It’s a fair cop; I’m already at least six days late with this month’s preview due to various weekends away, a house move and good old-fashioned laziness.  As a result, recommended shows from WORMROT, DJ SHADOW, PUBLIC ENEMY, ALEXANDER TUCKER, THEE PIATCIONS and RAINBOW ARABIA have already taken place.  Did you go?  If so, have a biscuit.  You’re one of the good guys.  Onwards and upwards with the rest of September’s goodies, then…

The aforementioned gigs aside, it’s a slightly calm-before-the-storm sort of month in Cardiff, which makes my tardiness even less tolerable.  Sorry.  Swn continue to pile up the shows, though, with WILLY MASON (Gate, 6th) close to selling out as I type, and JUNIP (Gate, 10th), GHOSTPOET (CAI, 22nd) and highly recommended slacker-pop diamonds MALE BONDING (Globe, 25th) still to come.  If the latter appeal, which they certainly should, then ex-Nine Black Alps types MILK MAID – who plough a very similar Dinosaur Jr-loving furrow – should also be on your list.  They’re at Undertone (21st) with the splenetic, scrappy DIY fun from YAJÉ in fine support.  Additionally, make some diary space for …Trail Of Dead-esque Glaswegian noise combo UNITED FRUIT (Undertone, 6th, with STRANGE NEWS FROM ANOTHER STAR), Wave Pictures side-project THE LOBSTER BOAT (Buffalo, 26th, with H. HAWKLINE and between-band DJing so faultless it will make you weep uncontrollably) and the highly misleadingly named MARIA AND THE MIRRORS (Undertone, 18th, with GINDRINKER) who ought rightly to be more trust-fund whimsy from horsey Home Counties gels but actually do a nicely gloomy industrial/electro thing.  The mighty MELVINS return to Cardiff (Globe, 30th), never less than essential viewing, and anyone attending that should undoubtedly also get out in support of a fine stoner/doom bill on the 23rd at Buffalo, headlined by former Acrimony men SIGIRIYA and featuring IRONBIRD and ex-Circa Regna Tonat dudes THORUN.

On a less abrasive note, big tick for Kentucky singer-songwriter and My Morning Jacket collaborator DANIEL MARTIN MOORE (Buffalo, 10th), whose recent Sub Pop album marked a left turn into gospel interpretation which comes off beautifully.  Recommended for Iron & Wine fans, amongst others, as is Swedish indie-folk type I’M KINGFISHER (8th, though watch for a new venue as Buffalo Lounge has just closed (Now at Ten Feet Tall! – Ed.).  The latter is brought to you by the tireless Gathered In Song chaps, who have a trio of gigs this month; LAURA STEVENSON & THE CANS offer a jangly indiepop take on GiS’ alt country reference points (10 Feet Tall, 12th) and GERARD STARKIE (Le Pub, 24th, free show) is the singer dude out of late 90s Mojo-friendly indie outfit Witness.  Takes all sorts.

Outside of the DJ Shadow and Public Enemy gigs, few this month will stir as much local interest as GRANDMASTER FLASH, originally slated to play Millennium Music Hall a while back but now hosted by Clwb (7th) for an intimate, if bracingly expensive, night of party-starting tuntablism.  The shrewd beat conossieur may well save the pennies for JULIO BASHMORE‘s super-bassy garage/electro hybrids (Buffalo, 29th) instead, or even METRONOMY‘s visit to Bristol (Trinity, 28th).  Whatever your choice, the Micro.Mutek event (Arnolfini, 30th) looks like a doozy; the Montreal-based festival hosts a spin-off at Bristol’s loveliest arts venue featuring Akufen’s orchestrated minimal techno alter-ego HORROR INC and Basic Channel-esque dub techno from DEADBEAT.  The same venue celebrates its 50th birthday (!) in fine style on the 24th with the help of the inimitable QU Junktions, providing the month’s finest line-up; ribcage-rattling post-punk hugeness from FACTORY FLOOR, the claustrophic dread and warped synth-pop of HYPE WILLIAMS, ANIKA‘s typically Bristolian melding of post-punk clamour, dub and frosty songwriting and a DJ set from Optimo’s JD TWITCH.  Oof, that’s good.  Horrorshow clash that night, sadly, as hugely influential and quite brilliant NY No Wavers UT make a welcome return (Croft, 24th, with BIG NATURALS) – perfectly complimentary gigs, shame they’re on the same night.  Both recommended, of course.

Plenty of other good stuff in Bristol, too.  Strung-out bad-acid psychedelic rawk from KURT VILE & THE VIOLATORS meets the blissful harmonies, sun-dappled country and occasional ten-minute Grateful Dead jams of WOODS at a post-End of the Road show (Fleece, 7th).  Ex-Gowns member Erika Anderson, now EMA, brings her gripping, skeletal indie-rock to the Thekla (15th), the very loud and very fun SCREAMING FEMALES are joined by THE HYTERICAL INJURY, our pals BELLIES! and more at an ace-looking Croft alldayer (11th), raucous Atlanta garage-punk boys BLACK LIPS hit the Fleece (23rd) and, on a very busy night, Steven Adams’ post-Broken Family Band outfit SINGING ADAMS bring glorious songwriting and cheeky, self-deprecating wit to the Cooler (24th).  QU Junktions’ summer hiatus ends in style; ahead of the Arnolfini blowout they bring a staggeringly great collision of the Vandermark/Nilsson-Love sax/drum duo and The Ex guitarists Terrie Ex and Andy Moor, together going by the name LEAN LEFT (Croft, 13th, with HUNTING LODGE – are they back?).  Expect tumultuous free-improv noise, furious rhythm and some excellent dudes.  QU also present a teasingly vague event named FORAGE, offering live improv, workshops, food and drink and all manner of arts, crafts and exploratory activities at a space christened Boiling Wells in the St Werburghs district (10th).

What else?  Indie/hiphop beatmaker YOUNG MONTANA?, irritating punctuation aside, is worth checking (Start The Bus, 10th); THREE TRAPPED TIGERS and SEAMS team up (Fleece, 18th); Swedish indiepoppers I’M FROM BARCELONA continue to try and emulate their one great moment (Thekla, 19th), ROBYN is cute, funny and tuff mercurial pop genius made flesh (o2 Academy, 10th), SLOW CLUB have local interest in the form of support act and new bassist SWEET BABOO (Cooler, 25th), NEDRY spin some pretty lovely patterns from what would once be called shoegaze and what would once be derided as trip-hop (Thekla, 30th) and fine alt-folk types ROZI PLAIN and SJ ESAU appear down the bill at the Louisiana (6th).  Perma-touring steampunk wonder THOMAS TRUAX pops up at the Cube this time (22nd), there’s homespun lo-fi folk from BEN CALVERT & THE SWIFTS and MY TWO TOMS (Grain Barge, 9th), more traditional variations from THE UNTHANKS (St Georges, 17th) and SARABETH TUCEK (Thekla, 13th) and, go on then, a farewell tour for the frankly impossible to dislike BLUETONES (o2 Academy, 21st, seeing as the Glee Club show on the 5th was, um, yesterday).  They were in Spaced once, you know.  Mark Morriss once beat me at pool in Newport TJs.  That’s a stone cold fact.  Night night.