Winter, it seems, is upon us. Freezing fog, black ice and pummelling hail beckon us into the streets, all the better to mock us as we shuffle towards the dank, unforgiving sound-holes of the city in search of musical salve. There might be a light dusting of snow this month, basically, but is that bullshit going to keep us from February\u2019s live music highlights? Yes. OK, no.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the smaller, lower-key nights that hold the most appeal in Cardiff this month, as \u2013 with the exception of the long-since sold-out JONATHAN RICHMAN<\/strong> shindig in Clwb (28th) the medium-scale and up shows favour duller, worthier fare. The always-excellent ERRORS<\/strong> return once more, their splendidly crunchy, danceable post-rock\/electro ever a treat. Top bill for their Clwb show (13th) where top-drawer Rock Action labelmate REMEMBER REMEMBER<\/strong> and Three Trapped Tigers man TOM ROGERSON<\/strong> support. Errors move on to the Fleece (14th) but y\u2019know, Clwb will be way better. GENTLE FRIENDLY<\/strong> will hopefully make it this time, having pulled their Swn show; the dayglo No Age\/Japanther thump is scrappy, life-afffirming fun (Undertone, 5th), as are awesome brother-sister noise outfit THE HYSTERICAL INJURY<\/strong> (10 Feet Tall, 16th). Denver-based pair GAUNTLET HAIR<\/strong> mine a similar seam to Gentle Friendly, albeit a less euphoric, grubbier one, and should be checked out at Buffalo (18th). Speaking of euphoric, there\u2019s primary-coloured cheeky house fun from Raf Daddy out of THE 2 BEARS<\/strong> at Clwb (16th), where entry is free if you bring a radiator or something; get there early for the witchy Knife-style electronica of FACE + HEEL<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The laudable recent trend for booking return visits for friends of Swn weekends past and present continues, with THOMAS TRUAX<\/strong> (10 Feet Tall, 8th) and his mechanical menagerie back for his 768th Cardiff date, the battering ram two-man hardcore fun of RUN, WALK<\/strong> returning at Buffalo (3rd, or Louisiana, 2nd), promising Barely Regal signees HOLLAND<\/strong> (Undertone, 24th) and folkies both indie-fied (ROSIE TAYLOR PROJECT<\/strong>, 10 Feet Tall, 19th) and Jefferson Airplane fuzzy (HAIGHT-ASHBURY<\/strong>, Gwdihw, 23rd). Indiepop good and less good is back amongst us too, care of the winningly punchy ALLO DARLIN\u2019<\/strong> (Buffalo, 29th and Fleece, 28th) and the tiresome Shrag (Undertone, 25th) who are at least supported by clattering noise-pop kids TUNABUNNY<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Bristol, meanwhile, gets the plaudits for breadth of genre, gig size and eye-catching names this month. There\u2019s an implausibly great-looking rash of shows at the o2 Academy, whose cavernous non-charms welcome LEE \u2018SCRATCH\u2019 PERRY<\/strong> (4th), as focused and on-point as you could reasonably expect at last May\u2019s ATP and with an excellent band to boot; JUSTICE<\/strong> (9th), whose terribly overcooked second album will be bolstered live by their classic material and a shit-hot live show; the fantastically goofy ur-stadium rock of MASTODON<\/strong> (5th), fast becoming the Metallica it\u2019s ok to not push off a cliff; and GZA<\/strong> (18th), possibly the third best living Wu-Tang member and most likely ambling through the best bits of \u2018Liquid Swords\u2019 on a bill with brit-hop lifers SKITZ & RODNEY P<\/strong>. The Academy (20th) and Cardiff Uni (19th) also host the NME Awards Tour, which is worth a punt for METRONOMY<\/strong>\u2019s arch electropop gems and, in particular, the deliciously filthy electro-boosted hip-hop of AZEALIA BANKS<\/strong>. Both will make the rank indie rock losers on the bill look like eternal dullards.