Tiring week? Tough, because there’s no rest for the wicked. You’re going to have to save your sleep for later.

Thursday

Miss Perry Presents local talent Pulled Apart by Horses, a Leeds four-piece fronted by Brummie boy Tom Hudson as lead ‘shouter guitarer’. What Rocksound Magazine call their ‘manic art-punk convulsion’ will be supported by Kidnapper Bell and Brummie of the Year, Kerrang! Radio DJ Johnny Doom.

Friday

Say hello to the weekend and that with a Beast Rave An That! There’ll be live music from Old School Tie, Death Ohh Eff and Andre Aristotle. There’ll also be tunes and that from DJ’s Drive By Disco, Get Rimmed, 10 Guitars vs Andy&Jonny (Hench&Tonk) and Ryan Quinlan (Erotic Spirals) as well as pretty visuals and that from Jonathan Gordon, Sean O’Rourke, Andrew Watson & Ryan Quinlan & That. And if you’re still not tired at chucking out time, there’s an after party and that on at The Adam.

Saturday

It’s a party night of of funk, breaks, jazz and drum ‘n’ bass with the E-Z Roller 10 Year Anniversary Tour. E-Z Roller DJ’s will be supported with vocals from The Lady Roller and Messy MC. And yes, they’ll be performing that one from Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. You can also enjoy tunes from Roy Roast Beef b2b Richie Re-issue, Marc Reck and DJ Reaction. I defy anyone to get through this night without dancing their socks off.

If you fancy a slightly sexin’ Saturday night Sumo Presents the Sexual Allstars. ‘Lopan and Kaiser will chop, scratch,slice and dice their way through hip hop, hardcore, electro, breaks, theme tunes and accapellas’ whilst the baddest boy of them all Danny Damage lowers the tone to bass level with old school jungle and D’n’B. Sumo Grandmaster Dani c will join in the gang-bang and Blendstate will show you some utterly filthy visuals.

Tuesday

Hopefully your ears will be rested enough to appreciate the astounding singer-songwriting talent of Mary Gauthier telling, “Her rich, gothic country tales of broken homes and chemical abuse” (Interview). She’s been bought to you all the way from Louisianna by World Unlimited.

I hope you’ve had a nice and quiet week, because it’s going to be a rather noisy weekend. One containing possibly the best live night of the year, no less. Here’s the lowdown:

Thursday

The Will To Rally are a group that don’t get out much because ‘we are very slack’. But they’re making an extra-special trip into the great outdoors because they heart Birmingham. Check their Myspace page to find out just how much. The Will To Rally are supported by Colnel Fabian, who are ‘inspired by insanity’, and The Manhattan Project.

Friday

Last year’s Roy Ayers gig at the Hare and Hounds was awarded ‘Best Live Night of 2008’ by the Night Times Awards. Will this year’s be treat enough to match? You betcha. It’s going to be that great we’re needing to have two shows over the evening (check the listings entry for details).

If you catch the early show you can carry on the fun afterwards and enjoy a bite from the Goodie Bag, which contains banging tunes Mikee Lazy and Dj Judge (performing as ClubbRock for the first time).

Saturday

You are required to attend an Eviction Notice served by Dubmatic, so you’d better do as you’re told or there’ll be trouble. Evictees include Nipsy, Somantix B2B Standfast, Roskow B2B Adam Noize, Malicous B2B Doctor, Professor D B2B Rtillery (Live P.A.).

Here’s a sneak preview of all the fun that’s to come:

Wednesday

Tonight Rogue States will be rocking the house from 7.30pm, with poetic songs about ‘love and loss, opportunity and frustration, certainty and faith.’ They’re supported by Berlin Blockade.

Thursday

It’s your monthly dose of laughing gas with ‘Off The Cuff’, a live version of Whose Line Is It, Anyway? with ‘silly games, made-up songs, rude jokes, a mountain of audience suggestions, and plenty of belly-laughs’ to keep you amused from 8.00pm.

Friday

Join Funkbox from 9.00pm to celebrate the launch of Crate Escape Records’ new release ‘Soundsci’ with Ollie Teeba (The Herbaliser). Ollie will be joined by Soundsci producer Jonny Cuba and Funkbox’s own DJ Cro for one seriously funky party.

Saturday

Atlanta’s Manchester Orchestra comes to Birmingham for a ‘raw, urgent, emotional, and 100 percent authentic’ performance to mark the release of their second album Mean Everything To Nothing. With the first six songs merging into one another without so much as a pause for breath, this promises to be an exhilarating and exhausting night.

Tuesday

Keep next Tuesday evening free in your diaries for Dear Reader, who are fresh from their appearance at the Grahamstown National Arts Festival in their home South Africa. They are supported with ‘clever, catchy pop’ from Birmingham-based quartet The Heathers.

And that’s your lot (until next week). We’ll leave you with the pretty impressive video for Manchester Orchestra’s ‘I Can Barely Breathe’. Enjoy then come on down and see them on Sat!

Hopefully you’re not feeling too washed out after all that rain to enjoy the great gigs we’ve got lined up for this weekend:

Thursday

• Tonight we’ve got the excellent Kevin Hewick, who recorded tracks with the surviving members of Joy Division after Ian Curtis’ death before they formed New Order. He’s also enjoyed support slots with Roy Harper, The Fall, Joy Division, PJ Harvey, Martin Carthy, Kevin Coyne, Fairport Convention and Dr.Robert. It’s an unticketed event, so get here early to avoid disappointment.

Friday

• On Friday night we have a great Platform Promotions gig, where Prospect Lane are set to rock the house down. They’ll be supported by RedRoots, Lazy J and Barnesy

Saturday

• Saturday night promises to be something incredibly special – Cog and Bunka bring you the legendary techno DJ Billy Nasty. He’s supported by Cog residents Hog and Lee Richez, and Bunka Residents Matt Tilley and Paolo Riozzi until the early hours. Pre-book your ticket to avoid disappointment, as this one’s likely to be a sell-out.

Monday

• After a well-earned Day of Rest on Sunday we’re going to be easing ourselves into Monday with contemporary reggae band Groundation on their Birmingham debut, for an evening of ‘awesome organic fusion of Roots Reggae, transcendental Dub and heavy Jazz fusion’. Sounds like a lovely start to the working week.

For those wanting to relive Mr Elephant’s 2nd Birthday at the Hare & Hounds on the last bank holiday (or see what you missed out on) then you can read Rich Batsford’s write-up and/or check out this video:

If you’ve managed not to melt before the weekend, chill out with us – we’ve got some treats in store from Friday onwards:

Friday

• We get sneak preview of the Big Chill with the Official Big Chill Warm-Up from Hexstatic for a night of ‘slamming electronic funk, acid house and hip hop, cut together with sheer wit and invention in a visual screen explosion…’ The fun starts at 9pm and goes on until the early hours.
• For something a little calmer and quieter, The Lunar Society bring to you Erland and The Carnival, a British folk rock band made up of instrumentalist Simon Tong, Gawain Erland Cooper and David Nock. Support acts are Electric Shed and international busker Jeff Stone.

Saturday

• Get yourself some new glad-rags at the J & G Vintage Clothes Fair from 11am. There’ll also be vintage furniture and bric-a-brac for sale. Entry is free.
• Celebrate Independence Day with Funkatronic’s Independance Day Party, with live funk band Gran Torino, Trigger resident DJ Skeleton, Roskoe and Dan.ic.

Sunday

• On Sunday evening there’s a Big Print gig of post-punk band The Raincoats, Gina Birch, ‘Birmingham’s supreme teens’ Poppy & The Jezebels and, all the way from Brooklyn, Christy & Emily.

Monday

• The weekend’s not quite over with as far as we’re concerned – beat the Monday blue’s with Capsule’s pre-Supersonic Festival show Prefuse 73 + Dimilte for “A range of emotional grappling usually foreign to instrumental hip-hop,“ according to Pitchfork.