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......

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......

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......

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 One hundred and twenty odd years may seem like a long time when the records you bought last month felt outdated last week, but it's a brief moment in the history of sound.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......

Look at that gorgeous building. What would it sound like? Head to the Laban centre in Deptford to find out this Thursday evening when artist-musicians Janek Schaefer, Jasper Leyland, Alexander Wendt and Douglas Benford will perform http://www.last.fm/event/610474">108 Pieces Demolition. As the title suggests, and in keeping with the experimental nature of the artists and building involved, demolition and construction will be the theme for this evening. Far from the dance performances normally held in......

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......

After the fantastic sound journey we took with Philip Jeck on Thursday night, we returned to the Museum of Garden History on Friday evening for the second instalment in Touch's Atmospheres 2 festival. With a line-up ranging from processed field recordings to solo piano and laptop-filtered electric guitar, Touch ensured that our interest would be held through sonic diversity as well as stellar performances. Placing effects-treated field recordings at the centre of their sound,......

As we walked across Lambeth Bridge towards the Museum of Garden History on Thurdsay evening, we were immediately reminded us of how much we enjoyed the first Atmospheres festival. It was on that bridge in October where we started it with a field recording workshop led by Chris Watson. With the old St Mary-at-Lambeth church in close sight, it was tempting to stop for a quick recording session, but we were too afraid of......

When we first learned that Touch was planning a follow-up to last autumn's brilliant Atmospheres festival, the question wasn't whether or not we would attend but what line-up they had in store for us this time around. Once again occupying Lambeth's beautiful Museum of Garden History for a long weekend, Atmospheres 2 returns with a focus on hauntology, particularly with respect to music. If your Derrida is as rusty as ours and you fancy......

On Saturday 19 April, three of Londonist's bravest aural explorers arrived at ULU to undergo some serious sonic punishment in the form of Satori, Sutcliffe Jugend and the unmistakeable king of Japanese noise, Merzbow. For fun, naturally; people are strange, as Jim Morrison once said. Whilst Time Out placed the event in their "Rock, pop & dance" section, we assume that's only because the "My Cock's On Fire" section was full. Strange is probably......

We love the London Music Collective, if only because we have them to thank for the glorious Resonance FM radio station. But they do do other stuff (like the cracking Resonance magazine for example), and at the beginning of November the collective will be staging their 4th Annual Festival of Experimental Music. Here's the lineup: November 1: AMM with David Jackman + Louisa Martin + Ivan Seal November 2: Richard Chartier (pictured) + Gross/Fages/Guthrie......