Despite a few long posts about Android and the Desire, I feel like I've been neglecting the site a little of late. So while I have a bunch of tardy links to share, today I just want to mention a recent Times article on Lady Gaga. It is written by an unabashed fan which does not always lend itself to the best journalism, but perhaps in this case it was entirely appropriate. Because, despite its length, I felt compelled to read the entire piece on an icon about whom I know little and have limited interest.

Like anyone in a western country paying the remotest attention to modern music, I am very aware of her. However I read almost nothing about because I tend not to follow celebrities unless I also have a genuine interest in their art. I do understand the important musical contribution that Gaga has made — almost single-handedly she has reinvigorated a creatively dead pop industry. So her relevance is in a genre that, generally, holds little attraction for me. Eric Cartman's cover of Poker Face excites me more than the original (I even have it on Rock Band), but the very fact such a thing exists is a testament to her influence. I fully accept that the notion of Cartman "bluffin' with his muffin" is horrific. Probably.

Seeing her rise as a counter-culture feminist icon has been equally startling, not because I am in any way opposed to it, but because of the ill-conceived attacks against such an idea that it has sparked (a brief glance at the comments reveals how wrong the writer is). I am, as you are probably aware, so in favour of equality that it tends to infuriate many feminists (who find it difficult to argue with me) and girls who think they want equality until they realise it necessarily requires relinquishing certain social advantages they have long held in order to gain economic (and other) ones. I think the subversive fashion in which Gaga treats the media fascination with sexualising absolutely everything is a fantastic approach, rather than merely railing against it. As she mentions in the interview, while she may strut around scantily clad in her music videos, it is rarely in a way that is designed to be attractive to the typical man, though arguably it is sometimes calculated solely to be provocative. I am a strong believer that the best way to undermine anything is to take it to its logical extremes rather than to suppress it. And suddenly Eric Cartman and Lady Gaga make perfect sense as contemporaries and collaborators.

I'll leave you with a song that you almost certainly won't have heard before, a lesser known YouTube-posted Amanda Palmer song that she recently performed live at a ninja gig (last-minute, but not exactly secret when you mention it to your 400,000 Twitter followers) at the Underworld: Gaga, Palmer, Madonna. While technical complexity is impressive, honesty is a trait I've begun to find increasingly endearing in music. Perhaps because so little popular music is.

A volcano and Twitter brought me to you. Do you realise how beautiful that is?

-Melissa Auf der Maur

Evelyn Evelyn on Thursday night at KOKO may be have been the best ever gig that wasn't. The quirky music of Evelyn Evelyn is performed by the fictional titular conjoined twins (or a musical and artistic collaboration between Amanda Palmer and Jason Webley, depending on your level of suspension of disbelief). Unfortunately one of the Evelyns (Jason Webley) couldn't make it because she (he) was stuck in the US due to the volcanic ash cloud disruption. The result was a mess. And excellent.

I have previously described Amanda Palmer gigs as being "Amanda and friends" or, in this case, Amanda and whoever she dragged through the ash cloud. Luckily for us this included the sublime Bitter Ruin. A small band from Brighton, this twosome features the incredible voice of Georgia Train, by turns equally powerful and delicate, coupled with the Spanish twang of Ben Richards' guitar. Be sure to listen to Trust and Soldier (and if you only click one link, make it that one). I find myself already eagerly anticipating the May release of their full album. Also supporting were the disarmingly enthusiastic Robots in Disguise (who may actually be robots in disguise) and the assured Melissa Auf der Maur (who may grow on me).

In a creative solution to the missing Evelyn, the gig was punctuated by a scripted fake webcast with Jason on plane to the UK, projected on a giant screen at the back of the stage, through which he could chat to Amanda and play a couple of songs with her. To explain the extent of the range of music experience that evening I could mention the country song about Icelandic volcanic ash clouds, but it really requires just three words: ukulele Radiohead cover.

Amanda seemed to flag a little (likely through exhaustion) by the end, but returned for a superb second encore with an energetic Girl Anachronism followed by a sort of Sex Pistols karaoke, with the lyrics to Anarchy in the UK projected as the crowd sang along, the front row (and Neil Gaiman) danced up on stage and Amanda Palmer crowd surfed. A fantastic closing given that it was conceived that very day when Amanda and Neil sat in a café as Malcolm McLaren's funeral procession passed. Touring issues be damned, (record label) freedom clearly suits her well.

Chatting to people queueing for the gig, we all agreed that explaining to friends what we were doing over the weekend was an impossible task. To those unfamiliar with Amanda Palmer it is difficult to convey how much more than the average gig her concerts tend to be. Event is a more appropriate word, as evidenced by the large number of elaborately garbed fans that made many of us feel horribly underdressed. On Saturday evening I saw amorous puppet replicas of Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman, a mobile piano mounted upon a bizarre pedal-cycle contraption, and upon Amanda's arrival, the top being set alight as she proceeded to play a flaming piano. Bear in mind this was all before we had even entered the venue. The photo gallery will give you some idea.

Musically her solo work is a logical progression post-Dresden Dolls. Her former band was already a stripped down two-piece affair (most arrangements were for piano, drums and vocals), describing their genre as "Brechtian Punk Cabaret". Her solo work is arguably less Brechtian, but the punk cabaret and bare-bones sound remains in full force. It really lets the colourful wit of her sometimes playful, sometimes intense lyrics shine. Although the content of her songs may seem at odds with a church, the interior of the Union Chapel, with its gothic Victorian architecture, stunningly lit in blues and purples, was the perfect venue.

Polly Scattergood offered a good supporting set despite the limited material she has released so far. Most interesting to me was actually a stunningly honest unreleased song which suggests she has plenty more ground to cover in future albums. Amanda began both her main set and encore with a capella renditions that showcased how tightly impressive her voice can be, particularly in the emotionally charged cover of Tori Amos' Me and a Gun. The rest of the set covered her solo album and several classic Dresden Dolls songs, as well as requests from the audience and even dipping into classical piano (mostly as a challenge to herself). All the while an artist was painting a large canvas at the back of the stage, the resulting artwork auctioned off at the end of the gig. Such was my enthralment with the entire night that I very nearly ended up spending £350 on it (it went for £450 in the end).

It was broken up by "Ask Amanda" segments, a Q&A via written questions dropped in a box before the gig. Her genial responses covered her experiences of the English and the unfairness of dating Neil Gaiman — catching up on each other's careers meant she handed him 3 CDs to listen to, while he passed her two large boxes of his collected works. Speaking of Neil, he was travelling with her too and took on singing duties for a tongue-in-cheek "hymn" that contrasted comically with our surroundings as the entire audience broke into (slightly nervous) laughter. Her gigs inevitably feel like "Amanda and friends", drawing in all the interesting creative people she has recently met. It is a testament to her generous spirit that her immediate desire is to share these talented individuals with her fans, and that is what makes her a beautiful person and her performances a joy to attend.

For those interested in the music, here are Spotify links to full albums by Amanda Palmer and Polly Scattergood.