Panda Bear, London
A surprise name to spot among the likes of Giorgio Moroder and Pharrell on the last Daft Punk album, it looked at first as if Panda Bear had performed an audio equivalent of a photo bomb. As it turned out, the duo were simply the latest to embrace the talents of Noah Lennox, best known as a part of electronica band Animal Collective. As a solo artist, Lennox’s highlights include Person Pitch, a record in which Beach Boys harmonies are taken to a hall of mirrors, and his latest, Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper, in which electronics churn, while he delivers songs of great tenderness and accomplishment.
Electric Brixton, SW2, Wed
JR
Slaves, On tour
As Royal Blood are to metal, so Slaves are to punk. From the bare necessities of the duo format – guitar, drums, voice – the band have dug out a niche on a major label, with high-end production making their limited palette sound as dynamic as possible. So far, so good. But they fare less well in the grittiness stakes - imagine a cross between Ant & Dec and Rancid and you might get close to the sort of social realism achieved by Laurie Vincent and Isaac Holman, a duo from that hotbed of gritty social realism, Royal Tunbridge Wells. They’re playing as part of this year’s NME tour and higher up the bill, you’ll find the self-destructive baggy rock of the Fat White Family and 2014 hopefuls Palma Violets, who occupy an inspiring melodic space somewhere between the Cribs and the Cribs.
JR
Underworld, On tour
A little over 20 years ago, a band comprising an electronic musician with good taste (Rick Smith) and a guitarist and singer (Karl Hyde) had a dance music revelation. Rather than terminating their floundering project, they received a shot in the arm, via the intervention of the considerably younger DJ Darren Emerson, who rebooted the pair’s melodic talent with ideas from techno culture. These warm but pounding electronic tunes, with Hyde’s lyrics patched in from overheard conversations on trains, evolved into Dubnobass-withmyheadman, lately given box-set treatment with bells, whistles, and remixes, which the band are touring here. A thoughtful and nuanced record from a genre which was thought only to trade in extremes, the album kickstarted the group’s upsurge to ubiquity, and gave the world something which, with hindsight, sounds like the OK Computer of dance.
JR
LEAF Festival, London
Taking place in a 19th-century warehouse originally built as a safe storage unit for luxury items arriving from the new world, the LEAF festival offers a more cerebral take on electronic music. Curated by Rob Da Bank, its programme includes live performances, discussions, special commissions and, of course, a club night. Friday’s key musical draws include 808 State, who will be performing their 1989 acid classic Ninety, plus Modeselektor and Kate Simko with the London Electronic Orchestra, playing classical and electronic soundscapes. Discussions occur in equal measure to shows, with Nile Rodgers, members of the Ninja Tune roster, set designers Arcadia, drum’n’bass label RAM records, and the Black Butter label all in conversation. After all that brain stimulation, the closing club night will go off with a bang, featuring house, minimal techno and tech-house sets from DJ Harvey, Sasha, Luciano and more.
Tobacco Dock, E1, Fri to 7 Mar
JA
Bristol International Jazz & Blues Festival
The organisers of Bristol’s International Jazz & Blues festival have quickly grown pretty deft at shoehorning a lot of history into three packed days: classy saxist Andy Sheppard (7 & 8 Mar), rising vocal star Alice Zawadzki (7 Mar), and enduring piano superstar Dr John (8 Mar) are part of a diverse bill next weekend. Friday’s opening night at the Colston Hall features a suitably eclectic outfit in Paradox Ensemble, a group which joins the rich harmonies of a swing big band to contemporary electronics. Led by trumpeter and electronicist Nick Walters, they have a tightly hip rhythm section, and an exciting horn line.
Various venues, Fri to 8 Mar
JF
Matthias Pintscher, Glasgow
Since he became the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s first artist-in-association in 2010, Matthias Pintscher has added an extra, unexpectedly varied strand to the ensemble’s concert-giving. Though there has been a sprinkling of the German-born, New York-based composer-conductor’s own works (several of them new to the UK) in his programmes, Pintscher has also conducted a wide range of other music, both standard orchestral repertoire and by his contemporaries. This latest Glasgow programme – with free tickets still available – is typical of his eclectic programming. It includes a contemporary classic in Pierre Boulez’s ... explosante-fixe ..., along with a UK premiere of horn concerto Hawk-eye, by Slovenian-born Vito Žuraj. The Serbian Marko Nikodijevic’s Cvetic, Kucica, starts off proceedings.
Concert Halls, Sat
AC
