5 things I'm excited about (in chronological order)

You must have seen already, on more than a few red buses, that Bon Jovi are coming to town (shoot, and I lost the Bon Jovi - The Boys Are Back T-shirt I wore in high-school...). Given my lack of money and patience to wait until July (if by now you don't know I'm kidding, here it is - I'm kidding), I decided to focus on a handful of less glamorous shindigs that will rattle and shake London in the next couple of months. If not due to the crowds swarming, at least thanks to their daring palette of temperamental post punk and whip-smart electronica.

Savages (21/2, Electric Ballroom) Critics have been raving about this all-girl post punk tornado in their new-band-in-town columns. Tracks like City's Full and Husbands (take a whiff at www.savagesband.com), evoking most notably Siouxsie Sioux, The Pop Group and Joy Division, are sure worth it; but nothing will convince you more than a live soundwave of all-embracing power, sexuality, fury and darkness. Them and Skinny Girl Diet (another irresistibly menacing young quartet, only a lot rougher around the edges) are the coolest all-girl ensembles I've seen in longer than a while.

Pioneers of Electronic Music (6-17/3/13, various venues) Nonclassical, a music label with a knack for both musically and mentally tantalizing events, got into quite some trouble to put together an 11-day electronic extravaganza that uncovers the "mavericks, machines, heroes and heroines that helped shape modern music". Keep your eyes and ears open for new additions and updates (www.nonclassical.co.uk), that will come to enhance an already multifaceted agenda of live music, talks, workshops, film and dj sets. Build your own synthesizer (in the Dirty Electronics Synth Lab), follow the life and times of great American innovator Raymond Scott (in the documentary Deconstructing Dad), join Varese and Stockhausen (in spirit, at least), as well as a 30-strong electronic ensemble for some visionary music at Xoyo. If you 're into electronic invention, there will never be a dull moment in this festival.

Mouth to Mouth (4/4/13, Koko) Apart from giving us the mind-blowing The Seer, the past year, Swans' Michael Gira concocted this refreshingly heterogeneous festival, which he will headline along with his team of musically manic friends. A first one for Gira, who aspired at an eclectic bouquet of cinematic dreamers, ambient experimentalists and relentless noise-makers that can challenge and broaden our sonic spectrum. Hence the line-up that sees Mercury Rev's Cinematic Silent Sound Tettix Wave Ensemble, Ben Frost, Xiu Xiu and Grouper follow Swans' lead, in a much anticipated event that both Gira and i hope we'll see for a few years to come.

The Soft Moon (16/4/13, O2 Academy Islington) More post punk coming our way, this time by an all-boy San Franciscan quintet, more electronically-oriented and charmingly autistic than that of our above savage girlfriends. The seductive darkwave chords, experimentation and imagery are definitely there, as are the old familiar synths, but these guys also leave space for some forward-thinking electro-twists. Check out a bunch of gorgeously avant garde videos at www.thesoftmoon.com in preparation.

  I'll Be Your Mirror (4/5/13, Ally Pally) Always an event of stature for the idiosyncratic, guitar-loving music adventurer, this year's I'll Be Your Mirror is curated by arty disco screamers Yeah Yeah Yeahs, a few days after their long-anticipated fourth album Mosquito hits the stalls. The sex beat will be high - with the usual crazy antics and outfits of Karen O, the blues cannibalism of Jon Spencer and his Blues Explosion and the smooth eroticism of Dirty Beaches. Among the rest of the guests (The Field, Anika, King Khan & The Shrines), my own personal highlight is former Bad Seed Mick Harvey performing the music of top French provocateur Serge Gainsbourg. Though at this price (£ 64.90 with the fees, mind you) I'll have to drop all of the above in order to attend. Well, I can live without the Yeah Yeah Yeahs... I do feel a little twinge about missing Mr Spencer. But I could never, ever miss a sonic avalanche by the likes of Michael Gira.

Text by Danai Molocha, photography borrowed from the kind users of the web.

Sonic glimpses @ Shepherd's Bush Empire

Alt-J 18 & 19/1 Trusting the hype is not a wise thing to do; though I have to say Mercury Prize winners rarely disappoint (unlike the MTV Awards, or even the Grammys). As the 2012 Mercury favorites (thanks to their refreshing debut An Awesome Wave) Alt-J were both worthy of the prize and the hype. Letting go of the fact that their fans seemed more scatterbrained champions of the latter, than thoughtful lovers of the former, those two nights at the Empire, I shot my attention straight to the stage. The band was humble, the songs equally sophisticated and entertaining - and sexy, ooh yeah (never to be underestimated). I couldn't quite stand the melodic romanticism of their catchy hit Matilda, that intoxicated the crowd, but I did love the sinister vocal rollercoaster of Breezeblocks, the sensual breeze of Tessellate and the menacing goose-bumps of Fitzpleasure. An Awesome Wave, that was...
Blood Red Shoes 22/1 An unexpectedly loud gig - given that BRS are your average (meaning in volume levels) alternative rock band. Opening with Wet Nuns and Rolo Tomassi, the night was filled early on with a splitting (in a good way) buzz, only for the headliners to take it up from there with their probably best record to date. In all honesty, I haven't spent tons of time on the Brighton band, but it was still obvious that along with the release of their ambitious third album In Time To Voices came a new-found musicality, which beautifully punctuated the noise. It hadn't always been obvious on record but, on stage, it was ours for the taking.

Review by Danai Molocha, photography from the web search.

