London Sound Index - 16th-28th February
Links:
If you have a gig you’d like to list, or any feedback/accessibility updates (we are always looking to fill gaps in our field of vision/hearing), please e-mail londonsoundindex@substack.com .
16th February (Sun)
Barbara Kozelj (mezzo-soprano), Klangforum Wien perform Schönberg, Zemlinsky, Mahler
Wigmore Hall ✅🅰️
W1U 2BP
from £18; FREE for under-35's
First of two performances dedicated to turn-of-century harmonic innovations in Vienna (more Arnold on 17/2, 18/2)
INFANT TREE: Red Brut / Weston Olencki & Laura Cocks / Blue Harbour / Vicky Sparrow
Spanners ♿️
SW9 7EX
£8.50
Iconic london weird music night, always a treat regardless of lineup. Weston Olencki pricking ears here at LSI HQ
John Butcher & Seymour Wright: Solos + Duos
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£14 adv; £8 members; £16 OTD
Two adjacent generations of free sax behemoths. non idiomatic duels by space-bending audodidact Butcher and ahmed (if you know you know) associated Wright
MOPOMOSO: Marilza Gouvea / Phil Durrant (duo) + Colin Webster / Andrew Lisle (duo) + Mia Zabelka / Charlotte Keeffe (duo)
Vortex ✅🅰️
N16 8AZ
standard £12; members & concessions £8
Longest running improv night in the capital ; this month ft 'solo voice with small percusison', double trumpet, sax-vs-drums blowout
Signe Emmeluth, John Edwards & Steve Noble
Hundred Years Gallery 📶🅰️
E2 8JD
£10 Cash OTD
Alto saxophone, double bass, and drums improv - make of that what you will.
The Horse Loom, Nick Jonah Davis, C Joynes
The Betsey Trotwood 📶 14+ 🅰️(<18)
EC1R 3BL
£12 + bf
wicked fringe folk triple bill incl "inheritor to Davey Graham", "Northumberland's best kept secret"
17th February (Mon)
Barbara Kozelj (mezzo-soprano), Klangforum Wien perform Schönberg's 'Pierrot Lunaire', Hanns Eisler, others
Wigmore Hall ✅🅰️
W1U 2BP
from £18; FREE for under-35's
see 16/2
Borough Council, BEAU, OBTRAM3 (Anthony Moore, Tullis Rennie, Haydn Ackerley), Effective Word Order
The Lexington 📶
N1 9JB
£13
One of several fundraisers happening over the next month for the great Resonance FM -- ft "one off actionist", "Slapp Happy paragon [...] effecting lyrical improv with trombone-toting electronic composer", "quite simply the most infectiously joyful three-piece band Britain has produced this century"
Cistern + Treeboy & Arc
Shacklewell Arms ☑️
E8 2EB
FREE
Signe Emmeluth / Eddie Prévost (duo)
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£16; £14 adv; £8 members
First time meeting of AMM legend and acclaimed Danish sax player
18th February (Tue)
Canty
Servant Jazz Quarters 📶
N16 8JN
£14.30
Buzzy levitation pop FFO Metronomy, Jessica Pratt, Fleet Foxes
Plus-Minus Ensemble perform Arnold Schönberg, Laurence Crane, Cassandra Miller
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£14; £12 adv; £7 members
19th February (Wed)
Clarissa Connelly + Fine
ICA ♿️
SW1Y 5AH
£23.44; SOLD OUT, wait list only
Festen (opera by Mark-Anthony Turnage)
Royal Opera House ✅🅰️(<16)
WC2E 9DD
from £33
Latest by worldleading writer of avant-garde opera (based on punishing Vinterburg film of same name). Also showing 22/2, 24/2, 27/2
Maki Namekawa (piano) performs Philip Glass
Wigmore Hall ✅🅰️
W1U 2BP
from £18
Nathy Peluso
Roundhouse ✅🅰️(<16)
NW1 8EH
From £36
O. (work in progress show)
Windmill Brixton ☑️
SW2 5BZ
£8
OVAL - '94diskont.' : 30th Anniversary Show + Kirk Barley
