London Sound Index - 1st-15th December
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@gmail.com .
1st December (Sun)
Eye Gymnastics + Liudas Mockūnas
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£14; £12 adv; £7 members
Sound performance and multi-reed nonconventionalism; as part of the Lithuanian Contemporary Music Series
Hoy Chorale, Flo Lines, Jude McCreath
Stoke Newington Old Church ♿️
N16 9ES
general admission £11; unwaged £6
"warm and experimental folk sounds"
MUD CLUB: Nowt + Ambient Babestation Meltdown (Rye Wax DJs), OKRAA ft. Cami (live), MFlo (experimental), Caitlin LM (live), Hotel Europa
Avalon Cafe ♿️
SE14 5RZ
£12
"squelchy winter Sunday special"
OPERA: Seb Odyssey, Cleyra & Excelsior Ruth
Spanners ♿️
SW9 7EX
£10 otd
Penguin Cafe
Islington Assembly Hall ✅
N1 2UD
£31.50
Penguin Cafe (3:30PM MATINÉE)
Islington Assembly Hall ✅
N1 2UD
£31.50
Sō Percussion with Caroline Shaw
Barbican Music Hall ✅🅰️
EC2Y 8DS
from £15
Spew, Haeterodaemon
New River Studios ♿️
N4 1DN
FREE
"Post punk, noise rock, wonk, funk, clang, screech, boink"
Steve Noble / John Edwards / Yoni Silver (3:30PM MATINÉE)
Hundred Years Gallery 📶🅰️
E2 8JD
£10 OTD
free improvising titans (drums, double bass, bass clarinet)
2nd December (Mon)
Alexander Hawkins / Matthew Wright + Neil Charles
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£16; £14 adv; £8 members
no-joke, highest-level jazz/improv pianist plays Duke
BOAT-TING: Tumbatareco (Dave Fowler, Marcio Mattos, Loz Speyer, Aurelie Freoua) + Hannah Dikes / Si Paton + Dave Draper / Mark Roberts
Theatreship ⏳
E14 9SH
£10 / £7 OTD
free improv (on a boat)
POL
Shacklewell Arms ☑️
E8 2EB
£10.30
very catchy du-du-tsh-du synth-with-spiky-guitars pop songs
Preen + Clementine March + Jake Trelease
Servant Jazz Quarters 📶
N16 8JN
£11.88
the Tubs + Grazia + Expiry
MOTH Club ☑️
E9 6NU
FREE
3rd December (Tue)
Cléa Vincent + Beatrice Melissa
the Lower Third ♿️
WC2H 8NJ
£12.50
Breezy French pop FFO Stereolab, Girl Ray
DIIV
The Garage ♿️ 14+ 🅰️(14-16)
N5 1RD
£27.50; SOLD OUT, waiting list only
Richard Youngs
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£14; £12 adv; FREE for members
A rare performance by legendary DIY polystylist, this time playing songs from Advent, his excellent debut of front-room piano vocal oboe Yuletide insistent repetitions
4th December (Wed)
Billy Nomates
ICA ♿️
SW1Y 5AH
£26.25
Goblin Band + Craven
Cecil Sharp House ✅🅰️
NW1 7AY
£15; £10 under 30s
New London folk
Rashad Becker + Seymour Wright
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£17; £15 adv; £10 members
Album launch for highly regarded mastering engineer with his own unique, peculiar electronic practise; “a disturbing glimpse through a rupture in the fabric of reality”
Tapir! + heka (night 1/2)
St Matthias Church ☑️
N16 8DD
£16.50 + bf; SOLD OUT, waiting list only
also playing 5/12 (also wait list only)
the Umlauts + Sister Punch
Moor Beer Vaults ♿️
SE16 3RA
£11
The world’s best dance/punk hyperenergised Austro-Stroudian nonet
5th December (Thu)
Dur Dur Band
Barbican Music Hall ✅🅰️
EC2Y 8DS
from £15
"Somali funk legends"
GET IN HER EARS: Rubie + Maria Uzor
the Divine 📶
N16 8BJ
£8
Lamina, Bear Bones Lay Low, Nosewise
Spanners ♿️
SW9 7EX
£11.50
"psyched-out hardware experiments"
Shovel Dance Collective Residency (Day 1/3)
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£16.04; three-day pass £50.04; ALL SOLD OUT, waiting list only
