Although this season hasn't been much of a scorcher, we still need to visit the local lido at least once a year or it just doesn't feel like summer. With the number of gigs we attend, we're often faced with a choice between the dimly-lit venue and the lovely outdoor London we too often neglect. Thanks to the organisers of Wet Sounds, however, we can have a dip and entertain our ears all in... [continue]

Of any day of the week, ambient minimalism perhaps works best on a Monday. The noisy whirlwind of the start of the working week brought to a halt by its simple calm. Whilst Oren Ambarchi's Monday performance at The Luminaire began as relaxed as we expected, it soon grew more aggressive and dark. The hushed tones of his guitar snaked their way through a seemingly endless series of pedals and effects boxes. What started... [continue]

Having recently appeared live with Gravetemple and still on loan to us from Australia, experimental guitarist Oren Ambarchi will play a solo set on Monday 14 July at The Luminaire. Whilst Gravetemple specialises in doom metal, Oren's solo material explores the more subtle tones of the guitar. Although he knows his way around his pedals, Ambarchi doesn't let his effects rack drive his sound. His understated approach to an instrument so frequently taken to... [continue]

First formed in 2006 to play a few small gigs in Israel, Gravetemple was never a Stephen O'Malley project we expected to see live. When we learned that they were to play this year at Birmingham's Supersonic Festival, we immediately began looking into coach tickets, which is shocking because we are quite lazy when it comes to escaping the warm comforting embrace of the M25. Fortunately we didn't have to, as the band booked... [continue]

Despite last night's dreary weather, The Magnetic Fields exercised their usual level of restraint by not performing "All The Umbrellas In London" nor even "In The City In The Rain". This reserve extended beyond mere meteorological facts, as the band mostly held back the hits for the entirety of both sets at their first of three performances this week in Sloane Square's Cadogan Hall. The night began with delays and an overcrowded foyer, which... [continue]

It seemed ages away when we first mentioned it only last month, but this year's iTunes Festival is now well under way. Koko has been rocking overtime under the deluge of gigs that span the entire month of July and feature over 60 bands. Tickets are free, but you have to win them from someone who's giving them away... like us! Thanks to Warp Records we have a pair of tickets to give away... [continue]

Recorded sound hasn't existed as a physical object for very long, and no sooner does it arrive than it starts to slip away. One hundred and twenty odd years may seem like a long time when the records you bought last month felt outdated last week, but it's a brief moment in the history of sound. Although vinyl will likely remain, every other format is staring down a disembodied digital future. For most of... [continue]

Metalheads and experimental music fans unite this week as Stephen O'Malley once again rolls into town on a storm cloud of doom and drone. The mastermind behind avant-metalist outfit Sunn O))), O'Malley frequently treats London to appearances from his many side projects, though this is one we never expected to see live. Gravetemple formed in 2006 to play a few gigs in Israel, an event which was documented on a one track, one-hour long... [continue]

We've always romanticised what our first Lucha Libre would be like. Running from both gangsters and the law through the mean streets of Mexico City, we duck down a back street only to discover the most magnificent fighting arena imaginable. We quickly buy our ticket to become lost in the crowd, adrenaline still coursing through our veins from our crafty escape. Wrestlers fly through the air and crash down to the mat in an... [continue]

With their acrobatic leaps and iconic masks, Mexican wrestlers are known all over the world. As one would expect, witnessing one of their wildly energetic matches generally involves buying a plane ticket to Mexico. For three days this weekend, however, you can experience all the thrills of a true Lucha Libre just by taking the Northern Line up to Chalk Farm. Lucha Libre London brings sixteen of the best luchadores in the whole of... [continue]

Stiff Little Fingers' Inflammable Material provided a soundtrack for our teenage years, every single one of its three chords forever fused with our memories of youth. As we grew a bit older, it remained a favourite and was soon joined by Mark Stewart and the Maffia's As The Veneer Of Democracy Starts To Fade and the many productions of Adrian Sherwood. Trawlling through used record shops, anything with Sherwood's name on it went home... [continue]

"What is house? Technotronic, KLF or something you live in To me house is Phuture, Pierre, Fingers, Adonis The Pioneers of the Hypnotic Groove Brian Eno, Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode and The Yellow Magic Orchestra" - LFO, "What Is House?" (Warp Records, 1991) Given their famous name check in LFO's classic track "What Is House?" from Warp Records' early days, it seemed appropriate to have a Warp artist open for Yellow Magic Orchestra's... [continue]

A brief word of advice, should you ever wish to foray into the questionable profession of music journalism: it's probably not the best idea to begin your busiest week of gig attendance with a rave. That said, the best ideas are generally the most boring, so of course we stayed out last Saturday dancing until dawn at Warp Records' Brainfeeder party at the Hearn Street Car Park. A wise man once said, "Prudence never... [continue]

Never underestimate the power of bass. This is a lesson that the Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall learned as pieces of aluminium cracked and began to break free from the ceiling on Tuesday night as The Dubstep Chronicles rumbled its way through Meltdown 2008. No one was ever in any danger of being injured, but the low end frequencies compromised the building's structural integrity enough to force organisers to err on the side of... [continue]

When you go out to see a band that has existed for just over forty years, there's a high chance of it sounding past its prime. It is a testament to the boundless creativity of Daevid Allen and friends, as well as to the power of heavy, undiluted psychedelia, that Gong's set at Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall on Saturday beat the odds. Presented as part of Massive Attack's Meltdown 2008, psychedelic legends Gong... [continue]

From the moment we first heard the song, we were hooked, and we've been addicted to Adidas ever since. The song, of course, was Run-D.M.C.'s classic paean to their favourite footwear, "My Adidas", from their 1986 album Raising Hell. By 1989 the Beastie Boys had released Paul's Boutique and "The Sounds of Science" reaffirmed that we'd made the right decision when it proclaimed, "Rock my Adidas, never rock Fila!" Following this declaration, a Pato... [continue]

As Thursday lurches towards an end, naturally thoughts turn to starting the weekend early. Rather than another tired trip to the pub, we can't think of a better way to do so than with minimal techno at the ICA. Ghostly International's Matthew Dear performs there tonight with his full band, Matthew Dear's Big Hands. Though we cannot personally attest to the size of Dear's hands, we do know that they are as equally nimble... [continue]

If you like your beats broken and blunted, Warp Records has your Saturday night sorted. No, we're not suggesting that you stay home and chill out to your old Artificial Intelligence records, quite the contrary in fact. The Sheffield label is hosting a party at the Hearn Street Car Park to celebrate the release of their recent signee Flying Lotus' new album, Los Angeles. Should your brainwaves respond favourably to high levels of sub-bass... [continue]

Always reliable purveyors of fine musical offerings, Sheffield's Warp Records recently signed their first Australian artist, Pivot. Specialising in off-kilter, driving rhythms peppered with just the right amount of electronics, these lads start their UK tour tonight in Camden at Proud Galleries. Having served in the support slot for the Australian tours of Four Tet and Battles, sonic comparisons to the latter cannot be avoided, but ring true in the best possible way: this... [continue]

Whilst celebrated anniversaries generally include the first, tenth, twenty-fifth and so on, we'll afford a dodecadecimal exception to Raster-Noton. The German label has never been much for conformity, so why should they start now? Occupying a space between experimental electronic music and the dancefloor, the label's artists succeed at being simultaneously both but neither. We've never had the good fortune of hearing any club DJ drop one of their tracks into a set and... [continue]