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
SOLD OUT
Sans Soucis
Two Palms ✅
E8 1EJ
£16.87
Tribulation, Livgone, Naut
Underworld 📶
NW1 0NE
£24.55
20th February (Thu)
Anna B Savage + Cubzoa
Union Chapel ♿️
N1 2UN
£18 + bf
Chester Watson & Elaquent
Hootananny Brixton ☑️
SW2 1DF
£16.53
Deem Spencer (live) + oogie + Asandia
Peckham Audio ♿️
SE15 4BQ
early bird £10 / 1st release £12.50 / final release £15
Flo Lines / Arthur Davies Evitt / Matilda Ashe Belton (trio), Jonny Fryer, Adaer, Hopping Corpse
The Ivy House ☑️
SE15 3BE
£8 adv, £10 otd
"evening of live instrumental and ambient songwriting; synthetic and acoustic sounds"
INSOMNIA LONDON: Opposite People, Hiren Parmar, Memory Muscle, DJelley, Vanity Project, Dave Edit, SARSAM
Corsica Studios ♿️
SE17 1LB
1st release £3.50; 2nd release 5.50; 3rd release £9.20
LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL: May Kershaw + Kenichi Iwasa & Akinyemi Oludele
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
SOLD OUT
Lou Terry, Mabel Clarke, Shoko
the George Tavern ☑️
E1 0LA
£7.50, NOTAFLOF
Scenic Route: Molina, Horse Vision, Spirit Blue
Spanners ♿️
SW9 7EX
SOLD OUT wait list only
THE HORSE IMPROVISED MUSIC CLUB: Faradena Afifi, Steve Beresford, Adam Bohman, John Edwards, Anouck Genthon, Lionel Marchetti, Phil Minton, Adrian Northover
Christ Church Blackfriars Bridge (John Marshall Hall) ♿️🅰️
SE1 8NY
£8 / £10 OTD
Best of the best improv -- not sure in what configurations they will be playing -- only one way to find out!
TIDES: Dj Hot Bitch, HǍO MĚILÌ, Sweætshops, Lolita
Avalon Cafe ♿️
SE14 5RZ
early bird £7.50 + bf; general admission £10
queer postrave / experimental sound art night
TLC23, VÍZ, Rat Section, CECILIA (CA)
Ormside Projects 📶
SE15 1TR
£12
UNRAVEL: REINEN, Ammonite, Hudson Scott
The Albany ✅ 14+
SE8 4AG
£10-£12
New SE experimental songs-and-video night, headed by "genre bending art pop project" from "alumni of the mercurial Paul Institute"
21st February (Fri)
160 UNITY: RP Boo, DJ Spinn, Big Dope P, THEMPRESS, Very Special Guest
Venue MOT ☑️
SE14 5RT
£ ?? (final release was £25 -- advance SOLD OUT but 50 tix OTD)
2300-0600 footwork big leagues
Alessandro Cortini + Marta Salogni
Rich Mix ♿️
E1 6LA
£30
CHINABOT PRESENTS: Saadet Türköz (Kazakhstan / Turkey / Switzerland) + Jena Jang (South Korea / CZ)
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£16; £14 adv; £8 members
Denzel Himself, SHEIVA, Wu-Lu (DJ)
Barbican ClubStage ♿️
EC2Y 8DS
from £15
cutting edge of SE experimental hip hop
Garageland London: Slobheads, Shin Splints, Chem Sex Party
Shacklewell Arms ☑️
E8 2EB
FREE
Kinn (live), Meat Strap, Smith Parkman, Miss HerNia & Co, Beatrice Vorster & Yasmin Vardi, Wendy Lavone, the Crying Room (DJ), Gus Cantor (DJ)
Ormside Projects 📶
SE15 1TR
£11
resonance fm fundraiser
Objections, Ritual Error, JK Historian, Sinews
New River Studios ♿️
N4 1DN
£7 - £10
Hero Oxford DIY promoters DIVINE SCHISM hit the capital with stacked four-band bill -- Objections (comprising members of Bilge Pump and Nape Neck) responsible for this LSI contributor's GIG OF 2024, absurdly brilliant punk trio FFO Shellac, Jesus Lizard, Minutemen
Peter Urpeth & Evan Parker
Hundred Years Gallery 📶🅰️
E2 8JD
£10 Cash OTD
Poetry and music, what else do you need in life? Food you say? Sex? Money? Alright alright alright. Still, it sounds like a decent combo to me.
