A P RIL 2018 ISSUE 58 // FREE
DANIEL AVERY
P R E S E N T S
10 | 04 | 18
16 | 05 | 18
FENNE LILY
- MOTH CLUB, HACKNEY -
PEACE
- O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN -
11 | 04 | 18
THE SHEEPDOGS - THE LEXINGTON -
12 | 04 | 18
30 | 05 | 18
BULLY
- MOTH CLUB, HACKNEY -
06 | 06 | 18
LUSTS
THE LAZYS + THE LOCKHEARTS
- SEBRIGHT ARMS BETHNAL GREEN
- THE BLACK HEART, CAMDEN -
22 | 04 | 18
20 | 06 | 18
AWOLNATION - SCALA -
BELLY
- O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE -
22 | 04 | 18
JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN - ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL -
26 | 04 | 18
20 | 06 | 18
KIEFER SUTHERLAND - ELECTRIC BALLROOM -
KEIR
02 | 07 | 18
27 | 04 | 18
- O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON -
- ROUNDHOUSE -
THE MENZINGERS
EELS
- OMEARA, LONDON BRIDGE -
BARENAKED LADIES
03 | 08 | 18
- O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN -
| 04O|UT 27LD 18 SO
NOEL GALLAGHER’S HIGH FLYING BIRDS
STEVEN PAGE
01 | 05 | 18
FRANZ FERDINAND
- SSE ARENA, WEMBLEY -
SARAH BLASKO
10 | 08 | 18
- UNION CHAPEL -
26 | 09 | 18
- ROUNDHOUSE -
24 | 10| 18
- ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL -
| 05O|UT 03LD 18 SO
ASH
GOMEZ
- O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN -
04 | 05 | 18
THE CAT EMPIRE
- ROYAL ALBERT HALL -
PETER PERRETT
15 | 11 | 18
- ROUNDHOUSE -
15 | 11 | 18
- ISLINGTON ASSEMBLY HALL -
05 | 05 | 18
GOMEZ
- O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN -
BUFFALO TOM
- ELECTRIC BALLROOM -
T I C K E T S AVA I L A B L E F R O M
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P R E S E N T S
TOUR 2018
THIRD SHOW ADDED TUESDAY 26 JUNE 2018 T SOLD OU
WEDS 27
T SOLD OU
THUR 28 JUNE
EVENTIM APOLLO
PLUS
30 M AY
2018
ROUNDHOUSE
HAMMERSMITH
LONDON
BOARDING HOUSE REACH AVAILABLE 23.03.2018 BY ARRANGEMENT WITH WME
PLUS
PIP BLOM
By Arrangement with X-RAY
AND
SATURDAY 14 APRIL 2018
WEDNESDAY 06 JUNE
ALEXANDRA PALACE LOND ON
ROUNDHOUSE - LONDON -
NEW ALBUM TELL ME HOW YOU REALLY FEEL OUT 18 MAY COURTNEYBARNETT.COM.AU
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T I C K E T S AVA I L A B L E F R O M
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WELCOME
DANIEL AVERY COVER STORY PAGE 26
Oh thank god it’s April, I mean it feels like a lifetime since the sun stayed up past lunch and it was warm enough to wear anything remotely nice over those layers of thermals. Anyway, the gigs are kicking in to gear along with the weather and as we stand on the precipice of festival season, things are getting brighter as our fave festivals heat up with stunning line-up announcements (get on the Visions, Field Day and The Great Escape news stat). I’m sure you’ve noticed Daniel Avery brooding there on the cover, get ready to be immersed in his wonderful world of sculptured beats and electronic mastery with his new album (finally) heading our way. And, just in case you need to speed up the sunshine in your life, Hinds are ready to go and we’re ready to join them/wish we could be them, whatever. I’m going to calm down about the weather now and use this opportunity to remind you that it’s only £2.50(!!) a month to subscribe to this small but perfectly formed magazine if you head to bit.ly/LISsubscribe
STAFF ON REPEAT
serpentwithfeet
the tracks we can’t stop listening to this month JESS: Simian Mobile Disco - Hey Sister DAVE: Del + Amp Live - Wheel Of Fortune LOKI: Fenne Lily - On Hold DANNY: Seinabo Sey - I Owe you Nothing GEMMA: serpentwithfeet - bless ur heart JACK: Yo La Tengo - For You Too RACHEL: Half Waif - Torches LiS 05
CONTENTS 10
NEW SOUNDS
52
14
19
HINDS
57
FULL APRIL GIG LISTINGS
TALES FROM THE CITY
41
EVENTS
74
Sweet stuff happening soon in London 26
32
LIVE REVIEWS
Lily Allen rules Dome, Tufnell Park
by Eels 22
GIGS OF THE MONTH
Our pick of April’s best shows
Biig Piig, Flohio & more
FESTIVAL PREVIEWS
The latest news from festival world
DANIEL AVERY
69
PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS by Elise Cobain
ON THE STEREO at Field Day
36
SPEEDY ORTIZ 41
IN LONDON with Goat Girl
44
ALBUM REVIEWS
Hinds, Speedy Ortiz, Daphne & Celeste, Makeness, UMO, Amen Dunes & more LILY ALLEN photo Carla Salvatore
Editor: Jess Partridge jess@londoninstereo.co.uk Online Editor: Rachel Finn rachel@londoninstereo.co.uk
Deputy Editor: Dave Rowlinson dave@londoninstereo.co.uk
Sub-Editor : Loki Lillistone loki@londoninstereo.co.uk
New Sounds Editor: Gemma Samways
Advertising sales@londoninstereo.co.uk
Staff Writers: Danny Wright, Jack Urwin
Photography: Daniel Avery cover story: Mike Massaro (mikemassaro.co.uk) with thanks to Second Home, Spitalfields for the location (secondhome.io) Contributors: Katie Thomas, Kate Solomon, Emma Madden, Rhian Daly, Lee Wakefield, Simone Scott Warren, George O’Brien, Geoff Cowart, Grant Bailey, Elise Cobain. londoninstereo.com
@londoninstereo
LiS 07
NEW SOUNDS BIIG PIIG
by Gemma Samways
Allow us to introduce Biig Piig – real name Jess Smyth – a 20-year-old former-poker dealer now found releasing dreamy, hip hop and jazz-influenced slow jams under a pseudonym inspired by the time she drunkenly misread a pizza menu. Born and raised in Cork, bar a four-year stint with her family on the Costa Del Sol, Smyth is currently based in London, where she’s graduated from local creative crew Nine8 Collective to become a bona fide solo star-in-waiting.
That same smoky, after-hours feel continues to characterise her output, manifesting itself in the subtle skat interludes on ‘Vice City’, the sparse horn samples on ‘24K’ and the drowsy piano that flickers like a candle, sporadically illuminating ‘Flirt’. Just a fistful of tracks into her career, her talent stands out, not least because it’s not often you find Ireland’s answer to Erykah Badu living above a pub in West London.
Minimalist Mac Wetha production ‘Crush’n’ first piqued our interest in 2017, showcasing Smyth’s partrapped, part-sung, caramel-coated vocals over hushed hip hop beats.
Look out for her debut EP, the enjoyably-titled Biig Fan of The Sesh, in April. It’s just the first in a trilogy of “audio-visual stories”, apparently.
IN TEN: NEW SOUNDS CLAIRO
FLAMING HOT CHEETOS
SORCHA RICHARDSON CAN'T WE PRETEND
PEGGY GOU
JENS KUROSS
SUSPECT
TT
DENMARK VESSEY
FATOUMATA DIAWARA
ESTHER VALLEE
PEGGY GOU
ELIOTT
I ONLY EVER LOVED YOUR GHOST
LOVE LEAKS
NTERINI
HAN JAN
ONE WAY FEAT. SKEPTA
SUN GO NOVA
HARDCORE
OVER & OVER
FOLLOW OUR SPOTIFY ‘ALL THOSE TRACKS OF THE WEEK’ PLAYLIST FOR ALWAYS UPDATED NEW MUSIC
LISTEN TO: Flirt @BiigPiigMusic
photo: Shenell Kennedy
LISTEN TO: Bands @flohio16
@flohio
/octavianog
LiS 11
@biiggpiigg
/biiggpiigg
FLOHIO by Jess Partridge Flohio (AKA Funmi Ohiosumah) draws you in immediately, her bars have a speed and sharpness that are lightning. It’s not easy to stand out in the UK rap scene at the moment, with such an unbelievable wealth of talent, but she does it with a grittiness that’s real and thrilling, paired with a lyrical ability that puts her a step ahead of the rest. With latest track ‘Bands’ produced by HLMNSRA they’ve set a foundation solid enough to build skyscrapers. Don't miss her home-borough show on April 12th at Bermondsey Social Club.
