Boys and girls, hold onto your underwear: EastEnd Cabaret are the sexually deviant singers your mother warned you about.

This time last year, Bethnal Green’s lewdest couple were surfing the wave of new interest in cabaret and encouraging South Bank passersby to engage in acts of self-discovery. After a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe and a tour down under which bagged them the Adelaide Fringe 2012 Best Cabaret Award, the depraved duo return to the area for a series of three shows at the London Wonderground.

EastEnd Cabaret comprises of the vamp-chanteuse Bernadette Byrne and her half-man/half-woman instrumentalist Victor/Victoria. That these are two of the greatest comedy creations of recent years is without doubt. Byrne has a mind and a French accent both filthier than a Holborn gutter while “Victy” is all about the deadpan asides, jealous snipes and musical virtuosity. Together, they form a delicious alloy which is far greater than the sum of the parts.

Their new show continues from last year’s debut The Revolution Will Be Sexual. Long-term fans of their underground act may be disappointed to hear that the communist angle has been all but dropped: there is no mention of Mr Little Red Book (the girls’ Marxist Karma Sutra) and the handy props Mr Sickle and Miss Hammer which they used to illustrate positions like The Tory Titwank. Also gone are the cover versions and the more risqué favourites like The Rape Song.

That’s not to say they are now playing it safe. The first five minutes are strangely reminiscent of the start of Krapp’s Last Tape with Victor/Victoria moving around the stage in wordless wonder before Byrne makes her appearance. Those without a sense of the bizarre and an appreciation of dark humour may not last the course as the next hour covers masturbation, necrophilia, virgin defloration and the benefits of strong pelvic muscles.

With its new styling, the show is a tighter beast but has lost some of its edginess and intrigue. Having said that, these perverse purveyors of everything that goes hump in the night are among the shiniest of stars in cabaret’s firmament and should be seen at the earliest opportunity.

See East End Cabaret in the Spiegeltent at London Wonderground on the Southbank on Friday 22 June and Thursday 26 July (standard tickets £12.50, ‘Wonder Seats’ £17.50, concessions £11).

Scissor Sisters played two nights in Shepherd’s Bush last week, previewing new material along with some old favourites. They’ll be back in London on 23 October for a date at The Roundhouse. Tickets £32.50 + bf.

Prog-rock legends The Mars Volta released their sixth album – the intriguingly-titled Noctourniquet – in March. In support of it, they’ll play the HMV Forum on 15 July. Expect twiddly guitar solos and apocalyptic drumming. Tickets £25 + bf.

She might have had several hits, but Swedish electro-pop singer-songwriter Robyn has always worked hard to release exciting music on her own terms. She’s been in the studio working on new material and will play O2 Academy Brixton on 1 November. Tickets £20 + bf.

Blink-182 earned the ire of some fans when they postponed last year’s planned arena tour by a whole 12 months. They’re still booked in to play The O2 on 8 and 9 June, but they’ve also announced a show at O2 Academy Brixton on 25 July. Tickets £35 + bf.

North London favourites Madness always provide a lot of fun at their gigs, so if you’re in the mood for a pre-Christmas shindig then book ahead for their date at The O2 on 14 December. Tickets from £39.50 + bf.

Also booking this week: Newton Faulkner, J-Lo and Dexys.

Image from Roger Zenda under Creative Commons on Flickr.

Their dark subtle synth pop nods heavily toward The XX’s and The Mission’s  late night tales, but sisters Collette and Hannah Thurlow add a delicate humanity to create a brutal elegance.

Their self-titled debut album is released 28 May, filled with brooding, shadowy, anthems which encapsulate a bittersweet air of modern music. Most dramatic are the Thurlow’s voices, which are airy, in an almost religious manner, which effectively juxtapose their harsh guitars. They achieve the aural feeling of a subdued School of Seven bells.

On the eve of their release, and while preparing for their biggest headline show to date at Scala, we managed to catch up with Collette for a Londonist Q&A.

What do 2:54 sound like in a sentence?
Dark, menacing, feminine.

Why did you want to start making music together?
We’ve played music together since our teens, it naturally evolved into 2:54.

Who are your influences music and non-music?
Doolin Point in Co. Clare, Ireland where our album cover was shot, a place we spent our childhood summers. Also, soundtrack music, Angelo Badalamenti, Trevor Jones.

How exciting is to be releasing your debut album?
Incredibly! We’re very excited for it to be out in the world.

How was it written and recorded?
Hannah and I completed all the songs at home, when we finish a demo at home, they’re finished. We then took the songs to be recorded at Monow Valley in Wales with Rob Ellis, which was a great experience.

What area of London are you based and how has that area influenced 2:54’s music?
Hackney, for nigh on 11 years, it’s a great place to live but it hasn’t influenced the music I’m afraid.

What’s your favorite London venue and why?
Scala, it’s a wonderful, warm sounding room with a great stage. We’re really excited to be playing our own show there in June.

What’s the London gig circuit like for bands starting out and is it good to grow in and gain exposure?
We’ve only played a handful of shows in London, but I think all gigging is beneficial in the development of a band, no matter where you are in the country or the size of a venue.

Where would 2:54 like to play if you could play anywhere in London?
I wouldn’t mind checking out the reverb in Battersea Power station.

What’s your favorite…
…London monument?
Anything in Trafalgar square because it still feels like a movie when I go there.
…tube line and why?
Central, hands down the quickest.
…place to hang out?
Soho, it still has a glamour to it, for me.
…Area for food?
All over, that’s the beauty of London.

You’ve constantly been receiving critical and blog attention. Has this created any pressure for you, if so how have you dealt with it?
We just concentrate on making the songs and developing the live show, learning how to tour, those things.

What’s been 2:54’s career highlight so far?
Everything, being able to play music everyday with the four of us, with Alex and Joel our amazing rhythm section, is a dream come true.

What are your future plans?
The release of our album, our Scala show in June, America and festivals.

2:54 is released 28 May through Fiction records. They play Scala, Pentonville Road 7 June — tickets  £10+bf through gigsandtours.com

If you’re free tomorrow night and have eight quid burning a hole in your pocket then you’re in luck. The west London group — whose fourth album, Radlands, has a distinctly American feel — will play a special acoustic set at Proud in Camden.

Apparently the gig is the result of a challenge The Observer set some of its music writers, to make money from a £100 starting point. But however it’s come about, it should be a good chance to hear the band’s new material in a smaller-than-usual venue.

Support will come from Karima Francis and singer-songwriter Benedict. Tickets available now for £8 + bf.

Margaret Dygas has been a feature on the club scene in London for many years and is no stranger to Fabric’s hallowed halls. While in real life she leads a nomadic existence, she has found her musical home on Berlin’s Perlon — the label so instrumental in developing techno’s minimalist period. While there are echoes of Ricardo Villalobos in her work, Margaret’s tracks are not merely exercises in reduction but filled with unique melodic elements and constantly shifting textures. While minimal has faded from popular discourse in recent years, Margaret Dygas’ excellent releases are a constant reminder of the rewards in less over more.

Pachanga Boys is the latest collaboration between Komapkt mainstay Superpitcher and Mexican musician Rebolledo. They describe themselves as “two young boys who felt they had something simple and beautiful to say.” A noble goal, and one perfectly realized on their small trickle of vinyl releases. Their latest track “Time” is truly an anthem in waiting — structured round a Sufjan Stevens drone sample it builds over 15 euphoric minutes, emerging triumphant at a place where it’s always 6AM and all your friends are there. We were lucky enough to hear it played at a beach party in Mexico — there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Such is the scale of delights on offer that we’re only writing about Juan Atkins three paragrahs in! Juan is popularly thought of as THE creator of techno. Born and raised in Detroit, thanks to a run of records under the monikers Cybotron and Model 500, this man more than any other is responsible for the genre’s birth and development. Not only were tracks like “No Ufos” and “Clear” the first they are also some of the best — epic techno bangers that still wreck dancefloors week-in-week-out the world over. And this ain’t no nostalgia act neither, Juan is still actively recording and releasing great records – his Model 500 record “Control” from earlier this year is a timeless slice of techno futurism.

With Deep house don Delano Smith and San Proper to debut live some offerings from his new full length “Animal”, fabric continues to show why it’s the final word in the capital’s clubland.

Margaret Dygas, Superpitcher & Rebolledo present The Pachanga Boys & Juan Atkins at fabric, EC1M 3HN, Saturday, 19th May. Tickets £18 in advance here.

Our pick of gigs on sale this Friday includes a bit of Britpop, some powerful Scandinavian rock and an eerie Canadian sound. Tickets to all these should be available from 9am on Friday.

Swedish coordinated dressers The Hives have been quiet for years, but after a show at The Borderline earlier this year the garage rockers will return for a bigger headline date at The Roundhouse. See them on 14 December. Tickets £18.50 + bf.

Claire Boucher – or Grimes, as you might better know her – is a hotly-tipped prospect from Canada with a beautifully eerie sound that’s impossible to pigeonhole. Her first autumn date sold out, so she’s added a second at Heaven on 6 September. Tickets £11 + bf.

LA folk-rockers Dawes released their second album last year to some critical acclaim. Their vintage west coast sound draws on influences like Neil Young and The Eagles, and they’ll play Scala on 11 July. Tickets £14.00 + bf.

It’s been five years since Shed Seven got back together and as it turned out their revival wasn’t a one-off. There’s nothing in the way of new material, but if you fancy a nostalgic trip back to about 1996 then you can see them at O2 Academy Islington on 17 August. Tickets £17.50 + bf.

Also booking this week: Ultravox, The Wonder Stuff, Richard Hawley, and Sweet Billy Pilgrim.

Princess Chelsea

Tuesday: noise guitarist EMA is at Scala. Melbourne folk band Husky make their London debut at the Bull and Gate.

Wednesday: psych influenced indie rockers Bear in Heaven are at the Hoxton Bar and Kitchen.

New York’s disco embassadors Scissor Sisters have a two-night run at Shepherds Bush Empire on Wednesday and Thursday.

Also on Thursday: cynical chanteuse Princess Chelsea is at Water Rats.

Friday: Hauschka, Dustin O’Halloran, and Jóhann Jóhannsson are at the Barbican for an electronic/ambient evening.

Saturday: alt rockers Gringo Star are at Barfly.

What gigs are you going to? Let us know in the comments.

They do call it London by the sea after all. Indeed, a train ticket was £3.30, cheaper than a single paper tube ticket, and as so many make the journey each day for work it’s only right to join in. Besides, the line-up for this year’s Great Escape is unmissable: over 300 hundred acts, from buzz bands to legends playing across more than 20 venues. It’s Camden Crawl in overdrive.

Among the hotly tipped acts are flavours of the moment, Grimes, Niki and the Dove and Friends, as well as indie stalwarts Mystery jets and Maximo Park. But it’s the smaller bands in back rooms which make The Great Escape so special, and many are filled with London’s finest, including many of our ones to watch. So let us guide you to the five must see London acts appearing this weekend while nursing a cider.

Weird Dreams       
With woozy psychedelic guitars which transport you to the Californian coast in 1967 while still wearing a decidedly indiepop anorak. While they’re certainly in the school of Teenage Fanclub, and REM before them, they still encapsulate the vibrancy of modern angular indie. There’s a David Lynch darkness hidden behind their breezy melodies which makes for an enthralling live experience.

I Ching
2012 is the year electro-pop really came into its own, no longer demanding comparisons with the analogue bleeds of the 80s. I Ching produce a synth pop which is truly modern and refreshing by using keyboards and magical wires to unlock the secrets of great pop. Debut single Drive has a wall of sound feel, with every part oozing with symphonic swoons.

Savages
Rarely does a band create such a buzz after so few gigs, but Savages are such an exciting prospect it’s impossible not to explode in euphoria listening to their music. Having seen them at the 1234 Shoreditch launch, we can confirm the hype is deserved. Their nu-noir is like a Siouxsie Sioux fronted Joy Division yet they are able to sound incredibly now.  These will be your new favourite band.