22nd February (Sat)
Alan Wilkinson with Nathan Greywater & Charles Hayward + Haddow + Trust
Lewisham Arthouse ♿️
SE14 6PD
£10 Cash OTD
Another incredibly under-promoted lineup of absolute titans. LSI regards it as a mission to make sure Charles Hayward's arthouse meetings get beamed to the masses
BRÅK: Cath Roberts / Charlotte Arculus (duo) + Tom Ward / Sue Lynch (duo) + Colin Webster / Julia Brüssel (duo)
waterintobeer ☑️
SE4 2EW
£10 OTD / £8 adv / £5 unwaged
Cosey Mueller, Stingray, Labrys, Moist Crevice, Less Than Human, more
The George Tavern ☑️
E1 0LA
£13.20
1700-0300 'All the variations of dark.' Incl five bands, DJs and a "midnight synth-wave set" ; also "scorched as fuck, brutal hardcore punk", "goth/diy shit", "putrid, rotten, disgusting, plague-ridden noise", "nice background music for knitting"
Festen (opera by Mark-Anthony Turnage)
Royal Opera House ✅🅰️(<16)
WC2E 9DD
from £33
see 19/2
Pessimist, Elle Andrews, Conrad Pack, Stem
Ormside Projects 📶
SE15 1TR
first release £13.80; second release £16.10
2300-0500 - "uncompromising and masterful approach" to dnb, "sonic bleakness"
Slow Dance '24 Compilation Launch Party: Pearl 2, Wing!, Ash Kenazi, Vogues, Kevin!
Shacklewell Arms ☑️
E8 2EB
FREE
Sticky Floors zine launch: Body Horror, Pink Eye Club, Plutoz Beach, MPTL Microplastics
Windmill Brixton ☑️
SW2 5BZ
£6
THE 87PRESS PRESENT: Karenjit Sandhu + Harmony Holiday + Emma Gomis
+ Jimmy Two Shoes (DJ)
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£12; £10 adv; £6 members
23rd February (Sun)
Aba Shanti-i (4PM MATINÉE)
Jazz Cafe ✅🅰️
NW1 7PG
from £10
"4 HOURS OF THE ULTIMATE DUB & ROOTS" from UK soundsystem behemoth
Bulldoze, xapothecaryx, Lowlife, Infinite Wisdom, Regress
New Cross Inn ♿️
SE14 6AS
£20 + bf
Doors 1800 -- "NYC beatdown hardcore legends, rare London show"
PLAYING WORKS: Sofia Vaisman-Maturana, George Garford + Douglas Benford perform visual works by Livia Garcia, Calum Storrie + Meg Shirayama
Hundred Years Gallery 📶🅰️
E2 8JD
£10 Cash OTD
ROSE HILL ELSEWHERE PRESENTS: Pierre Bastien & Louis Laurain album launch + Furrowed
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£20; £18 adv; £12 members
TOTAL IMMERSION (1/3): Guildhall School musicians and BBC Singers perform Justé Janulyté (1PM MATINÉE)
Milton Court ✅🅰️
EC2Y 9BH
from £15
The first of three concerts and various talks at the Barbican exploring "symphonic electronics" (see venue website for info on the talks) -- premiere of a "new collaborative song cycle of 12 'moments' for 12 voices and electronics" by contemporary Lithuanian composer, FFO Scelsi, Ligeti's 'Lontano', other pioneers of orchestral dark ambient
TOTAL IMMERSION (2/3): BBC Symphony Orchestra and others perform Tristan Murail, Misato Mochikuzi, Steven Daverson (3PM MATINÉE)
Barbican Music Hall ✅🅰️
EC2Y 8DS
from £15
see above; Murail's 'Gondwana' is a bananas wall-of-sound spectralist CLASSIC that cannot be missed!