SPRING 2018 ~ LIVE ~ 05.04
Malory /
13.04 20.04 25.04
11.04
Rider /
03.05
10.05
Toundra /
20.05
The Aussie BBQ /
30.05
Little Hours /
Indian Queens /
Jake Isaac /
25.05
Shanghai Blues /
17.04
11.05
Courts /
22.04
26.05
AKA George /
12.05
22.05
08.05
24.04
Reverend Beat-Man /
Shay Lia /
14.06
Just Jack
Hightown Pirates
Close Up Festival /
Detroit Social Club /
07.06
Blitzen Trapper
Lloyd Llewellyn
James Numbere /
Jerome Thomas /
Rider /
12.04
18.04
29.05
16.05 24.05
Max Frost
Mina Rose
Knox Fortune
Cape Cub /
16.06
El Goodo
— saturday 12 may —
CLOSE UP FESTIVAL ~ MAIN STAGE ~ Kyko / Little Cub / Childcare / The New Coast / Jerry Williams No Hot Ashes / Hows Harry / Glass Peaks
~ THE GREEN ROOM ~ Fours / Dextric / Spinn / Arcade Hearts / Submariner Dates, times & tickets: w w w.hoxtonsquarebar.com
| HOXTONSQUAREBAR
DJ P MONTANA & FRIENDS
DEVIATION
BENJI B PRESENTS
HER LEAN YUNG & SAD BOYS
BIIG PIIG
SUN 08 APRIL
SUN 08 APRIL
TUE 10 APRIL
TUE 17 APRIL
WIKI
PETROL GIRLS
LAST NIGHT IN PARIS
SUSPECT
WED 18 APRIL
WED 25 APRIL
FRI 27 APRIL
FRI 27 APRIL
EMMAVIE
RAVYN LENAE
JEROME THOMAS
XOYO
+ 808INK + DENZEL HIMSELF + JADASEA
OSLO
CARNIVAL YOUTH
VILLAGE UNDERGROUND
THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS
MON 30 APRIL
JAZZ CAFÉ
OMEARA
ELECTROWERKZ
O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON
THU 03 MAY
THE ISLINGTON
THE SERVANT JAZZ QUARTERS
THU 03 MAY
HEAVEN
HOXTON SQUARE BAR & KITCHEN
M O N 0 7 M AY V I L L AG E + REX UN D EORANGE R G RCOUNTY OUND
DALEY
QUEEN KWONG
OCEAN WISDOM
KOVIC
BY ARRANGEMENT WITH CODA
WED 09 MAY
THU 10 MAY
FRI 11 MAY
RAY LAMONTAGNE
POPPY AJUDHA
ROO PANES
MON 30 APRIL
MON 07 MAY
VILLAGE UNDERGROUND
RED KITE TUE 15 MAY
THE ISLINGTON
THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS
WED 16 MAY + FREYA RIDINGS THU 17 MAY
SOLD OUT
EVENTIM APOLLO
+ REX ORANGE COUNTY
ELECTRIC BALLROOM
+ REX ORANGE COUNTY
MON 21 MAY
OMEARA
OSLO
+ REX ORANGE COUNTY
WED 23 MAY
O2 SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE
VISIT METROPOLISMUSIC.COM FOR TICKETS + TO SIGN UP FOR LATEST ANNOUNCEMENTS
interview
sk any band and they’ll tell you: making your second album is fucking hard. If making your first is as painful as getting kicked in the nuts, the second is giving birth. To twins. Upside down. You’ve got to make something that people really like and connect with again, but all you’ve done for the last year is tour and do interviews and tour and rehearse and tour and play festivals and tour. When you tour and tour and tour, what have you even got to write about? But after mere minutes with three quarters of the relentlessly enthusiastic Hinds, I’m not surprised to hear that they didn’t suffer the sophomore slump: they’re a band not short of a thing or two to say for themselves. “While touring, we were vomiting all that experience into an album,” Ana Perrote says, all elbows and red jumpsuit as she lounges over a canteen table in West London. She’s flanked by fellow singer/guitarist Carlotta Cosials and bassist Ade Martin, bright-eyed and giggly after spotting Eddie Redmayne on the Kensington streets earlier that day. After their 2016 debut Leave Me Alone, the Spanish four-piece are back with an album that’s as clever, energetic and endearing as their first - but with a more knowing slant. They’re older, they’re wiser and they’re road-worn. LiS 14
Hinds, l-r: Carlotta, Ade, Ana, Amber
HINDS words: Kate Solomon
interview
So rather than scraping the record out of themselves, yanking it painfully from their brains and panicking that no one would remember them, the band found the whole thing came together pretty painlessly. “It was easy because we all wanted the same,” Ade says. “We didn't have to talk about it. We never sat down and said, ‘we're going to plan what we're going to do.’ We were all on the same page.”
photo: Neelam Khan Vela
“We’re perfectionists in our own imperfection...” - Ana Perrote
Not that there weren’t challenges to contend with between record one and record two. The band burned themselves out taking their energetic girl-gang live show on the road. Touring “had more good things than bad things” Carlotta says, but the transient lifestyle took its toll on each of them, to the point where two minutes locked in a toilet was the lap of luxury. “We could talk about the bad things about being on the road for the whole evening if you wanted...” Although adjusting to life off the road and luxuriously long toilet times took a while too: “Horrible, it really was horrible,” Ana says with a shiver. “It felt like we didn't belong anywhere anymore, we didn't have any purpose. We had vertigo when we were at home like, we have three more months of this!? It was really frightening to face real life.” But face it they did, and the result is the defiantly named I Don’t Run. The band’s second full-length really “represents what we were feeling and what we wanted to feel”, Ade tells us. They also wanted to subvert the LiS 15
“We’re the opposite of people who are like, ‘We hate our record, we can't listen to it. We’re our own fans.” - Ade Martin
bro-y rock‘n’roll clichés of living fast, dying young - “It would be more rock‘n’roll to be against those kinds of things,” Carlotta says with a laugh. “We liked the idea of not running - the first album, everything was in a rush so this one we really wanted to take our time to do the little details so it's also related to that. We've taken our time to do this whole thing.” In fact, marrying that slowed-down process with their own insatiable eagerness to share what they’d been working on was probably the hardest thing about making I Don’t Run. Trying to stay off socials and keep new songs under wraps until they were fully ready didn’t come naturally. “Writing a record makes you really impatient to put it out,” Carlotta explains, her gestures echoing that restlessness as she talks. “The nature of writing something and not being able to just put it online the day after... The album is more about ourselves and I'm
proud of that.” In typical Hinds fashion, I Don’t Run has a ramshackle air about it riffs and beats tumble over each other, vocals are defiantly imperfect and as a band they’re resistant to the trends for synthesised undertows, super polished production or psychy guitar effects. “We're perfectionists in our own imperfection,” Ana explains. “Someone asked me the other day, do I like the record? And it's not just that I like it but if I wasn't in the band, it would be one of my favourite records. For real.” “We're the opposite of people who are like, ‘We hate our record, we can't listen to it’,” Ade sums up. “We're our own fans.” And boy are they not alone. LiS I Don’t Run is released April 6th via Lucky Number. LIVE: Electric Brixton, April 19th. FESTIVALS: Latitude. Reading & Leeds.
LiS 16
@hindsband
THE BEAT
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PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING 27 TH APRIL
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TALES FROM THE CITY
by EELS I have two pretty remarkable stories about being in London. The first was the time I was mistaken for a terrorist in Hyde Park. It was around the time of the Hombre Lobo album I think – several albums ago anyway – I was holed up in a hotel room doing press and I went out to take a well-deserved break and have a walk around Hyde Park and go near Kensington Palace. So, there’s Embassy Row there and it’s a very right-wing, paranoid area and some old lady didn’t like the way I looked and just profiled me and called the police. I mean I had a long beard at the time but it was ridiculous. It was really interesting to experience what that feels like, to be profiled like that. It was really scary. The police surrounded me, they had guns, I’d never seen that before. It was crazy.
one thing that got me off the hook was that she said I was looking over the wall of the hotel I was staying at and so I showed the police the key to my room of that hotel and said why would I be longingly staring at the hotel that I’d finally got out of. So they said ‘Hmm, OK’ and took all my information and the whole week I was waiting for them to come busting into my room and arrest me. I was really relieved when I got to the airport and got out. But in fact there was a happy ending as some years later I was awarded (unrelated to that) freedom of the city of London. That’s nice to see things go full circle - start out as a suspected terrorist and end up with the freedom of the city. Now I can take my flock of sheep across London Bridge anytime I want.
