Live Music Highlights - October, 2010

Scottish three-piece Hey Enemy have spent a lot of time listening to Melvins, Shellac and The Jesus Lizard and have songs with names like Johnny Fucko and Puppyhammer. Now you, dear reader, must use your skill and judgement to determine whether or not it would be a good idea to pay to see these young men perform... We thought so. Feel the weight at Edinburgh Henry's Cellar Bar on 7 Oct, Dundee Dexter's on 8 Oct and Glasgow Captain's Rest on 9 Oct. Helsinki Seven support at all three dates plus Fat Goth in Dundee.

Bona fide hip-hop legend KRS-One lands at Edinburgh's The Liquid Room on 7 Oct. As a politically-minded and socially concious MC he's been promoting positivity and spiritual awareness for nigh-on 20 years – and has often faced criticism from his peers because of it – but there's no doubting his status as one of the genre's most influential and talented practitioners. They don't call him The Teacha for nothing.

The Black Angels may be living in the past, sonically speaking, but they're right at the front of the pack when it comes to delivering smoldering psych rock in 2010. Having just dropped the immense Phosphene Dream LP – a record that positively drips with acid-fried atmosphere and mind altering melodies – the band is all set for a classic gig at Glasgow Captain's Rest on 9 Oct. Fans of The Warlocks, The Brian Jonestown Massacre or Spacemen 3 can't afford to miss this.

With a new über-poppy album in the bag, local twee-core behemoths Aberfeldy play a slew of dates this month. Check them at Aberfeldy Town Hall on 2 Oct, Dundee Duke's Corner on 7 Oct, Glasgow O2 ABC on 9 Oct, Aberdeen Lemon Tree on 10 Oct, Edinburgh Liquid Room on 15 Oct and Inverness Ironworks on 16 Oct.

Combining oceanic sonic textures, nervous punk energy and poppy song structures is no mean feat, but LA two-piece No Age (currently touring with a third member on electronics) have pretty much got it nailed. By the time you read this their new album will have dropped and all hell will have broken loose – I only wish I had some way of tipping you guys off earlier to buy tickets for their show at Glasgow Stereo on 9 Oct. Promising Psych-pop outfit Male Bonding will support.

Chicago's Maps and Atlases are a pretty exciting band. Mixing earthy, folky songwriting with choppy Don Cab-esque melodics and the kind of restless rhythms that recall prime TV on the Radio, this is a band with a whole lot of skill and more ideas than they know what to do with. Whatever you're into, you'll find something to enjoy at Glasgow Captain's Rest on 10 Oct.

Red Sparowes are a big, weighty band that make a big, weighty sound. Early 'gwai, Godspeed, Isis and an unusual fondness for the ol' pedal steel are the touchstones for their sound which, though occasionally flighty and graceful, will always come back to crush you in the end. Them's the post-rock rules, son. Glasgow Stereo on 14 Oct.

They've had a long and tempestuous career (including being banned from playing Glasgow due to a misunderstanding over a Nazi salute and temporarily relocating to Iceland in the early 80s in order to avoid the apocalypse) and Killing Joke aren't about to throw in the towel now. With a new album on the racks, the agitpropin' post-punk nutbars kick off their world tour with a gig at Edinburgh Picture House on 15 Oct. Should be interesting to say the least.

On 18 Oct metal-faced hip-hop enigma DOOM makes his first trip to the land of whisky and haggis to rock Glasgow's Arches. Super-creative rhymes, timeless beats and a large-than life persona are what make him special – this should be absolutely crazy.

Having left Reading and Leeds festival crowds spellbound and with their debut album dropping at the end of the month, LA four-piece Warpaint should be on top of their game when they play Glasgow Stereo on 22 Oct. And what a game it is: seductive webs of guitar tone; subtle, spectral harmonies and wonderful dub-influenced basslines all add up to one of the hottest prospects of 2010. Totally unmissable.

Fearless pioneers in the psychology of sound or hokey, self-pitying dullards: whatever you think of Swans we bet you didn't have Gira and co. down as the next group to cheerfully hop on the seemingly unstoppable reformation bandwagon. We didn't either, but thankfully their new material sounds pretty fucking impressive. Witness the beast at Glasgow Arches on 25 Oct with support from twelve-stringed wonder James Blackshaw.

Tweak Bird are a hard-hitting American pair who weld classic rock licks to a chugging metal backbone and top it off with some disarmingly mellifluous vocals. Nowt revolutionary but should be decent craic nonetheless; they play Edinburgh Sneaky Pete's on 26 Oct.