SOLSTICE SOLIDARITY SYNTHESIS: Drum & Lace, Pomelo, Ana Quiroga, elisa
Stoke Newington Old Church ♿️
N16 9ES
£15 + bf
ambient/experimental night, all proceeds go to the Ghassan Abu Sittah Children's Fund
Tapir! + heka (night 2/2)
St Matthias Church ☑️
N16 8DD
£16.50 + bf; SOLD OUT, waiting list only
also playing 4/12 (also wait list only)
The Butterfly Collectors / the Clientele + the Smashing Times
MOTH Club ☑️
E9 6NU
£11.33
6th December (Fri)
Alan Fielden + Henry Cyer
St Giles Cripplegate ♿️
EC2Y 8DA
£17
Showcase of Fielden's "Container", a choral work "with words and phrases iterating, converging, branching, and repeating in a cascade of images and characters", plus solo performance exploring "fear as an entity"
CLUB BoOP: Club Winston, sasha b, Bossman Wines, Millie Rose Dobree, Piggybankshoe
Spanners ♿️
SW9 7EX
£10
2100-0300; "truly inimitable swaggilations", "freak club contortions", "Plastic blog house wunderkind"
Digable Planets
Koko ✅ 14+ 🅰️(14&15)
NW1 7RE
£41.12
EINHUNDERT: Mobilegirl, Bok Bok, CKTRL (DJ), Nala Brown, Nico Adomako, KANUCIA, Low.Vision
Ormside Projects 📶
SE15 1TR
£16.10
2300-late; "legendary Berlin club night" making LDN debut; 160bpm+ promised
Hope of the States + Francesca Ter-Berg
The Dome 📶 14+ 🅰️(14-17)
NW5 1HL
£25.75
Hugh Metcalfe + Jackie Montague + Paola Lesina + Lepke B.
Hundred Years Gallery 📶🅰️
E2 8JD
£10 cash otd
"[sitting] somewhere between genius and unfathomable" plus "bawdy, humorous -ding dong-and uncompromising" plus "[rejection of] any univocal interpretation of reality" plus "neuronic web" equals?
Jean Rondeau (harpsichord) performs Bach, Couperin, Ligeti, improvisations
Southbank Centre (Queen Elizabeth Hall) ✅7+
SE1 8XX
from £20
Julia Holter + Nyokabi Kariũki
Islington Assembly Hall ✅
N1 2UD
£32.28
PAREIDOLIA: Elena Colombi, Unlikely & Shimz343, Kate08, Secret Guest
Avalon Cafe ♿️
SE14 5RZ
1st release £12; 2nd release £14
Shovel Dance Collective Residency (Day 2/3)
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£16.04; three-day pass £50.04; ALL SOLD OUT, waiting list only
7th December (Sat)
ALL CENTRE: Joe, DEBONAIR, Plesk Parallel, Coe, DJ Pitch, Simkin
Ormside Projects 📶
SE15 1TR
£16.50
ANECHOIC GECKO CHAMBER: Jake Williams / Partial Wave Child / Laura Netz
Hundred Years Gallery 📶🅰️
E2 8JD
£7 + bf adv, £10 otd (cash only)
"abstract turntablism" plus "electroacoustic performance for augmented flute" plus"[work] with bat, crickets, and sheep recordings"
BODY HAMMER: Scott Fraser, Joe Hart
Spanners ♿️
SW9 7EX
£15 + bf
2300-0600
Colin Currie Quartet play Anna Meredith, Steve Reich, others
Kings Place (Hall One) ✅
N1 9AG
from £25 + bf
INTIMACY: Rory Salter, Beth Robertson, Elliot Buchanan, Noah Berrie, Fin
TACO! ♿️
SE2 9FA
£7
Live edition of RTM.FM's residency "for conceptual artists working with sound to develop work through the live performance of radio"
Mandy, Indiana
ICA ♿️
SW1Y 5AH
£22.50
Piglet + Kitty Fitz
Corsica Studios ♿️
SE17 1LB
£12
The best songs you will hear all year
Richard Dawson
The Ivy House ☑️
SE15 3BE
£24.72; SOLD OUT, waiting list only
And this man knows how to write them too
Shovel Dance Collective Residency (Day 3/3)
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£16.04; three-day pass £50.04; ALL SOLD OUT, waiting list only
XAL, Antichildleague
New River Studios ♿️
N4 1DN
£13
Dark ambient/postindustrial night / book launch and live performances
8th December (Sun)
CA Conrad & Jacken Elswyth (MATINÉE)
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£12; £10 adv; £6 members
free movements: hewan aman (dj), gaia tones (live), garçon (dj), time is away (dj), tyroneisaacstewart (voice), dan nicholls (live), lou zon (video)
Ormside Projects 📶
SE15 1TR
£15 regular; £12 concession; £18.50 supporter (all + bf)
1600-0000; plus amazing vegan food by Spring Cafe Garden
Icarus + Pando Pando
New River Studios ♿️
N4 1DN
£8, £6 adv
Lolina + great area + RIP Magic + spirit blue
MOTH Club ☑️
E9 6NU
£11.90
fka Inga Copeland fka 1/2 of Hype Williams making strange, compulsive, disassociative cityscape pop
Mark Wastell & Caius Williams with Charlotte Keeffe, Theodora Laird, Benedict Taylor (3:30 MATINÉE)
Hundred Years Gallery 📶🅰️
E2 8JD
£10 cash otd
Free improv
Nightshift + Mary Currie & Robert Sotelo + Annelies Monseré
The Lexington 📶
N1 9JB
£11.64
really interesting-looking triple bill of Glasgow DIY outfit signed to Trouble in Mind records, duo ft Currie of the amazing Flaming Tunes (1980s This Heat-adjacent bedroom weird pop band), and ultra-close-mic tape hiss songs
Tim Hodgkinson, Yoni Silver, many others perform Karlheinz Stockhausen, George Lewis, Ana-Maria Avram, many others
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£20; £18 adv; £14 members
A night of contemporary music for trombones, bass clarinets and tubas (the ensemble is nine people strong!)
9th December (Mon)
10th December (Tue)
ALGORAVE: Collapse, Heavy Lifting, Mah[alias], Myna, M-Onz, SYNTƏL8, Trampbunny, Tyger Blue, 2Digit
Corsica Studios ♿️
SE17 1LB
£11
samples of the cutting edge in live coding electronics
Hollow Hand + Dava Gavanski (solo) + Lichen
Shacklewell Arms ☑️
E8 2EB
£12.47
Maggie Nichols / Mark Wastell + Felix X Tigersonic / Mario Guarnieri / Simon Lawson + Phil Hollins / Freland Green
Bridewell Theatre Bar Gallery ⏳
EC4Y 8EQ
cash donations OTD
free improv
Panda Bear + RIP Magic
The Lexington 📶
N1 9JB
SOLD OUT; wait list only
11th December (Wed)
AZADI.mp3, Vivian Forever, nil00, Emma Korantema
Ormside Projects 📶
SE15 1TR
1st release £7; 2nd release £9; general admission £11
Beam Splitter x Xiu Xiu Three-Day Residency (Day One): Audrey Chen + Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø + Jamie Stewart + Hyunhye 'Angela' Seo + Tashi Dorji + Thom Nguyen + Che Chen + Lucia H Chung + Rie Nakajima
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£20; £18 adv; £15 members; series pass £50 (£40 members)
Fathom (John Butcher / Dominic Lash / Steve Noble / Pat Thomas)
Vortex ✅🅰️
N16 8AZ
standard £15; members £12.50; students & UC beneficiaries £10
"quartet of extraordinary improvisers"
Hyper-Place40
Venue MOT ☑️
SE14 5RT
£7
Intriguing-sounding event ft a 40-member ensemble, divided into four groups of ten, "situated within a bespoke, haptic art installation"
Lisa O'Neill with Britten Sinfonia
Barbican Music Hall ✅🅰️
EC2Y 8DS
from £27.50; SOLD OUT, waiting list only
LONDON CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FESTIVAL: Russell Haswell, aya, Catherine Lamb and Johnny Chang, Sam Andreae, Musarc, Dean Kissick, Adam de la Cour and friends perform their own work, Philip Corner, Matt Copson, Viola Torros, Jennifer Walshe
Hackney Church ☑️
E5 0PD
£28.60; £17.60 concession; four-day pass £83.60, £50.60 concession
Night 1/4 of premium new weird music festival, ft absurdist sci-fi opera, "a panto", "shitpost modernism", and aya, the 46th artist with that name according to Discogs, performing the music of the 45 ayas that precede her. The night is called "SORRY" (other nights 12/12, 13/12, 14/12)
Quivers
The Lexington 📶
N1 9JB
£14.62
Merge signees FFO Yuck, War on Drugs
12th December (Thu)
Alvilda, Music City, Zeropolis
the Waiting Room 📶
N16 0PE
£10 + bf
French punk FFO Liliput/Kleenex, the Clean
Bad Sip, Denh Izen, Pazeamor, Sirius
Loki ♿️
SW9 7JJ
£10
"4 New London Bands"
Beam Splitter x Xiu Xiu Three-Day Residency (Day Two): Audrey Chen + Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø + Jamie Stewart + Hyunhye 'Angela' Seo + Tashi Dorji + Thom Nguyen + Che Chen + Lucia H Chung + Rie Nakajima
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£20; £18 adv; £15 members; series pass £50 (£40 members)
Black Fondu, Unlucky, Mauv
Shacklewell Arms ☑️
E8 2EB
£7.50
Flashback Records Xmas party -- headliner's unique, confrontational, vulnerable noisy hip hop/electronics attracting lots of attention atm
Black Zone Myth Chant, Logos, DB1, Turbo Miffy (DJ)
Spanners ♿️
SW9 7EX
£5 adv; more otd
"Live concrète noise and machine music"
LONDON CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FESTIVAL: Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Tetsuro Yamatsuka (∈Y∋), Explore Ensemble, Steve Beresford, Edward George, Maggie Nicols, Café Rat, Melinda Maxwell and Andrew Hamilton perform their own work, Charles Ives, Jon Rafman, Joanna Ward/Laurie Ward, Matt Copson, James Clarke, Laila Arafah
Hackney Church ☑️
E5 0PD
£28.60; £17.60 concession; four-day pass £83.60, £50.60 concession
Night 2/4 (other nights 11/12, 13/12, 14/12), ft. Ancient Greek double-reed improvisations, an appearance by legendary Boredoms / Hanatarash / Naked City frontman, a belated world premiere of a 1906 Ives. This is "NOT SORRY"
SCRAM JULIAN FAIRSHARE REMEMBRANCE DANCE: Ras Russell, Jah Wonder, Sons of Simeon (Lord Tusk), susu laroche, DJ Gonz, Conrad Pack, CP Nailor, Leeway
Ormside Projects 📶
SE15 1TR
£5 + bf
all proceeds to Raw Material Community Music Project in Brixton
SOUND STORY: Silva Snipa, HUX, TorbM, Nik Fury, EVIL THWEK, Sleazebag, Camz
Venue MOT ☑️
SE14 5RT
1st release £7.50; 2nd release £8.50; final release £13.50
2100-0200; garage/jungle
13th December (Fri)
Beam Splitter x Xiu Xiu Three-Day Residency (Day Three): Beam Splitter (Audrey Chen / Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø) + Xiu Xiu (Hunhye 'Angela' Seo / Jamie Stewart) + Manas (Tashi Dorji / Thom Nguyen) + Chen/Minton (Audrey Chen / Phil Minton)
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£20; £18 adv; £15 members; series pass £50 (£40 members)
DEKMANTEL x MOT: Fafi Abdel Nour, i-sha, Interstellar Funk, Marie Malarie, NVST, Piezo, re:ni
Venue MOT ☑️
SE14 5RT
general admission £15; final release £20
GENERAL ECHO: Camberwell Connection (Dubplate Pearl + Mr Swing Easy)
Walthamstow Trades Hall ☑️
E17 4RQ
£5; £3 members
Top monthly reggae disco
KTV: Non-Paying Buyer, Rudefood, Nightbather (visuals)
Spanners ♿️
SW9 7EX
£10
LONDON CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FESTIVAL: EVOL, LCMF Orchestra, Dengbêj Kazo, Tara Cunningham / Gwen Reed / Theo Guttenplan / Edward Henderson, Jacob Kellerman perform their own work, Yves Klein, Yoko Ono, Maggie Nicols, Laurence Crane, Sofia Jernberg, Lisa Streich, Matt Copson
Hackney Church ☑️
E5 0PD
£28.60; £17.60 concession; four-day pass £83.60, £50.60 concession