I finally convinced them I wasn’t a terrorist because one of the things the lady said – well, she said a whole lot of things – she said I was peering at embassies and the LiS 19
Eels release new album, The Deconstruction, April 6th via E Works/[PIAS]. LIVE: O2 Academy Brixton, July 2nd. @THE_EELS
@THEEELS
EVENTS new things in London you just won’t want to miss
AN ICONIC MEXICAN ARTIST THING FRIDA KAHLO: MAKING HER SELF UP Ok so we’re a bit early on this one. You’ve still got a couple of months to wait until London’s Frida-mania really kicks in, but book now or forever regret it because something tells us this one is going to be one popular exhibit. Never before has this huge collection of Frida Kahlo’s clothes and artefacts been seen outside of Mexico: after her death at the age of 47 all her possessions were locked away for 50 years, only to be revealed in 2004 to enrich our understanding of this uniquely talented artist. Now, finally, it’s London’s turn to soak it all up. WHEN: Opens June 16th. WHERE: Victoria and Albert Museum, SW7 2RL INFO: vam.ac.uk // @V_and_A
© Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Archives
A SONIC ART FESTIVAL THING (including snails) SONICA Glasgow’s biennial sonic art festival Sonica heads to Kings Palace this month for two days and four incredibly different but equally mind-blowing exhibitions. From Slow Pixel, which involves a grand total of 176 snails partaking in an immersive sensorial experiment to Phase Transition, a sculptural sound installation raising awareness of global climate change through sonic waves and ice melting at the rates determined by real life climate change. Think in new ways with this selection of installations and ideas presented in exciting and engaging ways that will stay with you long after those snails have made it back to Scotland. © Cyril Leclerc & Elizabeth Saint-Jalmes
WHEN: April 20th-21st. WHERE: Kings Place, N1 9AG INFO: sonic-a.co.uk/ // @crypticglasgow
AN ALL OF HACKNEY UNDER ONE ROOF THING GIZZI ERSKINE’S MARE STREET MARKET Having collaborated with everyone from Jake Chapman to total faves like Tonkotsu and Carl Clarke, it’s time for Gizzi to settle in E8 in suitably Hackney style (local produce restaurant with record shop, florist, coffee roasterie, podcast station(?) & much more). Don’t roll your eyes though, just repeat ‘tartare with egg & bone marrow & Marmite soldiers’ and ‘bottomless Bloody Mary counter’ over and over. This’ll totally rule. WHEN: Scheduled to open March 26th. WHERE: 115 Mare St, E8 4RT INFO: marestreetmarket.com // @GizziErskine
A DISENFRANCHISED COMMUNITIES THING PHOTOGRAPHY ON THE MARGINS The Barbican’s new exhibit features the work of 20 photographers who followed the lives of countercultures, subcultures and those existing on the fringes of society from America to India, Chile to Nigeria. Created in a drive for authenticity and complexity when it came to representing their subjects, these photos represent and communicate far more than meets the eye.
photo: Steve Ullathorne
WHEN: Now until May 27th. WHERE: Barbican Centre, EC2Y 8DS INFO: barbican.org.uk/whats-on // © Art Gallery of Ontario
A 15 MINUTES OF CHAT THING 5x15 At the heart of all 5x15 events there’s a beautifully simple but brilliant idea. Five interesting people, 15 minutes each to talk. This month you can catch an array of personalities, from Ruby Wax giving you her guide to being human to Alex Beard talking future learning from around the world, and foreign correspondent Luke Harding on the 2016 US elections. You just never know what you’re going to come away with. WHEN: April 16th. WHERE: The Tabernacle, W11 2AY INFO: 5x15.com/ // @5x15stories LiS 23
G U RG OU R BO RY SB N V ER Y I AI N S AV E GA L A G E E T N IE L OTTE D AN I RLOT DA D LD E HA RL VE EL C HA IV FE S USI C NF CLU E II N EY CL Y EX S L C X E E A L E A D J S IV R AC DU VA VE DJ E ST I B AD U G S IV E T R F E ST G H B A LUUS I IN A JJ T R UUKK F AH IN X CL O S A R K A B EX C U S B O YK ALL E J I U R Y V D A ER S T IIV DJ E LL I ES E T FE T I VE RN NE K F IR L IV E N I RT CCO UK H OR H S T L I HI P HN Y U T S A ET P A Y T A D E TE A A R DA E T W R R A UR S W R OU ER GIIA FO RG L S F VE EV ER F AR II ME RL FE E E U M VE EA KEE IV E U L L AK I E O L RA V OL IV A II L LO T N R A C S TI SO N E H C S A E L H DA T TS O LL L RD N O II N A ii OR CO C AA NSS JJ O PO P H A ON RA G G HA G N G EEZZ R SIIO N I A N SS A N T O S D TI O E D S A Y RE R S O A AY PR JA J FFLL O ER XP TE EX DSS ET B DB PE ND E E S P D HE AN E DD H ES YY HA L T M L LL L H A L & NEE AM I I A I I A S G MN G M UM LD F MM SU F M F S IE F A A F S F S U M U E M SE E A A OS EE M H L H MO LE HM M LIB AH A RA NA AD LLEEN FR M F M S M S E E F F HH U U S S TT ÉÉ D R R P L P L E U ARR XO N II N NE GA RU R RN NG N UR E O K KU A A A A YD AO A S S C C O O DSS N N B B E ND E EEN U YLL S OU OY S RII ES MO LLO SE FFR U UM KE OS O O MO U M M J M O R R O GO R O M E SS M AR EEG F FR V VE AY E ASS S HII S G J II E CH SS MA B M B O N R O RC M R M A R O A I I B N K A OB K AN O KI NTT DA A A UD UN NO S C II OU SU MO ATT SS M RC CA YY S R E T E A RC T C C EE ER DE GA A E ME NC AC N E IN ND EM A G I K LL A U R Y K U N R BY F N H P UB F I H O P U N I T O M N T S R Z M RREE NS AR A Z ON EA M OO G NG Y SO BE DD M YA S M II N A B AANN DA OM W ND O 9 C W O N L O S C 0 09 U AA IS HU IL Y 0 0 Z LL W PP SY ZH T I WI ET ASSS E ME S OM E LS CO N C LL SSA N I E A L MI HE LA RL F M TTH FF FA AR EF JE cF Mc M & J A & R N EN AR A ZA LLLE Z AL O CO N RC NYY A A R N O DO ON MA TO N D G M T N L O NG O U L N RK Y OU K YO PA AR UK L P O. UK .C O. EL L L C W EB . E K W EB TW CK E W T OC CK TI CKE R BR O TI M B E NE CO M UN JU S . CO L A V . 2 J TI A L S & 2 E ST I V 1 & Y FE S DA F 1
DAY D L F IE
D AY EL D F I LD E F I
interview
daniel avery photography: mike massaro words: katie thomas
usic can grab you by the hand and move you somewhere else entirely.” That much is true for Daniel Avery’s sophomore record Song For Alpha. It’s an intimate exploration of twilight hours on the road, and the intersection between listening at home and losing yourself on the dancefloor. It’s been five years since his acclaimed debut Drone Logic, and in that time Avery has been practicing patience, taking time to create a piece of music that felt true to himself...
LiS 27
interview
clubbing were far from inspiring, “Honestly, I hated what I saw of clubs in my immediate field of vision,” he says, “shitty music for people I wanted nothing to do with!” It took stumbling upon a small party in the basement of a hotel for his tune to change. This discovery led to attending every week, and later becoming the warm-up DJ. Avery describes the basement as a critical starting point, “I discovered an entirely new world” he says, “I learned that you could draw lines Since the release of Drone Logic, Avery has between anything musically, from The held down a monthly NTS show, put out a Stooges to Joy Division, krautrock and DJ-Kicks mix, curated a remix compilation electronic records.” Playing around with and released a side-project with Nine Inch production in his bedroom, he made music Nails synth connoisseur Alessandro Cortini. with a four track, a drum machine, guitars and He’s also been DJ-ing constantly, refining a few pedals. “At the time I didn’t take it and defining a craft he’s been perfecting seriously and who knows since he was 18. “It what happened to the feels like a natural recordings, but I bet extension of my “I learned that you could there was a naïve truth life,” he says as we what came out” Avery discuss the impact draw lines between anything to says, before telling me DJ-ing has on his production. Away musically, from The Stooges that if he could go back and give himself one from a hectic touring piece of advice, it schedule and into to Joy Division, krautrock would be to not throw the studio, Song For anything away. Alpha has been born and electronic records.” out of endless nights on the road Contrary to many “floating in time” - and harnessing that producers becoming accustomed to largely timeless feeling instead of being afraid: nocturnal studio habits, Daniel Avery has “I’ve learned to embrace that energy, and found that he can only make music during I’ve found inspiration beyond the haze.” To the day, explaining “nights are too heavily celebrate the release of Song For Alpha, associated with clubs for me now.” His Daniel Avery and I discuss weightlessness studio – a converted shipping container on the dancefloor, the effervescent energy right on the Thames – is quiet and of London and the importance of an peaceful, giving him a chance to slow unproductive day. things down after the restless nature of his weekends. “I feel as if my studio has had Thrown in the deep end from an early age, an effect on the overall sound of Song For Avery’s father took him to see The Prodigy Alpha,” he explains, “I can see the when he was 11. Whilst he didn’t financial district across the water, so I feel necessarily associate the sounds he was part of the city but it’s also like an escape.” hearing with the club, Björk and Aphex It’s that recurring idea of occupying two Twin were also key to his formative spaces simultaneously; the city-centre explorations of music. Growing up in retreat and the music that belongs on the Bournemouth, his initial perceptions of dancefloor as much as it belongs at home. Daniel Avery has firmly cemented himself as a highly respected figure in dance music. A stunning and hypnotising debut, Drone Logic helped establish his cerebral blueprint. An Avery cut has an idiosyncratic quality, it summons a specific feeling; physical sensations of deep groove, throbbing synths, melodic chord progressions and rolling house and techno rhythms.
