Lovers of excellent names for bands at the more metal end of the spectrum, check out who’s on at The Wheatsheaf in Oxford on Monday 1 April: Desecration, Basement Torture Killings, Zombiefied, Foetal Juice. Super-happy-fun-times! (The gig is on 1 April – but these guys ain’t foolin’…)

Interesting things are promised at an event called E D G E, taking place on Friday 5 April at the Old Fire Station in Oxford. It’ll see Butoh dancer Macarena Ortuzar team up with experimental musician Shahzad Ismaily for a multimedia performance, and (separately) there will be a set from Ian Staples and Jon Seagroatt, both founder members of avant-improv pioneers Red Square. A gig for those who want to expand their horizons…

The Port Mahon in Oxford often plays host to gigs that offer a rare ‘intimate’ setting for live music, and so it is for a gig there on Saturday 6 April. The ‘reclusive British artist’ Laurence Collyer will be performing his psychedelic folk mood-pieces in this littlest of venues, and there will be local support from Americana-tinged melody-turners Toliesel and the ever-more-impressive singer-songwriter Jordan O’Shea.

Progressive rock legends Caravan are at St John The Evangelist Church in Oxford on Monday 8 April, in the first of regular musical events to be held at the venue. Caravan are playing as part of a tour to mark the fortieth anniversary of their album For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night.

MusicInOxford.co.uk is hosting one of our (ir)regular gig nights at The Wheatsheaf in Oxford on Friday 12 April. The line-up includes premium Oxford talent in the form of Listing Ships and Tiger Mendoza, along with noisy grub-rockers Grey Hairs from Nottingham and the Swans-go-My-Bloody-Valentine noise of Reading’s Abandon.

Kooky brilliance on Saturday 13 April can be found by avoiding The Kooks who play O2 Academy Oxford that night, and instead heading over to Modern Art Oxford to check out Thomas Truax, the storytelling quirkmeister who plays a selection of home-made instruments with names like The Hornicator.

Full details of these and loads more gigs can be found in the events calendar.