Matthew Dear’s Big Hands
Smart Bar, Chicago, Oct 26: “Maybe it's his rugged good looks, but in retrospect, Matthew Dear always seemed destined to front a band. In 2007, Dear recruited a bassist and drummer (his Big Hands) to take the avant pop of Asa Breed live, and on a grand scale too: Dear & co spent their summer on a club date and festival world tour. They returned to the U.S. as road-tested veterans, able to play tracks straight through or pursue experimental detours without batting an eye. Although by his own admission Dear is not much of a singer, live he was most convincing when behind the mic, teasing nuances out Asa Breed tracks in a low baritone comparable to Alan Vega or David Gahan. In fact, I caught Matthew Dear's Big Hands three times this year, even twice on the same night. Each time they were impressive—obviously there is much more going on here than good looks alone.” – Steve Mizek

Primavera Sound, Barcelona, June 2: “John Stanier strikes the cymbal that towers six feet above his iconic yellow drum kit, and David Konopka puts out a hand to stop it, without looking up from the intricate guitar riff he continues to pick out. This moment encapsulates Battles live: precise, premeditated yet seemingly spontaneous, and all about the performance. On stage, the faceless, alien math-rock of their debut album for Warp, Mirrored, is brought to life by virtuoso turns. Instruments are played, sampled and treated beyond recognition—not least Tyondai Braxton's otherworldly vocals—and all with a fierce kintetic energy that leaves audiences spellbound. Hypnotic, robotic, but with a pulsing, human heart, Battles are the best crossover act performing today. – James Glazebrook

Koko, London, Oct 25: “Enter Justice. They may be the most successful export from Ed Banger, the Parisian home of maximal house, but the sheer balls-out rockiness of their breakthrough album † owes more to heavy metal. They’ve so completely co-opted the genre’s imagery (gothic logo, black leather, hair) that, to the uninitiated, their live show looks like a satanic mass. As the thunderous double bass drums of ‘Genesis’ give way to feedback squalls, a falling curtain reveals two huge stacks of Marshall amps flanking the iconic glowing cross—as fans lucky enough to pick up identical neon talismans at the door raise them in the air. Over the next hour, Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay’s speaker-testing mash-up of their dirtiest, glitchiest and funkiest moments is met with pumped fists, devil’s horns and heads-down moshing. A new indie disco high is reached when the French duo loop the sirens of Klaxon’s ‘Atlantis to Interzone’ over their own anthem ‘We Are Your Friends’, and a sweaty oik slam dancing nearby screams: “JUSTICE ROCKS!” – James Glazebrook

Fabric, London, 20 October: “2006 was their coming out party, but 2007 was the year Cobblestone Jazz firmly took center stage, as their headlining spot at Fabric’s Birthday Weekend confirmed. Armed with a Roland SH-101 synthesiser, a Rhodes Piano, a Roland SVC-350 Vocoder, samples and drum machines, Jonson, Tate and Dhula built up their groove slowly, finding extra space in familiar tracks from 23 Seconds for keyboard solos, ambient interludes and percussive jamming. Like their name suggests, Cobblestone is improvised in the jazz sense, and much more live-sounding than you’d expect: Tate’s keys and vocodered vocals were fully live, while Jonson—taking his cues from his solo setup—concentrated on drum programming and mixing loops. There was also a sense that they were feeding off the energy of the crowd, and the enthusiasm of each other. This is music that creeps up on you, stirring the emotions. Layers are added, tempos shift, the driving bass lines kick in and before you know it you’re deep in hands in the air territory not knowing quite how you got there, but loving every minute of it. With a North American tour on the cards, plus a host of remixes in the works for 2008, world domination can’t be far off.” - Angus Dawson