Amadou & Mariam
Friday, April 13. 7pm £20  

The music world can be so cynical, and with corporate-product such as One Direction being compared to the Beatles, it’s easy to be soured. Amadou & Mariam, the Malian couple who met at an institute for the blind, are a breath of fresh air and are touring their African-music-meets-electro-and rock second album, Folila.

O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire 
W12 8TT 
Shepherd’s Bush
o2shepherdsbushempire.co.uk 
 

The Gallery
Friday, April 13. 10pm-6am £15  

MoS’s weekly techy-trance electro line-up boasts W & W, ex-Faithless Sister Bliss playing for the first time since scoring a MOS Radio residency, and Martin Roth dropping by to road test his new, as yet untitled, album. And then there’s Donati & Amato, Gavyn Mytchel & Graeme Lloyd and Joe Brazil making sure there’s no slacking. 

Ministry of Sound
103 Gaunt Street, SE1 6DP
Elephant & Castle 
thegallery-club.co.uk 

Pete Murray
Thursday, April 12. 7pm £16  

Sports stars are not known for their good taste in music, let alone any song-writing capabilities. So the fact former rugby player Pete Murray has become a world-renowned international acoustic artist – fifth album Blue Sky Blue is out now – is decidedly impressive, and a shot against those keen to judge a book (or CD case) by its cover. 

Scala
275 Pentonville Road, N1 9NL 
King’s Cross 
scala-london.co.uk 

Gaz’s Rockin Blues
Thursday, April 12. 10pm-3.30pm £9  

Ska, rock ‘n ’roll, jive but most of all just good- time tunes take pride of place at this retro- flavoured night. Head honcho Gaz Mayall’s long running bash is a London mainstay, and this evening takes in seven-piece (sunglass-adorned, obviously) two-tone ska band The Racketeers, too, to keep things skanking.

St Moritz
W1F 8WJ 
Tottenham Court Road 
myspace.com/gazrockinblues

Felix da Housecat rude photo launch
Friday, April 13. 10pm-10am £10 

One of the progenitors of the electro/house sound, Felix is a Grammy-nominated artist and producer, and the very special guest at this evening’s festivities. In town to launch his own Rude Photo label project, the Chicago-born musician is joined by So Called Scumbags, Techletron and Nightlife In London. 

Egg
200 York Way, N7 9AX
Camden Road 
egglondon.net 
 

Andrew W.K
Thursday, April 12. 7pm £17.50  

He said he’d party hard, and he did. Surprisingly, the white jeans ‘n’ long-haired irony-free rocker has managed to keep going and is up to album number six now. It’s his breakthrough, I Get Wet, and stand-out single, Party Hard, on the menu this evening, as the 2001 record is aired in
its entirety. 

The Forum
9-17 Highgate Road, NW5 1JY
Kentish Town 
kentishtownforum.com