May Music Heads Up
WORDS: Sam Easterbrook (Sprout Editorial Group)
Going out is going up. As belts tighten and moths start getting it on in wallets across the city, it's time to be judicious in your?music selection and take a long view at?what's coming up.
That's my excuse for writing about gigs in May and I'm sticking to it.
--------------------------------------
Friday 1 May - The Blockheads ? The Globe - £16.50 ? 18+
Legendary pub-funkateers The Blockheads continue to strive onwards and upwards with a new album, Staring Down The Barrel out on EMI April 6, and a new singer in Derek The Draw.
Some may question how a band can continue after losing such a pivotal member as Ian Dury, whose laconic iconic drawl and spiky spot-on lyrics continue to draw great admiration and imitators.
Yet the work of The Blockheads should not be overlooked, for Ian Dury And The Blockheads made great songs, not just great lyrics. It's ying and yang, y'all.
Remember Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick (which name-checks Tiger Bay) and Sex?& Drugs & Rock & Roll? Exactly, this could be an incendiary show.
--------------------------------------
Sunday 3 May ? NME Radar Tour ? The Globe - £9.50 ? 14+
Can a haircut make a band? Mid-80s American rock critics thought not, disparaging at the effeminate coiffures atop British bands such as Duran Duran and A Flock Of Seagulls as they displaced hirsute manly US rock acts from their charts. But we've all moved on, right?
I ask as most of the things I've seen written about La Roux focus on her hair and the monumental hissy fit she threw at an industry gig in Brighton in which she earned the tag of Danny La Roux.
The decade appears to be concluding in a similar fashion to how it started with the electroclash bubble, making La Roux very much of the now, wielding synths and idiosyncrasy lyrics alongside Little Boots, Boy Crisis and to a lesser extent, Lady Gaga.
The prescience of the Pet Shop Boys' Outstanding Contribution To Music Award cannot be overlooked.
Also on the bill are Heartbreak, who are apparently Italo-disco, The Chapman Family, who are disco noir (naturally) and Magistrates, a band I’ve been keeping an ear out for since hearing The Inbetweens, a punk-funk monster channelling Prince, Level 42 and white-boy funk, a little bit like The Rapture, but that's no bad thing.
Despite the dipping quality of the magazine itself the NME branded tours are always worth keeping an eye out for and the NME Radar Tour is no exception.
--------------------------------
Wednesday 13 May ? Abe Vigoda ? Buffalo - £8adv ? 18+
I think The Mai Shi are heading this event, but go for Abe Vigoda who despite being named after the actor who played Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather, play rambling surf-rock with touches of Animal Collective eclecticism rather than mafia-rock or whatevs. Check out their track Don't Lie.
-------------------------------
Friday 15 May ? London Elektricity ? Clwb Ifor Bach ? £6/8 ? 18+
Drum'n'bass in the place from Tony Colman, the co-founder of the highly regarded Hospital Records, home to Penarth's finest, High Contrast, so expect the soulful, liquid funk side of the scene to be represented.
------------------------------
Sunday 17 May ? Black Lips ? The Globe - £10 adv ? 18+
Vice endorsed pysch-infused garage rock/ flower-punk band from Atlanta, who have a fearsome reputation for chaotic gigs and are banned from India.
Whatever I write under this isn't going to?top that so head to www.black-lips.com for free stuff and information.
