Live music in November

To be honest, I didn't expect the name Will Sheff to catch my eye again. The album "Blacksheep Boy" by his band Okkervil River was part of the fixed repertoire of my teenage heartbreak, and as it is with teenage heartbreak soundtracks, they often get buried in the lowest layers of consciousness. But here he is, the indie-folk musician with the most tender melancholy and rock'n'roll in his wrist, presenting his first solo album at Bogen F.

15.11.2023, Bogen F

Jockstrap are arguably one of the UK's most interesting bands. The classically trained musical duo creates something that perhaps most closely resembles the innovation of the Kraut psychedelic indie band Stereolab, combining sugary pop songwriting with adventurous sonic escapades and dancefloor bangers. The concert at Exil will be their first performance in Zurich.

Talking about Kraut: The enterprising Krautrock pioneer Hans-Joachim Irmler, member of the genre pioneers Faust, was apparently the catalyst for the founding of the band Sanam. It came about through a residency programme in Lebanon initiated by Irmler and unites six exponents of Beirut's experimental music scene. In the Red Factory they let classical Arabic poetry collide with driving rhythms and free-jazz borrowings.

Do we need to say much more about Timber Timbre? The music project of Canadian Taylor Kirk has been delivering the most shudderingly beautiful songs from the dusty nowhere between blues and folk for years. The intervals between releases are getting longer and longer: at Mascotte, Kirk presents "Lovage", the first full album since 2017.

19.11.2023, Mascotte

It's amazing that Yves Tumor has evolved from a niche underground phenomenon to everybody's indie darling. But with his queer aesthetics and thematisation of psychological torment, he is also a phenomenon of our time. Rooted in ambient and noise, his musical expressions are increasingly approaching those of the mainstream. But Yves Tumor remains a total work of art that is as enigmatic as it is erratic. Even though he now performs at Kaufleuten.

19.11.2023, Kaufleuten