LiS 28
“There are some outright moments on Song For Alpha” Avery, “but that’s only one part of that way, this record feels personal than the last.”
club says it. In more
Having amassed almost 100 new tracks in the five years since Drone Logic, it took time for Daniel Avery to feel like the material was saying “something new”. It’s here that he harnessed the art of patience – a mind-set that’s increasingly important in his day-to-day - allowing the music its own space to evolve. “The unproductive days are every bit as important as the productive ones,” he says, “they all shape the final sound.” Drawing an analogy of building a delicate spider web and then sitting back to see what comes next, he goes onto say “You can set everything up beautifully, but I’ve come to the conclusion that eventually music finds you.” Music can find you, but it can also help you find yourself. It can transport you, restore you, revive you. On his biggest influences, psychedelic sounds that take you elsewhere are top of Avery’s list, “It could be a beguiling ambient piece, a hypnotic techno record or a guitar band creating walls of sound - it’s all music to get fully lost in.” This feeling of losing yourself is key to Song For Alpha. Does it make you want to close your eyes? Definitely. Does it make you want to float your arms up and feel weightless? Absolutely. “Weightlessness was a theme that kept cropping up as I worked on this record” Avery says, “It’s that feeling of forgetting the outside world when you’re immersed in a club sound system.” You only need to spend some time with a cut like ‘Sensation’ to recognise the weightless and hypnotising nature of Daniel Avery’s material. It’s a physical LiS 29
“The more negative energy there is in the world, the more clubs demonstrate their importance in our society.”
interview
Avery’s Divided Love series at fabric had been on the backburner as he concentrated on his production. Now, having soldout an all-night show at York Hall, he’s looking for new spaces to dance and aims to build a new concept from the ground up. As we talk about the current climate “From where I’m standing there’s a young, of London clubbing, he’s refreshingly effervescent energy that feels stronger than ever.” o p t i m i s t i c , naming fabric, sensation that’s not dissimilar to the way that Corsica Studios, Printworks, Phonox, and dubstep affects the body. “I like it when music Village Underground as his favourite sounds bigger than you and totally engulfs spaces. “From where I’m standing there’s your senses,” explains Avery, “with dubstep a young, effervescent energy that feels and Detroit techno, there’s this futurism and a stronger than ever” he says, “the more desire to make music that sounds like it’s negative energy there is in the world, the from another galaxy.” Hypnotic momentum more clubs demonstrate their importance and a desire to reach beyond the confines of in our society. Clubs are based on the one genre; these are common denominators in idea of love and everyone inside is dubstep and Daniel Avery’s music, and he searching for some sort of higher energy. finds comfort in being surrounded by these I feel that more than ever right now.” otherworldly soundscapes. There’s no doubt that Daniel Avery is Finding comfort in music could be challenging responsible - time and time again - for when music represents your livelihood as well invigorating dancers with that higher as a pastime, but for Daniel Avery, William energy that he speaks of. Giving life, joy, Basinki is a dependable reminder of “the energy, and freeing weightlessness to power music has to change your perspective.” dancefloors across the globe, it’s easy to Basinki’s Disintegration Loops 1.1 is Avery’s forget the outside world when Daniel go-to composition whenever he needs to clear Avery takes the helm. LiS his head. Delving deeper, he describes the “utterly enveloping” nature of the music and Song For Alpha is released its ability to “unapologetically demand your April 6th via Phantasy. LIVE: Field Day Festival, attention for the entirety of its duration, so June 2nd. much so that the room feels empty when it’s @danielmarkavery over. It’s a piece of music that forces you to stop and take stock; it’s truly a reminder of the Thanks to Second Home, Spitalfields for the shoot important things in your life.” location. (secondhome.io)
LiS 30
FoRMs April — MAY
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ON THE STEREO at The consensus, as we walked home from Field Day 2017, was that it was probably our favourite yet - everything just seemed to come together perfectly and the addition of The Barn lent the weekend a shiny new and exciting feel. This year we’re not going to be able to walk home, because Brockwell Park’s a bit of a schlep on foot - but people in south London actually can walk home, and we can get there in about 35 mins anyway. To be honest, location is the only change we’re really expecting from last year because Field Day have responded to a venue switch and ramped-up competition by playing to their unique strengths and putting together a lineup which is pretty much all we could hope for. And, yes, The Barn’s back. Obviously we’re all excited for the likes of Four Tet, Daniel Avery, Earl Sweatshirt, Loyle Carner and Erykah Badu, but here our Festival Editor, Katie Thomas, delves a little deeper to find some treasures on the lineup you may know less well. LiS Field Day takes place June 1st and 2nd in Brockwell Park, SW2 1QE. Ticket info: fielddayfestivals.com/tickets @fielddaylondon
IAMDDB
IAMDDB SHADE The 22-year-old rising star from Manchester is making waves with her self-coined “urban jazz” sound. One of BBC’s Sound of 2018, IAMDDB’s music marries hip hop, r&b, jazz and soul. Her unapologetically sassy track ‘Shade’ has racked up a whopping six million plays on Spotify. That “uber, uber everywhere” refrain is rife across the capital. LiS 32
AVALON EMERSON ONE MORE FLUORESCENT RUSH With an innate ability to blend the ethereal with the mechanical and the psychedelic with the functional, Whities affiliate Avalon Emerson is a spellbinding artist to watch. Her DJ sets – often peppered with her own productions – are colourful, adventurous and fast paced. Expect twinkling synths, moving melodies and industrial drums. AVALON EMERSON
YOUNG MARCO
YOUNG MARCO TRIPPY ISOLATOR After honing his craft for over a decade in Amsterdam’s underground scene, Young Marco is now enjoying the appreciation he deserves across the globe. Deservedly earning a reputation as one of dance music’s most respected selectors, expect a genre-defying performance filled with cuts as weird as they are wonderful.
OBJEKT B2B BATU THEME FROM Q Both artists who are redefining the boundaries of techno, Objekt and Batu will play b2b on the Saturday. Riding the wave of one of the undisputed tracks of 2017 – ‘Theme from Q’ – Objekt’s selections are “adventures in machine music built to make subs rattle and feet wiggle”. Bristol based Timedance headhoncho and purveyor of fractured rhythms plays with him and we cannot wait.
MOSES SUMNEY LONELY WORLD Last but definitely not least, intimate soul comes to the fore in the name of the syrupy vocals of singer-songwriter Moses Sumney. Embracing feelings of loneliness in his debut full length Aromanticism that came out towards the end of 2017, his music wraps you up in floating falsetto, soaring strings and ambient production. MOSES SUMNEY LiS 33
SUN 1 APRIL NOTTING HILL ARTS CLUB
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WED 11 APRIL SERVANT JAZZ QUARTERS THU 12 APRIL BUSH HALL TUE 17 APRIL OMEARA
WED 18 APRIL THE DOME, TUFNELL PARK THU 19 APRIL ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH
THU 26 APRIL BERMONDSEY SOCIAL CLUB
TUE 1 MAY OMEARA
WED 2 MAY ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH THU 3 MAY UNION CHAPEL THU 3 MAY OMEARA
TUE 8 MAY THE LEXINGTON
TUE 8 & WED 9 MAY THE WAITING ROOM
WED 9 MAY VILLAGE UNDERGROUND
BRUNO MAJOR DOTAN NOW, NOW TAMINO HOLLOW COVES SWITCH SUSANNE SUNDFØR NOAH KAHAN ALEX VARGAS DENNIS LLOYD JAMES BAY ANDERSON EAST MATT MALTESE CITADEL FESTIVAL SEA GIRLS THU 10 MAY BUSH HALL
MON 14 MAY THE DOME, TUFNELL PARK TUE 15 MAY ELECTROWERKZ TUE 15 MAY OMEARA
WED 16 MAY OMEARA
MON 21 MAY BARBICAN
THU 24 MAY OMEARA
SAT 26 MAY BORDERLINE
MON 28 MAY THE WAITING ROOM TUE 29 MAY ROUNDHOUSE WED 30 MAY JAZZ CAFÉ WED 6 JUNE SCALA
SUN 15 JULY GUNNERSBURY PARK THU 18 OCTOBER SCAL
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interview
Speedy Ortiz words: Emma Madden
peedy Ortiz just played a run of shows at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas and on the way home their lead singer Sadie Dupuis picked up a knit cap from a gas station at 4:30 in the morning. “It has the word ‘sriracha’ on it and it’s even the colour of hot sauce!” she tells me, delighted by this stellar find. “It’s fine to not sleep as long as you get a good hat out of it”, she adduces. I lower my velveteen fedora to cover my eyebags and nod in exhausted agreement... The band’s new album Twerp Verse is the result of Donald Trump’s unexpected presidency. We’d be discussing a different release had the night of November 9th 2016 panned out more favourably. “I thought we’d be releasing this album with Hillary Clinton as our president,” Sadie tells me. Over the course of several years she’d been writing songs for an alternative universe in which Clinton had won. These, along with the Speedy Ortiz album that could have been, were scrapped in favour of Twerp Verse.
her solo project as Sad13, but the scrapped Speedy Ortiz album was more covert and coy. However now “doesn’t seem like the time to be indirect with art.”
