MUSICAutunno

Hot Chip: great tunes, inconsistent wallpaper
Concrete & Glass
October 2 & 3, 6pm, £35 (two-day ticket), £22.50 (one day), various venues
Shoreditch puts its money where its mouth is and proves that it really is the creative heart of London by hosting a music and arts extravaganza with bands picked by such music know-it-alls as Eat Your Own Ears, John Kennedy, Merok, Wichita Recordings, The Wire and Time Out. Buy tickets
www.concreteandglass.co.uk

Neon Neon
October 29, 7pm, £12, Koko
They've warmed up in the clubs, wowed us at Glastonbury, now Gruff Rhys's '80s electro project – whose Mercury-nominated debut album is a conceptual tribute to John DeLorean, no less – finally step into the rock arena with their saucy sound and special guests galore. Buy tickets
www.koko.uk.com
Feature continues

Advertisement
Release The Bats
October 30 & 31, 6pm, £22.50, The Forum
Terrific annual spook-fest this year sees a rare live showing from Steve Albini's righteous Shellac, with an awesome support cast including San Franciscan psych-metal duo Om, groovy space rockers Wooden Shjips and freeform noise-metal duo, Lightning Bolt. Buy tickets
www.atpfestival.com/events/rtb2008

Hot Chip
November 6 & 7, 7pm, £20 (Nov 7 is a late-night gig, starting at 9pm), Brixton Academy
South London's finest existential electro combo have moved away from the 'bargain-bin Kraftwerk' description we once tarred them with and are now a proper, chart-storming band with festival headline slots to their name and all kinds, so expect something very special over these two nights. Buy tickets
www.brixton-academy.co.uk

Hokaben ’08
November 7-9, 7pm, £60 (three-day ticket), £23.50 (day), 93 Feet East
Two nights of triumphantly weird shit in the East End, that lines up veteran, Japanese psych/avant rockers Acid Mothers Temple alongside free jazz experimentalists Sun Ra Arkestra, leftfield hardcore Canadians Fucked Up, improv jazz-rock drummer Chris Corsano and many more.
www.hokaben.co.uk

Mercury Rev
November 13, 7.30pm, £17.50, Shepherds Bush Empire
Jonathan Donahue and his splendid, psychedelic pop crew return with a new album in tow ('Snowflake Midnight', due out on September 29), which sees a radical – and thrillingly convincing – shift into (almost) guitar-free, post-house territory. Buy tickets.
www.shepherds-bush-empire.co.uk

Kanye West
November 12, 6.30pm, £35, O2 Arena
Jay-Z proved to the doubters at Glastonbury that big hip hop shows can actually entertain, so just imagine what Kanye West will achieve with a bunch of songs that you actually know and a stage set-up that looks like it cost more than the entire GDP of Honduras. Buy tickets.
www.theo2.co.uk

London Jazz Festival
November 14-23, various venues
It gets bigger every year and 2008 sees the LJF go London-wide, with the usual (but bigger and better) selection of compositional premiers, one-off collaborations, jazz superstars and new talent, including, we hope, lots of death-jazz. Some of the instant highlights are Herbie Hancock, Kurt Elling, Chick Corea and John McLaughlin and Murcof, but keep checking Time Out for more info.
www.londonjazzfestival.org.uk

Bullet For My Valentine
November 15, 5pm, £19.50, Alexandra Palace
The increasingly popular Welsh metallers continue to ignore the emo, hardcore and nu-metal sounds so beloved of their peers and rawk out in NWOBHM stylee with their impressively long hair, shining leather keks and gruff 'woarrrghing!' Rock on. Buy tickets.
www.alexandrapalace.com

Stars of Africa
November 26, 7.30pm, £35-£15, Royal Albert Hall
South Africa's trumpet legend Hugh Masekela is joined by Africa's answer to Hendrix, Bassekou Kouyate, and Angelique Kidjo for this special, one-off superstar show that symbolises just how popular African music (both contemporary and traditional) is at present and also raises funds for development charity VSO.
www.royalalberthall.com