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, Bristol has some tidy-looking gems, not least at the Cube. There, MARY HAMPTON<\/strong>\u2019s disquieting subject matter and crystalline vocals make for superbly warped alt-folk which will be a highlight of the month\u2019s listings (11th). The same venue also hosts an ace triple-bill of experimental duos (17th) headlined by Brooklyn\u2019s HIGH PLACES<\/strong>, whose bleached-out psychedelic pop is ably supported by THE HYSTERICAL INJURY<\/strong> and Zun Zun Egui \/ SJ Esau side-project HESOMAGARI<\/strong>. I know, right? Hyper-literate pop polymath MOMUS<\/strong> is at the Cube too (10th), while around the grounds Bristol rounds up varied treats care of beloved agit-folk-punk duo VIALKA<\/strong> (Caf\u00e9 Kino, 17th), the mighty post-hardcore screamalong fun of Leeds nutbars PULLED APART BY HORSES<\/strong> (Fleece, 18th), ex-Cul de Sac man and 12-string picker par excellence GLENN JONES<\/strong> (Arnolfini, 23rd, with SHARRON KRAUS<\/strong>), RM HUBBERT<\/strong>, formerly of unsung Glaswegian post-rock outfit El Hombre Trajeado (seriously, look them up) and now solo (Cube, 2nd with Cardiff\u2019s THINGS MAKE ELECTRIC<\/strong>), STILL CORNERS<\/strong>\u2019 poised detachment and brittle Broadcast melodies (Louisiana, 9th), glorious Fence Records drone-folk from KING CREOSOTE & JON HOPKINS<\/strong> and the fine WITHERED HAND<\/strong> (Fleece, 5th) and the perennially underrated and beautifully crafted pop of FIELD MUSIC<\/strong> (Fleece, 23rd)..<\/p>\n Qu Junktions are back, bringing intriguing and playful experiments in techno from ITAL<\/strong> (formerly of solid Dischord kids Black Eyes, still half of no-wave freaksters Mi Ami) to Bristol\u2019s Take 5 Caf\u00e9 (10th). Diogenes have a couple of excellent shows, with exploratory psych lifers ASHTRAY NAVIGATIONS<\/strong> (Croft, 9th) and slow-crawling doom from PUS<\/strong> and others (Croft, 2nd). Blinding scenes at the Cube (25th); \u201cexperimental tuba trio\u201d ORE<\/strong> offer a wall of numbing low-end and, well, shitloads of whacked-out brass. Come on, that sounds amazing. ANTA<\/strong>, FAIRHORNS<\/strong> and SKJOLBROT<\/strong> make up a corking bill. This month\u2019s obligatory SATURDAY\u2019S KIDS<\/strong> mention: they\u2019re at the Croft on the 16th before a launch gig for the new ‘Grey On White’ 7″ which takes place in the basement of Newport’s Barnabas Arts Centre (23rd).<\/p>\n What have I missed? Not a lot, although I heard DJANGO DJANGO<\/strong>\u2019s assured late-period Beta Band single on the radio this morning and it was pretty good (Cooler, 25th). THE DEATH OF HER MONEY<\/strong> appear with AXIS OF<\/strong> at Buffalo (26th), always good. THE AFTERNOONS<\/strong>, presumably cryogenically frozen since 2001, are back and playing Buffalo (25th); sweet South Walian Sarah Records pop, as I recall. LONEY, DEAR<\/strong> does sad-eyed Swedish melancholia (Louisiana, 19th) and CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH<\/strong>, who must be gutted to be in the round-up, tour their sadly flat recent material at the Thekla (4th). Nice surf one-two at the Cube (4th) with MUSTARD ALLEGRO<\/strong> and HANGMEN<\/strong>, who I should get around to seeing. Gathered In Song have OX<\/strong> playing Le Pub (8th) and FANFARLO<\/strong> do brass-assisted junior Arcade Fire-isms (Thekla, 27th). Think that\u2019s about it. Time for my cocoa.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Winter, it seems, is upon us. Freezing fog, black ice and pummelling hail beckon us into the streets, all the better to mock us as we shuffle towards the dank, unforgiving sound-holes of the city in search of musical salve. There might be a light dusting of snow this month, basically, but is that bullshit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":17171,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2230,458],"tags":[476,469,2227,463],"class_list":["post-17152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-highlights","category-preview","tag-bristol","tag-cardiff","tag-monthly-preview","tag-newport"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonnyjaniero.com\/thejoycollective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonnyjaniero.com\/thejoycollective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonnyjaniero.com\/thejoycollective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonnyjaniero.com\/thejoycollective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonnyjaniero.com\/thejoycollective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jonnyjaniero.com\/thejoycollective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonnyjaniero.com\/thejoycollective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonnyjaniero.com\/thejoycollective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonnyjaniero.com\/thejoycollective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonnyjaniero.com\/thejoycollective\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}