Gig Highlights – July 2014

Anton Newcombe’s men return to Glasgow’s ABC on 5 July with their most critically respected record in some time. Fourteenth Brian Jonestown Massacre album Revelation has proven to be precisely that; focused, propulsive and often unsettling, eastern folk flavours collide with the hazy, well-worn psychedelic tropes that the band established well over a decade ago in San Francisco. Since relocating to Berlin, there’s no doubt the man has reclaimed his mojo – not that we ever doubted his (or Joel Gion’s mutton) chops.

Since touching down in Nice’n’Sleazy’s humble basement for their Scottish debut in 2003, The National have slowly but surely won the hearts of thousands over the intervening decade. This month they’ll reach the next plateau as The Usher Hall plays host to their emotive indie rock on 10 Jul. With 2013’s stately offering Trouble Will Find Me gradually slipping into the rear view already, expect this to be one of the last opportunities to commiserate middle age with the Brooklyn quintet before they batten down the hatches to record its follow up.

Having legitimised his old band’s reprisal with the affecting, battle-ravaged yet entirely graceful Do to the Beast, Greg Dulli’s resurrected, soul-inflected Afghan Whigs make an appointment with Glasgow’s ABC on 18 July. As this is the first occasion they’ll have visited these parts this side of the millennium, who knows when they’ll be back. So don’t sleep (‘cos sleep is the cousin of death. Least that’s what Nas says).

Owen Pallett has travelled a long way since being introduced to the music world as a prodigious fiddler with a Canadian Celtic rock group named Enter the Haggis, enjoying shifts with everyone from Arcade Fire to ehhhhh… Robbie Williams. Known internationally as a seasoned string composer, and subsequently in high demand, here’s a rare opportunity to catch the man formerly known as Final Fantasy take flight in his own right with stirring fourth LP, In Conflict. Glasgow CCA, 18 July.

RM Hubbert goes back to where it all started, revisiting his old band El Hombre Trajeado (for one night only?) as part of East End Social at Platform in Easterhouse on 12 July. Falling somewhere between the chilly landscapes of post-rock forefathers Slint and the warmer climes of surviving peers Pan American, their blueprint was timeless. Revisiting their brief catalogue now, it still is. Noir-pop chanteuse Ela Orleans and Wolf (AKA Kim from Zoey Van Goey's new thing) round out a compelling bill.

After bum-rushing Nice’n’Sleazy last month, notable experimentalists The Telescopes (well, remaining member Stephen Lawrie) will reprise the collaboration he started with St Deluxe nearly five years ago, performing at Glasgow’s 13^th Note on 19 July. Having emerged as contemporaries of My Bloody Valentine and Spacemen 3 before forging their own unique path, it should be of interest to all fans of out-there music to see Lawrie perform in such an intimate environment. The resurgent St Deluxe also perform in their own right while pitch black doomsayers Skullwizard are along for the ride.

Long known to devout FRabbit followers as Owl John, frontman Scott Hutchison resurfaces in his understated, formerly secret guise to offer a glimpse of his eponymous America-flecked solo debut (due for release in August) at The Caves, Edinburgh on 22 Jul and Glasgow’s Cottiers Theatre the following night. Pick up the next edition of The Skinny where he'll reveal all (not like that, for fuck's sake).

As the summer hurtles towards insanity, squeegee your third eye with experimental, instrumental jazz-hop outfit BADBADNOTGOOD. The Ontario trio have collaborated with everyone from Ghostface and Danny Brown to Odd Future and specialise in reworking tracks from the varied likes of My Bloody Valentine and mad Kanye West. Latest LP, III could well be the one that brings them overground. 3 Bristo Place (26 Jul); fluffy haired kids called Tarquin are gonna scream. Speaking of ol' Ghost...

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Do Not Miss: Numbers presents… Ghostface Killah, The Arches, 15 Jul

Pretty Toney is back. While the Wu-Tang Clan continue to scrape a new album together from fractured sessions, its most consistent MC – that’s Dennis ‘Ghostface Killah' Coles – sets course for The Arches this month. Famed for marrying his visceral lyrics with a louche performance style, Ghostface has more classic cuts than will fit in a single live set.

Right now seems a fertile time to catch the man; with last year’s immaculate Twelve Reasons to Die in his back pocket and that long-awaited DOOM team-up apparently on ice, the Wally Champ’s next move is anyone’s guess. His gig for Numbers at the Sub Club in 2006 is the stuff of legend, and you know an Arches rap show is mandatory.