Bruising bass charges pummel the bewildered onlookers. Corrugated noise rips violently from his shrouded rig. A murderous frenzy builds, amorphously mutating, blinding, displacing . . . Nobody is dancing. The message is clear: this is is music to be withstood.

Reimagining three of the original seven acts for the stage, US electronic duo Matmos provide a slick walk-through of Robert Ashley’s ‘Perfect Lives’.

Determined to counter the political apathy that sparked the whole brouhaha, Barton and his TotS bandmates responded with Unity, a day of live music to raise some cash for anti-hatred organisation Hope Not Hate. Dave Brooks made his way down to Stamford Hill’s New River Studios to check out their headline set.

Dave Brooks went to the Coronet Theatre in London to see Godspeed You! Black Emperor. “It’s a masterful performance: captivating, intoxicating, and frankly unmissable.”

Dave Brooks saw MONEY at the Battersea Arts Centre in London. “The audience are left with little more than dogged strums and prolonged cries of anguished self-abandonment. For such a melancholic ending, it’s stunningly cathartic.”

Dave Brooks saw the Jonny Greenwood-influenced experimental saxophone quartet Kaleidoscope launch their debut album ‘Oil’ in London. “There are a lot of good minds in and around this quartet, and Kaleidoscope could take their project in any number of directions.”

Gaz Cloud, Charlie Gardner and Dave Brooks attended this year’s HRH Prog Festival. Read their extensive coverage, which includes photos taken by Charlie as well.

Dave Brooks saw Ty Segall & The Muggers at the O2 Forum Kentish Town. “Ty Segall may have lured in the armchair surfpunks with his juvenile frolics, but it’s his prodigal talent that’ll keep ‘em coming back for years to come. Brixton awaits.”

Determined to tip cap to the luminaries, it falls short on both intrigue and assertion. By Dave Brooks

Dave Brooks saw anarcho-punks Bad Breeding at The Old Blue Last in London. “Bad Breeding have plenty to be angry about; but as one of Britain’s most exciting political acts they can take great pride in the way they’re challenging Westminster’s thoroughbred negligence.”

At the recent HRH Prog festival Dave Brooks caught up with Khaled Lowe (guitars/vocals) and James Gomez Arellano (drums/percussion) from Messenger to tell Dave how forgotten family, lost heroes and a few new additions have helped shape their second album ‘Threnodies’.

At the recent HRH Prog festival David Brooks caught up with Bojan Preradovic and Gorgin Asadi from Empty Yard Experiment to ask them about creating a scene in one of the world’s most transient cultural landscapes, their plans to follow up 2014’s critically-acclaimed album ‘Kallisti’, and the best soundtrack to a good floss.