Live music in May

The fact that this is reminiscent of Björk is no coincidence. Livia Rita, who lives between London and the Alps, counts "witches of old" like Björk among her role models. Witchcraft, closeness to nature and transcendence are the ingredients for her artistic work; her live shows are more like performances. Or, as the concert announcement puts it: "This is not a concert. It's a portal. Will you step through?"

Friday, 02 & Saturday, 03 May, Central Laundry

It's hard to imagine that the recently released "Abyss" is only Anika's third solo album. The British-German musician began her career back in 2010 with her self-titled debut album. It was produced by Portishead and Beak mastermind Geoff Barrow and made Anika an indie favourite across Europe right from the start. In the years that followed, signs of life mainly came from her Mexican band Exploded View, but a second Anika album did not follow until 2021. "Abyss" now features an artist who has found her sound - dark wave dipped in raw guitars.

Friday, 09 May, Bogen F

Rival Consoles is the musical project of Brit Ryan Lee West and probably one of the best-known names in the field of electronica. Over the course of a career spanning almost 20 years, he has set himself the goal of making synthesisers sound human. To mark the release of his new album "Landscape From Memory", his new live performance is set to be an immersive audio-visual experience that also takes a look back at the last ten years. That sounds tempting!

Friday, 23 May, Plaza

The special thing about the Dutch language is that, as a German, you largely understand it right from the start. With Eefje De Visser, I have to realise that this doesn't apply when the Dutch is purred over spherical synthesiser pop. So it remains unclear to me what De Visser is singing about. One thing is certain: she does it with a lot of feeling and compositional skill. No wonder she has long been a star in the Benelux countries.

Saturday, 31 May, Exil