DAN DEACON (London Roundhouse, 24/08/16)

Malfunctioning player-pianos. A 25-minute, audience-participation-fuelled improv. piece involving five hundred mobile phones blasting out Phil Collins. Dance-offs and human tunnels and overhead projectors and The Crystal Goddamn Cat. Even by Dan Deacon's standards, this was a pretty out-there show, but by God, it was tremendous fun.

GRANDADDY (London Oslo, 23/08/16) 

It's not everyday you get to see "The Crystal Lake" performed in a 300-capacity sweat box where you're so close to Jason Lytle it's actually a little bit awkward. True, the band looked a little tired, even pissed off at first, but the overwhelming reaction of the audition soon saw them perk up, and by the end it was grins and A-grade lo-fi American indie-rock all round. Superb.

EDWARD SHARPE AND THE MAGNETIC ZEROES (London Islington Assembly Hall, 15/08/16)

Review: HERE

CAUGHT BY THE RIVER FESTIVAL (London Fulham Palace, 13/08/16)

Review: HERE

RAGNAR KJARTANSSON AND FRIENDS (London Barbican, 19/07/16)

An eccentric, whimsical, and downright hilarious revue-type show courtesy of critically-acclaimed Icelandic performance artist Ragnar Kjartansson. Cigars were smoked, Brecht was sung, pianos were pushed, poetry was declaimed, confetti was scattered, and musicians from The National, Sigur Ros and mùm all enthusiastically contributed to one of the most artistically satisfying, but genuinely peculiar shows I've attended this year.

CITADEL FESTIVAL (London Victoria Park, 17/07/16)

Review: HERE

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM (London Victoria Park, 16/07/16)

Five years ago, Win Butler told James Murphy to "Shut Up And Play The Hits", and tonight they took that advice to heart. In truth, LCD Soundsystem were never as tight a live unit as I'd hoped when I saw them in their heyday, but this was pretty much a flawless set, with the closing run of "New York I Love You", "Dancing Yrself Clean" and "All My Friends" leaving me buzzing for the days.

ISLAM CHIPSY (London Lloyd Park, 16/07/16)

Premium Egyptian chiptune from the engaging Islam Chipsy and his dual-drumming band "EEK".

STEVIE WONDER (London Hyde Park, 10/07/16)

The fact that Stevie Wonder took almost four hours to complete performing an album that's only ninety minutes long is both a testament to the man's dedication to riffing off a piece, and also his frustrating tendency for self-indulgence. "Songs In The Key Of Life" isn't a natural fit for a festival setting in any event, with its second half full of obscurities, but there's no arguing that when he hit the mark, as he did with "Sir Duke"->"I Wish", he and his twenty-piece backing ensemble delivered as remarkable a live music experience as I've ever experienced in well over a thousand gigs. There's no real excuse the 30 minute interlude where every one of his backing singers got their own cover song to sing, but that was all forgotten by the time "DJ Tick Tick Boom" delivered the final double-whammy of "Signed, Sealed, Deliver" and an absolutely monstrous "Superstition." A show that epitomised "from the sublime to the ridiculous", although thankfully, ultimately leaning strongly towards the former.

LIONEL RICHIE (London O2 Arena, 06/07/16)

The show was labelled as "All The Hits", and that's what we got, dammit. All very polished and predictable of course, but Richie is perhaps even more charming that you'd expect and there's no denying the likes of "Easy" or "Three Times A Lady", although I was slightly disappointed by the general lack of clay-sculpting throughout.

CAROLE KING (London Hyde Park, 03/07/16)

Well, Carole King's first show on UK soil in twenty-seven years was always going to be "an event", but man, I wasn't expecting it to be that emotional. "Tapestry" is an important album for so many people across the generational divide, and to hear that nigh-on flawless album performed in full, even if the vivacious Ms King's voice isn't quite what it used to be was a recipe for an evening of the most memorable kind. And I completely forgot she wrote "The Loco-motion" too. What an inspiration!

