Northwest Gig Highlights – November 2015

Our month begins with a pair of familiar faces as no other than two of this year’s Skinny cover stars go head-to-head on the very same night in Manchester! Has our lavish and fawning praise of Norwegian multimedia artist Jenny Hval (on our June cover) and French-Cuban pop duo Ibeyi (February) led to exposure, fame and wild riches? Well, both acts have jumped up a venue size since earlier in the year at least, with Hval bringing her dramatic stage show to Soup Kitchen, and Ibeyi’s intertwining vocal harmonies filling Gorilla, both on 8 Nov. Needless to say, we recommend cloning yourself to attend. (They both play Leeds Brudenell Social Club on 7 Nov, too.) 

This month is also about returning local heroes. Step forward Mr Dan Croll, who plays his first show in his adopted hometown of Liverpool in 18 months as he prepares to unveil the followup to 2014’s debut LP Sweet Disarray. Croll is playing the Buyers Club on 12 Nov, a new venue which, though in its early stages, already looks like being a future hotspot for a Liverpool live scene in need of a boost, what with the impending closure of The Kazimier. Weep with us. (Croll is also at The Deaf Institute on 9 Nov.)

In Manchester, MONEY play their first show in their adopted hometown since October last year, as they preview material from their upcoming second album, Suicide Songs. They’ll be doing so at their pals Sways Records' new place, The White Hotel (11 Nov).

The more generous among MONEY’s followers describe frontman Jamie Lee as a poet, and he’s in good company this month as a host of literary lads descend on the region. Top billing probably goes to John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats (Gorilla, 15 Nov; also at Leeds Brudenell Social Club on 12 Nov), a songwriter who's a master of finely observed, slightly surreal vignettes that blur realities.

Let’s turn our attentions closer to home – and to the Wirral’s Bill Ryder-Jones, playing in support of new record West Kirby County Primary. The former Coral man is in love with the written word, having previously recorded an album in homage to Italo Calvino’s playful novella If on a winter’s night a traveller, and his latest finds him on suitably tale-telling form. His home show at District (14 Nov) is likely to be packed (he also plays Manchester's Gullivers on 13 Nov).

Elsewhere, former Beat Happening man Calvin Johnson drops in for a show at the seldom-used Nexus Art Cafe (21 Nov), with a new retrospective from his previous project due out, while Americana-influenced local chap Jo Rose – who won our hearts with his debut LP Spurs last year – debuts a full band at Gullivers (15 Nov).

If you're after something with a bit more ‘oof’ about it, mind, you’ll probably want to direct yourself to Ex Hex. The trio mix a familiar DC hardcore urgency with some suitably bubblegum-flavoured chorus fare – to Headrow House in Leeds (7 Nov) and the Ruby Lounge in Manchester (8 Nov) for them. There’s also all sorts of unholy guitar-based punishment going down at Islington Mill in Salford on 20 Nov, as you’re provided not only with proggy stalwarts Teeth of the Sea, but also their Rocket Recordings brethren Hey Colossus, who've released two albums that could both feasibly wind up somewhere high in album of the year territory. Horns up, etc. etc.

At the poppier end of the spectrum on the same night, there’s the continuing tearaway success of Scottish trio CHVRCHES to contend with at Albert Hall, the group building on the glimmering synth foundations of debut album The Bones of What You Believe with the even bolder Every Open Eye. Good luck trying to get a return for 20 Nov, but they also play the night before.

You feel it’ll only be a matter of time before Ady Suleiman joins them at that level, the velvet-voiced songwriter quickly rising through the ranks with the backing of enormo-label Sony. You can check on the soul enthusiast’s progress at Liverpool's Magnet (11 Nov; also at Soup Kitchen, 17 Nov). If you’re still hankering for some slow jams after that, then get yourself to Manchester Academy 2 (25 Nov) where Odd Future members, the silky smooth The Internet, co-headline with long-time Flying Lotus collaborator Thundercat.

There’s all that and a couple of righteous local independent showcases to tell you about. First up, the ever-impressive audiovisual collective Video Jam will take to the Manchester Jewish Museum on 12 Nov, teaming up musicians including Bahrain-via-London psychedelic wanderers Flamingods with contemporary film shorts. Then at Islington Mill on 14 Nov there's Ladyfest Mcr, an event that celebrates women in music and art, as well as acting as a forum of discussion for issues around equality that still persist in 2015. Among those on the music bill include ex-Au Pairs’ Lesley Woods, and riotous local post-punk four-piece Ill.

Do Not Miss: Mythopoeia III, The Kazimier, Liverpool, 28 Nov

As the Kazimier enters its final weeks of existence, there has been one upside to its impending demise – namely every top Liverpool act, promoter and party trying to cram as many performances into the much-loved space as possible before the doors close for the final time. For Stealing Sheep, that’s allowed them to assemble perhaps their strongest Mythopoeia lineup yet, as the pop trio host their third and final late-night party at the Kaz.

They'll be performing themselves, with a specially created “synth-dance” performance entitled Legs, and they'll be joined by an embarrassment of riches including long-time Skinny favourites Outfit and the C86-reminiscent indie-pop of Bathymetry. Travelling across from Manchester, meanwhile, are Memphis Industries-signed art-rock lot Dutch Uncles and post-punk four-piece PINS, with Nadine Carina and Joey Fourr further down the bill. Even with the likes of Abandon Silence also saying their farewells this month, Mythopoeia is all set up for a departing party – spilling out into the Kaz Garden and Arts Academy – that'll live long in the memory.