“Being on tour in the two months following the election... I think just made me feel differently about our country.”
“Being on tour in the two months following the election, seeing the Trump signs everywhere, seeing people at gas stations in Wyoming and wondering how they felt about all of us on tour, I think just made me feel differently about our country.” For some of the more naïve leftists among us, the election was a wake up call. It was proof that bigotry could trump (horrible pun intended) pluralism. “I've felt much more invested in music which has a social or political purpose, as a listener and a fan,” which was evident in LiS 36
- Sadie Dupuis
While Twerp Verse is forthright with its social and political intentions, the album still retains Speedy Ortiz’s trademark cunningness. “Something that I’ve done a lot in this project is use the metaphor of romance to talk about bigger issues,” she says as we discuss the song ‘Can I Kiss U’. On first glance the song’s opening lyric “Can I kiss you? ‘Cause I want to jump when you offer me hoops” seems like the perfect
photo: Shervin Lainez line for Chad Michael Murray and his chapsticked lips. But even Chad can be insipid. “The model for every rom-com up until this moment has been the guy loves the girl and the girl’s not interested, then we get two hours of the woman’s wishes being disregarded, and then she agrees and suddenly that’s romantic. I was going with that sort of structure for the song.” That model bleeds into ‘Villain’, a song which Sadie wrote in 2014 that is brazenly about sexual assault. Up until this moment, sexual assault has been the biggest and most private event in many of our lives. “But I don’t wanna be the sullen type. I don’t want my secrets safe for life” is a lyric which seems particularly pertinent at this juncture.
Ever since Harvey Weinstein’s exposé in October 2017, survivors have finally been given willing witnesses to their trauma via the hashtag ‘#metoo’. Confessions have been encouraged and have even added cultural currency to the victims. On the one hand it’s been “triggering and retraumatising” but on the other “so many people are finding that they don’t have to feel ashamed, or like they're alone in the things they've experienced because it’s a power issue.” Twerp Verse will be a friend to anyone who has been silenced, to anyone who has been “forced into something they didn’t want because someone more domineering pushed them there.” LiS Twerp Verse is released April 27th via Carpark Records. Read our review on page 46. @speedyortiz LiS 37
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IN LONDON
Photo: Holly Whittaker
with GOAT GIRL Why do you live in London? It’s where my parents birthed me and I’m too lazy to leave. What are your go-to places to eat and drink? Goldsmiths Café can cure or facilitate any mood I’m in. To drink, any ’spoons establishment. Brockley Barge is a good one. Spring’s occasionally rearing its head, what’s the best thing about the end of winter? The cold bitterness leaves, people start interacting. What’s your fave way to spend a day here? A perfect day would be waking up, getting on the DLR (the best mode of transport in London) and just riding on that all day, really. Do you have any favourite outdoor spaces? Telegraph Hill is where you get the best view of London, from a safe green space distance. If you could live anywhere in London where would it be? Where I live now in Lewisham! South is the best. Or maybe I’d live on a canal boat so I could sail the Thames, change it up constantly.
“Obviously the Windmill Brixton is a passionate pleasure of ours.” What’s the worst thing about London? The segregation people have with each other, lack of conversations in public, Pret a Manger on every street ruining homegrown businesses, the wealth gap, homelessness, and having a government that doesn’t in any way represent this city. Do you have any favourite venues? Obviously the Windmill Brixton is a passionate pleasure of ours, The Birds Nest in Deptford, Skehans...and this house on Queens Road in Peckham. Does living here influence your music you? It inspires the frustrations that I let out in songs, and maybe knowing that writing a song is where the element of control lays if I feel powerless to what’s happening around me. - As told by Goat Girl’s Clottie Cream.
LiS 41
Goat Girl release their eponymous debut album April 6th, via Rough Trade Records. LIVE: Rough Trade East, April 6th. The Garage, April 17th. @goatgirlofficial
DHP PRESENTS
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ALBUM REVIEWS photo: Alberta Van Stokkum
RECORD OF THE MONTH In the winter of 2015 we put Hinds (then still called Deers before a deathly-dull Canadian band kicked up a fuss) on our New Sounds issue cover. They’d crashed into the year and stolen our hearts with their super infectious slacker pop anthems and one of the most captivating live shows around, and we were smitten. They’ve gone from strength-to-strength since then, touring constantly and selling out bigger shows all the time. Now they’re back with their second album, I Don’t Run, so Danny Wright gathered LiS deputy editor Dave Rowlinson and long-term Hinds fan Simone Scott Warren to chat all things Madrid’s greatest gang. So, first up: what did you think when Hinds first came out? Dave: They were an immediate breath of fresh air, and one of the most joyful live bands around. From the first track I heard I knew they were a band for me. Plus, they really upset rockists, which is always a good sign.
HINDS I DON’T RUN
Simone: I love them. I first saw them in New York, at a late gig straight after Björk. Now I love Bjork, don't get me wrong, but there was something so refreshing about them after something so polished. They're in that space of being proficient without feeling polished. The ramshackle gang that you definitely want to join. Did the energy of those live shows translate into what you heard on the debut album? Dave: Kinda - it's recorded so roughly that it lost a lot of the sparkle. It was A Good Debut without really capturing the very best of them. Simone: It's really hard to capture a band's live energy on record and as much as I liked the first record it didn’t do that. I Don't Run is really what that should have been Dave: As a recorded piece of music (yawn) it’s so much better - it feels like Hinds should. So a nice segue there - they've done it here? Simone: It does, but it's not been polished up so much that it's lost in the production. Which is always the worry, you'll either go one way or
LiS 44
the other - too rough and it sounds rubbish, too polished and it sounds like someone should've told them to just stop. Dave: The worst thing Hinds could ever do is get a David Fridmann or that Radiohead bore in. Simone: And it's worth it for that bass line in ‘The Club’ alone. So we have co-producer Gordon Raphael to thank? Simone: He did good. But the aforementioned ‘The Club does’ sound very much like a Strokes track. You know, when the Strokes were good. Not bad Strokes. Dave: I think we have the three years, or whatever, of them playing constantly as well. It feels very 'Hi, we‘re Hinds - second albums are easy, we’re back and we’re better at everything’. So, playing better, a producer that works for them are the songs just better too? Simone: It's a bit like they should've skipped the debut and gone straight to this. You're meant to have had a lifetime to do the first record and the second's harder, but I guess maybe we all rushed them. And what's your favourite song on here? Simone: I love ‘Ma Nuit’. It feels like they recorded it with one mic in my room and they're singing just to me. It's also brilliantly Spanish. Dave: ‘Tester’ is not only their best song yet, it's probably the greatest slacker indie rock song ever… or my favourite of the year so far, at least. The first album was basically party anthems but with I Don’t Run they said ‘it’s time to cut right to the chase’. Is there something deeper here? Does there need to be? Simone: I guess yeah, because otherwise they'd be one-dimensional. Do you think Andrew WK doesn't get tired of partying ALL THE TIME? Dave: The subject matter seems kinda similar? But they are songs about the things that really songs should be about: the mess and joy and complications of life and love - there won't be many humans that can’t relate to that. I think this record is very honest - it feels like a pure Hinds record. The opposite to someone like Mac De Marco who carefully folds away his $3,000 dungarees and probably does a stint at his dad’s architects firm. They feel like the real deal, this is their life, and it’s very natural. LiS 45
How good is this going to sound live? Dave: I saw them at the Sebright Arms recently and, honestly, it didn't make tons of difference to the live show because that was always great. There are some big choruses here though, which will rule when everyone knows them. Simone: Honestly, I doubt it'll make a load of difference, because generally when you see Hinds live, you're busy grinning from ear to ear and trying to work out how you can infiltrate their gang. They make being in a band look fun constantly. When I grow up, I want to be in their gang. So, final question: does this show how far they can go? Dave: That's a good question. I mean, they should at least be Brixton Academy size. This album should help with that. Simone: You'd hope so, because they seem so brilliantly lovely and I'd like to see them look all overawed at playing to a massive crowd. At least this time, they've proven they can do it on record, rather than only being a Very Good live band. I Don’t Run is released April 6th via Lucky Number Read our interview with the band on Page 36. LIVE: Electric Brixton, April 9th FESTIVALS: Latitude. Reading & Leeds. @hindsband
SPEEDY ORTIZ
TWERP VERSE Carpark Records // April 27th
As we’re already beginning to, any art – made in this era and for presumably the next 50 years at least – will be lumped into a Trump-era canon. But in true Speedy Ortiz tradition, no art will look like this, nor any set of songs sound as hysterical. Our political resistances are all idiosyncratic, but Sadie Dupuis and her backing boys self-mockingly refer to theirs as ‘necessary brattiness’. Twerp Verse may be a title which pokes fun of the band’s move towards self-seriousness, but like ‘blank verse’, it could also be a new poetic manifesto. It’s rare to find a band whose music is as agile as their lyrics are playful, and Dupuis plays with words like a jungle gym. “Mostly I’m mutant as flaw. Kind to a criminal, twine like a ribbon” is this year’s most poetically effective lyric so far, and it reminds us that the world’s cruelty is shape-shifting. But despite the doom there’s hardly a moment among these 11 songs that isn’t danceable, that doesn't energise us and inspire us to defeat this generation’s great monster. And after the playback we’re reminded that one day this’ll all just be a history lesson for kids to snooze through. Emma Madden
MAKENESS
HOP ALONG
LOUD PATTERNS
BARK YOUR HEAD OFF, DOG
Secretly Canadian April 6th
Inspired by a love for Caribou’s Swim, the mighty Flying Lotus and Thundercat, Scottish producer Makeness presents his debut album Loud Patterns – a record bursting with contrasting musical ideas and irresistibly catchy rhythms. In a blissful marriage of raw percussion, warped synths and Alexis Taylor-esque pop vocals, Loud Patterns sounds fresh and forward, whilst simultaneously feeling like it just leapt out of 2010 after sharing the stage with Cut Copy and LCD Soundsystem. From the sugary pop harmonies in ‘Who Am I To Follow Love’ to the driving basslines of club banger ‘Rough Moss’, to the warm melodies and squelching acid synths of ‘The Bass Rock’, Loud Patterns is an unpredictable, high energy and joyous listen from beginning to end. Katie Thomas
Saddle Creek April 6th
The third full-length from Philadelphia’s Hop Along, Bark Your Head Off, Dog is awash with an array of genres: from the whistling folk of ‘How You Got Your Limp’, to the contagious, power-pop chorus of ‘How Simple’ and ‘The Fox In Motion’, with its driving indie ferocity building to the moment of the record as Frances Quinlan’s increasingly impassioned vocal weaves through another inspired melody. One moment we’re taken to the punk-tinged potency of ‘One That Suits Me’, the next Quinlan lays her songwriting bear, as ‘Prior Things’ and ‘Not Abel’ swell with hypnotic strings and moments of cold, fairytale, bucolic beauty. It’s a complex piece of work that both challenges and satisfies at every turn, as each song provides its own brilliant leg to the wholly enjoyable adventure. George O’Brien LiS 46
“Essentially, he’s the last musician you’d go to for light relief, and yet...” - Gemma Samways
JOSH T. PEARSON THE STRAIGHT HITS! Mute Records // April 13th
PROJECT PABLO
THERE’S ALWAYS MORE AT THE STORE EP Technicolour // April 6th
Ninja Tune, and more specifically Technicolour, continue their winning streak into 2018, once again under the languorous command of Montreal DJ, Project Pablo. In contrast to last year’s Hope You’re Well, this collection of tracks are uncluttered, stripped back and minimalistic in approach, resulting in a concise and purposeful twentyfive minutes. From the pulsating hypnotism of ‘Remind Me Tomorrow’ to ‘Last Day’s devastatingly sparse keys, There’s Always More At The Store makes for a gorgeously varied trip throughout. But it’s final track ‘I Heard You Breathing’, an eight-and-a-half-minute melancholy monster, that aligns faint, foreboding horror movie strings with clattering percussion and a glorious pay off. Less is obviously more in the right hands, and Project Pablo crucially demonstrates the most delicate of touches. Lee Wakefield
Totalling two albums in as many decades, Josh T. Pearson’s recorded output to date might be modest, but its quality is indisputable, framing the Lift To Experience-man first as a post-rock-loving, apocalyptic soothsayer on The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads, and then as a tortured troubadour on 2011’s sparse epic, Last Of The Country Gentlemen. Essentially, he’s the last musician you’d go to for light relief, and yet this new record was designed to “make people happy and spread peace.” Written quickly within self-imposed parameters that prioritised simplicity, The Straight Hits! contains Pearson’s most direct and upbeat material: the roots-rock thrash ‘Straight To The Top’ and the sunny, organ-embellished ‘Straight At Me’. And yet, it’s the introspective moments that really shine, be that the intimate folk of ‘Dire Straights Of Love’ or ‘A Love Song’’s spectral sprawl. Gemma Samways
UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA SEX & FOOD
Jagjaguwar // April 6h
“Days are getting darker,” Ruban Nielson sighs on ‘Hunnybee’, part-vibrant disco, part-advisory song for his daughter. While UMO's fourth album exhibits some of the bleaker elements of life in 2018, it tries to do so in a slick of upbeat, psychedelic disco. ‘Everyone Acts Crazy Nowadays'’ has Nielson singing about his days being numbered over handclaps and pulsating percussion, while fuzzy rock stomper ‘American Guilt’ has him depicting a paranoid scene: “Tape over camera/No more utopian video.” On ‘Ministry Of Alienation’, things are a little more downcast. UMO’s leader purrs “My thinking is done by your machine” over a smooth, sultry groove that proves you can’t keep kidding yourself forever - the glitter always has to wear off at some point. Rhian Daly LiS 47
AMEN DUNES FREEDOM
Sacred Bones Records // March 30th
Damon McMahon recorded his ramshackle solo debut in an upstate New York trailer park. Four albums and 10 years later, Freedom completes his journey from lone miscreant to sonic mastermind. With gritty Destroyer-like lyrics and Kurt Vile-esque slacker snarl, he makes it sound easy. The louche guitar line on ‘Time’ just melts between his verse and breezy woo-hoo-hoo chorus, while the harmonica hops effortlessly into ‘Skipping School’. Help from Italian electro legend Panoram and producer Chris Coady (Beach House) means McMahon can confidently utter lines such as: “Some say fake it/ I don’t know man,” with ruthless abandon and authenticity. With the pace always set to relaxed over the 11 tracks, it’s an album that pays – and rewards – attention to detail. Geoff Cowart
DAPHNE & CELESTE
DAPHNE & CELESTE SAVE THE WORLD Balatonic // March 30th
If you were expecting Reading Festival’s favourite piss targets, Daphne and Celeste, to have been cryogenically frozen as helium infused bubblegum-pop angst ridden fun, then (whisper it), Daphne & Celeste Save The World will disappoint. But it’s been 18 years. None of us are young anymore. Not even them. Instead, together with electro-producer-extraodinaire, Max Tundra, we’ve got 13 songs of slick pop meets 90s video game soundtracks. And there’s a good dig at the Sheerans in ‘BB’ to remind us of the caustic duo of old. ‘Taking Notes’ kinda evokes Madonna, circa ‘Vogue’, ‘Whatever Happened to Yazz’ is pleasingly bonkers and ‘Song To A Succulent’ is disarmingly sweet. Sure, we wish they’d turned up the chipmunk a little, but ooh, stick us, I guess. Simone Scott Warren
TEEN CREEPS
BIRTHMARKS PIAS // April 6th
Pop punk and emo have been clammily holding hands and stealing loaded glances for yonks, and Teen Creeps almost manage to seal the deal with a smooch. There are plenty of sonic touchpoints on Birthmarks – Joyce Manor, Placebo, Swain – but not much of the special sauce needed to elevate a debut above its influences. Expect taut, introspective indie in the traditional mould. To their credit, Teen Creeps have been glaring hard at the punk rock crib sheet, with a sawblade guitar opener in the caustic ‘Sidenote’ and a smattering of heavier-footed moves on ‘Will’. If you’ve stuck your head in a speaker since Modern Baseball dropped Sports you’ve heard this before, but its familiarity never feels tiresome. Grant Bailey LiS 48