Mystery Jets
It’s a make or break year for the lads from Eel Pie Island. They’ve always been balancing between hipster chic and breakthrough acclaim, with singles Two Doors Down and Alas Agnes appealing to all. New album Radlands is a different affair; recorded in Austin, it’s filled with AOR trucker anthems which encapsulate a dusty south.  It could just be the album to make them megastars.

Lianne La Havas
It’s been a spectacular year so far for our One to Watch. She’s mesmerised us at the Borderline and Alexandra Palace, and played at BBC 6 Music’s tenth birthday. Forget is arguably one of the singles of the year with an Amazonian chant and subtle funk drive which is danceable – both in a club and smoochy slow. La Havas is a remarkable star

The Great Escape takes place in Brighton 10-12 May.

Fancy heading to a festival this summer? Then check out our guides to indie and rock, dance, RnB and Pop, and commuter belt festivals.

Jóhann Jóhannsson by Nick Shon

Artists from FatCat’s instrumental-focused sub-label, 130701, descend on the Barbican Hall on 18 May for an evening of musical creativity you won’t find anywhere else in London. Four distinctive musicians will create a world where instrumental music meets dance and minimalism meets electronica. Call it post-classical, call it what you like: these artists will allow you to escape into a new and intriguing sound-scape.

Icelandic musician Jóhann Jóhannsson will perform with string ensemble and film projection, conjuring the flavour of the far north with an ambient landscape of music and visuals. Expect beautiful melodies within the hushed minimalism of Berlin-based composer and pianist Dustin O’Halloran, who has composed soundtracks for film directors like Sofia Coppola and here appears with a string quartet.

The piano is also at the centre of the musical world of Volker Bertelmann, aka Hauschka. The German composer’s trademark is using prepared piano – altering the instrument’s sound by placing objects within it – to create unusual textures and delicate music. Completing what will be an immersive audio-visual experience is experimental British DJ Steve Bicknell, who takes to the Barbican stage in between sets.

Transcendentalists Tour 2012 – Celebrating FatCat’s ‘post-classical’ imprint 130701 Records happens on Friday 18 May at Barbican Hall. Tickets £12.50-£17.50.

The Great Escape

As much as we love exploring London’s vibrancy and variety, we know many of you live in it what is unaffectionately known as the ’commuter belt’. The last thing you want is to travel back here on your time off for indie or dance festivals when there are plenty close to home.

Londoners also need reminding there’s more to life than a Zone 2 travel card, and those ‘trains’ we’ve heard so much about actually go to places. So many amazing music festivals happen less than one hour’s travel away — quicker than getting across central London — it’d be churlish to not include them in our series of roundups.

In Brighton, The Great Escape showcases the hottest new acts and Leefest gives us dreamy pop in intimate surroundings. Mega-stars are also in abundance, such as The Cure and Foo Fighters at Reading Festival and Stone Roses at V Festival.

If absence makes the heart grow fonder, then why not take a weekend away. London will be all the sweeter when you return.

The Great Escape @ Brighton various venues 10-13 May
We say: Britain’s SXSW showcases the world’s most essential new acts, and there’s sea.
Headliners:  Maximo Park, Niki and the Dove, Mystery Jets
Key London Acts: Kwes, Lianne La Havas, I Ching
Hot Tip: Dante, Ren Harvieu, Pins, Chapman Family
Tickets: £49.50 www.escapegreat.com

Leefest @ Warlingham, Surrey 29-30 June
We say: A wonderfully intimate weekend of sublime indiepop.
Headliners:  Slow Club, Mystery Jets, Ghostpoet
Key London Acts: Summer Camp, Van Susans, Bastille
Hot Tip: Lets Buy Happiness, Bonfire Nights, Hella Better Dancer
Tickets Day £35, Weekend £57 www.leefest.org.uk

High Definition @ Illford, 30 June
We Say: A day-long rave with house and techno pioneers, on the edge of London.
Headliners: Fredde Le Grand, Pendulum, Mark Knight
Key London Acts: Ms Dynamite, Alexis Raphael, Joe Morley
Hot Tip: Ratpack, Freaky Disco, tiNI
Tickets: £40 www.highdefinitionfestival.co.uk

Hop Farm @ Tonbridge, Kent 29 June-1 July
We Say: A jaw-dropping line-up with the focus squarely on quality music.
Headliners: Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan, Suede
Key London Acts: Lianne La Havas, Tom Vek, The Psychedelic Furs
Hot Tip: Mary Epworth, Sir Bruce Forsyth, Race Horses
Tickets: Day £65, Weekend £162 www.hopfarmfestival.com  

Guilfest @ Guildford, Surrey 13-15 July
We Say: A family friendly weekend of classic artists and jolly good fun.
Headliners: Bryan Ferry, Buzzcocks, Olly Murs,
Key London Acts: Tulisa, Gary Numan, Young Guns
Hot Tip: The Wurzels, Nuvelle Vague, The Undertones
Tickets: Day £45-£50, Weekend £130 www.guilfest.co.uk

Standon Calling @ Standon, Hertfordshire 3-5 August
We Say: Intimate and independent with a wonderfully eclectic line up.
Headliners: Beardyman, Death In Vegas, Fat Freddys drop
Key London Acts: Belakiss, The Skints
Hot Tips: !!! (chk chk chk), Stealing Sheep, Casiokids
Tickets: Day £25-£39, Weekend £99 www.standon-calling.com

V Festival @ Hylands Park, Chelmsford 18-19 August
We Say: It may be mainstream, but these acts are popular for a reason — they’re bloomin’ good.
Headliners: Stone Roses, the Killers
Key London Acts: Madness, Noah and the Whale, Labrinth
Hot Tips: Inspiral Carpets, Frank Ocean, Ben Howard
Tickets: Day £86, Weekend £180 www.vfestival.com

Rewind Festival @ Henley On Thames 18-19 August
We Say: This retro 80’s festival may be a bit of a big hen do, but it’s sure give you a pop-tastic smile.
Headliners: Bangles, OMD, Kool and The Gang
Key London Acts: Adam Ant,  Soul II Soul, Doctor and the Medics
Hot Tips: T’Pau, Grandmaster Flash, Starship
Tickets: Day £50, Weekend £110 www.rewindfestival.com

Reading Festival @ Reading 24-26 August
We say: Britain’s best festival gives us a dream line-up of rock legends and sparkling newbies.
Headliners: Cure, Kasabian, Foo Fighters
Key London Acts: Bombay Bicycle Club, Florence and The Machine, The Horrors
Hot Tip: Cancer Bats, Miike Snow, At The Drive In
Tickets: Day £85 ,Weekend £197.50 www.readingfestival.co.uk

Visit here for our London indie and rock festival guide and visit here for our guide to London’s dance RnB and pop festivals.

Florence Welch plays radio 1 Hackney Weekender

London is hosting a fine selection of dance, electro, RnB and pop festivals this year, with line-ups that make the rock and indie festivals seem like village fetes.

Most exciting is the return of Snoop Dogg for London’s inaugural Bloc Weekender alongside Orbital. There’s also a Rihanna double with appearances at Wireless and Radio 1’s Hackney Weekender, the latter also featuring Jay Z and our local darling Florence Welch with her Machine.

Of course, this summer’s running and jumping has inspired a wave of outdoor music, with Dizzee Rascal at the super-bargain Torch Relay Concert, and Scissor Sisters at the BT River of Music. Plus, if you wish really hard there might just be some Kylie. Whatever your dancing style, you’ll be sure to find an outlet, and a decent cider tent.

Diamond Jubilee Concert @ Buckingham Palace 4 June
We say: Wave your flags with enough vigour and Betty just might wave back.
Headliners:  Elton John, Paul McCartney, Queen
Key London Acts: Jessie J, Madness, Lizzie herself
Hot Tips: Stevie Wonder and …er…Ed Sheeran.
Tickets: free via ballot www.bbc.co.uk

Lovebox @ Victoria Park 15-17 June
We say: After a decade of dancing the beat’s still growing stronger.
Headliners: Hot Chip, Groove Armada, Grace Jones
Key London Acts: Magnetic Man, The 2 Bears, Patrick Wolf
Hot Tips: Blondes, Chic, Ben UFO and Panagea, Azari and III
Tickets: £99 http://www.lovebox.net

Hackney Weekender @ Hackney Marshes 23-24 June
We say: The world biggest acts descend on East London, unlike Kanye West’s no show.
Headliners: Jay Z, Rhianna, Jack White, Kasabian
Key London Acts: Florence and the Machine, Bombay Bicycle Club, Leona Lewis
Hot Tips: Santigold, Azelia Banks, Rizzle Kicks
Tickets: Free via ballot www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/hackneyweekend

Bloc Weekender @ Pleasure Gardens 6-7 July
We say: It’s an honour to have such eclectic electronica relocate to London.
Headliners:  Orbital, Snoop Dogg, Richie Hawtin
Key London Acts: Four Tet, Radioactive Man
Hot Tips: Doom, L Vis 1990, Ikonika
Tickets: £99 www.blocweekend.com

Wireless @ Hyde Park 6-8 July
We say: Ditching the erratic line-ups and sticking to dance and RnB makes for a fantastic weekend.
Headliners: Rhianna, Deadmou5, Drake
Key London Acts: Clement Marfo, Delilah, Jessie J
Hot Tips: Jaguar Skills, The Wkend, Metric
Tickets: £49-£52.50 www.wirelessfestival.co.uk

Hit Factory Live @ Hyde Park 11 July
We say: Relive your childhood with a hairbrush to sing into and Smash Hits annual for the lyrics.
Headliners: Steps, Rick Astley
Key London Acts: Bananarama Pepsi and Shirlie
Hot Tips: Kylie and Jason? Just maybe.
Tickets: £48.50 www.livenation.co.uk

BT River Of Music @ Various venues along the Thames 21-22 July
We say: Spectacular range of acts celebrating global variety with the Thames centre stage.
Headliners: Babba Maal, Scissor Sisters,
Key London Acts: The Noisettes, Transglobal Underground,
Hot Tips: Mariza, Zakir Hussain, Wizzboy
Tickets: Free with £3 processing fee www.btriverofmusic.com/page/tickets

Torch Relay Concert @ Hyde Park 26 July
We say: A bargain party oozing with faultless pop gems.
Headliners: Dizzee Rascal, You Me At Six, The Wanted
Key London Acts: Eliza Doolittle, Katy B, Mark Ronson
Hot Tips: Little Comets, Rizzle Kicks,
Tickets: £15 www.ticketmaster.co.uk

BT London Live Olympic Opening Ceremony Celebration Concert @ Hyde Park 27 July
We say: The home nations are represented in celebration of how safe The Sport will be.
Headliners: Duran Duran, Stereophonics, Paulo Nutini, and Snow patrol. But the real headliner is good old Blighty.
Hot Tip: Underworld’s soundtrack to the actual opening ceremony.
Tickets: £66, yes that’s £66. www.ticketmaster.co.uk

SW4 @ Clapham Common 24-25 August
We say:A summer of raving’s topped with a monumental line up.
Headliners: Skrillex, Chase and Status, Paul Van Dyk
Key London Acts: Skream and Benga, Maya Jane Coles, Simian Mobile Disco
Hot Tip: Green Velvet, Seth Troxler, Joris  Voorn
Tickets: Day £47.50, Weekend £87.50 www.southwestfour.com

A guide to London’s Indie and Rock festivals can be found here and here are the best commuter festivals.

Spector at Koko Photo by Andy Thornley

A trip to Camden on a weekend requires a zen-like tolerance at the best of times, but during Camden Crawl weekend taking a deep breath before counting to ten is essential currency. Not only is NW1 awash with the usual stag dos and tourists with unnecessary DSLRs, but there’s the added legion of indie types staring at huge line-up sheets, left to fend for themselves.

