot ladies in short shorts throwing pillows at each other/lezzing out.
-Dean Wareham. Haven't listened to much Galaxie 500, but this was gorgeous stuff.
-tUnE-YaRdS cajoling everyone to sing along to Hatari (although overall she's better without her band)
-Sufjan Stevens' Auditori light show.
-Of Montreal's Hissing Fauna-centric setlist. A Sentence of Sorts->Heidmalsgate->She's A Rejector = YES.
-Battles being Battles.
-John Cale's Paris 1919, although the newer songs he played afterwards were a tad ropey.
-Picnic at the Parc Central del Poblenou soundtracked by the 90’s indie-pop strains Comet Gain. Lovely way to spend an afternoon.

LOWLIGHTS
-James Blake. Whiney bollocks of the worst kind.
-Missing Gang Gang Dance/Glasser/Suicide Of Western Culture/Holy Ghost!
-Wayne Coyne becoming a parody of himself. His constant exhortations to "COME ON!" annoyed me so much I left after four songs. That said, still gutted that he arrived at the absinthe bar on Tuesday two minutes after we’d departed.
-Not seeing Emeralds because I got lost in the mountains and ended up 15 miles away from where I was supposed to be. Again.

STAG & DAGGER FESTIVAL (Various Hoxton Venues, 19/05/11)



Echo Lake’s voluminous spectral shoegaze aside, this year’s edition of EastLondonMoodyHipsterFest failed to impress. D/R/U/G/S was a bit too bleepy-bloopy for a 9pm time-slot and Post War Years had promise but were too slavishly in hock to LCD Soundsystem and Foals to stand out on their own merits.

(Photo: Tony Coleby)

HANDSOME FURS (London Lexington, 16/05/11)



Man, Handsome Furs are awesome. As well as being the most lovable (and loved-up) couple in the whole of indie-rock, their ferociously dynamic performance, combined with some blinding new material made this one of the most exhilarating sets of the year so far. RADIO KALININGRAD, STATIC ON A BROKEN WIRE!

(Photo: John Gleeson)

SUFJAN STEVENS (London Royal Festival Hall; 12/05/11 & 13/05/11)



Review: HERE

(Photo: John Gleeson)

REVERBERATIONS FESTIVAL: SESSION 6 (London Barbican, 08/05/11)



God knows what Owen Pallett was doing at a festival dedicated to one of the forefathers of minimalism in the first place, but I couldn’t help thinking his orchestra-augmented performance of “Heartland” was a slight disappointment. Fact is, Owen’s own looping skills are so phenomenal that not even a full retinue of classically-trained musicians could really add that much to his sound, and indeed, only the last song truly made full use of their talents. Also could have done with 90% less drums. Ah well.

On the plus side, Clogs were excellent. The lullaby they performed with a children’s choir was one of the most beautiful things I’ve heard this year.

(Photo: John Gleeson)

REVERBERATIONS FESTIVAL: SESSION 3 (London Barbican, 07/05/11)



Review: HERE

DEERHOOF (London Garage, 04/05/11)



It’s Deerhoof. Of course they were great. My admiration for Greg Saunier’s drumming skills and bemusement by his raconteurship remains unabated, and Satomi Matsuzaki can still star-jump like the best of ‘em.

(Photo: Anika "Tang Fiend" Mottershaw)