A new, hopefully weekly, blog feature is upon us. Each week our estimable assistant editor Ben Urdang rounds up some live music recommendations for the denizens of our great capital to to go see.
(Watch out for something similar over on the classical section in coming weeks too, authored by our new classical editor Melanie Eskenazi.)
Slightly late but better than never, here comes the first batch...
11 Oct – 17 Oct
Gigs Of The Week:
Arrested Development - Barbican Hall, London - 13 Oct
Back in 1992, 3 Years, 5 Months & 2 Days In The Life Of... shone a new light on what hip hop could do with its spiritual yet politicised grooves being the ying to the in-your-face yang of gangsta rap. With Speech still at the helm, Arrested Development are in town for a rare London date to promote new album Strong.
http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=11163
No Age; Male Bonding; Abe Vigoda – XOYO, London – 14 Oct
Quite a lineup indeed. Los Angeles Sub Pop signings No Age have brought with them one labelmate (London’s Male Bonding) and one fellow Angeleno band (Bella Union’s Abe Vigoda) for what promises to be a noisy but tuneful night at this lively Hoxton venue.
http://xoyo.co.uk/events/no-age-male-bonding-abe-vigoda-thu-14-oct/
Groove Armada – Brixton Academy, London – 15-16 Oct
Where Basement Jaxx go, Groove Armada seem to follow. Less than a year after “the Jaxx” packed up and retired from full band live shows, Andy Cato and Tom Findlay are hanging up their funky shoes. Catch one of their last few, always excellent, live shows this week, as they wind up their current tour with two nights at Brixton Academy.
http://www.o2academybrixton.co.uk/event/15328/groove-armada-tickets
In The City – Various Venues, Manchester – 13-15 Oct
For those (ie. me) suffering from festival withdrawal symptoms, Manchester’s In The City is back and to the rescue with a frankly quite astonishing lineup, at a frankly quite un-Londoncentric price of £29 for all three days. With over 200 bands playing around the city and wide genre coverage guaranteed by the likes of Mount Kimbie, HEALTH and Monarchy, those of us who can’t make it will be left feeling grim down South.
Also Recommended:
Oh No Ono; Glasser; Spark; Horse And Condor - Madame Jojo's, London - 12 Oct
Detroit Social Club – Dingwalls, London – 12 Oct
Sheryl Crow – Hammersmith Apollo, London – 13 Oct
Anais Mitchell – The King’s Head, Crouch End – 15 Oct
Brandon Flowers - Forum, London - 17 Oct
Just Announced:
The Vaccines
Launching themselves with a raucous but impossible-to-get-into free gig at The Flowerpot last Thursday, The Vaccines are a London four-piece who’ve exploded out of nowhere. Songs heard so far hint towards a hook-heavy mix of garage band and surf rock, so basically they’re doing everything just right. They’ve announced dates through November, so see for yourself if they can assume the mantle of the best definite article band around.
Too current to even have a website, their tour will surely find them somewhere near you. London dates are at Corsica Studios (4 Nov) and Madame Jojo’s (20 Nov).
AM
This American singer/songwriter’s debut album Future Sons And Daughters is full of likeable easy-on-the-ear tracks with an occasional leftfield influence creeping in leaving him sounding somewhere between Joseph Arthur and Beck. Following a nationwide tour supporting Train, he’ll be headlining his own gig at London’s Water Rats.
The Bees
Following a triumphant gig at Bush Hall after a three and a half year absence, the Isle Of Wight boys will be coming to a medium-sized venue soon, with stops including Manchester, Oxford and Portsmouth before ending up at London's Koko on 17 December.
