Live Music Highlights – May 2011

With his unflappable baritone and rambling lyrical flow, Bill Callahan (formerly Smog) is an enigmatic balladeer very much in the Lee Hazlewood/Leonard Cohen mould, and his show at Glasgow School of Art on 7 May (in support of his cracking new album, Apocalypse) should appeal to anyone hankering for a dose of searching alt-country introspection.

Whilst there’s a slew of hip-hop artists who could justifiably be referred to as legends, none can lay claim to having revolutionised the science of rap in the way that Rakim did in the late 80s. His effortless lyrical dexterity, supremely measured flow and steadfast refusal to play the industry game make his appearance at Glasgow Arches on 9 May a must-see for connoisseurs of the genre.

Hardcore/punk fans take note: Canadian scene darlings Fucked Up will squeeze onto the stage at Edinburgh’s Cabaret Voltaire on 10 May for what promises to be one of the month’s lairiest gigs. With a 78-minute surrealist rock opera due to drop in June, Fucked Up are nothing if not unpredictable – a quality perfectly embodied by the earth-shaking exhortations of lead singer and full-time bearded crazyman, Damian Abraham.

NZ three-piece Die! Die! Die! do a nice line in taut, aggressive post-punk. Sounds so-so on paper but there’s a certain unresolved tension about their music that has seen them fit right in on bills with Slint and Pixies. They play damn hard too. Touring in support of third LP Form, you can see them at Glasgow Captain's Rest on 10 May and Edinburgh Bannermans on 11 May.

Montreal’s Suuns are undoubtedly one of the most promising young bands to have emerged from the robust Canadian scene of late. This year’s Zeroes QC revealed them to be a band of impeccable taste and technique, blending confident, controlled rock moves with noirish electro motifs to sublime effect. Their gig at Glasgow Captain’s Rest on 15 May comes with our highest recommendation.

Instrumental post-rock legends Explosions In The Sky play Edinburgh Picture House on 15 May. Sure, you know what you’re getting into with an EiTS gig, but if undulating seas of gossamer guitar tone are what floats your boat then it doesn’t get much better than this.

Italian avant-sludge weirdos OvO will attempt to level Glasgow’s 13th Note on 16 May using a saucy combo of monkey-in-a-guitar shop drone riffs and Diamanda Galas-in-a-cement mixer vocals. Support comes from recently reassembled shit-kickers Divorce and Gropetown plus solo drones from Hivver. Take yer hard hat.

With a frenetic aesthetic comparable to the likes of Battles and HEALTH, but possessed of a creative sensibility entirely their own, Three Trapped Tigers are making solid progress in dissolving the perceived boundaries between rock and electronic music. Theirs is a three-way scuffle between guitar, synth and drums from which each participant emerges bruised but beaming. Glasgow School of Art 21 May.

Sparrow and the Workshop seem to have some serious momentum behind them right now, and with new single Snakes In The Grass sounding uncannily like Grace Slick fronting The Breeders we’re expecting good things from their new album which is released on 23 May – the same day as their gig at Glasgow’s King Tut’s. Edinburghers can catch them on 24 May at Sneaky Pete’s.

Long overdue a return to these shores, synthesising the freakiest vibrations from bass culture, electro and hip-hop, US sensations Spank Rock take no prisoners in their pursuit of good times and filthy rhymes. Politically correct it ain’t, but you won’t see a more energising live show this month. Glasgow School of Art on 25 May and Edinburgh Cabaret Voltaire on 26 May.

With a sound that takes in surf and wall-of-sound with layovers at rockabilly and mariachi, rousing eight-piece The Bookhouse Boys have all the tools to make their gigs at Stirling Tolbooth (30 May) and Glasgow King Tut's (31 May) go with a bang – a fine way to round out a month of top drawer live shows.