James Blackshaw / John Lemke @ Glasgow Platform, 9 Jul

There's a detectable melancholy in Easterhouse; the stark, sad, drifting beauty of James Blackshaw’s material compounded by the recent announcement marking an end to his career as a touring artist.

Should tonight indeed prove to be Blackshaw's final Scottish gig, it’s a typically intimate, low-key affair, the contrast provided by John Lemke's bricolage of slippery electronica in which themes and styles coalesce.

Focusing on tracks from his recent Nomad Frequencies LP, there’s a little bit of Trent Reznor to Lemke’s sound (that’s Reznor when channelling Debussy rather than shouting about sadomasochistic sex and general self-loathing) yet stylistically it’s the breadth of his brief set that impresses. The icy tendrils and discombobulated beats Lemke conjures grow and stretch to encompass dub leanings and portentous flourishes.

As James Blackshaw takes to the stage he does so carrying his guitar in its case, as if we’re on the High Street and he’s shown up for a spot of busking. Then again, appearances can be deceptive; as soon as he begins to play it’s as if he’s secreted several other guitarists in the wings, such is the intricate nature of his craft. Yes, his stage presence remains a little awkward – he looks uncomfortable in his chair, the space between the tracks extended exercises in how to tune a 12-string – but his tender expressionism leaves ample room for reflection.

That's true whether each piece is an instrumental or a more recent track with added vocals; Confetti, with its suicide-in-seedy-motel narrative, being particularly haunting. “I enjoy playing Glasgow more than anywhere else in the UK,” he tells us whilst explaining his forthcoming hiatus; “Haste ye back” isn’t an appropriate sentiment, but it’s there all the same.