Northwest Gig Highlights – March 2014

What a liberating feeling it is, having that email drop into your inbox (or through the letterbox, if your HR department has yet to, for lack of a better phrase, get with the digital times). That email beautifully titled 'Pay Slip.' But don't order that luxurious pizza just yet. Get out your diary and pen, and sit tight.

Surely the only way to start the month is with generous measures of glitch, with dubstep undertones and heartfelt vocals courtesy of Dutch artist MØ, coming to The Deaf Institute on 9 Mar. Dubbed by some as the new Grimes, MØ carries a more sultry note to her voice, while the influence of Santigold can be sensed like a lingering ghost. Alternatively, a couple of days earlier (7 Mar) Manchester-grown and recent New Bloods Patterns present debut album Waking Lines at St Philip’s Church with accompaniment from Manchester Community Choir, no less. Their haze of dreamy shoegaze pop and magnificent vocals should guarantee that this anticipated performance sparkles in the building's aged surrounds.

Meanwhile, for a showcase of even grander proportions stringing together ten acts hailing from Lyon to Leeds, you’re warmly invited to a collab between promoters Bad Uncle and Grey Lantern: their Box Social, an all-day kraut-disco-indie-punk-electronic-party at Klondyke Club, Levenshulme, on 8 Mar, featuring Cowtown, Plank!, Barberos, and precisely seven further acts.

In Liverpool, why not engage with some funk-shaking sax? Mutant Vinyl have received praise from the likes of Grammy Award-winning Simon Gogerly, and these LIPA musicians are also expected to bring experimental trip-hop and bass-heavy grooves – they're at The Shipping Forecast on 12 Mar, and their alma mater, Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, on the 28th.

Or, if you're after a spot of satisfying, roaring guitar, find Hatch Records' six-piece Then Thickens at Night & Day on 13 Mar; or, if you're aching for instrumental, psychedelic rock, then don't miss Portland-hailing Grails bringing their emotive performance to Soup Kitchen on 14 Mar.

It's Heds-Up's third monthly residency at Liverpool's bohemian cafe MelloMello on 15 Mar; put your party hat on for the occasion, as its Isocore's bithday. The night also brings along its first international artist in Emasa, and adds James Booth. Brace yourselves for hypnotic zaps and engrossing basslines over spatial house sounds.

With 2008's Nights Out, we saw Metronomy become purveyors of synth, bringing headaches to those weekend heroes among us who want to be drip-fed addictive bleeps; new album Love Letters introduces a more languid sound, recorded to tape at Toe Rag Studios. They bring their Devon charm to Liverpool's O2 Academy (13 Mar) and Manchester's Ritz (14 Mar). It continues as a busy mid-month in Liverpool, as three-piece Ugly Duckling arrive with their amalgamation of funk, soul, jazz and high spirits – and they can scratch with the enthusiasm for an unreachable itch. Brace yourself for their hard-hitting, grooving basslines at The Shipping Forecast on 18 Mar (they also play Manchester the night after, 19 Mar). Fans of political punk can rejoice as veterans Stiff Little Fingers bring three decades' worth of explosive energy to Liverpool O2 Academy (18 Mar, then The Ritz, Manchester, 22 Mar); but for indie-folk delights there's one real don't-miss this month, and that's LIPA grad Dan Croll taking in The Ruby Lounge (19 Mar) and The Kazimier (29 Mar). Croll was previously a member of a math-rock band, Dire Wolfe – but, to his increasing success, ditched the digits for a simpler folk way of life.

In a similar indie-folk vein, we see Bombay Bicycle Club span three dates at the neo-gothic Albert Hall (20, 21 Mar) and Liverpool's O2 Academy (15 Mar). After three full-length releases, the time has come for the London four-piece to immerse themselves in new ventures, with coarse synth notes and bold build-ups – though Jack Steadman's timid vocals remain. While we're on the subject, who had a Marmite moment with Hayden Thorpe's falsetto top notes? If no concerns were raised and fandom ensued, then you'll be glad to know that last month's cover stars Wild Beasts bring their experimental dream-pop to the Albert Hall on 26 Mar. After 2011's lustful Smother, new release Present Tense has assistance from Björk collaborator Lexxx – expect delicate synths and a strutting performance from a band at the top of their game. Elsewhere, St Louis girl Angel Olsen delivers down-tempo eccentric folk-pop via Leonard Cohen-peppered vocals at Soup Kitchen on 23 Mar.

One of Manchester's, if not the UK's, most notable festivals, FutureEverything's annual event opens its doors 27-31 Mar. A hub that nurtures innovative projects through conferences and live experiences, FutureEverything assembles developers, artists and musicians to showcase their vision of a digital future – among them, Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington's DARKSIDE, who bring their collaborative ambient magic to The Ritz (27 Mar). In another celebration of the arts, Liverpool's Threshold Festival takes place in the Baltic Triangle 28-30 Mar, exhibiting community-based works in the realms of music, theatre and visual arts – with a music programme full of local talent. (Read more on both FutureEverything and Threshold to the right.)

To end the month on a somewhat continental affair, take in French/British group François & the Atlas Mountains' melodic indie-folk vibes at Leaf, Liverpool (28 Mar; they also play Manchester Roadhouse on the 30th). Expect to be serenaded with pop-piano riffs and a dulcet voice. It might be pasta and sauce for the rest of the month, but at least your diary's full.

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Do Not Miss

Dean Blunt @ Soup Kitchen, Manchester, 28 Mar

Previously half of elusive experimental pop duo Hype Williams, Dean Blunt has a track record of churning out fictitious tales in interviews – but his solo releases don't carry the jaunty tones of a prankster. Self-released 2011 album The Narcissist is obscure in its melancholic lust and heavy-handed samples – it's the type of time-independent psychedelia that leaves you squinting at the world when you emerge from its grasp – while last year's The Redeemer, having little more than loose ties to any genre, is a record spanning a world of elements. Employing strings, harps and voice samples, it has a cinematic ambience, down-tempo beats being the backdrop of love lost.

Blunt's views on society are brutally upfront, and he points to a current trend where information is mindlessly consumed by youth, carrying fears of becoming obsolete. To paraphrase a quote from an interview with the Guardian: "Man filled with too much information is suggestive of the end of the world." It is perhaps this cynicism and his realistic approach that lends Blunt his boldly sombre charm. Ever an enigma, to predict the contents of Blunt's live show would be hopelessly foolish. The anticipation for his appearance at Soup Kitchen on 28 Mar – presented by FutureEverything – is untouchable. [Edwina Chan]