Northwest Gig Highlights – May 2015

As though to illustrate the hole it will leave in Liverpool's music scene when it closes its doors on New Year’s Day 2016, The Kazimier boasts a calendar this month that takes in everything from art-school trained voodoo-rockers Golden Teacher, to the decibel-detonating deep space of Earth, and an evening of disquieting memoir from writer John Doran.

While Earth’s appearance is remarkable for its rarity – more on that shortly – it’s Quietus editor Doran’s event that is most unusual, a pairing of his unshrinking prose from new book Jolly Lad with textures and punctuation from Norwegian experimental metal musician Kjetil Nernes (aka Årabrot). Doran previewed the concept in Salford with sonic botherers H.U.M and Gnod last winter and now looks set to attain full weird in what is described as “an evening of spoken word and music with readings and incantations concerning murder, black holes, ghosts and regional bus time tables.” In other words, right up our street. Perhaps literally. The Liverpool appearance (18 May) is part of a quite staggering 40-show, 31-date tour that also takes in two Manchester-vicinity dates – 2 May at The Star & Garter with guests 10 Mouth Electron, ILL and 2KoiKarp, and 31 May at Islington Mill, again with Gnod – and the Outlaws Yacht Club in Leeds (25 May). Doran spoke to our Simon about Jolly Lad – an affecting and viciously funny/sad meditation on alcohol addiction, becoming a father and the redemptive power of music – on page 25; give it a read.

Earth’s Dylan Carlson is another of our guests this issue, in conversation with The Bug ahead of their first ever, yet long-in-the-offing appearance as a duo at Supersonic Festival. However, if you’re not planning a trip to Birmingham and/or you’d prefer to see Earth in their lonesome majesty, then the scorched drone veterans – who’ve clocked up a hulking quarter-century together – play their only other UK date on this tour at The Kaz on 1 Jun.

Also celebrating an (almost) anniversary, sultry Tex-Mex collective Calexico mark 20 years-ish with two proper classy gigs in two Halls – the Manchester Albert (30 Apr) and the Liverpool Philharmonic (1 May), to be precise. Their smudged Americana and Tejano folk fusion should provide the ideal soundtrack to a balmy spring night, weather gods permitting; and if it’s chucking it down, they’ll transport you to a perpetual desert dawn nevertheless.

Speaking of toasts, the Erased Tapes label have had much to jubilate about over the last year or so – as Nils Frahm’s star continues to rise (see our Do Not Miss pick, below), one of their newer prodigies and LIPA grad Douglas Dare heads out on tour to premiere some new tracks ahead of recording the follow-up to debut album Whelm later this year. His autumnal vocals and skittish, glitched piano translate nicely to humid spring evenings; catch him at Blade Factory (in Camp and Furnace) on 2 May. Fans of Dare’s gold-leafed songwriting may also enjoy Danish prog-poppers Mew, whose delicate vox, courtesy of frontman Jonas Bjerre, and finely iced patinas of guitar, strings and synth have enchanted a discerning, devoted audience for 20 years. Join them at The Ritz on 19 May and wonder why they still aren't bigger than they are (alternatively: treasure the fact they never became Muse). Further cerebral but somewhat heavier enlightenment may be reached – again, in the surrounds of the Kaz – with a live set from Border Community’s resident wizard James Holden on 30 Apr.

Nearly done, and a reminder that, while you probably know the score with Young Fathers by now, if you’ve still not caught them, they’re at Leeds Brudenell Social Club on 22 May, Manchester's Gorilla on 25 May and The Kazimier on 7 Jun – events for which we’ll unapologetically plagiarise what we said about them in our Do Not Miss spot a couple of months back... “We have no shame in saying that we want to be huge,” the band's Graham 'G' Hastings told The Skinny in January last year; and with new album White Men Are Black Men Too now out, the Edinburgh hip-hop trio – also comprising Alloysious Massaquoi and Kayus Bankole – look set to finally make good on that promise. Expect to hear cuts from first LP Dead in all its neon-fuzzed, steadily rousing glory, as well as the new material. 

Finally, if none of the above have provided you with the sweat-addled freakout you need, three options: Golden Teacher (The Kazimier, 21 May; Islington Mill 27 May), Iceage (Night & Day, 2 May), and, hell, Tyler, the Creator (Manchester Academy, 13 May).

Do Not Miss

Nils Frahm @ Albert Hall, Manchester, 24 May

A very exciting press release landed in the inbox of The Skinny staff before we went to print detailing the layout of Nils Frahm’s new stage setup for his upcoming tour. You may laugh, but you ain’t seen this shit – there are like 19 pianos hanging out onstage. OK, so maybe not 19, but there’s a custom made wind organ, a grand, Nils' own-design upright (called Una Corda), and a Mellotron. As the statement says, “Bringing all these instruments and prototypes on tour is by any means pretty insane. The chance that everything works all the time is close to zero.” Reason for the tour’s naming, ‘Nils Frahm Has Lost His Mind,’ perhaps?

Acclaim for the Berlin-based pianist and Erased Tapes artist scaled dizzying heights last year with the progression of his staggering Spaces tour, which took in the Barbican. In Manchester this May, he upgrades – in size, at least – from last October’s RNCM date to the Albert Hall, where the aesthetic beauty of the building will surely match the majesty of his sound, even if there’s likely no surpassing the RNCM’s sonics. Whatever the outcome of his many new experiments – new instruments, new material (he’s intending to use the new live configuration to road test unheard pieces and develop them as he goes), we’ll be with him all the way – as well as his sound engineer, sitting patiently with a soldering iron at the side of the stage. (True story.)