O2 Love Music Column – April 2014

Aussie indie-dance remix aficionados Cut Copy have been touring since December 2013 off the back of fourth LP Free Your Mind, and the final European leg pulls up at the O2 ABC on Saturday 12 Apr. Being led by DJ Dan Whitford, their sound can be deliciously electronic (a grab-bag of worldbeat, house, and disco), but on stage they’re as instrumental as they come. Equally adept at blending electro with guitars is support act RÜFÜS, also from Down Under; together they ensure a pretty danceable bill. This is actually their only Scottish date – and one of only three UK stops – so forgive us for being presumptuous, but that’s your Saturday sorted.

The next day you can cut loose with two thirds of hip-hop act Dilated Peoples, with DJ Babu & Rakaa bringing the Expansion Team Soundsystem (O2 ABC, Sun 13 Apr). Babu is a prolific DJ and producer (you might know him better as The Turntablist), responsible for numerous studio albums under his own name but also adding polish to the Peoples’ output. He’ll be providing his sturdy jazz-influenced loops ‘n’ samples to rapper Rakaa Iriescence’s galvanising hooks.

You probably can’t get funkier than George Clinton and his myriad ministers of hip-gyrating soul Parliament Funkadelic (or P-Funk, if you’re in a hurry to get down; catch them at the O2 ABC, Fri 18 Apr). A septagenarian he may be, but his rainbow dreads and gravelly baritone are as vibrant as they were in his 70s heyday. Of course, P-Funk is the union of Clinton's two most incendiary projects, rebranded as different types of funk as the genre evolved over decades. Long story short, Dr Funkenstein pioneered his own movement, producing one of the most extensively sampled catalogues in the biz, and he’s still shaking things up with freaky live shows and crowd-churning theatrics.

Restoring some dub stylings to the O2 ABC’s bill this month are Horace Andy & Dub Asante (Mon 21 Apr), featuring the inimatable brass virtuosity of Henry Tenyue aka Matic Horns. All together that’s a hefty night of legends, each with extensive work to their names. Horace Andy in particular is known for being the only artist to have collaborated with the mighty Massive Attack on all five of their albums, although that’s not to say his 39-strong album portfolio since his 1972 debut Skylarking isn’t worth mentioning either.

And so we move from indie, hip-hop, funk, and roots, to a whole bloody day of punk rock. Scotland Calling takes over the O2 ABC (Sat 26 Apr, 1-10pm), boasting a jam-packed lineup from lunch ‘til late. Witness punk pioneers The Damned, the riotous Angelic Upstarts, thrashy Durhamites Penetration, street punks GBH, local Paisley boys Fire Exit, and many more, a good crop of them significant figures in the emerging 1970s UK punk scene. If your voice isn’t hoarse and your trainers worn through by the end of the night, you just aren't skanking right. [George Sully]