Red Hot Opera @ The Battersea Barge

Positively red

13-1-13

As performer and creator of the crossover euphoria that is Red Hot Opera, Kate Radmilovic has a clear vision of what her next show is going to amalgamate: Pop and musical, humor and sensuality, the odd minor key against those exceptionally high notes she handles so well. "Joy, good fortune, the positive shades of red", she asserts.
Just another crossover opera show? No.

Shooting in the East London streets a week before the big show.

From Il Divo and Katherine Jenkins to Alfie Boe, we've seen our share of those. This time round the multi-tasking soprano wants to focus on her future, which mostly involves vocal jazz lessons and Nina Simone covers.
More contemporary than opera crossover, with the accent on acting rather than plain singing, the new RHO show finds a twist in every sonic plot. As if to affirm Radmilovic's commanding grip on this new musical and personal direction, the cast brings two women opposite one man; it's girl power all the way.
A week before the show, the Red Hot cast are up and running, shooting and recording in, out and about the Old Street studios they chose as a base. Radmilovic and established musical director, composer and pianist Charles Miller have been fervently working on it for the last few months, rearranging melodies, developing original ideas, and later also fusing spirited choreography and new collaborators in the continuously evolving mix. There's never enough time. Somewhere between the red and the hot, Miller's own music (Red Red Red, in collaboration with lyricist Maura Matlak) and Leonard Bernstein, one can trace some melancholy notes; Tina Turner flirts with Cole Porter and Celine Dion hangs out with Albinoni. It's Radmilovic and Miller's job to melt these contrasts into one gracefully eclectic mix.

Fast forward a week later. The live rendez-vous is at the Battersea Barge, strategically anchored for the mirthful and the musically romantic on the Thames. Atmospheric, cozy and tight, it accommodates a line of tables along its' belly, barely leaving any space for the waiter to squeeze in aromatic dishes and wines. Nobody seems to mind.

  The show opens with a statement: Nina Simone's Feeling Good newly arranged by Miller - an advantageous introduction of the starring trio. Radmilovic is in company of tenor Elliot Harper and soprano Katy Treharne, all three of which have at some point shined at West End's Phantom of the Opera. Bernstein's We Are Women (from the operetta Candide) later finds the two ladies exchanging an exuberant vocal dialogue, accessorized with red and black boas. All three eventually get their solos, in alternation with duos and intriguing menages a trois, the latter ones responsible for some of the perkiest moments on stage. If high, emotive notes are what Radmilovic does best, exaggerated farce doesn't follow far behind. Unafraid to take up the role of the jealous gal, often retreating at the back of the stage, she ultimately wins the crowd over with a series of comically devious looks.
From  Stephen Sondheim's That'll Show Him (from A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum) to Celine Dion's All Coming Back To Me, Red Hot Opera equally plays, feels, dances, or bares its performers opposite the viewer. Chicago favourite All That Jazz gets a sinister make-over, Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now turns into a duo, while Tina Turner's What's Love Got To Do With It becomes generously  sentimental in a Radmilovic solo.
So where does the word opera fit in all this? Apart from the obvious - Albinoni's Anytime Anywhere (arranged by Sarah Brightman) and a popular opera medley (arranged, once more, by the charismatic Miller), it feeds the trio's technical expertise. Their knack for epic notes creeps in among the poppiest of interpretations. Despite RHO's new-found lightness, it's operatic theory (and practice) that dictate elegance over saucy cabaret, romantic games over erotic provocation. The shades of red are more luscious than aggressive. But even though the sonic palette remains playfully romantic on the surface, there's still plenty of burning passion in the deliveries behind it.

 

Review and live photography by Danai Molocha

Big Sexy Noise, The Amusiacs, The Cesarians @ The Lexington

XXXmas special

28/12/12

The Cesarians

Lydia meets The Amusiacs

 

The Black Keys @ O2 Arena

My own private blues burns

12-12-12

A big, impersonal arena, temple of advertising: Number 1 in the list of most inappropriate places to play for a band burning with rhythm and desire (for the blues beat). But I was there, totally incapable of escaping a Black Keys gig, my second one this year after February's Ally Pally magic.
The Maccabees, who opened, weren't half bad for one of those currently hit bands that everyone's been talking about. But nothing too exciting either.
The Black Keys though..
Kicking it off with Howlin' For You and working their way into our veins, dripping with rock'n'roll, via Next Girl, Run Right Back (what a song!), Little Black Submarines and Strange Times, the Ohio duo and their band mates got us off our seats (what is anybody doing ON a sit in a Black Keys gig, that, I'll never know) pretty much in the first few minutes.

Rarely do I ever come across a band with such powerful, heartfelt musicality and disarmingly mature, knowing sexuality. The thousands of fans cheering nuts kind of felt out of place -as much as the Keys deserved it-, so utterly superfluous opposite a bunch bursting with blues lust. This is no Britney Spears. Better sweat it out dancing, I say. Music here matters more than chart-topping stars... Even though I suspect they didn't actually mind the recognition (and I loved giving it to them, just not in such a high-pitched, god-worshiping voice). And the polka-dot light-show was worth the space and the cash.
I wish I see them in a hot blues basement next, where I can dance and feel part of their electric storm, touch and mingle and sing with the crowd without over-priced beer, VIP lounges and supersized advertising killing my buzz - and my view.
I'll follow this band anywhere. But I really, really hope they don't take me back to the O2...

Review and live photography by Danai Molocha.