Feb 9 - 15
Monday 9th
Windmill Brixton: UNIVERSITY / My Theatre Friend / Sativa / Jawsgirl
The latest edition of Pindrop magazine’s monthly residency at The Windmill, raising money for MAP. Headliners UNIVERSITY are an explosive emo group, accompanied on stage by their friend Eddie, who sits on the floor wearing a balaclava and playing xbox. They are incredible to watch live - loud, fast and obtuse. Underneath the noise, the songs are funny and deliberately crafted, they’re a proper one of a kind band.
Village Underground: Mechatok / Zukovstheworld / Deer Park / The Mass Transit Incident
Awesome lineup at Village Underground, headlined by alt-pop / electronic artist & longtime Drain Gang collaborator Mechatok, along with underground rapper Zukovstheworld, NYC producer / hypnagogic pop artist Deer Park (off the back of a great new single, ‘Black Cat’, feat. Ivy Knight), and a mysterious new artist called The Mass Transit Incident (aka Kamixlo). I’m a really big fan of Deer Park especially, and their headline show at Corsica on Tuesday is sold out - so this is your best chance to catch them live!
Tuesday 10th
Windmill Brixton: Kaidi Akinnibi / Alex Cosmo Blake / Kristina Rhodes
Kaidi Akinnibi is a saxophonist who has collaborated with an incredible array of artists - his credits include: black midi, Tom Misch, Ezra Collective, Wizkid, Kokoroko and more. Here, he performs a set of his own material - often led by sax, but playing with elements of punk, shoegaze and indie. The lineup is filled out by 3 more jazz-adjacent artists with amazing credentials as session musicians.
George Tavern: Rope Burn / Pollyfromthedirt / Wazdaka
A night of alt folk at the George, headlined by the lowkey orchestral ensemble Rope Burn. Also on the lineup, I’m a huge fan of Pollyfromthedirt and their scrappy, hallucinogenic songs about England and Englishness.
The Social: Goodbye / The North / The Glowworms
New music showcase at the Social, with Brighton’s Goodbye - a dreamy, groovy band with soaring vocals, guitars and synth lines - joined by Leeds Indie rockers The North and the excellent Glowworms - a post-rock/post-folk group.
Wednesday 11th
EartH: Jerkcurb / Sarah Meth / LL Burns
Biggest ever headline for the subversive and brilliant singer-songwriter Jerkcurb, in the art-deco theatre at EartH Hackney. Jerkcurb’s latest album , ‘Night Fishing On A Calm Lake’, is an atmospheric and blurry portrait of grief – he remains one of the most inventive and multifaceted artists in London. Support comes from the equally brilliant Sarah Meth and her alt-folk ballads.
Dream Bags Jaguar Shoes: Long Distance Runner / Kissing Gate / Mabel Clarke
The second week of the post-rock ensemble Long Distance Runner’s residency at Dream Bags, with excellent supports in Kissing Gate - optimstic & tender folk-rock - and the ‘alt-folk-emo-jam band’ Mabel Clarke.
Servant Jazz Quarters: Majke Voss / Matthew Muli
Majke Voss is a composer and singer-songwriter from Copenhagen. In 2014, she released an amazing album called ‘May’, under the artist name ‘Broken Twin’. At the time NME called her ‘the most arrestingly beautiful songwriter we’ve heard in aeons’ - she has only just recently returned to releasing music after a decade long break, now under her owm name, with the delicate & swirling ‘Coming Down’.
Thursday 12th
Evelyn Gray, formerly of tapir!, has started a new project documenting the rooms of an abandoned apartment block and the people who used to live there. Her debut single ‘Clotheslines’, released last week, is gorgeous and groovy - and she’ll be premiering more new songs at the George, with an all-star band.
Next Door Records 2: Opal Mag / Djank / Moon Idle
A night of raw and heartfelt rock music in Stoke Newington. Special mention to Djank, and their alt-folk fuzzy rock - I love Djank.
Get Lip Filler to New York! After ‘one of the shortest hiatuses in history’, the dance punk rockers return to the Windmill to raise money for a trip to NYC, to play the New Collossus festival in March.
Friday 13th
Ormside Projects: Brodinski / Significant Other / Scar
Promoters Kindred and Pain Management come together for ‘a night of sub frequency exchange’ – headlined by Brodinski, the electronic music legend & co-producer of ‘Black Skinhead’, taking over the glorious Ormside Projects soundsystem.
The Victoria: Hiding / Sidney Jones & The Murmuration / Mia Rae
Nice varied lineup at the Victoria in Dalston, with fuzzy slacker rock from Hiding, folk pop from Sidney Jones & The Murmuration, and alternative R&B from Mia Rae.
Social Spider: American Bacchanal
A mysterious and intriguing fundraiser/art show preview - inspired by the Roman festivals of Bacchus - with works, readings and performances interrogating the decadence of contemporary America.
Avalon Cafe: Pulse of the Planet! A Fund-RAVER
Fossil Free London present ‘a night of solidarity, connection, and unmissable live performances and DJs; with all proceeds going to UK political prisoners.’
Saturday 14th
George Tavern: Glasshouse Red Spider Mite / Jenny Kennedy / Conus Sp. Bent / …
Valentines all-dayer from Skydaddy’s Bathtime Sounds collective. With, among others, the delicate, spiralling slowcore of G.H.R.S.M and Jenny Kennedy, a new project from Tyler Hyde of BCNR
MOTH Club: Our Bloody Valentine’s Day
An evening of lovesongs organised by the team behind David Byrne’s Night, with a vast & talented cast of musicians performing songs of ‘love, lust and heartbreak’.
The Standard: Heartbreak Hotel
Tarot card readings, poetry & performances from Avice Caro and DJ Charlie Gosling in the library of the Standard Hotel.
Sunday 15th
Cafe Oto: Ruth Goller’s Skylla / Pando Pando
Ruth Goller is the bassist in the experimental jazz group Melt Yourself Down, her own music ‘is otherworldly and defiantly unclassifiable — far-out sibilant ice age siren songs that haunt like something conjured in a fever dream’. Her performance will be accompanied by live visuals from Ross Adams.
George Tavern: Dream Slugs / Lifepath99 / S.W Gothic / …
Another George all-dayer, this time organised by Falling Moon: celebrating Singles Awareness Day & ‘love in all forms’ - with a lineup of new and interesting bands.
An adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning stage play, starring Jimmy Stewart and a 6 foot tall rabbit.