Stereo Jealousy

Gig of the week: Los Campesinos, The Hippodrome, Thursday 4 March

I fell in love with Los Campesinos at The Works in Kingston back in February 2008. This Thursday I return to the scene of the crime (the venue now bears the dreadful moniker The Hippodrome) to witness the band two years and three albums later. No doubt they’ll be excellent, after all all three LPs have their shining moments – their most recent, Romance Is Boring, containing some of their most successfully constructed tunes to date. The show is put on by the incomparable Banquet Records under their New Slang banner, bringing excellent bands to the otherwise barren south west suburbs of London. This year alone they’ve hosted Vampire Weekend, British Sea Power and last week, Blood Red Shoes. If you’re in the area, or even if you’re not, get yourself down here – cheap entry, cheap drinks, cheap thrills.

More centrally there are in-stores from Blood Red Shoes, Scary Mansion and Late of the Pier for those who like their thrills more free than cheap. For those who don’t mind paying don’t look much further than U.S. Girls at Cafe OTO on Monday – another cracker from Upset The Rhythm. Tuesday and Wednesday sees the fucking awesome xx play at Shepherd’s Bush Empire – supported by These New Puritans, who have never really filled my boots – or Esben & The Witch on the latter date. You could also catch Hot Hot Heat - remember them? – at Scala on Tuesday. If you’re not headed down to Kingston on Thursday there’s two spiffing options in town, Jealousy favourites Errors at Scala, and Wild Beasts at Koko. Yet again things dry up towards the end of the week, unless you’re plumping for the corporate cowshed and the Dizzee / Lily hoedown. Whatever you’re up to this week, enjoy – why not let us know about it!

Los Campesinos! – There Are Listed Buildings

Photo: Barry Yanowitz @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC, 12-07

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Gig Of The Week: Dum Dum Girls / MALE BONDING, Barden’s Boudoir, Thursday

A bumper, bumper week sees the return of our weekly gig guide to what’s happening on London’s live music scene. So bumper that I really struggled to pick a single gig – but the one that has come out on top is a cracker. Get yourselves down to Barden’s Boudoir on Thursday night to check out two of legendary label Sub Pop’s latest signings. From LA there is the awesome Dum Dum Girls, playing in advance of their debut full length, I Will Be, due out in March. Playing too are Dalston’s MALE BONDING – who recently rocked as support for the Vivian Girls on home turf at the Trinity Hall, Dalston. Both bring ferocious pace and lo-fi thrills to the party, expect it fast and loud and Barden’s is a great place to watch it unfold.

Sadly I’ll be missing the show in favour of the live return of Brighton’s Blood Red Shoes who play the regular New Slang show out in Kingston. Box Of Secrets was a joy for me, and remains a regular feature on my playlists and I cannot wait to see what their forthcoming sophomore LP, Fire Like This, will bring. Elsewhere, the ongoing rush of the NME Awards shows continues with New Young Pony Club headlining a bill that also includes the excellent Chew Lips and Teeth on Monday at the Islington Academy. Girls at Scala should be a riot too, and if you fancy something a little quieter try the Jagjaguwar showcase at the Windmill, Brixton on Tuesday. Two big shows in support of the ongoing Haiti Earthquake appeal are obviously for a good cause but the line ups are deeply uninspiring.

Brain-melters Ungdomskulen play The Lexington on Thursday – the busiest day of the week. You could also pick Los Campesinos! at Koko, but if like me you like things a bit more intimate – wait a week and catch them at New Slang, Shearwater (Scala), Casiokids (Barfly) or if you like things a but more retro try Pere Ubu at the Garage. Things slow down a bit as the weekend draws near but Friday sees Xiu Xiu rip up the Luminaire which has to be worth a view. If you’ve got nowt to do all day Saturday there’s an excellent one day festival – Owl Parliament – happening at Union Chapel. Featuring  Mount Eerie, Jeremy Walmsley, Aidan Moffat and Darren Hayman amongst others this should be a fantastic day, evening tickets are a little less than all-day ones. Finally, Hot Chip play a couple of nights down at the Brixton Academy.

Dum Dum Girls – Catholicked

Male Bonding – Rehearsal Song

Photo: MALE BONDING. Taken by Sebastián J @ Barden’s Boudoir, 20/12/09

If you’re struggling to find any of the venues listed, they’re all on our map of London’s gig venues and record shops – here. Read on for all our recommendations this week.

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Gig Of The Week: Orbital @ Brixton Academy

Celebrating 20 years of recording activity, the Hartnoll brothers make their indoor live return this month – culminating in a pair of shows at Brixton Academy. The tour is celebrating their entire groundbreaking output, from Chime onwards so expect a thumping catalogue-raiding set and a stage show to singe your eyeballs.

Elsewhere the London scene is coming back to life following its summer slumber. Check out the superb double header at the Queen of Hoxton on Tuesday – Epic45 and Piano Magic should be an excellent evening’s entertainment. There’s an Aphex Twin led bash at Matter this Saturday too, with a strong support line up led by Luke Vibert and Leila. Possibly the mist interesting free gig of the week takes place on Thursday at the lovely Jamm in Brixton, where White Town (remember Your Woman, what a track!) play with Arthur and Martha. See you stageside.

Orbital – The Box

Read on for the week’s recommended gigs across town…

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Gig Of The Week: The Twilight Sad & Factory Floor @ The Lexington

Summer season finally starts to bite, with a much slower week this week. Still, there are still a few great shows dotted around town. The plumb draw has to be The Twilight Sad at the Lexington on Wednesday. The show happens in advance of a month long jaunt around North America, and in support of their new single, I Became A Prostitute, out on Monday. Their support comes from a fantastic London band Factory Floor, whose hypnotic, swirling songs blew Piano Magic off the stage at Barden’s earlier this year.

Otherwise, catch Fucked Up at the relaunched Higbury Garage on Monday – surely a fabulous venue in which to catch such an intense live band. Tuesday sees The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart backed by Hatcham Social at the same venue.

The Twilight Sad – Modern Romance
The Twilight Sad – I Became A Prostitute (video)
Factory Floor – Taxidermist

Photo: Jacob Earl, Metropolis, Montréal, 03.05.08

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Gig Of The Week – Marnie Stern @ The Luminaire

A relatively quiet start to the week soon gives way to a first class end with my undoubted highlight being the appearance of Marnie Stern at Kilburn’s Luminaire on Thursday. The New Yorker has been around town a few times since the release of last year’s excellent This Is It… (which made #5 in my Best of ‘08 list) but I’ve missed her each time. No doubt the intimate venue will be shredded by her awesome guitar work. A few tickets are still available from We Got Tickets.

The week ends with two varied festivals in Clapham and Shoreditch. The two line ups are wildly different, with Ben & Jerry’s sponsored affair on Clapham Common seeing some well established acts like The Human League, Teenage Fanclub and Super Furry Animals lead a solid but slightly anodyne line up. A more of-the-moment line up can be found at Sunday’s 1-2-3-4 Festival taking place in Shoreditch Park, headed up by The Rakes, Patrick Wolf, Chrome Hoof and S.C.U.M. Also in the festival vein the iTunes festival and Somerset House summer series continue, although with slightly less big hitters than the previous week.

Listen:

Marnie Stern – Letters From Rimbaud
Marnie Stern – Vault

Watch:

Marnie Stern – Transformer
Marnie Stern – Ruler

Find out more:

Marnie Stern Myspace / Last.fm / Wikipedia / Label

Photo: Sexy Fitsum

Read on for the rest of the week’s highlights below…

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