Camden’s relevance as an alternative hub is a memory on par with Empire and red telephone boxes, yet there’s still a hubbub of mystique about it. Yes, East London is where the Macbook posing hipster-blogs like to buy their lattes and listen to Soundcloud, but Camden has the golden touch.

You see, it still feels like a place where a young musician can turn up with a guitar and a crumpled fiver, and within three months be on a stage with the next band to change the world. Despite the crowds and generic MSG noodles, if you think of London’s music scene, Camden comes to mind first.

Camden Crawl was the original urban multi-venue festival, a model which has been regurgitated to tedium. While SXSW and The Great Escape are wonderful for The Biz, and Dot to Dot caters for the provinces, Camden Crawl is for the fans and retains its excitement.

SATURDAY

If there’s one thing Camden does well it’s carefree fun, so Imperial Leisure are the prefect start to the weekend with ska horns and sing-a-long punk anthems feeding our inner Madness. Eight members on a tiny Wheelbarrow stage may have been a bit tight, but it’s surely a bridge to bigger platforms. The anti-fun, however, should have been standing at the drizzly, Red Bull Jam outdoor stage, for Japanese noise rock sludgers Bo Ningen, but their psychedelic stoner drone was truly energising.

Returing indoors, watching Three Trapped Tigers in a sparse Koko is a unique experience. The level of tight musical proficiency between their raging synths and Bonham drumming is unparalleled and produces a rampant thunder akin to a jazz-metal Battles or F*ck Buttons.

In need of aural recuperation The Monarch gifts the Crawl Brighton’s Fear Of Men and our own Echo Lake, both purveyors of art school lo-fi shoegaze yet with their own lofty sentiments. Echo Lake adopt a dreamlike approach to their ethereal guitars and gentle keyboard soundscapes, which allows their music to weave you in cloud of dust like a late 80s 4AD record. Fear Of Men, however, use soft jangly guitars to build an image of hazy afternoons in an indie pop meadow, which is delightfully uplifting.

The stars of the day are the solo artists, modern day one-man bands confidently doing it themselves. This is literal with Sweden’s Loney Dear; the sole presence on Dingwalls’ stage, with a guitar, bass drum and hi-hat, all playing consecutively. No, it isn’t a drum on the back and cymbal on the head affair, rather he overdubs live loops, to create mountainous aural collages which sweep and swoon. My Heart is gradually built up and sounds astonishing. Swayat Jazz Café doesn’t bother with such subtleties, a DJ and the fastest tongue in the (north)west is all he needs to create a frenzy of arm waving, bass bouncing and smiles all round.

Kwes, although solo, is backed with a drummer and synth-master allowing his bass to pulse and gentle voice to thrive. Live he lacks the enthralling layering of his records, but this is made up for by the sheer simplistic majesty of his songs which develop their own life live. The crammed Black Cap audience are captivated by Bashful’s elegance and confirms his as the rightful owner to Ghostpoet’s crown.

Unfortunately traditional bands can’t live up to the level set by soloists. Koko hosts the most tedious of the weekend’s music, first with The Big Pink playing their first home town show in months. From the whining bagpipes of opening track Gold they are nothing but insipid. Their anthemic  mid-tempo stadium rock is more akin to The Script than their electro-noise peers and lack any imagination, even Robbie Furze’s crowd hugging is from the How-To-Be-A-Rockstar 1987 handbook. It is, however, surprising how many songs are recognisable and Hit The Ground is truly thunderous.

Even for The Futureheads the Crawl failed them. They bravely preform a capella, with minimal acoustic instruments, in promotion of their excellent record Rant. But, come on, this is Koko, in Camden, on a Saturday night, it’s not the time to show off how clever you are, nor win people over. A drunk swagger lad at the side correctly summed it up, heckling: “Boo, plug yer guitars in ya northern buggers.”

SUNDAY

After a Sunday morning nursing one’s calves it’s a relief to start the day gently with acoustic sessions for the media dahlings by Kids in Glass Houses and Niki and The Dove, more of whom later. However, it was Toy in a tiny chapel in St Michaels Church which really started Sunday with relentless fuzz-gaze reverberating around the appropriate surroundings. Equally as uplifting, but much more rawkus were Rolo Tomassi at Koko, who obliterated any hazy heads with their phenomenal math-hardcore. They would later repeat their pounding angular growls at the end of the night at Jazz Café.

Counteracting Saturday’s guitar band failure, Evans the Death and Johnny Foreigner light up the DIY stage at The Wheelbarrow. The former show there’s still life in 90’s fuzz guitars and louche vocals while JoFo proved why their probably Britain’s best, yet underappreciated, band. They’re fast paced, energetic and in Alexei Berrow have a bona fide guitar hero in their midst. They start with Berrow and Kelly Sothern duetting  a capella in the crowd to hushed appreciation, before their guitar riot sucker-punched the throbbing crowd. Fanzine at Enterprise would later reaffirm the guitar’s reinvention with a wonderfully breezy take on fuzzy 90’s college grunge.

Back in the Crawl’s best venue, The Black Cap, our Ones To Watch, NZCA/Lines, ooze a slick synth sheen veering between oriental tinkling and sweeping RnB electronica, while managing to muster a groaning bass. Main man Michael Lovett has become suave and bold as he leans back and flicks a Jarvis-esque finger to the crowd while he sings. Ending with Atoms and Axes he uses his vintage Korg like a one handed guitar while jamming out. This is followed by goth-lite grunger FOE¸ with a set appealing to 14-year-old’s wanting some entry level sanitised angst, and middle aged blokes.

Over at Jazz Café, a little tear is shed while the legendary Raincoats play Don’t Be Mean (I’d waited 18 years to hear it live- DN), after a much delayed wait. While at Koko, Spector perform their indie-for-the-masses guitar pop near-hits, and The Cribs confirm themselves as a proper rock band. A Cribs’ set is always mixed, their shouty feedback often descending into monotony, but tonight they’re an invigorated and lively spectacle.

Sunday, however, belongs to Niki and The Dove. For two years they’re been bubbling under, amassing an avid following of hipster fans, and they’re now set to go nova with their earth shattering debut disc Instinct. At the Crawl they look like superstars, their tribal drums and piercing bleeps capturing the hearts of Koko. Their epic anthems are the soundtrack to a cool World Cup, a universal sound which empowers the body and stirs the soul. They were on at 7pm, and the venue wasn’t full — this won’t happen again — their majestic sound matched only by their inevitable accolade. London is a second home to Niki and the Dove and the city is theirs to own.

VERDICT

Best stage: DIY at Wheelbarrow – Bravely supporting innovative guitar music.

Best venue: The Black Cap – Tiny cabaret stage for the drummer while the band play on the floor.

Best band: Niki and the Dove – Just perfectly rousing pop.

Come again next year? Sure — as long as all the paving works by Camden tube are completed.

The Spiels' Ryan Lamey (left) and Ben McGarvey

You may remember our interview with Autoheart earlier this year prior to their Barfly gig. Now the London five-piece is curating a monthly residency at The Lexington – Autoheart’s Punch – where its own live sets are complemented by performances from other up-and-coming new acts. One such act to be showcased at this month’s Punch night is The Spiels, a Mancunian (via Canada) quintet sporting not one but two(!) lead singers.

Two skippers for one boat may seem excessive in these times of economic lacklusterness, but each of Ryan Lamey (the Canadian one) and Ben McGarvey – for it is they! – is already an established singer-songwriter in his own right and together they draw on their individual musical backgrounds to create harmonious and highly pleasing-to-the-ear results.

Having just scored a support slot on American duo, Uh Huh Her‘s recent tour, The Spiels are currently working on their debut album, a track from which, “Under Doctor’s Orders” they’re giving as a free download to Londonist readers. Here, Ben McGarvey spiels the beans (sorry, that really was a cheap gag) on where the band’s name comes from and what their musical influences are. He also forewarns the TFL cleaning unit of potential work this weekend.

Oh, hi, Ben. Tell us, how did The Spiels start out?
I had originally put an ad out on Gumtree looking to collaborate with people and Ryan replied. We already actually knew of each other as we both had (and still do) solo projects as well and had performed at the same gig in the past, although we’d never actually spoken. So we began to write songs together and it all went from there. We originally called ourselves Minute Orchestra but later changed our minds about it and relaunched ourselves as The Spiels with Jo (violin), Gemma (bass) and Andy (drums), who all replied to similar adverts, a bit later on.

Where does the name The Spiels come from?
From the end of the word glockenspiels. You can say Speel or Schpeel depending on your personal preference.

You’ve covered Kate Bush’s “December Will Be Magic Again”. How did that come about?
A French record label called Ocean Music approached us to cover a Christmas song. We had a few days to get a song together. With me and Ryan both being huge Kate Bush fans, we decided to have a crack at that song. We are really pleased with the way it turned out, actually. It’s very different to the original which I think is the only way to go when covering songs.

Who are your other musical influences?
Mainly quite dark, melodic, moody stuff such as Radiohead, Arcade Fire, The Smiths, Bat For Lashes, Sufjan Stevens, Mogwai, Low, Peter Gabriel, David Bowie, Wild Beasts and PJ Harvey.

Being based in Manchester, does that prejudice you in favour of Coronation Street over Eastenders?
Yes. Corrie is way better than Eastenders!

Are you nervous about doing your first live show in London this Friday?
No, we are excited! The nerves come later [laughs].

Do you envisage having to move to London for the band’s career or is it easy enough operating from Manchester?
We’ve not really talked about it. I think Manchester has a lot to offer but you never know!

What is the song ‘Under Doctors Orders’ about?
A lot of songs are from the perspective of fictional characters and I think parts of ourselves creep in there but are perhaps exaggerated a little! This song is from the point of view of someone in a mental institution who is only left with a faint memory of the outside world.

You’ve already released music as a solo artist and you’re currently working on your next project, Minute Taker. Does that material influence The Spiels’ material and vice versa?
Hmm, I guess they must influence each other to an extent. When I have a new idea for a song it’s somehow always clear if it’s going to be a Spiels song, though.

When are we going to be able to buy The Spiels’ music for ready money?
Well, actually we are planning on putting out a 5 track EP very shortly.

During your stay in London for your gig, which of these are you most likely to do: (a) enjoy a leisurely half-hour on the London Eye; (b) go out in Soho; (c) be sick on the Tube?
I think options (b) and (c) are both quite possible.

Autoheart’s Punch starring Autoheart, The Spiels, Helium Robots, Bright Light Bright Light and WotYouGot is at the Lexington this Friday, 11th May 2012. Tickets are £5 and available on the door.

Taking a brief break from the festival circuit (Norfolk and Norwich Festival, then off to Brighton), Bourgeois and Maurice and their band are to play two decadent nights at the London Wonderground Spiegeltent on the Southbank.

The super stylish, twistedly talented and delightfully demented musical cabaret duo switched sequins for studded leather last September and started a band.

The pair’s penchant for the dark side has only been encouraged by the addition of an indie guitarist and work experience drummer. Classics from the back catalogue like Ritalin, Lizard Men and Retro get a rocking makeover and new — as yet un-chart-topping — hits Tolerance, Privacy’s for Paedos and the anthemic We Want Love will have you variously in stitches, weeping, clapping along and wondering about your double standards.

Expect live child keytar, unfeasibly feathery eyelashes, sex, tax and rock ‘n’ roll.

To be in with a chance to win one of two pairs of free tickets to the show on Friday 18 May just answer this question and hit submit:

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED

Two winners will be picked on Monday 14 May at noon and be notified by email. If you don’t win, tickets only cost £12.50 – more info below. Good luck!