Night 3/4 (other nights 11/12, 12/12, 14/12). Ancient Kurdish song, a work for guitar, hairclips and egg slicer, rarely performed Fluxus works, "cult electronic vandals". This is "ACTUALLY SORRY"
Sylvia Hallett / Chris Dowding + Jülia Brussel / Tom Ward / Bill Thompson + Adam Bohman / Adrian Northover / special guest
Christ Church Blackfriars Bridge (John Marshall Hall) ♿️🅰️
SE1 8NY
£10
Triple bill free improv ft. bicycle wheel, the famous Bohman Amplified Bedsprings
Tongue Depressor + Li Yilei
Hundred Years Gallery 📶🅰️
E2 8JD
£10
Heavy and gnarly tape, bagpipe, bowed string chthonic textures bit like audio from a damaged 80s horror print
14th December (Sat)
ACCIDENTAL RECORDS ALL-DAYER: Sam Underwood & Graham Dunning, NikNak, Neil Luck, Flywheel, Tullis Rennie & Ruby Colley, Accidental DJs
Strongroom Bar ☑️
EC2A 3SQ
FREE
doors 1500 -- bill of very weird experimental electronics
ARCCA MOVE TOGETHER: afromerm (live), SHAUWDII, camélia, Reenie, B4mba (DJs)
Ormside Projects 📶
SE15 1TR
1st release £15; 2nd release £17; final release £20 + bf
2100-late; "multidisciplinary club night" ft live performance, DJs, panel discussions
Ceephax Acid Crew (live), Jerome Hill, special guests TBA
Venue MOT ☑️
SE14 5RT
1st release £15; 2nd release £17.30
LONDON CONTEMPORARY MUSIC FESTIVAL: Charlemagne Palestine, Apartment House, Beatriz Ferreyra, dove/Christine Kurbi, Shenece Oretha, Yseult Cooper-Stockdale, Andy Inagmells perform their own work, Amalia Ulman, Laura Steenberge, Matt Copson, James Clarke, Mieko Shiomi
Hackney Church ☑️
E5 0PD
£28.60; £17.60 concession; four-day pass £83.60, £50.60 concession
Night 4/4 (other nights 11/12, 12/12, 13/12). 60s happening piece, early musique concrète pioneer, major new work for solo organ. This is "ACTUALLY NOT SORRY"
Musarc perform Julius Eastman, Gavin Bryars, Benjamin Oliver
the Wash Houses ♿️
E1 7NT
general admission £15; concessions £12
Xmas do; the Eastman is “Stay on It” !
PUMPING VELVET: Daisy Moon, Sam PV b2b Sofie K
Spanners ♿️
SW9 7EX
£15
"LGBTQ+ Dance Party" / house and garage
Roni Size, Fabio + Grooverider, more
EartH Hall ✅
N16 8BH
£23.69
2200-0300
Spaces Unfolding & Pierre Alexandre Tremblay + Phil Minton / Martin Hackett / Steve Beresford (trio) + Hannah Marshall (solo)
Cafe OTO ♿️🅰️(<18)
E8 3DL
£16; £14 adv; £8 members
The Black Dog + Voice Actor
ICA ♿️
SW1Y 5AH
£27.50
cool Sheffield double bill of early Warp affiliates/IDM pioneers with strange ambient textures
the debs: Eugene McCauley, DJ [REDACTED], DJ Baby Guiness, Sidekick, surprise guests
Avalon Cafe ♿️
SE14 5RZ
£15
in aid of Open Door Community Kitchen; all-Irish bill of accumulating sweat culminating in "Donk Maestro" and other surprises
THE TRILOGY TAPES x 12TH ISLE: Josey Rebelle, DJ Sundae, Will Bankhead, Fergus Clark, 12th Isle DJs
Venue MOT ☑️
SE14 5RT
general admission £13.80; final release £17.30
15th December (Sun)
James Yorkston
the Waiting Room 📶
N16 0PE
SOLD OUT; wait list only
Julia Brüssel, Julia Doyle, Sue Lynch & Douglas Benford (3:30PM MATINÉE)
Hundred Years Gallery 📶🅰️
E2 8JD
£10 cash otd
Free improv
MOPOMOSO: Maggie Nicols, Alan Wilkinson, Adam Bohman, Dominic Lash, Roger Turner, dozens more
Vortex ✅🅰️
N16 8AZ
standard £12; members & concession £8
Christmas party for London's longest continuously running improv night
strange domain: Coby Sey, ãssia ghendir, Dirar Kalash, Bint Mbareh, Specimens, beyn-na-beyn
Ormside Projects 📶
SE15 1TR
£11 + bf
SUNDAY SEQUENCE: ddwy, floor length skirts, Special Guest (Mood Hut Records)
Spanners ♿️
SW9 7EX
£7.50 + bf