The mighty Boat-Ting returned from its summer break for an 11th anniversary gig with a brilliant line-up. First on were two-thirds of N.E.W., the band only missing John Edwards; Alex Ward and Steve Noble more than compensated with a storming, violent set. Ward peeled strips off the walls with blistering six-string attacks, interspersed with cools pools of… Continue reading Boat-Ting – Steve Noble + Alex Ward / Steve Beresford + Mark Sanders / Smith, McPhail, Hayward, Lash / Alex Ward + Sybil Madrigal – Bar & Co, Temple, London, 2nd September
Glass Shelves and Floor – Cafo Oto Project Space, Dalston – 23rd Aug
Cafe Oto's sandbagged Project Space hosted this premiere of Alex Ward's 'Glass Shelves and Floor', performed by his newly formed quintet featuring Olie Brice (dbl bass), Tom Jackson (clarinet and bass clarinet), Hannah Marshall (cello), Rachel Musson (tenor sax); Ward conducted and played clarinet. The piece aimed to combine notated and semi-notated direction with passages of… Continue reading Glass Shelves and Floor – Cafo Oto Project Space, Dalston – 23rd Aug
We Can Elude Control – Bold Tendencies, Peckham Car Park – 16th August
'We Can Elude Control' is an annual event curated by Paul Purgas that focuses on electronic music and sonic art, this year centered around improvised analogue performances.First on the bill was Sybella Perry and Iain Woods, a human/machine mesh of Woods' vocals and generated tones from Perry. Various registers were wrapped around one another, the… Continue reading We Can Elude Control – Bold Tendencies, Peckham Car Park – 16th August
London Contemporary Music Festival, Weekend 2 – Bold Tendencies, Peckham Car Park, London, 2nd – 4th August
Steve Noble + Anthony Pateras The second weekend of the London Contemporary Music Festival 2013 kicked off with 'New Complexity and Noise', an event exhibiting two strains of avant-garde music practice that emerged in the 1970s, a move towards "the outer limits of density and possibility" contrasted with free-improvisation's move into spontaneous action. The… Continue reading London Contemporary Music Festival, Weekend 2 – Bold Tendencies, Peckham Car Park, London, 2nd – 4th August
London Contemporary Music Festival 2013, Weekend #1 – Bold Tendencies, Peckham Car Park, London, 27th – 29th July
Unfortunately missing the 'To a New Definition of Opera' and 'Lachenmann/Morricone' nights, the London Contemporary Music Festival began for me with the Saturday night premiere of Glenn Branca's 'Twisting in Space'. The performance felt close and tense with curtains of rain enclosing the sides of the building. The crashing thunder and dramatic weather outside was easily dragged… Continue reading London Contemporary Music Festival 2013, Weekend #1 – Bold Tendencies, Peckham Car Park, London, 27th – 29th July
Live – Horse Improv – Mon 29th July, The Horse, Lambeth, London
Horse Improv is held above a Lambeth pub, the room in a state of what can best be described "faded glamour": grimy mirrors, tattered chairs, flickering lights, a slightly haunted atmosphere; a wonderful setting for an evening of fascinating music. Zodiac symbols grace the ceiling under the rim of the coloured glass skylight, adding an arcane mood to… Continue reading Live – Horse Improv – Mon 29th July, The Horse, Lambeth, London
Live – Lume: Overground Collective + On the Roof – Thurs 25th July, 100 Crows Rising, Islington, London
Lume is a new fixture on the London jazz and improvised music calendar, taking place weekly above 100 Crows Rising in Islington.The first group on tonight was On The Roof, a trio of Lizy Exell (drums), Louis Thomas (bass), William Scott (woodwind), and Matt Gordon, seated in the audience, provided a composition. The trio performed a… Continue reading Live – Lume: Overground Collective + On the Roof – Thurs 25th July, 100 Crows Rising, Islington, London
Live – Aether Music: Saran Angliss + Time Attendant – Fri 19th July, The Horse Hospital, London
This live event, taking place in the lovely environs of The Horse Hospital, near London's Russell Square, was a double bill of music not so much inhabiting the uncanny valley as dynamiting deeper trenches within it. First act, Paul Snowdon's Time Attendant alias, stirred a cauldron of liquid beat driven electronic bloop 'n' hiss. His set… Continue reading Live – Aether Music: Saran Angliss + Time Attendant – Fri 19th July, The Horse Hospital, London
Ape Explorer – Family Hole (Auditory Field Theory)
The Auditory Field Theory label specialises in deep weirdness, a discombobulating window onto shining zones of oddness; each release distinct but tied to the general output by a commitment to exploring cracked states of reality. 'Family Hole' by Ape Explorer fits neatly into this somewhat un-neat niche, but keeps a foot in the "real" of more easily comprehensible… Continue reading Ape Explorer – Family Hole (Auditory Field Theory)
Ears For Eyes 