Bourgeois & Maurice: We Started A Band is at London Wonderground on Friday 18 May and Thursday 28 June at 9.30pm. Tickets £12.50-£17.50. For more information visit www.bourgeoisandmaurice.co.uk

Little Boots on the cover of her new single, "Every Night I Say A Prayer"

Little Boots keeps throwing these elaborate release parties for not-quite-singles, but hey, if they’re as good as Friday night’s gig in XOYO, we’re not complaining.

Last December we partied in an East London rave dome to celebrate the release of “Shake”, the first new Boots song in yonks. Well, we say ‘release’: it was plonked on the internet as a buzz single. A shame in a way, as it’s an absolute corker and it’s bound to go down in history as the second great Boots song never to be released in a radio-friendly format (ask Victoria Hesketh whether “Stuck On Repeat” will ever come out as a proper single and watch her explode). Still, it was a hell of party, as evidenced here.

So on to Friday night, a gig to coincide with the release of another new tune. This one’s called “Every Night I Say Prayer” and it’s a piano-house-tastic little ditty produced by the sex that is Hercules and Love Affair’s Andy Butler (Victoria’s words, but we concur). It was released as a vinyl-only affair for Record Store Day and a free Soundcloud download so, once more, it’s obviously not aimed at the charts  but — again — we were just happy to be getting a great night out of it.

Young Nottingham singer Ronika (who looks like Alison Goldfrapp by way of Morgana Robinson) opened proceedings with a set of tunes that should be in quarantine for being too damn catchy, with new song “One Thousand Nights” a particular highlight. One to keep a firm eye on. Then we were on to Little Boots herself, who was clearly having a ball on her birthday. Her short but sweet set managed to remind us of the greatness of her debut album and set things up nicely for her sophomore effort.

Highlights from the new songs were “Motorway“, which reminded us of Saint Etienne’s “Pale Movie” – a good thing – and “Crescendo”, with its early nineties indie shuffle groove, while “Headphones” was a little too keen on trying to establish a la-la-la moment to rival Kylie’s “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head”, but not quite succeeding. The guys voguing slightly half-heartedly in the video for “Every Night I Say Prayer” walked on stage from the crowd to do the same here and, as an encore, Victoria came back for a rousing rendition of “Shake”. We could have stayed to party some more in the bar upstairs, but a DJ playing endless slow jams he lip-synched-for-his life to killed our buzz somewhat, so we went to find beats elsewhere.

Still, the whole night left us looking forward to a second album still shrouded in much mystery. You get the feeling label 679 only ever really focus on one artist at a time and that appears to be Marina & the Diamonds at the minute. Still, who knows: perhaps Little Boots really has seen into the future, and no matter what happens next, we want her to take us there (again – sort of her words, but we concur).

By Dennis Keesmaat

The UK premiere of the 1976 opera certainly does this, for while the first hours may drag for some, the piece becomes increasingly spellbinding as listeners adjust their minds to the pace that has been set, begin to recognise the recurring patterns and motifs, and work up to a point where they are almost hypnotised by these.   

Einstein on the Beach works around a series of twenty minute scenes whose meaning it is largely up to the individual viewer to decide. For example, in a court scene there are twelve jurors whose arms move in unison; two scribes who adopt kinetic movements; a middle-aged and a child judge; an artist; a lawyer with a neon lighted briefcase, and a meditation on what it means to say that all men are equal. The scenes are linked by two ‘characters’ who chant random numbers or recite Christopher Knowles’ incredible and offbeat text, and writhe in front of dot matrix screens and mathematical equations.

The singing, acting and dancing are all brilliantly precise, which is no mean feat when the chorus must chant various sequences of numbers for sustained periods, ensuring that their concentration never flags for a second. The opera cannot, however, entirely shake off the accusation of overindulgence, as it remains questionable whether the impact would have been in any way reduced had the woman only recited her passage about avoiding the beach half as many times as she did.

Fans of Glass or minimalism (a term that admittedly the composer hates) should seize the opportunity to experience this rarity on our shores. For anyone else, because it invites such a personal response from each listener, it really could be 50:50 whether you become totally immersed in the experience, or find it all a bit of an ordeal! By all means consider the ticket price before booking, but if you do attend, stick with it the whole way. Like us you should find that the longer it goes on, the more you fall under its spell.   

Until 13 May with start times of 16.00, 17.30 or 18.00. Tickets (£35-£125): 020 7638 8891 or from the Barbican website.

Photo: Silence in court. Philip Glass and Robert Wilson’s Einstein on the Beach, © Lucie Jansch.

Freddie and the Hoares

There’s more than your average heart and soul in Freddie and the Hoares’ particular take on so-called Folk’n'Roll and the London septet are fast accruing both an impressive following and an excellent reputation for their live shows.

The band’s seven wonders are namesake front-man, Freddie Hoare, accordionist Gemma Lawrence, fiddler John Beale, drummer Si Thompson, bassist Jim Rastall and vocalists Elly Yates and Pearl Mackie. Their next London outing comes this Thursday, when they play a free gig (and what better price is there than that, readers?!) at The Bedford in Balham. Here, Freddie tells us a little bit about this promising new act and we’ve also got a free download of the band’s brilliant track, Mr Proudfoot, which you can grab below.

How did the seven of you get together?
The majority of us met in Bristol at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. I roped them in one by one, I think.

You are also an actor. What comes first for you, the music or the acting?
Nothing really comes first or last. I want to make things. The fun is in the making, isn’t it, so I don’t mind how I’m doing it, really.

Who would you say are you musical influences?
Bob Dylan. At the Drive-In. Leonard Cohen always had the ‘cool’ I was after. Quite a lot of punk rock, growing up. Friends are a huge influence. You can spend a day with someone and they can unknowingly give you all kinds of ideas to steal and pass off as your own.

When did you start writing music?
Yonks ago. I started playing my dad’s guitar primarily to learn the Grand Prix theme tune. Just the Bass line. I thought if I could master that then I could die happy. I think I was about 13 [laughs]. I wrote a good few years’ worth of tears and heart break. Guessing at what heart break was like. I remember writing a really long droning song about a withered old girl hanging herself. Nice and happy. First song I wrote for a band was just about a van, though, so that was a real game changer, I think.

How does appearing on stage in a play differ for you from performing music live?
I’m not sure, really. Lots of ways. Sometimes I feel like there’s less rules with music. That might not actually be true, though.

Do you get the time to go to see many live gigs in London yourself?
Yeah, well the great thing about playing music is the other groups you meet along the way. Most of the music I listen to in my spare time is from those groups. That’s folk music, I suppose. No middle-man.

Sell Freddie and the Hoares’ live shows to us. What are they like?
Really bloody good. Too good, probably. People walk out to phone their families to tell them how much they love them.

So we should get pretty excited about the Bedford gig, then?
We’re really looking forward to playing there, actually! I’ve heard great things about it. I expect to rather enjoy myself. You can expect to see us rather enjoying playing to you.

Is there going to be a full-length album in the near future?
Well, yes but we need the funding to do it properly. We record things bit by bit and then the money runs out so there’s a quite a few songs queuing up. If a record company would hurry up and sign us it would make things a lot easier. I mean that in a polite way.

The event’s major show-stoppers will be headline sets by The Cribs, Futureheads and Death In Vegas, and showcases by Niki and the Dove and FOE. However with over 300 acts across 15 stages you’ll be able to find your own hidden gems to boast about seeing first in years to come — we recommend Icona Pop and Fear of Men.

Comedy highlights include Rufus Hound and Cardinal Burns off of the telly, and there will be much laughter at the Highhoops Hulafest, where you can take hula-hooping lessons in front of your mates and harsh strangers. There is also the Crawlternative Media Expo featuring the Lexington Record Fair as well as tutorials on self-publishing and screen printing.

Really though, it’s the music were excited about, especially the London acts who are playing. So, to make sure you’re kept abreast of the best of the capital’s bands you should be watching, we have scoured the line-up to bring you the ten best London bands gracing the Camden Crawl’s stages each day.

SATURDAY

Imperial Leisure @ Wheelbarrow 1pm
Kick start the festivities with energised ska hip-rock from this serotonin educing six-piece. Their punk skank is punchy and rawkus and oozes the very essence of Camden.

Bo Ningen @ Red Bull Outdoor Jam Arena 1.35 pm
These London based Japansese psych-garage noise terrorisers have been gathering legions of fans including The Horrors. They’re the sound of an orgasmic Fugazi eating pieces of the Shard.

Clement Marfo and the Frontline @ Jazz Café 7pm
Our Ones To Watch are playing a gazillion times, but this set will see the collective bring their pop grime to life in style.  Their slick show will jettison them from the underground.

Echo Lake @ The Monarch 8.05pm
The voice of a choirgirl joins ethereal guitars for gloriously sweeping melodies which give a 60s dream pop edge to 90s shoegaze. This Camberwell Art school band are very special indeed.

O Children @ Black Heart 8.15pm
These twisted nu-noir post-disco pounders take Nick Cave’s sinister world view and gives it the airiness of The XX. Their throbbing anthems give goth an infectiously catchy edge.

Clock Opera @ Purple Turtle 9.10pm
Seeing Londonist favourites at the Crawl get us very excited. Their gentlemanly quirkiness and rhythmic melodies will bring an euphoric highlight to the festival, and gather them many more fans.

The Big Pink @ Koko 9.30pm
The Big Pink’s stadium electro need no introduction. Despite the awful name they’ve managed to achieve the athemic status and set dark synth pop back on an arena filling trajectory.

Theme Park @ Dingwalls 9.30pm
If you think you’ve heard all this indie-synth malarkey before, then listen to Theme Parks dreamy afro-pop. Their stylish driving Talking Heads groove sets a new standard for guitar friendly synth bands.

Kwes @ Black Cap 10.45pm
Kwes’ overlapping synths and cracking samples enables a truly progressive pop music to thrive. His erratic electro give an airy, free, somewhat tortured, simplicity to a magnificent aural experience.

Sway @ Jazz Café 12pm
Now an official megastar, Sway catapulted grime into the mainstream and took UK Hip-Hop to the rest of the world. He’s arguably the best rapper in the country, yet remains faithfully ground breaking.

SUNDAY

Evans The Death @ Wheelbarrow 4pm
Being a fanboy of 90s art-rock DIY indie, these are genuinely exciting. Their recently released debut album is wonderful, and will ensure this is the last chance to this five-piece so close up.

Kyla La Grange @ Wheelbarrow 7pm
With a voice between Stevie Nicks and Kate Bush, La Grange’s dramatic romanticism is destined for a Florence-esque adoration. Her combination of flamboyance and subtle mystery is a delight.

Fanzine @ Enterprise 8.15pm
Paying homage to 90’s college rock is a good thing, especially when citing, Bandwagonesque era Teenage Fanclub and  a lo-fi Superchunk, yet Fanzine’s breezy riffs prevent them from sounding too retro.

Fiction @ Purple Turtle 8.15pm
Quirky, jangly 80s indie pop with a heavy slant towards Lloyd Cole and early Aztec Camera never sounded so fresh. Fiction could single handily soundtrack a Brat Pack film.

Arrows Of Love @ Black Heart 8.15pm
Their post-hardcore has received approval from Shellac’s Bob Weston and deservedly so. Deploying lose DIY guitars with overdriven fuzz gives them a timelessly progressive edginess.

Spector @ Koko 8.15pm
Spector’s scenester indie for T4 On The Beach attendees, gives post-punk a clinical sheen to ensure an inoffensive mass appeal.  Their expert entry, level indiepop is perfect for a lively Sunday evening.

NZCA/Lines @ Black Cap 9.30pm
Our Ones To Watch’s slick RnB and rumbling beats resulted in one of the albums of the year and their live shows have become majestic affairs.  NZCA/Linea, are sexy, smooth, and fiercely energising.

Micachu and the Shapes @ Jazz Café 9.30pm
It’s a joy to have Micachu back with her wonky noises and homemade instruments.  The simplicity of her DIY creates an unbelievable aural delight which will enthral at this very special show.

Charli XCX @ The Monarch 9.30 pm
Charli’s become the queen of East London’s hipster scene. She’s played her grinding electro pop at the coolest warehouses and spearheads a slick and edgy gothpop revival, like a Smash Hits Grimes.

Toy @ Purple Turtle 10.45pm
Another One To Watch headlines the festival with their nu-noir psych-gaze, proving dark guitar effects are the sound of 2012. No longer in the shadow of former bands, Toy have gained their own momentum.

Camden Crawl takes places 4-7 May. Tickets are still available for the weekend at £72.90 or per day at £42.65 through www.thecamdencrawl.com or in person from The Roundhouse.

For more details on this year’s London festivals check out our guide to indie and rock festivals.

The London Gay Men’s Chorus celebrates 21 “glorious years of harmony” with a big gig at the Royal Festival Hall on Sunday night, entitled A Band of Brothers.

Alongside their famous arrangements of power pop songs (expect Lady Gaga and Madonna) is a diverse repertoire spanning classical, folk, jazz, pop, R&B and show tunes with (and without) hand claps, jazz hands and interpretative actions. Sunday’s concert will also see a new composition by composer Conor Mitchell and playwright Mark Ravenhill make its debut. Shadow Time is a trip through the history of the LGMC and the gay community itself and ends with a choral kiss-in, which the audience are welcome to join in with.

LGMC were featured in today’s Guardian and you can expect another in the Independent on Sunday but Londonist is lucky enough to have two LGMC members on its contributor list. We asked our own Johnny Fox and Nicolas Chinardet why they joined the Chorus and what their most memorable moments might be:

Johnny Fox: I actually joined it for a bet: the guys on a ‘life begins at 40′ course I’d joined challenged me to try a new activity and having never sung before, it was a choir. I kept the details secret from my partner, in case it wasn’t a success and I gave it up as a bad job, and the night of our first concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall he was so jealous that he left me. After 8 years.

Johnny led an unforgettable, epic, dangerous, gin and pork-heavy LGMC expedition to Poland in 2010 to sing in the concert hall Joseph Stalin had given to the People of Warsaw and to march in the Pride parade. Read about the group’s adventures here.

Nicolas Chinardet: I joined the Chorus in an attempt to kill two birds with one musical stone. I was new to London and wanted to make gay friends but I had also been part of a small (very) amateur singing group and I missed the opportunity of an artistic expression. Making new friends is, I think, the main reason for people to join, either because they are new to London or after a break-up or even the loss of a partner. I think it works for most people and we’ve even had several couples forming along the years.

The Chorus provides also us with with amazing opportunity that even professional artistes will only dream of. In my first 6 months with the Chorus in 2002, I had sung at the Sydney Opera House, the Aussie Stadium with KD Lang, The Royal Albert Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and had released a CD (not alone obviously).

Happy 21st birthday London Gay Men’s Chorus, and may there be many more happy returns.

The photos in the gallery show moments from LGMC’s history. You can see more on their Facebook page. And here’s a video of them doing A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square at their Ensemble concert “With a Song in My Heart” at St-Giles-in-the-Fields Parish Church London, March 2012.

Tickets are still available for Sunday night’s concert at the Royal Festival Hall. Starts 7.30pm. Tickets from £20. Visit www.lgmc.co.uk for more info about the choir.

There’s a whole weekend of free singing events happening this bank holiday weekend.

Kicking things off in style is Friday’s House of Disco in Shoreditch, whose big draw is a live set from the awesome Tiger & Woods. The mysterious duo of Larry Tiger and David Woods (possibly not their real names) made 2011 their own with an incredible run of singles, a fantastic debut on Running Back and an album “Wiki + Leaks” given away for the hell of it. The duo specialize in creating edits — sampling tiny sections of oft obscure soul, funk and disco tracks and building these basic elements into irresistible house grooves.  The duo bring to mind Daft Punk, not in their sound so much as their innate grasp of dancefloor dynamics – replicating the best moments from their favourite songs to create music unparalleled in its joyfulness.

Things get a bit heavier on Saturday with Melt Music’s bill of house/techno heavyweights Nick Hoppner & Tama Sumo. With his monthly residence at Panorama Bar and his running of the club’s in-house label Ostgun Ton, Nick Hoppner is very much the face of Berlin’s Berghain club – one of the most famous clubs in the world and a renowned Mecca for techno devotees. His set typifies the sound that rocks Berlin every weekend, a tough mechanical techno with minimal splashes of melody — specifically primed for maximum dance-floor impact. Joining him is fellow Berghain resident Tamo Sumo, whose great Panorama Bar mix CD showcased the unique touches of house warmth she brings to her live sets. Though the door staff hopefully won’t be as terrifying, expect Melt’s event to bring some of the magic of a long night out in Kreuzberg.

Sunday night winds things down a notch with party perfectionists Wolf + Lamb, who will be throwing an all-day “experience” for those still on their feet. While notionally a duo of Zev Eisenberg & Gadi Mizrahi, Wolf + Lamb is an umbrella term for a range of ventures – a production team, a record label and a community of like minded souls who like their house music slowed down to a sticky n’ sensual groove. Their approach while playing live is as laid back as their music, an unpretentious good times party that include chats with the crowd, club rap bangers and impromptu stage invasions. With Love Fever’s event going on all day and a barbecue on hand, expect a perfect end to the weekend whatever the weather.

Friday: House of Disco presents: Tiger & Woods (Live), Wolf Music, Rayko at Basing House, Shoreditch. Tickets are available here.

Saturday: Melt Music 5 with Nick Hoppner & Tama Sumo at Secret Shoreditch Warehouse. Tickets are available here.

Sunday: Love Fever with Wolf + Lamb at Oval Space, Bethnal Green. Tickets are available here.

Tama Sumo image used with permission from the artist.

This year, the range of live music on offer is better than ever, with the Olympics encouraging the world’s biggest stars to come to our city. But as Field Day and 1234 Shoreditch show, it’s new music which keeps London’s festivals the best in the world.

As there are so many taking place, we’ll be looking at indie and rock, dance and pop, and commuter festivals separately, giving you our top tips and the best London acts to watch. We’ll be at as many as possible, so if you see us around a cider’s always welcome.

Land Of Kings @ Dalston- various venues 4-5 May
We say: Two days of underground music and art takes over Dalston.
Headliners: Slow Club, Factory Floor
Key London Acts: Kwes, Toy, NZCA/Lines.
Hot Tips: My Panda Shall Fly, Male Bonding
Tickets: £30 www.landofkings.co.uk

Camden Crawl @ Camden – Various Venues 4-7May
We say: Camden’s crowds have never been so exciting.
Headliners:  Death In Vegas, Glass Vegas, Gaz Coombs
Key London Acts: Fanzine, Echo Lake, Psychologist, Clement Marfo
Hot Tips: Niki and The Dove, FOE, Fear Of Men
Tickets: £70 www.thecamdencrawl.com

I’ll Be Your Mirror @ Alexandra Palace 25-27 May
We say: Genre pushing alternative Valhalla from London’s peak.
Headliners: Slayer, Mogwai, Afghan Whigs
Key London Act: Yuck
Hot Tips: Death Grips, Tennis, The Make Up
Tickets: £130 www.atpfestival.com

Field Day @ Victoria Park 2 June
We say: An essential day out for any London music lover.
Headliners:  Franz Ferdinand, The Vaccines
Key London Acts: SBTRKT, Kindness, Summer Camp
Hot Tips: The Men, Korallreven, Friends
Tickets: £45 www.fielddayfestivals.com

The Apple Cart @ Victoria Park 3 June
We say: A laid back family Sunday without compromising quality.
Headliners:  Adam Ant, Billy Bragg, Beth Jeans Houghton
Key London Acts: Lianne La Havas, Noah and the Whale
Hot Tips:  Marques Toliver, Scritti Politti
Tickets: £29.50 www.theapplecartfestival.com

Hard Rock Calling @ Hyde Park 13 July
We say: International mega rockgods descend for a weekend of classic axe wielding.
Headliners:  Soundgarden, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon
Key London Acts: Guillemots, but it’s all about the US of A this weekend.
Hot Tips: The Mars Volta, Skindred, Dawes
Tickets: £50-£55 www.hardrockcalling.co.uk       

Meltdown @ South Bank centre 1-12 August
We say:  Antony Hegarty curates a glorious eclectic line up for this annual festival which highlights London as a culturally rich centre.
Headliners:  Elizabeth Fraser, Marc Almond, Laurie Anderson
Hot Tips: Coco Rosie, Light Asylum
Tickets; Various prices www.meltdown.southbankcentre.co.uk 

Best Of British @ Hyde Park 12 August
We say: Wave goodbye to The Sport with indie music legends.
Headliners: New Order and The Specials join Blur for possibly their last gig, in celebration of the running and jumping finishing. With a line up like this everyone’s a winner.
Hot Tip: Hooky with New Order, Dammers with The Specials? Probably not.
Tickets: £55 www.btlondonlive.com/tickets

Underage Festival @ Shoreditch Park 31 August
We say: Under 18s get to appreciate music the way it’s meant to be, without  grumpy interference.
Headliners: Pulled Apart By Horses, Summer Camp
Key London Acts: Spector, Dry The River
Hot Tips: Outfit, Iceage, Maverick Sabre
Tickets: £19.50 www.underagefestivals.com

1234 Shoreditch @ Shoreditch Park 1 September
We say: The best line up of the year and the ultimate chance to name drop the best new bands.
Headliners:  S.C.U.M, Frankie Rose
Key London Acts: Lets Wrestle, Bleeding Heart Narrative
Hot Tips: Savages, The Proper Ornaments, The Pre New
Tickets: £15-£25 www.the1234shoreditch.com

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Reflecting on an impressive north London gig on Saturday 28 April.

Ally Pally is a fitting venue for Crouch End’s Bombay Bicycle Club. Not only is the venue’s history linked with the bands acronymic doppleganger the Beeb, but there’s the palace’s dominance of the surrounding area.

This majestic monolith of a bygone age wisely conducts North London’s sky line, and as singer Jack Steadman humbly announces to the 10,000 sell-out crowd: “For one of the first photos someone took of us we were on Jamie’s roof and you could see this place behind us. It’s very special.”

He’s right. Tonight’s homecoming has a festival atmosphere of laid back excitement, which support act Lianne la Haves, one of our Ones To Watch, beautifully soundtracks. The waft of exotic food stalls, crushed paper pint cups and friends casually lolling around, makes it more akin to a party in Victoria Park, albeit one with a cavernous roof to quash the torrential weather outside.

Few bands have managed to master the route Bombay Bicycle Club embarked upon. Three musically varied albums, form a starting point of angular world rhythms, shouldn’t work. Contemporaries The Maccabees and The Horrors did it right, by sounding like proper bands from the start and developing their style in public. But BBC didn’t need the obvious path; their unique style and creative output was enough to capture imaginations.

Tonight’s success is testament to their chutzpah. They confidently deploy arena showmanship by starting the wonderful How Can You Swallow So Much Sleep from behind a stage curtain which drops for the second verse. Their energised melancholia immediately garnering a sing-a-long from the tingling audience.

They balance their catalogue with erratic precision, treating their first album, I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose with the same respect as their most recent, A Different Kind of Fix; the former generating the familiar arms-in-the air-moment of Dust in The Air and the bass rumble of Evening/Morning.

It’s their new material, however, which has really propelled them to a status worthy of tonight’s venue.  The grooving bass of Lights Out, Words Gone is as slick as an 80′s neon wine bar and just as classy. While Leave It, featuring a cameo from Lucy Rose, gives the middle of the road an enthralling edginess which yearns for attention.

They’re seemingly preparing themselves to take on stadium shows in the future. Rise Me Down and Ivy and Gold are their walk along a catwalk to play stripped down in the crowd moments — a style milked by the U2s of the world. There’s even a drum solo by Suren de Saram featuring a tiger holding an extra snare drum. OK, it might have just been a man in suit, but hey, it looked good.

Of course, it’s the big hitters that really matter and Always Like This, which was moulded to incorporate horns giving in a breezy calypso edge, and Shuffle dominate the night with their creeping infectiousness. Closing the night with What If confirmed the impression of a group oozing with brave confidence and stepping out as a major band.

Bombay Bicycle have been able to take the scope of Interpol and The National, but frame it in an angular summer groove that is unique and impressive. Tonight, from the top of Alexandra Park they have not only London, but potentially the world, literally at their feet.

First Steps, a specially commissioned track featuring the London Philharmonic Orchestra and London Community Gospel Choir, can be heard in a one minute trailer on Aunty Beeb’s website.

The trailer showcases the torch relay, but the anthem is set to be used relentlessly on video montages of golden achievements, teary moments and, no doubt, slow motion footage.

The Bury five-piece said at the time their involvement was announced: “We are knocked out to be involved in what has been a great challenge.”

Meanwhile , a concert marking the opening ceremony has also been announced, showing British music is very…well… white, male, safe and middle class.

The snappily named BT London Live Olympic Opening Ceremony Celebration Concert will take place in Hyde Pak on 27 July, soundtracked by live permormances by nice artists from the four home nations.

Stereophonics represent Wales, Snow Patrol fly Northern Ireland’s flag, it’s Paulo Nutini for Scotland while those ‘Wild Boys’ Duran Duran showcase England. Actually Le Bon and the gang is a good choice as The Sport will be in Rio in 2016.

A closing ceremony concert featuring, Blur, New Order and The Specials takes place on 12 August on the same stage.

Tickets for The BT London Live Olympic Opening Ceremony Celebration Concert go on sale Friday 4 May through http://www.btlondonlive.com/

Photo by Chris Gent

Picture this: mates, sunshine, music and an ice-cold Jeremiah Weed Brew – this smooth-sipping, refreshing taste is set to be the flavour of this summer’s festivals.

Franz Ferdinand are headlining Field Day, which takes place in Victoria Park on Saturday 2 June. London will be represented by dub stepper SBTRKT and guitar heroes Zulu Winter and The Vaccines, alongside Metronomy, Gold Panda and Tortoise. And many more hot bands.

Win this competition and you’ll not only get tickets to this top east London music festival but also a three month, summer-long supply of Jeremiah Weed Brews.

For your chance to win, simply answer the question below and submit the form:

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.

You must be over 18 to enter this competition.

Competition closes Friday 11 May at 5pm. A winner will be picked at random and notified by email.

Usual competition policy applies.

Bringing a taste of rural America to Britain, Jeremiah Weed Root Brew and Sour Mash Brew are best served over ice in a jam jar as an alternative to beer or cider. Available in pubs and bars across the country and stocked in Asda, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and other good retailers for RRP £2.20.

For more information visit www.facebook.com/jeremiahweeduk

Dan Mangan

Festival season unofficially kicks off this Friday with Camden Crawl. Wristbands are still available at the festival’s website.

Tickets are also still available for the Land of Kings music and art extravaganza in Dalston’s nooks and crannies on Friday and Saturday.

For the rest of your week:

Tonight: electro popper Matthew Dear is at the Hoxton Bar and Kitchen.

Tuesday: elusive electronic trio K-X-P is at Shacklewell Arms.

Wednesday: North Atlantic Oscillation celebrate the release of Fog Electric at Tabernacle.

Thursday: rootsy folk singer Dan Mangan is at Bush Hall.

Saturday: for those not Crawling, Here We Go Magic are at the Sebright Arms.

What gigs are you going to this week? Let us know in the comments.

Welo Veyou, Camille

On Friday night the Barbican concert hall was treated to a performance (in the truest sense of the word) by French singer, Camille. A unique musician, her career spans a decade-long repertoire and, although the UK release of her most recent album, “Ilo Veyou”, came and went without the fanfare it deserved, this sold-out show was packed with Londoners of all ages.

Camille is more than just a Chanteuse Française and whilst she certainly pays homage to the genre in songs such as “La France”, she playfully subverts it by shaking the sound out of the realms of easy-listening, using her body as the rhythm section and playing around with words in both French and English. The a cappella songs off her albums “Le Fil” and “Music Hole” brought comparisons to Björk’s “Medulla” and the new album certainly continues the thread of layered vocals and melodic word-play, but perhaps without such a rigid concept.

The new material dominated the first half of the performance, in which Camille moved around a flashing light-bulb that threw wonderful shadows across the stage. The sense of performance was captivating and never dull as Camille jumped and danced to the songs, seeming to exude music from every pore in her body. Each song felt like a musical vignette that experimented with vocal sounds and celebrated all things onomatopoeic. The popping bubble sounds of “Bubble Lady” were even accompanied by the band blowing bubbles on stage.

And Camille’s three-piece band proved to be central collaborators as the guitar, double-bass and violin were played in perfect union with her vocals and in the creation of the intense sound that touched upon traditional French, Mediterranean and even Latin beats. They also built up the foot-stomping and a cappella rhythmic threads for some of the older songs such as “Ta Douleur” and “Gospel With No Lord”, demonstrating the songs’ production process to the audience.

The playful use of noises and wordplay were not the only source of laughter during the performance. Camille commanded the audience to sing along with her, with the prowess of a cabaret compere. She then chose two audience members to dance together on stage and, during the encore, even requested the loan of socks for her moon-walking, during an impromptu rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”.

Lasting over 90 minutes, the mix of Camille’s well-considered, polished musical performances and the jovial interaction with the audience made this show feel both epic and intimate, the atmosphere calling to mind a Bastille Day party in full swing.

By Joe Preston Carroll

Everyone should see at least one Wagner opera in their life, and The Flying Dutchman could be the perfect choice. While most of the composer’s creations last five hours, you’ll be in and out of this opera in just over two, and, given the amount it packs into that time, it could be a 120 minutes that changes your life!  

Although the legend of The Flying Dutchman, in which the eponymous captain is condemned to sail the seas for eternity, is grounded in literature and legend, Jonathan Kent’s new production for English National Opera makes the characters and settings feel very human. The Overture (superbly led by Edward Gardner making his debut conducting Wagner) sees projections create a ship tossing on the sea, which later crashes spectacularly onto the stage. The factory women appropriately make ships in a bottle, while the sailors’ celebrations are both exciting and exuberant.

From amongst the strong cast, Orla Boylan as Senta, with whom the Dutchman’s potential salvation lies, stands out, with her resonant voice, strong vibrato and emotional rendering of the ballad. James Creswell as the Dutchman has a firm, expansive tone, Clive Bayley is an effective Daland and Stuart Skelton a splendid Erik.

Not everything about the production works. Pushing the revelries so hard that Senta is almost raped does not make sense, while hearing an amplified ghosts’ chorus from off-stage presumably reflects budgetary constraints. Still, with such an exciting production, and tickets starting from just £22, there has probably never been a better time to experience Wagner.    

Until 23 May (seven performances). Tickets: 0871 911 0200 or from the ENO website.     

Photo: Flying Dutchmans don’t come more colourful than this! © Robert Workman.

Santigold

Santigold’s new album, “Master of My Make-Believe”, may only be about 83% as good as its predecessor (2008′s eponymous eclect-a-thon) but you have to hand it to Santi White (for that’s the name on her PRS royalties cheques): she has a way of giving her songs an extra layer of pizazz in the live setting. And so, even the less exciting numbers on the record (step forward, “God From My Machine”) manage, when given an airing on stage, to make you think twice as to whether a loo break would be advisable at that moment in time.

Accompanied by two dead-pan and ferociously agile dancers, Santigold gave an exciting performance which was self-assured and always fun to watch. Vocally, she adorned the songs with a strong delivery and, although – acoustically speaking – Heaven is never knowingly amazing, the sound last night was perfectly engineered, so that White’s voice had just the right balance with the accompanying instrumentation and backing tracks.

She opened the set with “Go!”, the first buzz single from the new album, and with meticulously choreographed dance moves for each song, then went through some older numbers such as “L.E.S. Artistes” and “Lights Out” as well as current single, “Disparate Youth”. The beats would make even the most willful non-dancer quake in their stylish-yet-affordable brogues.

During the costume changes, we got some impressive shape-pulling from the dancers and at some point two of Santigold’s band members went off stage only to return a couple of moments later inside a pantomime horse. Well, as the ancient proverb goes: it’s her party and she’ll have horses if she wants to, have horses if she wants to, have horses if she wants to. (*drum roll, drum fill, cymbal!*).

Best bits of the show were debut album cuts, “Anne” (which wins ‘Best Choreography of the Night’ Award) as well as “Say Aha” and “Creator”, during which Santigold invited up to the stage a dozen or so punters to dance with her and her two sassy hip-shakers.

There really was a party feel to the show, which stayed on a constant level of seldom boring. It was the kind of performance that helps make sense of new songs when you’re at the point of not being sure whether you might need a few more listens to the album before it grows on you. And in terms of dishing out older favourites, with the only (conspicuous) omission of “I’m A Lady”, there was definitely enough for long-term fans to sink their teeth into.

Bravo, Santigold!

Leading the cavalry is Detroit don Omar S — Ford factory worker by day, techno pioneer by night. Omar’s DIY approach to his music gives each of his numerous releases a humane touch. His mix for Fabric is already feted as a dance classic and his frequent singles sell out in no time. While modern-day Detroit acts as a neat metaphor for the country’s continued economic decay, Omar’s FXHE record label keeps the city’s musical heritage aflame, an electronic cottage industry maintaining the motor city at centre stage.

Playing alongside are a host of heavy hitters from Kode 9’s Hyperdub, without doubt the most esteemed record label to emerge from the UK’s bass music scene. The label behind Darkstar, Zomby and rave auteur Burial will tonight showcase sets from their funkier side, bringing some crucial summer vibes to our miserable wet city. Scratcha DVA will air tracks from his great new record, along with London producers Ill Blu, Funkystepz and Cooly G. Kode 9 himself will man the decks too. With new releases by Hype Williams and Laurel Halo on the label, expect a hint of avant pop alongside the bass-heavy sounds.

Another must is Martyn, the Flemish renaissance man whose second album Ghost People was a highlight of 2011. Emerging via drum and bass before dalliances with dubstep and techno, he now crafts a powerful house hybrid. Tracks like the ballsy “Masks” highlight his transformation into a main-room star.

With Radio 1 host Benji B and 4hero’s Dego adding depth to a packed line up, tonight’s event at the lovely Bussey Building offers a festival bill in one tidy package.

Deviation x Hyperdub Warehouse with Omar S, Kode9, Benji B, Martyn and more at Bussey Building, Peckham SE15 3ST. Friday, 27 April. Tickets are available here.

Photo used with permission from the artist

Skin and the rest of reformed rockers Skunk Anansie have a new album out this year and will end their European tour at O2 Academy Brixton on 1 December. Tickets £25 + bf, available from 9am.

Maxïmo Park have been quiet since their lacklustre third album – perhaps because lead singer Paul Smith released a solo album before getting the band back together to work on record four. That’s now in the can, and they’ll make their London live return at Heaven on 8 June. Tickets £16 + bf, from 9am.

If we’re talking bands with umlauts, heavy metal legends Motörhead still do a good line in filthy, cliched rock and roll – even though they’ve been going since 1975. See them at O2 Academy Brixton on 17 November. Tickets £34 + bf, from 9am.

We’ve already previewed the Somerset House Summer Series. This year, acts playing the 18th century courtyard include Tim Minchin, Tindersticks and The Temper Trap. Tickets from £22.50 + bf, from 9am.

Hip hop legends Cypress Hill are returning to London for their first headline show in two years. You’ll have to grab tickets quick to catch them at the HMV Forum on 5 June. Pick them up from 9am for £25 + bf.

Also booking this week: The Ting Tings and The Polyphonic Spree.

Image from alterna2 on Flickr, under Creative Commons.

Chairlift

So, apparently, last night’s crowd at King’s Cross’ Scala was Chairlift’s largest headlining audience to date. And the band has certainly come a long way since their first London gig at Mile End’s intimate The Victoria in November 2008, as is evident from the packed house of enthusiastic fans they played to last night and the progression of their sound from first album, “Does You Inspire You”, to this year’s release, “Something”, cuts from which dominated the show’s setlist.

Remember the olden days of iPod bands that managed to pave their ways into the mainstream’s consciousness through the synching of a song to an Apple promo vid? Well, the two Brooklyners may have started out in that manner with the fairly ubiquitous Bruises, but they have the goods to back up the suggestion that they have much more to offer.

It’s interesting to compare Chairlift’s two-piece suite of Caroline Polachek and Patrick Wimberly to The Ting Tings, another girl and boy duo who enjoyed success with an iPod commercial. Whilst the latter act’s subsequent releases showed diminishing returns in terms of quality and their second album was so bad it magically disappeared before it even came out, Chairlift seem to have upped the ante with their latest release, which has been reflected in the universally positive reception given to “Something” (incidentally, the album was recorded almost entirely here in London).

What is remarkable about the direction of the songs we heard last night is that many of them would not be out of place on the opening credits to a 1980s movie starring Martha Plimpton. They’re that good. From the uproarious first number, “Sidewalk Safari” (which also opens the record), through album highlights such as “Wrong Opinion”, “Take It Out On Me” and “Guilty As Charged”, the twosome (alongside three additional live band members), efficiently and very watchably served a short sharp shock of musical excellence. And it was indeed short. They were on stage and then off again within an hour, showcasing their best work with almost no stinkers and avoiding outstaying their welcome. The crowd even got a surprise piñata to play with before the arrival of the last song of the set.

The show’s top moment came half-way through, in the form of new single, Met Before. You could feel the room contract with elation at the charged and faithful-to-the-album-version rendition given to the track on stage. Disappointingly, on fan-favourite previous single, “Amanaemonesia”, which was the final encore, the performance sounded bereft of oomph, with Wimberly’s backing vocals completely getting lost. Mind you, even this slight quibble on the set-closer front can’t change the fact that you’re unlikely to win your argument if you suggest that this was anything less than a Very Good Show.

To make it up to ourselves for said quibble, let’s all watch the – frankly, stupendously brilliant – video for “Amanaemonesia”.

The open air music programme also features Jill Scott’s soul, the Tindersticks dreamy melancholia, sweeping electro from M83, cabaret pianist Tim Minchin and… er… The Enemy, between 7-17 July.

Previous years have maintained a varied line up, hosting the likes The Prodigy, Super Furry Animals and Adele. The series has proven itself to be one of London’s festival highlights, and with tickets starting from £22.50 these unique events are a bargain. They’ll be sure to sell out fast so probably best to use some flexi-time to guarantee getting on the ticket sale site bang on 9am on 27 April.

Check out the full line-up of the Summer Series at Somerset House here. Tickets go on sale Friday, 27 April 9am priced £22.50 – £35 though www.ticketmaster.co.uk and www.somersethouse.org.uk  

For bands formed at art school, doing The Biz differently is hardly ground breaking, but for Rollo Smallcombe and Kevin Emre — backed with Andrew Ford and Tom Jones live –  the ability to combine the slick pop of Prefab Sprout with ESG’s hazy groove fuels a progressively 2012 sound without any hipster pandering.

Emre says he’s decided to leave the meaning of I Ching up to us. A quick trip to the library reveals it’s a classic Chinese text of divination or possibly a character from the Wonder Woman comics. We wanted to know more.

What do I Ching sound like in a sentence?
An accumulation of children who’ve been sent to bed without any dinner.

Describe your musical philosophy.  
Establish what our musical ancestors have left behind and build on that in the most contemporary framework using only excerpts from our past and any available instrument that’s in arms reach.

You’ve signed with brand new label Best Fit Recordings. How did that come about and why did you choose to be part of a new project rather than an established label?
Best Fit is the brain child of Rich Thane who decided to start a label and decided that we should be his first seed. Signing with Best Fit was appropriate to us as we are a new band and they are a new label. I guess all our paths just crossed at the same time.

There’s a separation between I Ching recorded and I Ching live, bringing in two extra members for shows. So do you see yourself as a band or a duo’s project?  How does it work?
Without the other two guys playing with us live there would be no I Ching live. So in that context they’re as much a part of the band as we are. It just happens that we wrote the songs and then invited them to help us achieve those songs live. We like to work backwards; it’s just the kinda people we are.

Why did you want to start making music together?
There was never really a “want” to make music together. We we’re just hanging out, getting to know each other over some guitar strings and second-hand Roland equipment.

You have a very ethereal and smooth 80’s sound, but one which is both dramatic, complex and constantly revealing. How did this sound come about?
We didn’t set out with a plan to have an 80′s sound as such. If anything, our influences are more 60′s and dance or electronic based. I guess because we don’t have big or crunchy distorted guitars you can’t label us as a typical indie rock band. Due to the fact that our music has synthesizer elements in it, it’s easy to slap that 80′s tag on it. It’s amazing that there were such advances in technology for music in the 80′s then in the mid 90′s the guitars came back in and electronica went out of fashion. I guess it was just the final comedown from all the ecstasy.

In what area of London are you based, and has that area influenced I Ching’s music?
We’re divided between North and South, but London as a whole is very inspirational in itself, so it all plays its part.

What’s your favorite London venue and why?
Well we haven’t played there but it would be great to play Brixton Academy.

What’s the London gig circuit like for bands starting out and what’s the support like?
There’s a consistent circulation of bands forming and playing in London so people’s attention spans are often drawn to the newest flavour of the month. The gig circuit can be cruel but also gratifying at the same time. It’s easy to play lots of gigs around London. The hard part is keeping people’s attention.

Where would I Ching like to play if they could play anywhere in London?
Pete Townshend’s house. His tinnitus condition needs to be finalised.

What’s your favorite…
…London monument? 
304 Holloway Road because so much magic happened there. (Joe Meek’s house- DN)
…tube line and why?
Victoria line — the essential route to any I Ching encounter.
…place to hang out? 
The Waiting Room in Stoke Newington has some excellent nights.
…Area for food? 
New Malden high street has some excellent hidden Korean delicacies.

What’s been I Ching’s career highlight so far?
Getting to release our music on vinyl is obviously any young music lover’s dream, so it has to be that.

What are your future plans?
Play more shows and write some hits.

I Ching release It’s Me / Drive through Best Fit Recordings, 23 April. They play Servant Jazz Quarters, Dalston tonight, 23 April, £3 on the door from 7pm.

Jack White

Tonight, the indominable Jack White, now with a solo album to his credit, is at the Forum.

Tuesday, experimental Danish pop outfit Pinkunoizu are at Old Blue Last.

Wednesday, the ever-evolving of Montreal are at Koko. The Magnetic Fields are at the Royal Festival Hall with Tender Trap (read our interview with Stephin Merritt).

Thursday, indie rockers Little Comets are at Scala.

Friday, Glaswegian indie upstarts Holy Esque are at Barfly.

Saturday, Big Sir, featuring Juan Alderete of the Mars Volta, are at Old Blue Last.

Sunday, former Drive-By Trucker Jason Isbell is solo at the Slaughtered Lamb.

What gigs are you going to this week? Let us know in the comments.

Mission to Lars is a new film about one man’s 20-year obsession with Lars Ulrich, the charismatic Metallica drummer. The man in question is Tom Spicer who lives in a Devon care home and suffers from Fragile X Syndrome, a kind of autism. To meet his hero, Tom must overcome his own disabilities, a dysfunctional family and the difficulties of approaching one of the most famous heavy metal stars on the planet.

A charity screening of Mission to Lars takes place on 8 May at The Gate Picturehouse in Notting Hill, and includes the chance to meet the film makers (Tom’s siblings Will and Kate). Tickets are £12.10, with all money raised going to Mencap.

Here’s the trailer:

Tim Burgess

Rock stars’ memoirs are not for everyone. The fact that you like someone’s music doesn’t automatically equate to you enjoying an intimate perusal of the minutiae of their (often self-indulgent) biographical accounts. On occasion, however, they can prove to be an interesting read. Telling Stories, the autobiography of The Charlatans’ lad-in-chief, Tim Burgess, is a good example. With humour, wit and optimism, it manages to pack in quite a lot of the hook factor.

Born in Salford and raised in Cheshire, Burgess shot to fame with The Charlatans at the age of 23. With an impressive back catalogue boasting numerous timeless classics (Exhibit A: The Only One I Know), the indie-gone-indie-ish outfit he helms still remains popular and often as interesting as it was at the height of the Madchester and Britpop days.

And, of course, the twists and turns along life’s big old motorway would not be complete without drama and mishap and, sure enough, Burgess has had a couple of decades crowded with incident. From being, quite literally, charlatan-ed out of heaps of money by the band’s former accountant to the death of the band’s keyboard player, Rob Collins, Burgess seems to have amassed enough experiences to fill an autobiography, a sequel and – let’s go with this – a prequel.

On Wednesday he is holding a special evening of music and chat at St James Church, where he will be joined by Mark Collins from the Charlatans and Gabe Gurnsey from Factory Floor for an acoustic airing of some classic Charlatans hits.

For a preview of what a Tim Burgess chat entails, read on.

How did this autobiography come about?
I was approached in 2008 by an agent who had represented friends of mine in the book world. It never really occurred to me to write one until that point, although I must admit people had, on occasion, said to me – “you should write a book, you know!”. I would go for meetings with my agent at very bohemian bookish coffee joints in London and let him buy me coffee and cake. He would ask: “so, Tim, are we going to get a book?” And then once I kind of agreed to write one he’d say:  “so, Tim, how are the words flowing?”. At this point I was just meeting up for the coffee, nodding and smiling and wondering if I could even write a book and, if I did, where the hell would I even start. The Charlatans released Who We Touch in September 2010 and in December, after a hectic international touring schedule, I went to wales with my new girlfriend for a bit of a break –  it was pretty much our first time away together alone – and she suggested I started the book. She interviewed me and I recorded the interviews onto my phone – I got about 20 hours worth during that time, having told her in detail about things like the Hacienda (she’d never been and wanted to know everything) and taken her to the Monnow Valley recording studios in Monmouth and also to the scene where Rob Collins was killed. I realised I had the outlines for a book and then worked on it pretty much every day from then until January this year.

Were you offered the help of a ghost-writer?
Yes. I was offered the option by my agent. He thought it would be best if I wrote it myself but I wasn’t sure. I tried writing with Robin Turner, a friend and The Charlatans’ former Press officer. He certainly knew me inside and out and we both thought it would work. It didn’t and we both lost interest. This was around Spring 2010. I ended up coming to the conclusion that it could only work with me writing it. I was done with procrastinating and then just got on with it. I’d asked some advice from people like Mick Middles, John Robb and John Prescott – it boiled down to discipline and sticking to some kind of schedule. So that was it, it was like I was getting everything ready for some kind of expedition and, at some point, I had to do the equivalent of just heading off into the unknown. So that’s what I did.

Was revisiting some of the more difficult times you’ve experienced in the past twenty-odd years painstaking or cathartic?
Neither. I just wanted to write it in a style that wasn’t bogged down. When life throws obstacles, pain, suffering at you, it’s the way you get out of it that’s as important as how you got into it – I like to get over things quick as I can and I think that with drugs, I took it to the max then stopped just before it was too late.  I wanted to see how far I could push it before the elastic snapped, before teetering over the edge. With the loss of money through the accountant, we had to get gigs quickly to pay off debts. Rob’s death was something that was going to be with us for a lot longer – in some ways forever. But bouncing back from being fleeced was something we just had to get on with.

