This particular week of live music in London is bookended by two of the highest profile gigs. Opening the week, Feist plays from her rather swoonsome current album Metals at a show at the Palladium on Monday, whilst Bon Iver closes the week with a highly anticipated gig at the Hammersmith Apollo on Sunday in support of his excellent self-titled second album.
A handful of lauded electronica outfits also appear across London this week. Flying Lotus appears at the Roundhouse on Saturday playing his distorted basslines, submerged electronic melodies and scattershot beats, whilst Hudson Mohawke promotes mini-album Satin Panthers at a show at XOYO on Wednesday. KOKO plays host to an impressive double bill on Thursday as Apparat showcase current album The Devil’s Walk, with able support coming in the shape of When Saints Go Machine. On Tuesday Camp Shoreditch hosts a more leftfield evening consisting of sets by uncompromising analogue/modular synth manipulator Keith Fullerton Whitman and experimental chamber-electronicist Rene Hell.
Scottish duo Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat may have released one of the best and most original albums of 2011 in Everything’s Getting Older and they play a show at Cargo in support of it on Wednesday. Elsewhere, fêted French soundtrack composer Yann Tiersen appears at the Roundhouse on Thursday showcasing his band-oriented seventh album Skyline. Support comes from Newcastle’s Lanterns On The Lake, playing from their impressive debut release Gracious Tide, Take Me Home.
A selection of guitar-centric bands also promote new albums this week. Swedish indie-pop starlet Jens Lekman plays a show at Heaven on Monday. His mini-album An Argument With Myself may have slightly disappointed after the heights scaled in his earlier albums but this gives London based fans a rare chance to see their hero in the flesh. Meanwhile, the NME Radar Tour draws to a close in London on Wednesday, as Wolf Gang, S.C.U.M, Niki & The Dove and DZ Deathrays play a show at KOKO. Male Bonding play their fuzzy, grungy rock at the Garage on Monday in support of sophomore album Endless Now, whilst Veronica Falls apprise their eponymous debut album alongside Echo Lake at a show at the Lexington on Thursday.
Also recommended:
Spectrals – Water Rats – Monday 17th October
Roddy Woomble – Scala – Monday 17th October
Chapel Club / Other Lives – Shepherd’s Bush Empire – Tuesday 18th October
Ultrasound – Borderline – Tuesday 18th October
Sam Amidon – Cecil Sharp House – Tuesday 18th October
Real Estate – Rough Trade East – Tuesday 18th October (free show)
Babeshadow – Shacklewell Arms – Tuesday 18th October
Evan Parker – Vortex – Thursday 20th October
British Sea Power – East Wintergarden – Friday 21st October
Arthur Jeffes – Purcell Room – Friday 21st October
Architecture In Helsinki – Heaven – Sunday 23rd October
Just announced:
Florence & The Machine – Hackney Empire – 25th October 2011
Loney Dear – St Pancras Old Church – Monday 21st & Wednesday 23rd November 2011
Oneohtrix Point Never – St Giles-in-the-Fields – Thursday 24th November 2011
Paul McCartney – O2 Arena – Monday 5th December 2011
Real Estate – Scala – Tuesday 6th December 2011
Walls / The Field – XOYO – Thursday 8th December 2011
Miracle Fortress – Hoxton Square Bar & Grill – Sunday 11th December 2011
Cymbals Eat Guitars – The Garage – Thursday 5th January 2012
Wild Flag – Electric Ballroom – Wednesday 1st February 2012
King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Shepherd’s Bush Empire – Thursday 2nd February 2012
Roots Manuva – Roundhouse – Saturday 4th February 2012
Nada Surf – KOKO – Wednesday 8th February 2012
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Shepherd’s Bush Empire – Wednesday 8th February 2012
