Gengahr, On tour
While indie bands traditionally enjoy their freedoms, Gengahr relish their self-imposed limits. Although fans of noisy textures, they’re never ones to quite let rip. Rather, Felix Busche and his London band operate in a more abstract fashion; they have evolved to the point where they never fire their big guns. In this respect they slightly resemble the roads taken by Tame Impala or Unknown Mortal Orchestra, ex-shredders who now shift focus to their voices. Gengahr’s eccentricities can come over a little slick, but as the likes of the Maccabees and Alt-J have shown, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Komedia, Brighton, Tue; Exchange, Bristol, Wed; Scala, N1, Thu; touring to 21 Oct
JR
PJ Harvey, London
After years spent singing about the human heart as a battleground, for the last decade or so Polly Harvey has done something like the opposite: contriving to make the geopolitical personal, a process that culminated in Let England Shake, her magnificent 2011 album. Interestingly, one of her key collaborators on that record was non-musical: the war photographer Seamus Murphy, who made accompanying films for each track. Their collaboration has continued through Harvey’s recent Recording In Progress, in which she recorded a new album in a gallery context, and now The Hollow Of The Hand, a collaborative volume of poetry. The book is the result of material gathered during journeys to Kosovo, Afghanistan and Washington DC, and this evening will contain readings, films and songs. For these, Harvey will be assisted by her long-time collaborator John Parish and Gallon Drunk frontman James Johnston.
Royal Festival Hall, SE1, Fri & 10 Oct
JR
Low, On tour
A band whose music has historically been filled with dramatic pauses and proceeded at a stately pace, shortly after their formation Low were granted entry to the very serious 1990s micro-genre of slowcore. Sure enough, the band’s progress has not been rapid, either, with their music enjoyed not so much by crowds as faithful congregations, and met with the kind of hush and quiet joy also found in the music itself. Change in the band’s work has been subtle, with records such as The Great Destroyer (2005) and C’Mon (2011) proving particular highpoints in an impressive catalogue. Their latest, Ones And Sixes (recorded at Bon Iver’s studio) is fractionally crunchier, and continues to spread the word about the trio’s dynamics and the harmonies of married couple Mimi (drums) and Alan Sparhawk (guitar).
Manchester Cathedral, Wed; Glasgow Art School, Thu, touring to 10 Oct
JR
Tusk Festival, Gateshead
An unsung hero among UK festivals, Tusk trumps the competition by taking risks on a compact lineup where every act – be it noise, improv, or traditional music from other continents – is unmissable. This year, it’s bringing over Burkina Faso’s Baba Commandant; ex-Wolf Eyes member (and contact-mic gobbler) Aaron Dilloway; and Egyptian chaabi producer Maurice Louca. Sunn O))) founder and lover of loud guitar drones Stephen O’Malley inaugurates a new collaboration with Richard Pinhas; and catch a rare blast from drums-and-sax formation Sax Ruins. Tusk also wins for having a schedule that’s low on clashes, so while there’s chaos and overload on stage, there’s no risk of audience burn-out.
JA
Snarky Puppy, On tour
With the biggest London gig in their decade of life at the 5,000-seater Hammersmith Apollo on this tour, US jazz-fusion collective Snarky Puppy add yet another landmark to a list that already includes a best R&B Grammy, accolades from critics and the fans they endlessly find time for, and a raft of sold-out shows worldwide which they’ve often promoted solely by their own vivacious efforts. Snarky Puppy are floorshakingly danceable, soulful and deviously jazzy, but they took an ambitious new step on this year’s Sylva, a release made in collaboration with Holland’s Metropole Orkest. Composer and bandleader Michael League made that album a refined and cohesive orchestral suite rather than a collection of quirky groove vehicles, but he’s likely to emphasise the latter qualities on this trip.
JF
Richard Ayres, London
Though the UK premiere of his Peter Pan by Welsh National Opera earlier this year nudged him slightly closer to the mainstream, Richard Ayres remains a bit of an outsider as far as British new music is concerned. Cornish-born Ayres has lived in the Netherlands for more than a quarter of a century, and his quirky music, gleefully eclectic and complete with its own mythology, was attracting attention at festivals across Europe long before it made an impact on this side of the North Sea. It’s only in the last 10 years or so that Ayres has started to receive regular performances, and even a few commissions. The latest of those, marking his 50th birthday this year, comes from the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Ilan Volkov conducts the premiere of Ayres’s No 48 (all his pieces are numerically titled) as the centrepiece of a programme that includes Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Schubert and Haydn.
AC