There’s a bit in the book where you mention writing to Robert De Niro to ask permission to include a snippet of his performance in Angel Heart on one of The Charlatans’ songs. He wrote back saying yes. Have you had the opportunity to meet him in person in the intervening years?
No. I wish! I heard he liked the finished track, though, which is more than enough for me.

Bit of a cliché, this, but – did the writing of the book induce any hindsight regrets in you or would you not change a thing?
I have regrets, of course, but I wouldn’t want to change the story because I have re-written it too many times already!

Apart from being a musician, you have also developed a career as a DJ. What brought this additional career path your way?
In 1993 I used to go to a club called The Heavenly Social. The resident DJs were The Chemical Brothers and I was asked to DJ on one of the nights. The Chems liked my records and asked me to open for them on a 4-date Swedish DJ tour – I have been doing it since then. I love to play records. So I suppose it’s been a parallel career and something I really enjoy. I know it’s quite a different thing but I ended up doing a few shows for 6Music too which I really enjoyed.

Do you ever play your own stuff during a DJ set?
I try not to.

You have been working on a new solo album. Do you think that the writing of your memoirs informed some of the song-writing for the record?
I think they both go hand in hand, really. I left LA – my home for 12 years – I began the book in December 2010 and started writing the solo album in Nashville in April 2011. The solo album is the present and the book the past. I had to do both at the same time – maybe the solo album is the soundtrack to the book. In some ways all records are autobiographical. It wasn’t something I was massively aware of. To an extent, one seemed like a break from the other.

Your work with Saint Etienne showcased your poppier side. Would you ever do a pop album?
I would love to do a song with Pet Shop Boys. I think Neil Tennant is really charming and I remember Chris Lowe introducing himself to me when I was DJing once. I could write a song for Beyoncé and Rihanna, I suppose. I could do it in the studio downstairs at the warehouse where I live now – it’s bangin’!

The band is celebrating the 15th anniversary of the Tellin’ Stories LP by touring the whole album. Is that your favourite Charlatans moment, then?
My favourite albums by The Charlatans change all the time. We’re well moody and very responsive to what is going on around us at the time of writing – I love Tellin’ Stories but I would say my fave albums by The Charlatans are You Cross My Path and Wonderland.

What’s the plan for the musical side of your special evening at St James Church?
It’s a beautiful chance to play acoustic with Mark Collins. Mark and I have a very strong link we’re very close. We are also writing partners. We will play some Charlatans hits we wrote together like North Country Boy and Impossible, just to show off really! Just to say: “hey we write hymns too!”. Then I will play a couple of songs from my solo LP. Mark playing those songs will be an honour.

The book ends with the words “Not The End” – a sequel soon, then?
Not long! I had a bath the other day and I started to make notes on the obligatory notepad next to the tub. Is this sounding a little bit Alan Partridge? Anyway, the paper got wet so there may be a slight delay. Tim Book Two is the working title.

Telling Stories is published by Penguin on 26^th April 2012, priced £12.99. An evening with Tim Burgess ‘Telling Stories’ is on the night before (25th April at 7.30pm) at St James Church, 197, Piccadilly W1J 9LL. Tickets are priced at £20 (which also entitles you to a signed copy of ‘Telling Stories’) and are available from Waterstones Piccadilly 0207 8512419 events@piccadilly.waterstones.com

The All Tomorrow’s Parties show comes after the cancellation of Sonisphere festival, where the rock legends were due to headline, and is their first London show since 2009’s Brixton Academy reunion gig.

They are maintaining their Album Of The Year line up of Mike Patton, Roddy Bottum, Billy Gould, Mike Bordin and John Hudson, who have been stunning the world during their reunion tour.

No new material will be aired, but considering every song they have is better than every other band’s anyway they don’t need to. (I’m a bit of a fanboy in case you hadn’t noticed- DN)

London is also hosting one-off shows by other Sonisphere acts: Marilyn Manson and Incubus headline Brixton Academy on 5 July and 9 July respectively and Queen play Hammersmith Apollo on 11 and 12 July, sadly without a T-Pac style hologram of Freddy Mercury.

Faith No More, 8 July Hammersmith Apollo W6 9QH, Tickets £33.50+bf on sale from Tuesday 24 April 9am.

*DN may be expressing his own opinion — but come on, he says, it’s Faith No More.

If you missed out on Lady Gaga’s first Autumn date at Twickenham Stadium, you’ll be pleased to hear the one-of-a-kind singer is to play a second date on 9 September. Tickets are an incredible £70 + bf, from 9am.

Good grief. Megadeth have been going for the best part of 30 years, and have had the best part of 20 different members to boot. Camden’s Electric Ballroom will play host to them on 12 June. Tickets £35 + bf, but not available until 7pm.

Political folk-rockers Levellers have a fascinating past and are still going strong. And with a cracking live reputation, you might want to see them at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on 24 November. Tickets £25 + bf, from 9am.

It can be hard to pigeonhole The Cat Empire once you’ve seen them live. With unending energy, the Australian ska-jazz-funk-rockers are masters at creating a feelgood, party mood. They play O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on 9 December. Tickets £25 + bf, from 9am.

Beth Jeans Houghton is fast making a name for herself with her unconventional-yet-enchanting folky sound, and you might well have heard her on 6 Music lately. See her at King’s College London Student Union on 26 September. Tickets £10 + bf.

Also booking: Sparks at Barbican, another night for Tenacious D at O2 Brixton Academy, Camden Crawl (which has just announced added The Cribs) and Jesca Hoop at Bush Hall.

Image of The Cat Empire from stusev under Creative Commons on Flickr.

Record Store Day takes place on Saturday (21 April). Shops across the capital will host performances and sell one-off releases.

With that in mind, we compiled our top ten places where vinyl junkies can feed their black-wax habits.

We travelled from north to south, east to west, visiting the big and the small, the famous and the lesser known and these, in our humble opinion, are the best of the bunch. We’d also love to hear your opinions, so tell us what we’ve missed in the comments.

Happy digging.

The One With Style And Taste
Flashback Records, Essex Road, Islington: A very tasteful and discerning store set over two floors. Flashback sells new, second-hand and reissue LPs and several boxes of sevens. It’s nicely catalogued, including rock, jazz, reggae, soul/funk, soundtrack and even separate sections on New Zealand Indie and The Canterbury Scene, of all things.

The Out-Of-The-Way Cratediggers’ Paradise
Alan’s Record and CD Shop, High Road, East Finchley: It maybe a 10-minute walk from East Finchley Tube station, but this second-hand shop is a must. It has a mind-boggling selection from floor to ceiling, covering pretty much every genre imaginable, well catalogued, with bargains and rarities and an extremely friendly atmosphere, helped in no small part by the presence of a little shop dog called Jake. It has boxes and boxes of sevens, too, and racks of CDs. Highly recommended.

The One That Has To Be Seen To Be Believed
Haggle Vinyl, Essex Road, Islington: This place has been open 12 years but it looks like 10 times that. The voluminous stock is jammed into racks, on shelves and all over the floor. It can seem a bit overwhelming, but set aside some time to explore this Aladdin’s Cave — treasures are to be had, from every conceivable genre.

The Bright, Shiny, Hipster One
Rough Trade East, Brick Lane: Rough Trade is the big boy of the independents, with its Brick Lane store selling more CDs than vinyl and leaning towards the Indie/Electro side of the market. It has loads of listening posts in a high-ceilinged warehouse-type conversion, with an in-house café selling Monmouth coffee, if that floats your boat. Sister store Rough Trade West can be found in Talbot Road, Ladbroke Grove.

The Little Gem
Eldica, Bradbury Street, Dalston: It could be easy to walk past this lovely little shop tucked around the corner from Dalston Kingsland station without realising the gems to be found inside. The front is given over to retro homeware but out back is a wealth of largely second-hand funk, soul, reggae, jazz , hip-hop LPs and sevens. Very friendly and very cosy.

The One For Dance Music Bargain Hunters
Soul And Dance Exchange, Notting Hill Gate: The Exchange contains racks upon racks of cheap, second-hand LPs across all forms of contemporary dance and club music, separated according to sub-genre or record label. There’s also plenty of soul, jazz, reggae and hip-hop with new-release and second-hand sevens up by the counter and  classical music upstairs. Sister stores can be found in Camden High Street, Berwick Street and Greenwich Church Street.

The One That Has Become A Legend In Its Own Lifetime
Honest Jon’s, Portobello Road, Ladbroke Grove: Arguably London’s most famous record shop, and for a reason. The store has a pedigree going back to 1974, taking in some of the most significant developments in the business. It specialises in soul/funk, reggae, jazz and world music, all of which is nicely catalogued.

The One For Reggae Aficionados
Supertone Records and CDs, Acre Lane, Brixton: There’s nothing but reggae and dub to be had here, and loads of it there is too, from across the years. It stocks new and second-hand LPs with plenty of sevens. Very friendly. And if you’re in the area, check out Blacker Dread Music Store in Coldharbour Lane for more of the same.

The Big, Jack-Of-All Trades One
Sister Ray, Berwick Street, Soho: A wide-ranging stock in what used to be Selectadisc, spread across one large floor with LPs and sevens. It’s a great all-rounder that caters for the guitar crowd as much as those looking for all things electronic. Loads of CDs too, some of which are dirt cheap.

The Club Music Specialists
BM Soho, D’Arblay Street, Soho: The go-to place for nosebleed techno, the squiggiest dubstep, slinkiest house and everything in between.

Also Recommended

• Out On The Floor Records, Inverness Street, Camden
• Intoxica, Portobello Road, Ladbroke Grove
• Sounds Of The Universe, Broadwick Street, Soho
• Casbah Records, Creek Road, Greenwich.
• Soul Brother Records, Keswick Road, Putney.
• Rat Records, Camberwell New Road, Camberwell
• On The Beat, Hanway Street, Fitzrovia
• Phonica, Poland Street, Soho

Have we missed any out? Disagree with our choices? Let us know in the comments below and we’ll add a Reader Recommendations section above.

The initial line-up includes London’s best band of the moment, Savages – who were phenomenal at the 1234 launch show – cult heroes The Duke Spirit, hipster queen Frankie Rose, the ruddy marvellous The Pre New and Bored Teenagers (they’re a band – Underage festival is the day before).

Since 2007’s inaugural festival, the legendary Sean McLusky has had the likes of Florence and The Machine, Fab from the Strokes, Patrick Wolf and S.C.U.M, who are pretty much 1234’s annual house band, grace his stages. So start taking bets now on who will be the band to say you saw in a couple of years when you were really in the ale tent *cough Savages*.

As ever there will be free after-show parties galore across east London for wristband holders, where you can discuss the comparative merits of Official Burnt Toast’s and Minny Pops’ performances over gins and DJ sets.

The initial line up is:
ICEAGE
THE DUKE SPIRIT
DIRTY BEACHES
FRANKIE ROSE
S.C.U.M
GABRIEL BRUCE
VISIONS OF TREES
LA FEMMES
GROSS MAGIC
LETS WRESTLE
MINNY POPS
EAGULLS
BLEEDING HEART NARRITIVE
PROPPER ORNAMENTS
SAVAGES
OFF LOVE
OFFICIAL BURNED TOAST
ATOMIC SUPLEX
BORED TEENAGERS
BLACK MOTH
THE PRE NEW
VIRGINIA WING
ARROWS OF LOVE
DEAD WOLF CLUB
VALKARYS
THE DISSIDENTS

1234 Shoreditch, 1 September, Shoreditch Park, early bird tickets are £15 through the 1234 Facebook page.