AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD (London Shepherd's Bush Empire, 22/02/13) 

You'll certainly know them by the trail of busted eardrums. I always admire a band that puts the effort in, even to a largely disinterested audience of Cribs fans, and Trail of Dead's intensity, energy, and general disregard for volume limits would have impressed me even if their musical chops weren't up to scratch (which, happily, they are). Definitely an act to check out again in the future.

TAKEN BY TREES (London Hoxton Bar and Kitchen 18/02/13)

Pleasant Swedish dream-pop that unfortunately falls flat in the dark and soulless environs of Hoxton Bar and Kitchen. Bush Hall or St Giles would have suited much better. (Photo: Simon Beckerman)

DAN DEACON (London Village Underground, 14/02/13) 



The "human tunnel" stretched halfway around Shoreditch, the Village Underground was illuminated by the light of several hundred smartphone apps, the new keyboardist and two drummers absolutely aced "Snookered" -> "USA: Parts I-IV", and happy couples and the recently heartbroken were pitted against each other in the arena of dance. Good work, Dan Deacon. Good work.

DESAPARECIDEOS (London Electric Ballroom, 11/02/13)

Short, sweet and a hell of a lot of fun. And Conor Oberst is much more bearable in “incomprehensibly shouty” mode than “whiny emo”, that's for sure.

TRUST (Brussels Ancienne Belgique, 04/02/13)

Bleepy-bloopy dance music from the Austra side-project. Enjoyable, if nothing life-changing.

(Photo: Trust)

MY BLOODY VALENTINE (London Electric Brixton, 27/01/13)

A lot of people complained how terrible the mix at this gig was, and rightly so - even Kevin Shields was visibly frustrated that everything sounded like it was being played down “a three-mile tunnel.” That said, acoustic fidelity has never been the primary draw of an MBV gig, and although the vocals were even harder to discern than usual, they still whipped up the squalls of ear-splitting noise I'd hoped for, not least during a brief, but ferociously intense “You Made Me Realise”.

SOLANGE (London XOYO, 17/01/13)

 
Beyonce's hipster little sister may not have the same profile as the Queen B, but with tunes as funky and sultry as these, this may be only a temporary state of affairs. Shame, though, about the Hoxtonites who clearly cared more about “being seen” and their own vapid conversations than showing any sort of respect to the performer.

(Photo: The 405)

SINEAD O' CONNOR (London St Luke's LSO, 17/01/13)

 
Review: HERE

(Photo: NME)