TOTAL IMMERSION (3/3): BBC Symphony Orchestra and others perform Karlheinz Stockhausen, Shiva Feshareki
Barbican Music Hall ✅🅰️
EC2Y 8DS
from £15
see above
24th February (Mon)
Festen (opera by Mark-Anthony Turnage)
Royal Opera House ✅🅰️(<16)
WC2E 9DD
from £33
see 19/2
INOYAMA LAND TWO-DAY RESIDENCY (1/2): Inoyama Land + Tonal Union & Mari (DJ set)
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£22; £20 adv; £15 members
Love Letter, Heavyhex, Hell Can Wait, Supernova
New Cross Inn ♿️
SE14 6AS
£13 + bf
"UK debut for Defeater/Verse post-hardcore supergroup"
Slow Dance '24 Launch: Export Import, Doom Club
Windmill Brixton ☑️
SW2 5BZ
£6
"Export import are rly sick!!" (from the LSI whatsapp group)
25th February (Tue)
Cusk, Rabbitfoot, Pedro Montenegro (Worldwide FM, DJ)
Below Stone Nest 📶
W1D 5EZ
FREE (first come first serve; "be there sharp to avoid disappointment")
new music night presented by LDN indie promoter Bird on the Wire
Echo Collective
Stone Nest ☑️
W1D 5EZ
£19
INOYAMA LAND TWO-DAY RESIDENCY (2/2): Inyoma Land & Passepartourt duo + Tonal Union & Mari (DJ set)
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£20 adv; £15 members; £22 OTD; £36 pass; £26 members pass
Me Rex, Spring Major
The Ivy House ☑️
SE15 3BE
from £6.50
"surging gargantuan hooks" plus "twinkly keyboard emos"
26th February (Wed)
FLIM-FLAM: Mick Beck / Parny Wallace / Neil Metcalfe / Dave Fowler (quartet) + Sylvia Hallett / Ivor Kallin / Tansy Spinks (trio) + Glowering Figs (trio)
Ryan's Bar 📶
N16 0UL
£10/8 cash OTD
Improvised music!!!!
Opeth
Roundhouse ✅🅰️(<16)
NW1 8EH
From £49.50
Personal Trainer, Modern Woman
The Dome 📶 14+ 🅰️(14-17)
NW5 1HL
£21.35
SACHIKO M – TWO-DAY RESIDENCY (1/2): Sachiko M (Solo) + Sachiko M / Li Song (Duo) + Sachiko M / Tom Wheatley / Caius Williams (Trio)
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£14; £12 adv; £7 members
'Never loaded a sample in my life mate'. Onkyokei legend, pure 440Hz on or off. Has to be seen to be believed. Playing with a rich changing ensemble of london's free music heavy hitters. LSI highly recommends.
