ALOE BLACC Concorde 2 Mon 2nd
LA’s Stone’s Throw label – run by legendary producer/DJ/crate digger Peanut Butter Wolf – have of late been carving themselves a niche as the 21st century Motown, being, as they are, home to several of the best young soul voices since Berry Gordy’s heyday. Aloe Blacc is one such voice. On first listen to his ‘Good Times’ album, you’d swear blind that you’d discovered a long-lost, classic Otis Redding LP. Truly wonderful, and a rare appearance this side of the Atlantic. (MB)
GONJASUFI Jam Mon 2nd
Californian yoga teacher-cum-singer Sumach Ecks had labelmate Flying Lotus help in the production of his 2010 psychedelic hip hop album ‘A Sufi And A Killer’, which was met with much acclaim. Making trip hop with the emphasis on the word trip, the unpronounceable Gonjasomethingorother has been prevalent in the San Diego hip hop scene since the mid 90s. And he’s playing a few festivals this summer, including Bangface, so this gig at Jam is a good chance to see him and possibly be sober enough to remember afterwards. (BR)
THE HIGH LLAMAS Komedia Weds 4th
High Llamas shows come around once in a blue moon, such is the extremely relaxed work rate of Sean O’Hagan and friends. Formerly the melodic foil to the acerbic Cathal Coughlan in Microdisney, O’Hagan has spent the past 20 years expanding his instrumental talents across numerous High Llamas albums, the group often travelling in tandem with like-minded retro futurists Stereolab. The High Llamas’ leisurely blend of lush symphonic pop and simmering analogue tones makes for some rather gorgeous entertainment. (SH)
HOLY VESSELS • Green Door Store Thurs 5th
Holy Vessels have been bothering our radar for some time now, with headliner-killing slots at Communion amongst others, and a batch of demos cut with one-time Agitator and Maccabees producer Iain Harvie. Theirs is a transatlantic take on so-called nu folk, lying more in the camps of countrified, foot-stomping rock’n’roll and floorboard rattling hoe-downs than any wet-blanket balladry. Front man Frank sits neatly alongside someone like Elvis Costello – a wild-west dancehall Cockney with a penchant for poetics. Support comes from the gobsmacking Filthy Boy. (MB)
14 ICED BEARS • Prince Albert Sun 8th
Blimey, here’s a surprise. Rob Sekula’s 14 Iced Bears released a string of classic indie pop singles in the late 80s (notably the infectious ‘Come Get Me’ – one of the first and very finest Sarah Records 7″s), picked up a couple of Peel sessions, got progressively more psychedelic, then dropped off the map altogether. And now, apropos of nothing in particular, they’re back with a hometown gig – in our book, this is far more exciting than any Stone Roses reunion. (SH)
MIKE & THE MECHANICS Brighton Centre Thurs 12th
If Phil Collins is just a bit too racey for your tastes, you’ll find solace in the musical Mogadon of Mike Rutherford, his Genesis cohort and, bewilderingly, poor second-place charisma rival. 10 million worldwide record sales since 1984 prove the public are, on the whole, content to put up with anything dolloped in front of them, as the clunking dead dad sentiment of slop like ‘The Living Years’ attests. Never a venue renowned for its atmosphere, tonight the Centre will be an actual rib-crushing vacuum. (NC)
ADAM ANT Concorde 2 Mon 16th
Adam Ant’s last trip to a UK seaside town ended in the sort of tawdry headlines we’ve come to expect from the former 80s chart pin-up. He managed to offend half of Portsmouth during a concert last year, after telling aghast Christian audience members to “fuck off”. But a low-key renaissance still seems possible following years of problems with mental illness, as he readies new album ‘Marrying The Gunner’s Daughter’, his first in 15 years. Just leave your car alternators at home. (BG)
CHAIN & THE GANG Prince Albert Mon 16th
The Albert welcomes the return of Ian Svenonius (Nation Of Ulysees, The Make-Up, Weird War) to these shores, with his super-funky, soulful garage outfit Chain & The Gang. As a musician, essayist and broadcaster, Svenonius is consistently thought provoking and entertaining, exposing the trickery at the heart of superficial acts of musical rebellion. Chain & The Gang arrive just in time to scourge the city streets of all that corporate crap left over from The Great Escape. (SH)
OLLY MURS Brighton Centre Mon 16th
Olly Murs has got more star quality than Brian Cox and Sir Patrick Moore shopping for a new telescope. The former recruitment consultant enjoyed a nondescript part-time soccer career with Essex Senior League also-rans Witham Town, before winning £10 on ‘Deal Or No Deal’. On the 2009 X Factor, he lost to Joe McElderry, a singer so doomed he may as well change his name to Michelle McManus. So how to explain his chart-topping pop career? His dad owns the UK Top 40. Fact. (BG)
LEE ‘SCRATCH’ PERRY Dome Fri 20th
The Upsetter is joined by Adrian Sherwood and Max Romeo as he brings dub to the Dome, in what promises to be an authoritative journey through its ear-splitting whip cracks and bowel-loosening bass rumblings. Back in the day, evenings like this would typically be viewed through a complementary fug of marijuana smoke – this would seem unlikely tonight, what with political correctness going mad and everything. Red-eyed rascals will probably be sneaking out to the Pavilion Gardens though, should you feel so inclined. (NC)
THE ALARM Concorde 2 Fri 20th
Here’s one for the teenagers – ask your misty-eyed dad about the halcyon backcombed days of 1983 when The Alarm insisted that ’68 Guns’ would never die. This tour marks 30 years of their rabble-rousing, Welsh valleys take on outlaw rock – they may well have more use for Just For Men than the Silvikrin firm-hold these days but the chance to see anthemic gems like ‘Marching On’ and ‘Blaze Of Glory’ is one you should probably take. This is one alarm that has no snooze button. (NC)
MILES KANE Audio Sun 22nd
One-time Rascals front man and Alex Turner collaborator, Miles Kane has now hit the ground running as a solo artist. Straight off a support tour from Beady Eye, Miles and his band are showing off tracks from debut “The Colour And The Trap”. What should you expect? From searing guitar riffs which hark back to Haight Ashbury-era psychedelia, to delicate Scott Walker-esque arrangements which echo much of Miles’ Last Shadow Puppets efforts. He’s back and he’s got the choruses to prove it. (LL)
BEDOUIN SOUNDCLASH Concorde 2 Mon 23rd
They may only have the one song, but after a few drinks and what will definitely be an enthusiastic crowd ‘When The Night Feels My Song’ will go down an absolute storm. Although the band have suffered plenty through illness and some line-up changes over the years, they’re still as strong as ever. With more and more sunlight coming through the arches every day, a few reggae sounds can never be a warmer indicator that the summer has begun. (JC)
FUNERAL PARTY Concorde 2 Thurs 26th
As the world bids farewell to James Murphy and LCD Soundsystem we welcome to Brighton one of his many apprentices. With the same amount of energy and carnage of any LCD show, this Californian four-piece are a bit punk, a bit dance and a bit of everything else. Their biggest single ‘New York City Moves To The Sound Of LA’ will provide the biggest havoc, and with a reputation for an incredible live show, make sure you’re in attendance. (JC)
DURAN DURAN Brighton Centre Mon 30th
They don’t make them like this anymore. There was a sense of hedonistic drama, exotic glamour and pop power about Duran Duran in their 80s pomp, exposing rivals Wham! as the wet mummy’s boys with shuttlecocks down their shorts that they were. While the band’s music may have failed to transfer into the modern era, the dashing looks largely remain not only in the chiseled jaw of John Taylor but also Simon Le Bon’s still eye-popping wife Yasmin. Wild boys, never lose it. (BG)
SYSTEM 7 Concorde 2 Weds 25th
Blending ambient house with uncompromising space rock to produce electronic dance music of both up and down tempo, System 7 was formed by Gong’s Steve Hillage the early 90s, when post-club bands like The Orb started playing his band’s 1979 LP ‘Rainbow Dome Musick’. The collaborative outfit (Derrick May and Youth have been involved) get their name from the Mac operating system in circulation at the time of their forming and they’ve been making cosmic grooves ever since. Raving whippersnappers as well as the more mature dance fan will be filling up Concorde 2 for this evening. Perhaps on acid. (ZC)
WORDS BY MATT BARKER, NICK COQUET,JAKE CUNNINGHAM, BEN GILBERT, STEVE CLEMENTS, LIAM LIDBITTER, STUART