Buck 65 at the 100 Club: The chirpiest heartbreak you ever did see

I'll keep this short and sweet as Buck 65's place as ShadowPlay's All Time Favourite Artist is well documented and firmly assured*. A surprisingly chipper Richard Terfry was on fine form at London's historic 100 Club this week.  

A short chat at the merch stand prior to the gig confirms he remains the affable, charming and funny soul we've come to know and love over the last two decades (well, one in my case. It was heartwarming to find he remembered my favourite ever interview at the Rescue Rooms, Nottingham with him in 2004). On seeing Buck at The Garage in Islington last year I wondered whether his forthcoming album would be his Blood on the Tracks, documenting, as it does, his break up with his wife. 

Terfry had come back from tour to find a note saying 'don't forget to feed the cat' and his wedding ring. And indeed the record, Neverlove is a cathartic effort ('That's the Way Love Dies' and  'Love Will Fuck You Up' are standouts) but still with Buck's inimitable perky style ingrained within it. It combines his usual hip-hop/folk style with his popiest edge yet and, in all but a couple of cases, is complemented well by a series of female vocalists. What's more, it's his best outing since 2003's celebrated Talkin' Honky Blues, mixing clever wordplay, some well worked duets and effortless changes in tone. 

Before the set, he tells me he's had to talk a lot about his split from his wife in conducting media interviews for the new album. It's been like a psychoanalysis session, he explains. Indeed, he sought help for panic attacks experienced after his divorce. 

But his 100 Club performance displays little of this torture. Dressed in a sharp suit, Buck is his usual playful self, making quips about laundry and culminating his set with a dance suggesting there's an explosion in his crotch while singing about having cake and sex on his birthday. There's snatches of crowd favourites including Indestructible Sam and Roses and Bluejays and ultimate classics including Centaur and Wicked and Weird are given full run outs. He largely steers clear of the more mournful songs from the album and uses his duets with Tiger Rosa to muck about and encourage her to spank him with her belt. He drifts off to remind us he's a great scratch DJ then nips back to the mic to tell a funny story about a girl downing a glass of milk. 

Buck 65, whether in his guise as a radio host or simply as Richard Terfry, a man who has been through a lot, remains one of the most talented musicians on the planet. With his latest offering, he's also reminded us he remains one of the most musically relevant. 

*Oh ok, yes I failed to keep it short and sweet.

Adem shows corduroy brigade how to rock quietly in comeback gig

Review: Adem + Geese, King's Place, 19/10/12

The sight of Adem Ilhan's cheery smile beaming out from behind the microphone is one of the most endearing experiences a music nerd could hope for. His blend of lilting nu-folk, carefully constructed metaphors and heartbreaking tunes has been sorely missed in the four years since his last release under his own moniker, 2008's acoustic covers record Takes. 

He has been no slouch in the intervening years. He's worked with tonight's festival curators and Scottish folksters Lau, scored the music for In the Loop, Armando Iannucci's big screen version of acerbic political comedy The Thick of It and produced a number of artists including Beth Jeans Houghton. He has ditched his Homefires festival for now, telling us after the gig he found that he wasn't able to find new talent that didn't feel derivative. 

But the former Fridge bassist is arguably more talented than any of the partners he's collaborated with. His 2004 debut Homesongs on Domino Records showed the multi-instrumentalist's ability to create innovative pastoral pop songs which allowed his ever-wistful tones to come through in a quiet manner while 2006 follow-up Love and Other Planets featured some delicate nuggets which ensured the record did indeed feel stratospheric. 

"I've been away for a while…" Adem explains to the enraptured audience at King's Place, The Guardian's large central London offices which house concert venues, bars and even a computer or two on which to bash out witticisms and interviews with Alain de Botton. 

Doubtless coaxed back on to the centre stage by Lau who organised the week long Welcome to Lau-Land festival, Adem is surprisingly nervous and unlike the usual bounding figure who has popped up from beneath his home-painted organ at previous gigs. Backed by support act and long-term friends Geese - a trio of two violinists and a drummer who fail to offer much imagination in their slightly pretentious opening set - Adem admits to having only rehearsed a handful of times prior to the appearance. 

His set is pleasingly full of familiar favourites including a wondrous outings for Love and Other Planets and an achingly stark solo version of Spirals. There's plenty of material from Homesongs but those, including yours truly, hoping for a new studio album, may have to wait a while longer as there were few new tunes. However, perhaps the most remarkable moment of the evening came with new song, Snow in April. A carefully weaved combination of a collection of similes and low tempo folk made this a promising sign of things to come. Halfway through, Adem briefly forgets the words, smiles and then apologises at the end of the song, making you wonder whether there's a more genuinely pleasant British frontman in existence. 

Predictably, Lau take to the stage for an encore and advance with Adem into the audience for jubilant versions of Everything You Need and There Will Always Be with Lau's accordions and energy adding to a feeling Adem has made an understated yet magical comeback. If Adem is to record and tour extensively under his own name again there will be a cluster of very happy music fans waiting with arms open across the world. Let's keep our fingers crossed. 

Video: Adem and Lau: Everything You Need