MF ROBOTS
LONDON, 229 WED 25 APRIL
London, 100 Club Saturday 05 May
Cut Chemist AV set
CALIBRO 35 L OND ON , U N D E R TH E B RID GE S A T 12 M A Y
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+ French Boutik + DJ Dave Edwards London, 100 Club Friday 25 May
London, Union Chapel TUESDAY 05 June
LONDON, 229 FRIDAY 08 JUNE 2018
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GIGS OF THE MONTH O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE TOKIO MYERS
Our pick of the best upcoming shows around London O2 ACADEMY ISLINGTON SUSPECT
April 22th £29.50adv // @o2sbe
Shepherd’s Bush
April 27th £14adv // @O2Islington
Angel
SERVANT JAZZ QUARTERS
THE LEXINGTON
JENS KUROSS
MADONNATRON + MELT DUNES + ARXX
April 11th £7adv // @ServantJazz
Dalston Junction / Kingsland
April 18th £8adv // @thelexington
Angel
THE LOCK TAVERN PORRIDGE RADIO + VIEWFINDER April 4th FREE // @thelocktavern
Chalk Farm / Camden Town
THE SHACKLEWELL ARMS JENS KUROSS
THE CAMDEN ASSEMBLY FRENCH HORN REBELLION + PATAWAWA April 20th £10adv // @CamdenAssembly
PETROL GIRLS April 25th £8adv // @shacklewell Arms
Dalston Junction / Kingsland
Chalk Farm / Camden Town
THE DOME GHOSTMANE April 22nd £14adv // @DomeTufnellPark
BRIXTON WINDMILL
BOSTON MUSIC ROOM
WOOM + LL BURNS + HONEY STRETTON + FAERIEY
CASEY April 13th £10adv // @BostonMusicRoom
PETROL GIRLS
Tuffnell Park
Tuffnell Park
April 19th £3adv // @WindmillBrixton
Brixton
MOTH CLUB
BUSH HALL
ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER
NATALIE PRASS
April 4th £12adv // @Moth_Club
Hackney Central
April 23rd £15adv // @Bushhallmusic
Shepherd’s Bush Market / Shepherd’s Bush
PAPER DRESS VINTAGE POST LOUIS Hackney Central
April 27th £6.50adv // @paperdressed
HOXTON SQUARE BAR & KITCHEN INDIAN QUEENS April 20th £7.50adv // @HoxtonSquareBar
ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER
THE SLAUGHTERED LAMB
THE WAITING ROOM
AMELLE ROSE April 14th £5adv // @slaughteredlam
SOFT AS SNOW + WEIRD WEATHER Farringdon/ Old Street
FABRIC WAZE & ODYSSEY + MARCO FARAONE + BONTAN + THE MENENDEZ BROTHERS + MORE April 20th £14adv // @fabriclondon
Old Street
Farringdon/ Chancery Lane
April 11th £6adv // @WaitingRoomN16
Dalston Junction / Kingsland
O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN ANDREW W.K. + YONAKA April 14th £29.25adv // @O2ForumKTown
Kentish Town
WIKI
ARCHSPACE KWAKE BASS + HELLO SKINNY April 25th £7adv // @Archspace_Ldn
Haggerston
JAZZ CAFE
OSLO
CHARLOTTE DAY WILSON + PUMA BLUE + FREDWAVE April 25th £13.50adv // @TheJazzCafe
WIKI + 808INK + DENZEL HIMSELF Camden Town
April 18th £12.50adv // @OsloHackney LiS 53
Hackney Central
friday 30 MARCH | 7:00
friday 27 april | 7:00
saturday 31 MARCH | 5:00
saturday 28 april | 7:00
NE OBLIVISCARIS ESOTERIC
tuesday 3 april | 7:00
BLACKWATER CONSPIRACY
ICON FOR HIRE LEAVES’ EYES
tuesday 1 may | 7:00
NOVELISTS
saturday 5 may | 7:00
thursday 5 april | 7:00
JADIS
friday 6 april | 7:30
AURA NOIR
friday 6 april | 6:00
MADCHILD
CELLAR DARLING ANTILOPEZ
IMMOLATION + FULL OF HELL
monday 7 may | 7:00 monday 7 may | 7:00 tuesday 8 may | 7:00
CASPIAN
saturday 7 april | 7:00
thursday 10 may | 7:00
saturday 7 april | 7:30
thursday 10 may | 7:00
friday 13 april | 7:00
friday 11 may | 7:00
MAGENTA
POLY-MATH
LA FRONTERA
PINKSHINYULTRABLAST
CASEY
VULVODYNIA
TINY MOVING PARTS
INCINERATION FEST
FESTIVAL MUSICA ENE
NOW, NOW
NADA SURF
THE EVER LIVING
GHOSTEMANE
PVMNTS
friday 13 april | 7:00
sat-sun 12-13 may | 1:00
saturday 14 april | 3:00
monday 14 may | 7:30
wednesday 18 april | 7:00
thursday 17 may | 7:30
friday 20 april | 7:00
monday 21 may | 7:00
saturday 21 april | 7:00
friday 25 may | 6:30
Monday 23 april | 7:00
sat-sun 26-27 may | 1:00
tuesday 24 april | 7:00
monday 28 may | 7:00
tuesday 24 april | 7:30
sat-sun 16-17 june | 12:00
SHIELDS
MARDUK
IRON CHIC
RAW POWER FESTIVAL
MYSTERY
GAZPACHO
TTNG
PORTALS FESTIVAL
THE NATURALS THURS 5 APR BIRTHDAYS
AIR TRAFFIC FRI 13 APR KOKO
TIGER LION MON 9 APR SERVANT JAZZ QUARTERS
JAMES ELKINGTON SUN 15 APR THE ISLINGTON
HANNAH EPPERSON OUTAPR TUES 10 SOLD SERVANT JAZZ QUARTERS SOFT AS SNOW WED 11 APR THE WAITING ROOM OKAY KAYA WED 11 APR ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH ARCADE FIRE WED 11, THURS 12 & FRI 13 APR THE SSE ARENA, WEMBLEY
GOAT GIRL TUES 17 APR THE GARAGE OTZEKI TUES 17 APR OSLO HACKNEY WASUREMONO WED 18 APR SERVANT JAZZ QUARTERS HINDS THURS 19 APR ELECTRIC BRIXTON GIANT PARTY THURS 19 APR SEBRIGHT ARMS
GWENNO UT APR O12 THURS SOLD HOXTON HALL
W.H. LUNG SAT 21 APR CHATS PALACE
SIOBHAN WILSON THURS 12 APR ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH
LUCY DACUS T D OUAPR WED SOL25 OMEARA
SERPENTWITHFEET FRI 13 APR VILLAGE UNDERGROUND
GLORIA WED 25 APR THE ISLINGTON
KATIE VON SCHLEICHER THURS 26 APR THE ISLINGTON
PALM THURS 24 MAY CORSICA STUDIOS RINA SAWAYAMA FRI 25 MAY THE GARAGE
LOW ISLAND THURS 26 APR SCALA
THE MEN FRI 1 JUNE OSLO HACKNEY
COUSIN KULA FRI 27 APR SEBRIGHT ARMS KEDR LIVANSKIY THURS 3 MAY THE PICKLE FACTORY JAMES HEATHER WED 9 MAY ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH
ROSTAM MON 14 JUNE SCALA JOSE GONZALEZ THURS 20 SEPT ROYAL ALBERT HALL MITSKI WED 26 SEPT O2 SHEPHERD’S BUSH EMPIRE
THE LONGCUT THURS 10 MAY THE LEXINGTON
MARTIN KOHLSTEDT MON 8 OCT ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH
BECKIE MARGARET THURS 17 MAY ST PANCRAS OLD CHURCH
SOLOMON GREY THURS 25 OCT UNION CHAPEL
EZRA FURMAN WED 23 MAY O2 ACADEMY BRIXTON CAR SEAT HEADREST WED 23 MAY ROUNDHOUSE
LORD HURON FRI 26 OCT ROUNDHOUSE
PARALLELLINESPROMOTIONS.COM
FULL APRIL LISTINGS
LONDON’S GIG GUIDE Your full listings guide to all the best shows happening across North, East, South and West London this month. Sunday 1st April
Monday 2nd April
Tuesday 3rd April
visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo
Thursday 5th April
Wednesday 4th April
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL APRIL LISTINGS
Friday 6th April
Saturday 7th April
see londoninstereo.com/venues for up-to-date listings at all our favourite venues
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo
Sunday 8th April
Monday 9th April
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL APRIL LISTINGS
Wednesday 11th April Tuesday 10th April
find us on Spotify at London in Stereo to keep up with our weekly new music playlists
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo
Thursday 12th April
Friday 13th April
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL APRIL LISTINGS
Saturday 14th April
visit londoninstereo.com/subscribe to get London in Stereo delivered every month
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo Sunday 15th April
Tuesday 17th April
Monday 16th April
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL APRIL LISTINGS Wednesday 18th April
Thursday 19th April
see londoninstereo.com/venues for up-to-date listings at all our favourite venues
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo
Friday 20th April
Saturday 21st April
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL APRIL LISTINGS Monday 23rd April
Sunday 22nd April Tuesday 24th April
find us on Spotify at London in Stereo to keep up with our weekly new music playlists
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo
Wednesday 25th April
Thursday 26th April
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL APRIL LISTINGS
Friday 27th April
visit londoninstereo.com/subscribe to get London in Stereo delivered every month
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo Saturday 28th April
Sunday 29th April
Monday 30th April
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL APRIL LISTINGS Tuesday 1st May
Thursday 3rd May
Wednesday 2nd May
visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email
LONDON TICKETS: WeGotTickets.com/LondonInStereo
Saturday 5th May Friday 4th May
WeGotTickets.com | Simple, honest ticketing
FULL APRIL LISTINGS
Sunday 6th May
Wednesday 9th May
Monday 7th May
Tuesday 8th May
Want EVERY ISSUE of London in Stereo through your letterbox? Just visit londoninstereo.com/ magazine/subscribe
visit londoninstereo.com for all the latest listings, & to sign up to our Gigs Of The Week email
SOLD OUT
SOLD OUT SOLD OUT
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SOLD OUT
SOLD OUT SOLD OUT
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SOLD OUT SOLD OUT
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D OUT D OUT SOLD OUT SOLSOL SOLD OUT SOLD OUT
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04—18 MOTH Club Valette St London E8 Tuesday 3 April
THE BLOW Wednesday 4 April
ELEANOR FRIEDBERGER Sunday 8 April
JEFFREY LEWIS AND LOS BOLTS Tuesday 10 April
FENNE LILY Friday 20 April