MASSIVE ATTACK (London Hyde Park, 01/07/16)

Young Fathers! Tricky! Tunde Adebimpe! Horace Andy (wheeled in due to a fractured leg)! A full-on bloody orchestra for "Unfinished Sympathy"! A completely off-their-tits Scouser shouting in my ear about Michael Gove being a c**t! Add in a typically scintillating set from Patti Smith and solid showings from TV On The Radio and Shura, and there's £0.00 well spent.

HAM SANDWICH (London Islington Academy 2, 29/06/16)

Winsome indie-pop from the County Meath eight-piece, who essentially serve as an enthusiastic, if not exactly innovative distillation of the mid-Noughties alternative scene.

MOONFACE AND SIINAI (London Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, 27/06/16)

Given that this is only the second show of a tour crammed in between Wolf Parade dates, Moonface (AKA Spencer Krug), backed by Finnish kraut-rockers Siinai have no right to sound this ferociously good. Krug's other bands get more critical acclaim, but one suspects this is the project closest to his own heart, and I'll fight anyone who argues that "Lay Your Cheek On Down" isn't one of the best songs he's ever written.

BURT BACHARACH (London Palladium, 25/06/16)

When an songwriter feels confident enough to dispatch songs of such calibre as "Walk On By", "I Say A Little Prayer" and "There's Always Something There To Remind Me" within the first ten minutes of their set, they're either completely deluded or something really quite special. Burt Bacharach, of course, falls in the latter category. Tonight we're treated to two hours of back-to-back, solid gold hits, from "24 Hours To Tulsa" to "Close To You", with guest spots from Marc Almond, Rick Astley and Rumer, and although Bacharach's own voice is pretty much shot these days, the fact he's so sprightly at the age of 88 is still cause for celebration. A superb retrospective for one of the best songsmiths in the history of the form.

CHIC (London Fulham Palace, 24/06/16)

There's only one cure for the post-Brexit blues, and that's Nile Rodgers playing his greatest hits (and man, there's a lot of them) in what feels like a random village fete in the middle of Fulham. Nice four-song cameo from the inimitable Alison Moyet too.

DAKHABRAKHA (London Rich Mix, 23/06/16)

Ukraine's colourful "ethno-chaos" four-piece are an curious bird, mixing traditional Slavic instrumentation with pop and even hip-hop influences, but my God, if they don't produce spectacular results. An initially restless and talkative audience are swiftly won over by their hypnotic polyrhythms and beguiling vocals, and by the end the band were compelled to wing an impromptu second encore, on account of the rapturous reception they received.

WOODS (London Boston Arms, 22/06/16)

Review: HERE

WOLF PARADE (London Scala, 14/06/16-15/06/16)

Some reunions are clearly done for the money, or sometimes to relive a long lost youth, but my most beloved Wolf Parade have returned to action reinvigorated and more potent than ever. It's hard to pick a highlight from two exceptional nights of live music, but seeing Spencer Krug's involuntary grin as the whole audience sang along to "Sons and Daughters Of Hungry Ghosts" is definitely up there. The most straight-out exhilarating gigs of 2016 so far, and indeed, some of the most enjoyable I've ever been to.

PRIMAVERA PORTO (Porto Parque de Cidade, 09/06/16-11/06/16)

Primavera Barcelona is one of the best European festivals, but like the city it resides in, it can be a bit exhausting. Primavera Porto on the other hand is a far more relaxed affair- less big names, but significantly more chilled-out (and a hell of a lot cheaper to boot). In between stuffing my face with 3 euro bifanas, I caught some memorable sets, including Sigur Ros, Battles, Destroyer, Chairlift, A.R. Kane and Floating Points, but the two absolute highlights proved to be Brian Wilson (who despite being a half-zombie these days is supported by perhaps the most accomplished backing band in existence) and Titus Andronicus, who left me physically, mentally and emotionally broken. Highly recommended.