London Gigs Diary: 30 January - 5 February 2012

Thursday sees two gigs take place by artists that released two of the stand-out albums of 2011. American-Chilean musician Nicolas Jaar’s Space Is Only Noise seemed to exist in its own little world where all stylistic concerns were pleasingly blurred. His show at the Roundhouse represents the beginning of something of a new chapter for him, being centred around his Don’t Break My Love EP, and seeing him perform for the first time in the UK with his new band featuring Acid Pauli and Soul Keita.

Diamond Mine by King Creosote & Jon Hopkins was an album of a very different nature that developed into arguably one of the most loved albums of last year, as steady word-of-mouth appeal combined with widespread critical acclaim to propel it towards the top of several end of year lists. They play their biggest London show to date at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire on Thursday, with support from Francois And The Atlas Mountains and Withered Hand. Withered Hand (Scottish singer Dan Wilson) also plays a solo show at the Shacklewell Arms on the following evening.

Thursday also has a gig by Canadian electronic quartet Azari & III, who play from eponymous release at Heaven and it also sees the first of three performances of The Long Count, the multimedia show by Aaron & Bryce Dessner of The National. You can catch it at the Barbican from 2^nd-4^th February.

Friday sees Factory Floor play a show at Village Underground as part of club night DURRR’s 5^th birthday celebrations, whilst Kings Place is the venue for former El Hombre Trajeado man RM Hubbert’s album launch show (with an array special guests promised, including Aidan Moffat, Emma Pollock and Alasdair Roberts).

Meanwhile, Laura Veirs plays a show at the QEH on Monday. Last year she released Tumble Bee, a fun-filled album aimed at children, although this show may feature more in the way of selections from her impressive back catalogue. Fellow Bella Union signed singer-songwriter Jonathan Wilson plays a show at the Scala on the same night. Elsewhere, Wild Flag (featuring former members of Sleater Kinney) play a show at the Electric Ballroom on Wednesday in support of their self-titled debut album.

Wu-Tang Clan member GZA plays a solo show at the Islington Academy on Tuesday, seminal Senegalese outfit Orchestra Baobab return to London on Monday for a show at the Barbican whilst Roots Manuva also makes an appearance at the Roundhouse on Saturday.

Also recommended:

Emit Bloch – Slaughtered Lamb – 31^st January

Portico Quartet – Rough Trade East – 31st February

Django Django – Rough Trade East – 1^st February

James Ferraro – Tufnell Park Dome – 1^st February

William D. Drake – Windmill – 3^rd February

Crewdson – The Nest – 3^rd February

Just announced:

M. Ward – Leicester Square Theatre – 20^th March

Craig Finn – Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen – 29^th March

When Saints Go Machine – Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen – 2^nd April

The Dø – Garage – 11^th April

Marion – Islington Academy – 12^th April

Trembling Bells & Bonnie Prince Billy – Union Chapel – 6^th May

London Gigs Diary: 23 January - 29 January 2012

Texan post-rock mainstays  Explosions In The Sky play their biggest UK show to date at Brixton Academy on Friday in support of last year's fine Take Care, Take Care, Take Care album (with support from Lanterns On The Lake and Blanck Mass).

2011 also saw Will Oldham release Wolfroy Goes To Town, the 11th album under his Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy guise. It is arguably his best album for several years, characteristically stripped down, confessional and intimate and he plays from it at Hackney Empire on Wednesday.

Seattle singer-songwriter Damien Jurado returns to London to play a small show at the Enterprise on Monday ahead of forthcoming release Maraqopa. Later in the week Franco-Finnish outfit The Dø play Bush Hall on Thursday. They have been compared to Vashti Bunyan, The Cardigans and Björk and play ahead of the release of their second album, Both Ways Open Jaws. A show at XOYO on Tuesday showcases two of the most hotly-tipped emerging talents, namely Scottish R&B songwriter and BRITs Critics Choice winner Emeli Sandé and BBC Sound Of 2012 winner Michael Kiwanuka. Elsewhere, electronica pioneers 808 State play a rare live show at the Village Underground on Friday.

One of the more experimental/leftfield gigs of the week takes place at the Bishopsgate Institute on Friday as part of their ongoing Vortex City Session series. King Midas Sound, Raime and Leyland James Kirby provide an evening of esoteric electronic soundworlds and darkly abstact noisescapes. Meanwhile, over at the Vortex in Dalston hosts a week long series of shows that celebrate Anglo-German musical collaborations (curated by avant-jazz legend Evan Parker). Finally, reggae/dub maverick Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry plays a pair of shows at the Jazz Café on Friday and Saturday.

Also recommended:

Jason McNiff – Borderline – 23^rd January

Casiokids – Cargo – 24^th January

Get Cape Wear Cape Fly – Cargo – 24^th January

Francois & The Atlas Mountains – Slaughtered Lamb – 25^th January

Toy – Shacklewell Arms – 25^th January

Madison Violet – Borderline – 25^th January

Josh Rouse – Union Chapel – 28^th January

Pulled Apart By Horses – Barfly – 28^th January

Just announced:

The Shins – Kentish Town Forum – 22^nd March

Laura Gibson – Lexington – 10^th April

The Apple Cart Festival – Victoria Park – 3^rd June (the first set of bands announced to play “London’s boutique festival of music, comedy, art, cabaret and magic) include Billy Bragg, Jeffrey Lewis, Penguin Café, Neneh Cherry, Stornoway and Noah & The Whale.

