Artists I liked

Xenia Pestova, British Sea Power x4, The Blinders, Sorry (previously Fish), Phobophobes, Peluché, Harpo Smith, Nadine Shah, Seán McGowan, Pumarosa, Novella, Average Sex, Thurston Moore, Hand Habits

Artists that were okay

Shawn James, Blue House, Sophie Hutchings, Arthur Lea, Lorenzo Masotto, Rose Elinor Dougall, Vinyl Staircase, Sam Rabin, Ten Tonnes, Karen Elson, Maxïmo Park, Dhrala, Amber Arcades, Sugar Candy Mountain

Artists I won’t be going out of my way to see again

Britain

Best Gig

British Sea Power took me on a mini tour of the UK. As always, they were excellent. Nadine Shah returned with a fantastic new sound. My highlight though, was the excellent Pumarosa at the Oval Space.

Best new band

There was no outstanding new band this month.

Albums of the Month

• Rock N Roll Consciousness – Thurston Moore

Best photo

Sunday’s lineup looked pretty good and the rain forecast earlier in the week failed to show. So I decided to head back into London to catch some really good performances.

First up was Rozi Plain. I’d heard some positive noises about her and although pleasant. Sh

Next up was Wesley Gonzalez featuring the lovely Rose Elinor Dougall on keys. I have to admit, although he put in a decent performance, I didn’t overly enjoy the music

The next act I caught was Seamus Fogarty who I quiet enjoyed. Just a guy, guitar and warm personality.

Meilyr Jones used to be the lead singer of Race Horses, a band I’d seen a few times. I’d heard his first solo single and it didn’t exit me. But this afternoon, playing live, his material seemed so much more interesting. Greatly helped by his great performance.

I saw Happyness earlier in the year. They’re enjoyable

I’ve seen Stealing Sheep several times. They’re really good value. Their first album had lots of odd instruments. Disappointingly, this was a conventional performance, more suited to a festival. But they’re good fun and worth catching.

Closing the show was Wave Pictures who I’d seen a few years ago. I wasn’t won over last time. Tonight I enjoyed the performance, but again, they didn’t win me over.