BABY SHAKES Shacklewell Arms 71 Shacklewell Lane London E8 Saturday 31 March
VINYL STAIRCASE Saturday 7 April
BLUEPRINT BLUE Monday 9 April
MINAMI DEUTSCH Friday 13 April
COWTOWN Saturday 21 April
THE HOMESICK
Lanzarote
lanzaroteworks.com #lanzaroteworks
Programming
The Waiting Room 175 Stoke Newington High St N16 Thursday 5 April
IL EST VILAINE Friday 6 April
LAURENCE GUY Saturday 7 April
RROXYMORE Wednesday 25 April
LE SON Thursday 26 April
BOY AZOOGA The Lock Tavern 35 Chalk Farm Rd London NW1 Thursday 29 March
WESLEY GONZALES Friday 30 March
WARMDUSCHER Saturday 31 March
DRAHLA Sunday 1 April
THE PARROTS Wednesday 4 April
PORRIDGE RADIO
LIVE REVIEWS LILY ALLEN DOME, TUFNELL PARK
MARCH 21ST
Okay, let’s make this clear, Lily’s long overdue her membership card to the national treasure club: an astonishingly sharp, insightful and witty lyricist who’s capable of sketching life in ways that few can rival. There’s not a moment on Parklife or Jarvis’ lyric sheets that can rival the pure low-key British comfort Lily finds in “beans on toast and a nice cup of tea”. There’s nobody of a certain age that won’t appreciate the “I never got home for Neighbours” line in ‘Trigger Bang’. But if there’s a feeling outside in real life she's never really been granted the respect she totally deserves, there's not a shred of doubt in here tonight. ‘Knock ’Em Out’ is greeted with delirious recognition, choruses from new songs are sung back after first listens, ‘Fuck You’ is dedicated to Theresa May (nobody swears with as much vitality as Lily Allen, she's just really, really good at it), ‘Come On Then’ pairs defying Twitter haters with the killer line ‘If you say you know me, then why am I so lonely, because nobody fucking phones me” and ‘The Fear’ confirms its status as one of the great pop songs. Lily Allen’s back, and the world’s a better place for it. Dave Rowlinson LiS 77
photo: Carla Salvatore
Giggs is still on stage, giant grin all over his boat-race, he’s long since casually dropped his ‘grams and grands’ verse from last year’s bona fide track of the year contender ‘Trigger Bang’, but he ain’t going anywhere. He dances, joins in the chorus and grins some more. Lily Allen is smiling harder, thrilled with the reaction to this comeback show, overcome with the celebratory mood in the room. And celebration is totally what this night is: a gleeful romp through greatest hits and fresh material that sees the Dome moved to joyful rhapsody.
FESTIVAL PREVIEWS the news from festivals outside of the UK Look, we love UK festivals and you can bet we’ve been keeping a very close eye on the lineup announcements from the likes of Field Day, Visions and End of The Road, but also there’s something real magical about stepping off a plane onto heat-sticky tarmac and knowing you’ll be spending a few days in a new country soaking up your favourite bands under, hopefully, blue skies. That being the case we’ve had a look around and picked out four festivals with very different lineups to suit all tastes. So dig out the passport, get on Skyscanner and pick yourself a festival where you need to learn new words for ‘please’, ‘thank you’ and ‘do you have a local pale ale?’ KALA
KALA
KALA - (kala.al) Albania, 20th-27th June Brand new for 2018, Kala is Albania’s first ever international festival. The location is under-wraps, but we’re told it’s a jewel of undiscovered coastline that’s only accessible by water, a chance to explore the Albanian Riviera where the Adriatic meets the Ionian Sea. Round the clock parties, delicious food, unique venues, Kala is sounding dreamy before we even look at who’s playing. And the line-up does not disappoint; a few of our highlights include Underground Resistance, The Black Madonna, Jayda G and Kasra V. DIMENSIONS
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NOS ALIVE (photo: Hugo Macedo)
NOS ALIVE (nosalive.com) - Portugal - 12th-14th July We experienced our first NOS Alive last year and found a wonderful festival based on the edge of a Lisbon river. The site’s manageable, the beer’s pretty cheap, the crowds are incredibly friendly and it’s set in a city which you’ll immediately love. There’s really nothing not to like about NOS Alive, and there’s plenty to absolutely adore. What we found last year was that the lineup was wonderfully odd, with precious little damn given for anything else than offering something for everyone. The same’s equally true for 2018: where else could you see Perfume Genius, Nine Inch Nails, Sophie, The National and your pals London in Stereo in one place? WE LOVE GREEN (welovegreen.fr) - France - 2nd-3rd June We Love Green is a trailblazing festival when it comes to all things environmental concerns, and they are absolutely to be admired for that. That said, it wouldn’t count for much if the lineup wasn’t absolutely jaw-dropping, but there are no concerns here. Prepare for that jaw drop with Björk, Jorja Smith, Beck, Father John Misty, IAMDDB, Superorganism and many many more.
DIMENSIONS (dimensionsfestival.com) - Croatia, 29th August – 2nd September Smaller sister to Outlook, Dimensions presents cutting edge underground electronic music near the beach in an abandoned fort in Croatia. The festival opens with a breathtaking open-air concert in a 2000 year old amphitheatre. This year’s opening night sees the mighty Kraftwerk presenting their 3-D show with support from Moodymann, Nubya Garcia, Josey Rebelle and Debora Ipekel. Amongst the names on the initial line up across the rest of the festival are: Ben UFO, Nina Kraviz, K-Hand, Sonja Moonear and Umfang. LiS 79
PRESENTS
ZEAL & ARDOR
EXCLUSIVE UK CLUB SHOW
Monday 4 June Village Underground
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT MYTICKET.CO.UK
PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS Faked Streams Fail Everyone by Elise Cobain We all know a faker: a personality, a product or a promise that got broken. Fakers waste time, energy and although they may drag a few along for the ride, in the long run, they bite you in the ass. Faking. Not a good look. Let’s apply this train of thought to the current debacle in playlisting music on streaming services. You may have a few playlists that you go to for reference or you may be hosting a party tonight, forgot everything but the soundtrack and thankfully your favourite streaming service has you covered. Fantastic! But wait… you go to these playlists because you trust they’re put together well, right? Because you enjoy the editor’s choices or you just think it fits the mood perfectly? Well, there are people out there taking money to screw this all up for you and the poor artists who are trying to make it. In return for money, these soulless businessmen are offering artist access to playlists with large streaming figures (which may well be from bots), so their streams go sky high. This practice is a stain on the wonderfully-crafted experience true playlisters have made for us and detracts from the hard work from acts who have genuinely toiled to get their legit streaming figures. It also does no favours to those trying to break it by faking it. Labels will question their success when nothing else lines-up with their streaming figures, music fans will see through it (and truth be told, it may not even be a good song) and they’ll be left like a naughty school child shuffling their feet awkwardly as they try to answer “What happened there then?” The answer? Go back to square one to do it properly. Pay to playlist is not the ethical way. Elise Cobain is a music editor and streaming specialist who has worked for the likes of the BBC, Sony & Vevo whilst supporting emerging acts on her Amazing Radio show. Find Elise on Twitter at @elisecobain
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PRESENTS
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT MYTICKET.CO.UK
PRESENTS
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT MYTICKET.CO.UK
S.J.M. CONCERTS PRESENTS
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
PLUS JARREAU VANDAL & JAMES VICKERY
06 APR O2 SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE
07 APR ELECTRIC BRIXTON
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
PLUS GAFFA TAPE SANDY & WOOZE
TYNE PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
10 APR ELECTROWERKZ (DOWNSTAIRS)
JUSTIN NOZUKA PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
17 APR 100 CLUB
17 APR THE CAMDEN ASSEMBLY
23 APR GARAGE
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
PLUS PLANET
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
27 APR THOUSAND ISLAND
01 MAY O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN
04 MAY O2 SHEPHERDS BUSH EMPIRE
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
OUT & 23 MAY 22SOLDMAY OMEARA
24 MAY BORDERLINE
30 MAY THE JAZZ CAFÉ
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS
30 MAY ELECTRIC BRIXTON
06 JUN BORDERLINE
21 JUN OMEARA