London Gigs Diary: 16 January - 22 January 2012

Dustin O’Halloran and Adam Wiltzie have both released beautifully crafted, moving music independently over the years but their collaboration as A Winged Victory For The Sullen has arguably seen them make a bigger impact, with their debut album picking up significant critical praise throughout 2011. They play their first London show at Cecil Sharp House on Monday and it promises to be a rather special occasion.

On Saturday KOKO hosts Gilles Peterson's Worldwide Awards, which features live performances from the likes of Thundercat, BBC Sound Of 2012 winner Michael Kiwanuka and SBTRKT as well as various DJ sets.

British psychedelic four-piece Wolf People impressed with their debut album Steeple back in 2010 and they return to play a date at the Garage on Tuesday before returning to the studio to complete their second album.

Tuesday also sees Piney Gir bring her sweetly-sung, clean-cut, feminine guitar-pop to the Lexington, whilst the same venue hosts a show on the following night by Tunng frontman Sam Genders under his Diagrams guise, playing from debut release Black Light.

Darren Hayman plays the second of his January Songs shows at the Hideaway Bar on Friday, and also appears at Cecil Sharp House on Saturday, supporting Butcher Boy (who released their third album Helping Hands to some acclaim last year).

Cafe Oto has a two night residency from avant-garde, spiritual jazz troupe The Pyramids on Wednesday and Thursday and also has a show by British experimental guitarist Richard Youngs on Saturday.

Also recommended:

Anja McCloskey - Slaughtered Lamb - Monday 16th January

Nonclassical presents J.D. Twitch (Optimo) & Gabriel Prokofiev - XOYO - Thursday 19th January

Bleeding Heart Narrative - 93 ft East - Friday 20th January

Monocle & Hong Kong In The 60s - Power Lunches Arts Cafe - Friday 20th January

Just announced:

Graham Coxon - Kentish Town Forum - 25th April

Dan Mangan - Bush Hall - 3rd May

Bowerbirds - Cargo - 7th May

The Handsome Family - 100 Club - 27th May

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Royal Albert Hall - 20th June

LCD Soundsystem Shut Up Shop, Play Hits On Film

LCD Soundsystem's Madison Square Garden show last year was their last gig. Bands don't usually plan their final shows - they break up, or get dropped by their labels, or just trudge on and on and on.

None of these options suited James Murphy, who as long ago as 2007 was putting voice to thoughts of quitting touring. Stopping LCD Soundsystem altogether, and so soon after their third album This Is Happening happened, caused many a sad face and not a few tears.

But now a trailer (see below) has appeared, previewing an upcoming LCD Soundsystem film, Shut Up And Play The Hits. The Madison Square Garden gig is the focus, inevitably. We can't wait to see it.

Not least because LCD Soundsystem's second album Sound Of Silver topped musicOMH's Top 50 Albums Of 2007 writers poll. The sprawling eponymous debut double album, the EPs and the swansong were all never less than essential, at least to those of us who'd immersed our ears in these sounds. Or been to see the sight of this deceptively ramshackle ensemble, fronted by one of the least likely looking front men ever to grace a stage, create warm, organic earworms of sound out of vintage synths and loops and guitars - and a bloody cowbell - and soundtrack many a good time in many a good place. So many personal memories come wrapped in an LCD Soundsystem song, like so much augmented reality.

We interviewed James Murphy twice; once for the This Is Happening album, and I spoke with him in Barcelona back in 2007. On that occasion he was nearly two hours late; his phone was out of power, his tour bus had broken down, the band had lost their soundcheck spot and all was chaos. Except for Murphy. In the eye of the storm here was a zen-like calm, a man who wouldn't hear of rescheduling or 'wrapping things up quickly', and who was not only generous with his time but great company.  

We didn't get to go to the Madison Square Garden gig; our last farewell to LCD was at London's Alexandra Palace at the end of 2010. But this trailer makes us wish all over again that we had managed a skip across the pond, and that LCD Soundsystem were still around. But knowing when to bow out is a rare skill. Murphy ran things his way and, in future projects - not least with his DFA Records label - will doubtless continue so to do.

NEWS: Refused also reform, also play Coachella

Andrew Burgess writes: Following an announcement yesterday by Texas post-hardcore band, At The Drive-In, Swedish punk/hardcore legends Refused have confirmed on their website that they will reunite to play Coachella and Sweden's Way Out West festivals this year. This after a 14-year absence following 1998's bona fide classic album, The Shape Of Punk To Come. The band had this to say:

 It's been a motley 14 years since our band came apart. We've all kept busy in our respective endeavors but we've all remained friends and kept in touch. There have been offers, and lots of jokes about these offers. We've sort of looked down from our high horses and made fun of people who've just wanted to share the psychopathic intensity that we would deliver on a nightly basis in our post-pubescent prime...

Coachella got in touch. There were a couple of phone-calls, lots of skepticism, some hesitant enthusiasm before one of us basically said: "– This is ridiculous. There are friends of ours who would murder close relatives just to go see bands there. Let's just do it, one last time."

The band has not yet announced further tour dates, but it would seem like a lot of work to reunite for two gigs, right? Probably best to start revisiting the old mosh-pit moves just in case.

Watch a video for New Noise from Refused's 1998 album, The Shape Of Punk To Come, below: