Live Music Roundup - July, 2009

The Twilight Sad are set to emerge from their bunker with second album Forget the Night Ahead clenched in their collective fist. Due for release this October, the evidence on show so far suggests an austere beauty beckons. So we're thrilled to tell you that their first headlining show in Scotland this year will be at The Skinny Dip on 2 July. Flanking them on the night will be Y'all is Fantasy Island's Adam Stafford and The Foundling Wheel.

There's a spate of bands taking cues from Balkan music right now, but if you crave an undiluted, 100% proof hit of the real deal then look no further than the Boban i Marko Markovic Orkestar. This lot have been the number one brass band in Serbia for going on 20 years, so you can be damn sure they've got some crazy chops. Led by a mean father and son duo, they make some of the most astonishing and expressive music you'll hear anywhere - you won't forget this gig in a hurry. Flugelhorns never sounded so righteous. HMV Picture House Edinburgh 9 July.

St. Vincent aka Annie Clark knocked us off our feet this year with her astonishing second album, Actor, so we're happy to hear she'll be playing Glasgow Nice N Sleazy on 14 July. While her recorded work sounds relatively restrained and considered, St. Vincent really goes for it live, her band conjuring intense layers of sound as Clark herself knocks hell out of her guitar; she really has got some of the most impressive and unique guitar skills this side of a Battles gig. You'll feel stupid if you miss it.

There's nothing quite as cringeworthy as mediocre industrial music, but brazen Canadian posse The Birthday Massacre manage to deftly avoid the pitfalls of the genre by marrying their crushing riffs with some of the most accomplished romantic '80s synth-pop hooks we've heard since the last time we rented The Breakfast Club. The result somehow manages to be epic, evocative, brutally powerful and rather moving. Dunno how they managed it, but anyone who thinks outside the Pitchfork bubble should definitely check them out at Stereo, Glasgow on 14 July.

We used to like The Distillers a lot - they made the kind of music an on-form and punked-up Courtney Love would have been making if she wasn't so preoccupied with severing her ties with planet earth. Now Brody Dalle is back with Spinnerette, a new vehicle with which to remind folk with short memories that she deserves to be regarded as more than just Mrs Josh Homme. The material we've heard sounds hard and melodic, just the way we like it - with a little QOTSA flavour thrown in to sweeten the deal. Should be fierce. King Tut's Glasgow 18 July.

NYC four-piece Glint deal in icily emotional electronic rock music and although they've not been on our radar for long, we're very impressed with what we've heard. Like a sexier Kid Aera Radiohead, Glint manage to mine their singer's amazing voice for its full potential while eking out some sublime and unusual soundscapes - and they're not afraid of giving the listener a killer payoff in the form of the occasional display of laser-guided guitar pyrotechnics. Interesting band - check them out at Edinburgh Cabaret Voltaire 24 July, Glasgow King Tut's 25 July and Aberdeen Tunnels 26 July.

Rounding out the month of July we find Baltimore oddballs Arbouretum making the journey to Glasgow Captain's Rest for a set of immersive, spacy folk rock on 31 July. These guys have got a really unique '70s-influenced desert-rock vibe going on and they've made a bunch of great records that you should also check out. Definitely a band who know their stuff. Anyone looking for an engaging gig experience outwith the usual over-hyped mulch will find rich rewards in Arbouretum.