Concert pitch: Hackney’s gig guide for February ’18
Syrian singer Omar Souleyman plays Oval Space next month. Photograph: Stuart Sevastos / Wikimedia Commons
7 February: Omar Souleyman @ Oval Space
29-32 The Oval, E2 9DT
On stage at one of his one of his 500+ performances at Syrian weddings, Omar Souleyman could never have dreamed of the status and acclaim he’s achieved worldwide – he told The Guardian in 2015 that “I never thought I’d be able to sing outside of Syria, especially for an audience that can’t understand the lyrics.” His sage lyrics of love and loss (revealed through translation from Kurdish and Arabic) are one thing, but his maximalist combination of pumping beats, and the double-blow of insistency delivered by his keening voice and speed-demon keyboard parts (often pitch-bent so it sounds like a microtonal Arabian instrument), is surely what captured the hearts and feet of western listeners. Souleyman has played Glastonbury and, closer to home, the final Victoria Park-based Field Day, and has collaborated with Björk, Four Tet and other influential artists – hence this berth at the ultra-cool Oval Space.
22 February: Nabihah Iqbal @ Archspace
339-340 Acton Mews, E8 4EA
Nabihah Iqbal, fka Throwing Shade
Every other Tuesday, Nabihah Iqbal hops in to the NTS studio in Gillett Square and dispenses an hour of the music she loves – mostly on a soul tip, but with plenty of time and space for bangers and curiosities from around the world. (She charted the development of her catholic taste in a recent CRACK magazine feature.) However, Iqbal’s debut solo effort Weighing of the Heart, for electronica pioneers Ninja Tune (Amon Tobin, Mr. Scruff, The Bug) is focused on the kind of twinkling synths and chorused guitar that seems so right to stick on when you’re cruising on the night bus. Standout track ‘Zone 1 to 6000′ is particularly suited to this milieu – in a clipped spoken rap à la Pet Shop Boys’ ‘West End Girls’, Iqbal toasts the hard-won freedom of the weekend. Having cast aside her previous moniker, Throwing Shade, Iqbal visits Haggerston’s Archspace – the railway arch with a burgeoning clubbing reputation – on the 22nd.
23 February: DJ Luck and MC Neat @ Mick’s Garage
Queens Yard, E9 5EN
DJ Luck and MC Neat’s best-remembered UK Garage tune, 2002’s ‘A Little Bit Of Luck’, is economical with its lyrics (there are basically four different phrases in the song), but what is there has come up for intense debate. On misheard lyric site amiright.com, the line “Hollerin’ the rinsin’ sound” has been interpreted in 29 different ways, from “Aluminium mince and salt” to the plaintive “I don’t want to rinse with soap”. Their rinsin’ sound is no joke though – for example, despite coming late to the competition, the duo were part of the UKG All Stars that defeated hot favourites Eskimo Dance (who had Wiley at the helm and guests like Stormzy and Lethal Bizzle in the wings) in the 2016 Red Bull Culture Clash at the O2. With DJ Luck’s dubplate wizardry and Neat’s reggae MC experience driving the team on, they finished second overall. Mick’s Garage in Hackney Wick is a slightly lower-key arena, but no doubt these two crate-digging veterans will make an equally strong case for the vitality of UK Garage there (although bassline, house and more will be repped on the undercard) – plus how often do you get to see Garage in an actual garage?
26 February: Chain and the Gang @ OSLO
1A Amhurst Rd, E8 1LL
Chain and the Gang’s leader and US punk legend, Ian Svenonius
Ian Svenonius has spent three decades mixing rabble-rousing left-wing politics with the violence, sex and humour of rock and roll. This show at OSLO in Hackney Central comes 30 years, almost to the day, after the formation of The Nation of Ulysses, his contribution to the Washington D.C. punk scene that has come to be regarded as every bit as foundational as the genre’s 70s London and New York iterations. Since then Svenonius has tried his hand at party-punk (The Make-Up), founded various solo projects, and has authored three books – his fantastic handbook Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock ‘n’ Roll Group is a distillation of his thoughts on the potential of rock music in a capitalist society, passed through filters of cynical comedy and fake seances with late rock gods. His main concern nowadays is Chain and the Gang – musically even more explicitly indebted to rock history, Svenonius’ wit and spleen remains present at the core.
27 February: Sean Nicholas Savage @ The Victoria
451 Queensbridge Rd, E8 3AS
For every Montreal act that punctures the international consciousness, there seems to also be a heartening tale of a scene done good – from the family tree of indie bands that gained success in the wake of Arcade Fire’s Funeral, to Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s collective approach to post-rock. Sean Nicholas Savage emerged from the most recent creative bubble in Quebec’s main city, when shows at now-defunct creative space Lab Synthèse provided the blueprint for spin-off label Arbutus Records’ roster, the original home of global megastar Grimes. Savage’s music is several degrees less hyperactive than hers – recent album Yummycoma opens with harp, piano and birdsong – but his more uptempo numbers gain propulsion from Prefab Sprout-esque guitar lines and nods to soft rock. Fans of Mac DeMarco, Connan Mockasin or Mild High Club will find plenty to bliss them out in this gig at Dalston pub/venue The Victoria.