Street Soldier, Dygora, King Street, Toil
New Cross Inn ♿️
SE14 6AS
£13 + bf
Hip-hop-indebted death growl heaviness; "Absolute chaos"
27th February (Thu)
*zoviet:france*, Andrey Kiritchenko, da Googie
Peckham Audio ♿️
SE15 4BQ
£15
resonance fm fundraiser
Being Dead (night 1/2)
MOTH Club ☑️
E9 6NU
£18.51
very funny and good new surf / garage band from Texas come to London for two consecutive nights
Festen (opera by Mark-Anthony Turnage; final night)
Royal Opera House ✅🅰️(<16)
WC2E 9DD
from £33
see 19/2
INSOMNIA LONDON X VOICES LONDON: Ned Spencer, Caligari, Twythen
Corsica Studios ♿️
SE17 1LB
1st release £3.50; 2nd release 5.50; 3rd release £9.20
Mary in the Junkyard
fabric ♿️
EC1M 6HJ
£22
Rapt, Esme White, Luke De-Sciscio
The Ivy House ☑️
SE15 3BE
£9 + bf
Alternative / ambient folk
SACHIKO M – TWO-DAY RESIDENCY (2/2): Sachiko M / Angharad Davies / Lina Lapelyte (Trio) + Sachiko M / Pat Thomas (Duo) + Sachiko M (Solo)
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£14; £12 adv; £7 members
see 26/2
Salomé Wu
Stoke Newington Old Church ♿️ 16+
N16 9ES
£17.60
Six Organs of Admittance + Bill Mackay
Metronome ⏳
E1 1LA
£18
legendary experimental guitarist in the American primitivist mold
Spirit of the Beehive
The Dome 📶 14+ 🅰️(14-17)
NW5 1HL
£23
"restlessly creative" experimental punk
The Bug Club
Electric Ballroom ✅
NW1 8QP
£20.45
28th February (Fri)
Being Dead (night 2/2)
The George Tavern ☑️
E1 0LA
£20.76
see 27/2
BODUR x HABIBTI NATION: Bodur, Luma, Bolly Illusion, Yasmine, Persiajoon, Alaia, special guest TBA
Ormside Projects 📶
SE15 1TR
first release £12 + bf; final release £14
2200-0500 - "high octane club night transporting the best DJs + live performers from the SWANA, Arab + South Asian diaspora to your fave London sweat box"
C. Turtle, Middleman, 3D Jesus
Windmill Brixton ☑️
SW2 5BZ
£6
Caius Williams, Rrose, Chooc Ly & Mohammed Rowe, Rebecca Salvadori & Coby Sey, A'Bear, Kiritchenko b2b Holy Harm, BMT
Avalon Cafe ♿️
SE14 5RZ
£14
resonance fm fundraiser; improv, "hypnotic, uncharted spaces", "raw, hardware-driven sets"
Donna Candy, Slimo, Radon, Meat Strap
New River Studios ♿️
N4 1DN
£10 / £13 OTD
postpostpunk noisy songs from Marseille / Still House Plants labelmates (ft lead vocals from a cross-dimensional Zoom call w wobbly connection -- GREAT!)
FIASCO!: REGAL86, JOSH CAFFE b2b NIKS, REECE SPOONER, SOFTI, SEB ODYSSEY
Corsica Studios ♿️
SE17 1LB
Early bird £5; 1st release £14; 2nd release £18; Before 12AM £8 / £10
Ghais Guevara
Peckham Audio ♿️
SE15 4BQ
£14.06
new lightning fast conceptheavy hip hop from Philadelphia
LIFE AFTER DEATH FEST (Day 1/2): Bastard Mycosis, Coedwig, Electric Doom Synthesis, Gates of Londra, Hail Conjurer, Helm, Jesum Christum, Oksennus, Olm Eyes, Scimitar, Shearman, Spife, Vaurien, Weathered Crest
Walthamstow Trades Hall ☑️
E17 4RQ
£49.50; weekend pass £70.90
1400-0100 ; weekender of "underground sounds from metal's frayed fringes" -- 29 artists across two stages, see ticket link for full lineup!
ROBYN'S ROCKET: Robyn Rocket, Digital Roses, Cath Roberts, Mikey Chestnutt, Sam Castell-Ward
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£14; £12 adv; £7 members
At this point a truly iconic series of shows at OTO, space trumpet and guests.
The Sick Man Of Europe + FAT CONCUBINE
Shacklewell Arms ☑️
E8 2EB
FREE
TURMOIL OF ONIONS: Shephali Frost / Stuart Wilding / Mark Hewins
Hundred Years Gallery 📶🅰️
E2 8JD
£10 / £12 OTD
Apparently Mark Hewins introduced Lou Reed to the midi guitar, and he's a keen scuba diver. I think this should be enough info to make you wanna desperately go to this gig!
Ultra Sunn + Dancing Plague
Rich Mix ♿️
E1 6LA£16.95
brooding electro from Brussels FFO Nine Inch Nails, Yellow Magic Orchestra, New Order
Wizz Jones
The Ivy House ☑️
SE15 3BE
£18 + bf adv, £20 OTD (cash only)
Rare appearance by old school folk / blues guitarist beloved by slightly more-well-known figures such as Keith Richards, Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart