Scottish Gig Highlights – February 2014

Operating at the intersection between brightly-hued pop-punk and dayglo chiptune, Anamanaguchi are perhaps the ultimate geek band – formed in NYC by four friends with a passion for 80s consoles and big hooks, they funded their debut album Endless Fantasy via Kickstarter last year, contributed music to the Scott Pilgrim video game adaptations, and memorably remixed Das Racist's Rainbow In The Dark. Catch them at King Tut's on 3 Feb for an explosive live show which will take you back to the pixellated world of your console-playing youth, whilst also blowing the doors off with epic riffage. Can't say fairer!

On 7 Feb, Minneapolis melancholic indie duo Poliça play The Arches – expanded to a five-piece in a live setting, they'll be showcasing tracks from their more electronically-driven 2013 album Shulamith. Beloved by The Flaming Lips, Bon Iver and a whole host of other American alt.rock royalty, Poliça are most definitely a perennial muso's favourite. If you're looking for something with a bit more attitude on 7 Feb, head down to Mono to catch a set from energetic punk scamps PAWS, showcasing tracks from Cokefloat and beyond, with support from bad taste bastions Rungs, no doubt shilling their disgustingly-titled but rather excellent EP I Don't Wanna Hug! I Just Wanna Cum!

The day after, on 8 Feb, head back to The Arches to catch Moderat – the pairing of German dancefloor destroyers Modeselektor and more experimental producer Apparat is an impressive one, with Apparat's edgier sounds clashing titanically with Modeselektor's upfront beats. Sascha Ring, aka Apparat, was kept from touring with Moderat last year due to injuries sustained in a bike accident – now back to full health, the tour has been rejoined, so dust off your dancing shoes. 

On 9 Feb at Sneaky Pete's in Edinburgh, be sure to catch Australian orchestral rockers The Red Paintings – bringing a stage show which is equal parts melodramatic theatre, science fiction concept-bashing and outrageous costumes, Trash McSweeney and his band are wildly popular in the US and Europe, but have yet to make a big impression in the UK. Wildly over the top, and with tunes to match, they're sure to be an unissable spectacle, and the chance to catch them in such an intimate setting is bound to be a rare one. Support comes from Edinburgh indie veterans Pilotcan, and Universal Thee.

On 11 Feb, hip-hop royalty comes to Glasgow, as the O2 welcomes Dead Prez. Best known for their rap anthem Hip-Hop, surely one of the most-played rap tracks ever made, the band have a nearly twenty year legacy, breaking through in 2000 with Let's Get Free, and announcing a revolutionary manifesto of black empowerment, consciousness-rasing activism and political rebellion. Only Public Enemy can rival them in terms of the impact of their revolutionary manifesto, and they've got the rhyming skills to match – no doubt many of the increasingly vital Scottish hip-hop mob will be out in full force as well.

As Valentine's Day hits on 14 Feb, we've got two options for you in Glasgow – fresh from their set at our 100th issue bash, Kid Canaveral host a themed 'Lumber Party' (snigger) in Stereo with stellar support from Malcolm Middleton and Randolph's Leap, while feminist icon and electronic maven Planningtorock comes to Broadcast for some polemical beats and bleeps. 

Veteran folk-rockers Midlake hit town on 22 Feb to play the O2 ABC. After the departure of original vocalist Tim Smith in 2012, the band pulled off an AC/DC with last year's Antiphon, as Eric Pulido took over songwriting and vocal duties. Midlake are back on a roll again, and this genuinely feels like a whole new era for the Texan six-piece. 

On 23 Feb, there's a difficult choice – either you can catch cult experimental chanteuse and live-looping one-woman band Ela Orleans at the Glad Cafe, or head along to the 13th Note for Edinburgh's folk-tinged indie mob Book Group, featuring former members of The Kays Lavelle and Come On Gang.  

Midlands-based psych-rockers Temples visit Òran Mór on 24 Feb – tipped for the top by none other than Johnny Marr and Noel Gallagher (and they should know!), these melodic star-travellers are bound to entrance. If it's immersive music you want, head back to Òran Mór on 25 Feb, and catch Godspeed! affiliates and majestic post-rock royalty in their own right, Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra, as they make their way across Europe.

On 26 Feb, as the Glasgow Music and Film Festival gets into full swing, you can catch the triumphant return to The Arches of Detroit hip-hop ambassador Danny Brown, who is sure to tear the roof off in the same spectacular fashion as he did last year. Also making a welcome return this year are Goblin, the seminal synth-driven rock band behind the soundtracks to cult classics like Suspiria and Dawn of the Dead. Their influence on the current crop of retro-futurist synth acts like Ubre Blanca and Com Truise cannot be overstated.

On 28 Feb, a trio of gigs to round out the month – catch Italian noise rockers Father Murphy with support from Glasgow's own No Island at the 13th Note; alternatively, pull up a pew and call the cat a bastard with the live insanity that is Skinny favourites and Art School noise terrorists Casual Sex; or if you're in Edinburgh, head down to cross-platform art happening Neu! Reekie! at Summerhall – they've got visiting art-pop royalty in the form of Momus, plus music from 80s 'urban folk' legends The Band of Holy Joy, poet Luke Wright and others.

And finally, just because we might not squeeze it in next issue, and it looks like a day of solid awesome – catch a host of the best emerging bands and artists in Scotland at the Brew Dog-sponsored all-dayer at SWG3 on 1 March, featuring Prides and Miaoux Miaoux among others.

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DO NOT MISS: ADMIRAL FALLOW – WE ARE TEN @ THE OLD FRUITMARKET, 1 MArch

As part of the Glasgow Music and Film Festival, Scottish indie giants Admiral Fallow will be giving a very special one-off performance at the Old Fruitmarket, itself one of Glasgow's most iconic and atmospheric venues. It's ten years (who knew?) since Admiral Fallow (formerly Brother Louis Collective) began making their sweeping, orchestral brand of indie-folk, which has seen them become one of the nation's best-loved bands both at home and abroad. It's also the tenth anniversary of the Glasgow Film Festival, which makes this performance all the more special.

To celebrate, the band have commissioned a series of collaborations with up-and-coming filmmakers from across the UK, and on 1 March, they will perform a very special one-off set, exploring their back catalogue, and soundtracking these unique visual poems created in response to their work. The band have also hinted that they will be debuting new material, making this all the more essential for Fallow fans. Engaging with the rich cultural and social history of Glasgow, its architecture, its people, and its spirit, and using clips from William S. Manson's seminal 1951 documentary No Mean City, this promises to be a highlight not just for music enthusiasts, but for students of the moving image as well.