Shamir, On tour
“Yes yes, I’m that guy.” With that line in his great 2014 single On The Regular, Shamir swatted away the notion that his countertenor voice might provide the only surprise available to listeners. As it is, Shamir Bailey, a 20-year-old from Las Vegas, is all about surprise. Former member of a short-lived punk duo, Bailey found a more natural musical fit for his diva-esque voice when he began working in an electronic pop form: ballads, electro and slangy hashtag pop. Not all of it works – cheesy vocal house is what it is – but when he gets the harder electro beats, he displays something like the verve that made Azealia Banks so irresistible four years ago.
The Haunt, Brighton, Sat; The Deaf Institute, Manchester, Tue; XOYO, EC2, Wed
JR
Steve Gunn, On tour
A top-flight guitarist who has played with Kurt Vile, Black Twig Pickers and Hiss Golden Messenger’s MC Taylor, this is on some level a Gunn for hire. On the sly, though, he has used his searching, all-American experimentalism as the architecture from which to hang a terrific solo career. His Time Off album served notice of a growing accomplishment, while 2014’s Way Out Weather feels neither duty-bound to impress with flash, nor shackled by his understanding of classic song modes. Instead, the mood cast by Gunn’s warm acoustic songs and resourceful electric interventions suggests a rural landscape with a well-lit road running through it; somewhere populated with familiar landmarks, but also shot through with modernity and purpose.
JR
Unknown Mortal Orchestra, On tour
In the world of Antipodean psych, the maverick composer is king. While Perth’s Kevin Parker seems happy with the fuzzy, fractal T-shirt-wearing world of wah-wah that he creates with Tame Impala, New Zealand’s Ruban Nielson is on a darker trip, his minor-key melodies and next-level guitar chops suggesting a personality under threat from heavy vibes. Sure enough, the band’s terrific album II from a couple of years ago made them appear like a sadder, weirder White Denim – more Grey Area Denim, arguably. A couple of years’ rest and recuperation has led Nielson to an impressive rethink. Fans of his jams may lament the absence of guitar shred on his new one, Multi-Love, but his weirdness and melody more than happily reside in his new format. It’s a frazzled and compelling take on R&B, one part White Album, one part Frank Ocean.
JR
Bradford Threadfest
Bradford’s Threadfest takes over the Playhouse this year, promising to use all available space, from the auditorium to the bar and function rooms. Taking the Friday night headline slot are Finnish experimental psych rock group Circle, who never do things by the book. In 2013, they decided the weight of expectation from their name was too much, and changed it to Falcon (ex-Circle), before reverting to Circle (ex-Falcon) soon after. Augmenting their heavy rocking antics is Sun City Girls founding member Sir Richard Bishop, the stalwart Michael Chapman (both 23 May), Richard Dawson and Arabrot, who play with spoken-word accompaniment by Quietus co-founder and writer John Doran (both 24 May). There’s also Middlesbrough noise-punk lads Drunk In Hell (23 May), guitar player Dean McPhee, eastern European Gypsy folk group Makanitza (both 24 May), and much more.
Bradford Playhouse, Fri to 24 May
JA
Stefano Bollani, Leeds & Norwich
The Italian pianist Stefano Bollani rarely disguises his fondness for the surreal or his enthusiasm for cavalier deconstructions of respected idioms. But he’s also a virtuoso of formidable eloquence, who loves instrumental tunes that sound sung, and who can build intricate improvisations from introverted beginnings while steadily fuelling pulsing grooves beneath. Bollani has immersed himself in contemporary classical projects, quirky Django Bates-ian world-jazz, free improvisation, old-school swing or ragtime, and wackily perceptive tributes to Frank Zappa, but he has also appeared as a duo partner with some of his finest fellow pianists, including Chick Corea. Here, Bollani performs solo, interpreting memorable songs from all over the world with virtuosity, humour and often captivating tenderness. His pleasure in his work is always infectious.
Howard Assembly Room, Leeds, Thu; Norwich Playhouse, Fri
JF
Welsh National Opera: Peter Pan, Cardiff
Though he is 50 this year, there remains something irrepressibly youthful about Richard Ayres’s approach to composing. For all the sophistication with which his works are put together, they are also playful, with their shocking clashes of style, as well as the quirky scenarios that often accompany them. The artistic intent of his music is serious but its surface can seem teasingly trivial. Who better, then, to write an opera based on one of the most ambiguous of all children’s stories? With a libretto by poet Lavinia Greenlaw, Ayres’s Peter Pan was first staged by the Stuttgart Opera in 2013. This UK premiere is a revised version, and has countertenor Iestyn Morris in the title role.
Wales Millennium Centre, Sat, 23 & 31 May; touring to 31 Jul
AC
