Battles @ The Liquid Room, 18 Oct

This support slot fits Dave Longstreth and his Dirty Projectors like some sort of rare glove designed for awkward hands. Encountering a fair few what-the-fucks in response to their 're-imagining' of Don Henley and Black Flag songs as they have, they show convention the window in favour of the main man's lounge jazz vocals - at one point sounding as though he's about to break into Fly Me to the Moon - ill-fittingly twisted around the constant distraction of his drummer's wayward rhythms. But this warring of styles ultimately pays off and the Dirty Projectors win the Liquid Room over unconditionally.
Pensively looking skywards at his crash cymbal as bandmates gather round for another session of communicating with nothing more than a nod, John Stanier's limbs burst into motion with piston-like precision as the beats and riff shards of Tras, Atlas and Tonto send the same crowd awestruck. At one point Tyondai Braxton steps away from all Battles' guitar noodling, MPC sampling and Oompa Loompa vocals to marvel at the finesse of all the orchestrated chaos. They may lose a few punters during their ambient lulls, but tonight's pay-off is the realisation that we've finally arrived in the 21st century. (Dave Kerr)