The Horrors, On tour

The Horrors have progressively broadened their horizons and rescaled their ambitions. They still have a cachet – acts such as SCUM, Toy and Charlie Boyer And The Voyeurs both bear a “mates of the Horrors” stamp – but where they once made hip, aggressive garage/psych rock for the benefit of excitable Southend youth, Faris Badwan and his band now make a more streamlined and modern kind of noise. Over their last two albums, 2011’s Skying and this year’s Luminous, the group have embraced an epic songcraft. The chiming guitars and tunes of the former were redolent, to some ears, of Simple Minds. The latter feels as if the engineered noise of My Bloody Valentine or Neu! has been painted on a Coldplay-sized canvas.

The Waterfront, Norwich, Mon; O2 Academy Bournemouth, Tue; Riverside, Newcastle upon Tyne, Thu; O2 ABC, Glasgow, Fri; touring to 4 Oct

JR

Ms Lauryn Hill, On tour

Rather than simply burdened by high expectations, in the 15 years since her successes with the Fugees and her debut solo album, Lauryn Hill has seemed actively dragged down by them. Beginning with an abortive second album in 2000, Hill has since run the gamut of troubled artist cliches: from diva behaviour, to re-forming the band, to tax problems, concluding last year with three months in prison. It’s a testament to the singer’s talent that she can turn her sometime paranoid rants (particularly the 2013 recording Neurotic Society, in which she invented thrash R&B) to spectacular ends. As interesting as a Hill set which incorporated that might be, these shows seem designed to leave the horses unscared: Fugees hits, first album favourites, and Bob Marley covers will be the order of the day.

O2 Academy Brixton, SW2, Sat & Sun, O2 Academy Birmingham, Tue; O2 Apollo Manchester, Thu

JR

Liverpool Festival Of Psychedelia

From the Beatles to the Teardrop Explodes, to Shack and beyond, Liverpool has often seemed the cradle of British psychedelia, an observation that reaches its logical conclusion with this event, which makes it a place of pilgrimage. Like “heavy”, “psychedelic” means different things to different people, and duly, the event covers a wide spectrum of lively colours and schools of thought. If you seek revelation through mantra-like repetition, costume and a rather heavy-handed mystique then Scandinavians Goat will provide some kind of enlightenment. Those enjoying something rather lighter of touch, however, will enjoy the west coast USA circa 1965 sounds of Allah-Las and Woods. Suuns, Amen Dunes and White Hills are also on hand, and if you’re wondering what comparatively four-square shoegazers the Besnard Lakes are doing here, just remember: this is all about expanding your mind.

Camp And Furnace & Blade Factory, Fri to 27 Sep

JR

Mcr Scenewipe All Killer, All Dayer, Manchester

No slop at Soup Kitchen today as it dishes up 12 servings of northern heavy rock you’ve never heard of, before moving to the nearby Kraak gallery for heavier stuff later on. In the daytime, expect twanging guitar rock and lo-fi pop from emerging and local groups including the Pink Teens, Llion Swyd, Gorgeous Bully and Sex Hands, and don’t miss the Hipshakes’ thick’n’fast garage punk. Then, later on, the demons come out, largely in the form of semi-anonymous group Horrid, dressed like Batman’s Scarecrow with sacks on their heads, playing noisy drones and chugging psych rock, alongside novelty Pixies man Dave Of Mutilation.

Soup Kitchen & Kraak gallery, Sat

JA

Cédric Hanriot & Jason Palmer’s City Of Poets, On tour

French musician Cédric Hanriot arrived at jazz’s cutting-edge via an unusual route: majoring in electronics and combining that knowledge with a piano virtuosity that has allowed him to fuse jazz, Afrobeat, hip-hop, electro, and even highly personal reappraisals of the songs of Edith Piaf and Jacques Brel. City Of Poets is Hanriot’s joint venture with young US trumpeter Jason Palmer, the two collaborating on a new suite based on an Olivier Messiaen seven-mode structure, composed as a tribute to the work of cult sci-fi writer Dan Simmons. The London gig will record City Of Poets for release on Michael Janisch’s Whirlwind label.

Pizza Express Jazz Club, W1, Mon; Jazz at Dempseys, Cardiff, Tue

JF

The Mountain That Left, London

The BBC Singers is the longest surviving ensemble in the Beeb’s stable of performing groups and was founded in 1924 for a performance of Mendelssohn’s oratorio Elijah. Its 90th anniversary this year is being marked by a series of concerts, and a specially commissioned work for the group from Kevin Volans. The premiere of The Mountain That Left features in Andrew Litton’s concert this week with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and Volans has said he experimented with a “symphonic” way of writing for the chorus. The South African-born composer has made the piece into a triple tribute, which not only salutes the BBC Singers, but also marks 20 years of democracy in his native country, as well as celebrating the life of Nelson Mandela. The soprano soloist for the premiere will be Volans’s compatriot, Pumeza Matshikiza.

Barbican Hall, EC2, Wed

AC