Live Picks (Nov '19): Gig Picks by Sam Gregory
The Italian composer Caterina Barbieri's performance at No Bounds 2019 demonstrated how electronic music can be beatless but intensely rhythmic. Her hour-long odyssey of modular synth patterns the richest sound I've ever heard at a show saw layers of luminescent melodies weave between each other in a restless counterpoint.
On Saturday, the same energies were taken further by avant-garde improviser and cellist Okkyung Lee. Reacting to dizzying top-to-bottom keyboard runs from Liz Kosack, Lee unlocked little eddies and currents of rhythm, whipping them up until seconds later they evaporated. She's also a master at finding unconventional uses for the cello, banging its body or thumping the strings with her bow to add percussive elements.
At a festival with its fair share of four-to-the-floor club music, this was a reminder of the limitless possibilities of rhythm. Find our full coverage of No Bounds 2019 here.
Thu 7 Nov | Shakespeare's | Free
Techno night Groundwork gets in these pages every month because it's a community, not a club night. They've made it to their 25th edition and for November's knees-up the collective welcome Magnetic North boss Lost Cat (hopefully he won't scratch the records) alongside the usual residents.
Fri 8 Nov | Record Junkee | £7
Described by the BBC as a "powerful force to be reckoned with", Sheffield-based songwriter Leonie Sloots has transformed her alt-pop project LIO with the addition of a full band. The group are joined by local guitar pop merchants The Attic Movement and Murder at the Seaside, plus Liverpool five-piece Nikki & The Waves.
Thumbuster / Outdoor Scene / Slouch
Fri 8 Nov | Russell's Bicycle Shed, Neepsend | £3
Catch three of our scene's DIY stalwarts in the unusual setting of a bike shop next to Peddlers. You'll enjoy the soft and chiming guitars of Outdoor Scene and the wide landscapes of Slouch, before things shift up a gear with the heart-on-sleeve emo of Delicious Clam's Thumbuster. BYOB.
Love, Liberation, Infinite Variety
Sat 9 Nov | Heeley Institute | £7.06
A night of cosmic folk, led by England-via-Appalachia singer Sharron Kraus. There's also the mysterious and mononymous Jimmy, Conor Nutt Is Ruining Folk Music (the band name, not my judgement) and Captain Avery, this time with the Transcendent Iguanodons of Void Psychedelia. BYOB.
USA Nails / Yo Dynamo / Harpoon
Sat 9 Nov | Jabbarwocky | £6
To celebrate the cult bar's first birthday, Jabbarwocky invite everything-but-the-kitchen-sink London punks USA Nails. There's also the wild, stop-start bass'n'drum of Yo Dynamo, and "music concrete textures" from Bristol's Tina Hitchens and Aron Ward, aka Harpoon.
Sun 10 Nov | St Andrew's, Psalter Lane | £5 (children free)
Two of the leading lights of the UK's klezmer revival come to Nether Edge as part of the annual St Andrew's Music Festival. Pianist and composer Polina and clarinetist Merlin have been hailed as "the Led Zeppelin of contemporary Yiddish music", incorporating Mediterranean and Russian influences into traditional forms.
Nadim Teimoori / Ruth Goller / Corrie Dick
Wed 13 Nov | The Lescar | £8
Jazz at the Lescar have curated a unique line-up, bringing together three of the UK's foremost improvisers for this one-off gig. There's Dinosaur and Elliot Galvin drummer Corrie Dick, grungy bass from Vula Viel's Ruth Goller, and tenor sax provided by celebrated composer Nadim Teimoori.
Sat 16 Nov | Merlin Theatre | £14.43
Opus and Now Then present one of America's most singular songwriters. Check out our interview in this issue to learn more about Sam Amidon's craft. He's joined by Scottish folk songwriter Rachel Sermanni, who brings her new album So It Turns to the magical setting of the Merlin Theatre.
Thu 21 Nov | Merlin Theatre | £12.98 (£9.86 conc)
Local boy Jim Ghedi is a conduit, using six and twelve-string guitar techniques to allow millennia-old stories of the land beneath our feet to find articulation in his music. He's joined by R.Loomes, whose skeletal songs, not unlike early Cat Power, seem to take flight and levitate in the darkness.
Mon 25 Nov | Leadmill | £12.10
Muscular four-piece Imperial Wax are the last line-up of The Fall, who survived intact for an unprecedented six albums before the death of Mark E. Smith last year. The group have returned phoenix-like under frontman Sam Curran, releasing excellent new material with May's debut Gastwerk Saboteurs.
Opus & Now Then 11 - Amy True + Papa Soul
Sat 30 Nov | Yellow Arch | £11.10
To celebrate this here mag's 11th birthday, we've got a multi-room do at Yellow Arch led by the astonishing Irish-Ugandan rapper and poet Amy True. There's also Sheffield's own Papa Soul and global beats spun by DJs from La Rumba, Apricot Ballroom and Two Left Feet. Come and party with us.
Sat 30 Nov | Theatre Deli | £16.50 (£11 low income, £5 unwaged)
Kickstart your party season in style with a night of queer performance and good times brought to you by Andro & Eve. This 'Shine Like A Diamond Edition' will be hosted by rapper Bad Lay Dee, featuring poet and writer Afshan D'souza-Lodhi and performances by up-and-coming northern queer performers.
