| Tonight we’re excited to host DJ, turntablist and 2020 Oram Award winner, NikNak, performing an improvised set on an 8 Channel surround-sound speaker setup. This will be the premier of NikNak’s newest creations during the Sound Generator R&D, focusing on a futuristic surround-sound exploration into Turntablism and identity, as a young black woman starts to discover that she has superpowers.Just the one TakuRoku release this week, but it’s a treat in the form of the debut release from The Mermaid Café, a creative collective made up of Joanna Ward and Ruari Paterson-Achenbach. The Mermaid Cafe’s music arrives at the curious intersection between British song-based experimentalist practices. Tipping towards the tender minimalism of Jane and Barton and Young Marble Giants, as well as the contemporary composition of Mica Levi and Neil Luck, the group explore the awkward space where melody, harmony, sound and outré weirdness meet in tryst.Also new on the site this week is Bill Nace‘s ‘Solo Guitar 2’. Made up of mostly brief pieces — songs, practically — Solo Guitar 2 winds tight, then unwinds, or sometimes snaps apart. Crackling, itchy static morphs into heavy, watery vibration, layered on metallic rattle. There are moments where that Bennington room sounds as sterile and lonely as a deserted art gallery. And then it becomes spacious and warm, like a cathedral filling with the hum of the universe.Take care,Cafe OTO |
| THIS WEEK AND BEYOND: | WED 22 SEPTEMBER NIKNAK + XANA£12 adv (£8 members) / £14 door | FRI 24 SEPTEMBER BABA YAGA’S HUT: LONE TAXIDERMIST PRESENTS MARRA! + BLUE RUTH£15.70 adv / £20 door |
| SUN 26 SEPTEMBER JOHN BUTCHER / SHARON GAL / DAVID TOOP (TRIO)£14 adv (£8 members) / £16 door | MON 27 SEPTEMBER CHARLOTTE KEEFFE QUARTET£12 adv (£7 members) / £14 door | TUES 28 SEPTEMBER DMSTFCTN PRESENTS: INTERFACE CHAOS LIVE WITH SKY H1£8 adv (£6 members) / £10 door |
| WED 29 SEPTEMBER KELLY JAYNE JONES + CHORA + FOOD PEOPLE + ‘THE HEADS AND THE GOLDS£12 adv (£7 members) / £14 door | SUN 3 OCTOBER MATINEE: ACTION PYRAMID + BRIGITTE HART + LI SONG£10 adv (£8 members) / £12 door | SUN 3 OCTOBER DAN HAYWOOD BAND + KISHON KHAN TRIO + EMMA TRICCA (SOLO SET)£12 adv (£7 members) / £14 door |
| DIGITAL RELEASES:Download these three releases – or any others in our ever-expanding online catalogue – for just £10 by becoming a Digital Member |
| THE MERMAID CAFÉ – AN IMPOSSIBLE VIEWThe Mermaid Cafe’s music arrives at the curious intersection between British song-based experimentalist practices. Tipping towards the tender minimalism of Jane and Barton and Young Marble Giants, as well as the contemporary composition of Mica Levi and Neil Luck, the group explore the awkward space where melody, harmony, sound and outré weirdness meet in tryst.In this debut release by them, moods and tone palettes blend and shift, taking clouds of synthesis, ruffled tape work, scrapes of guitar and field recordings along with them as they lead us inward. Like the music, spoken refrains and diaristic laments arrive and disappear, providing signposts to their maze: intersections that gradually lead way to a romantic, melancholic core.A pleasure to put out a new release by this exciting young group who are bursting full of ideas. | BILL NACE – SOLO GUITAR 2Made up of mostly brief pieces — songs, practically — Solo Guitar 2 winds tight, then unwinds, or sometimes snaps apart. Crackling, itchy static morphs into heavy, watery vibration, layered on metallic rattle. There are moments where that Bennington room sounds as sterile and lonely as a deserted art gallery. And then it becomes spacious and warm, like a cathedral filling with the hum of the universe.The bulk of Bill’s releases are collaborations with other artists, who are drawn to him (at least in part) because he’s an innovative player and a deep listener. Those qualities hold, and in certain ways intensify when he’s on his own. As he takes a series of unlikely tools across his prone guitar with the grace and urgency of someone at a loom or an aircraft control panel, there’s a sense of reaching inward. But where some might meander or navel-gaze, Bill’s playing is a process of constant dynamic construction. What unfurls can feel intensely personal, and often — for reasons I don’t always understand — very moving. Bill isn’t interested in micromanaging his listeners’ experiences, but he does make room for us. |
| NEW SHOWS: |
| SUN 10 OCTOBER APARTMENT HOUSE PERFORM DAVID DUNN AND JACKSON MACLOW£16 adv (£10 members) / £18 door | SUN 17 OCTOBER VICTOR HERRERO – MATINEE£12 adv (£7 members) / £14 door | MON 8 NOVEMBER JOHN EDWARDS / N.O. MOORE / EDDIE PRÉVOST / ALAN WILKINSON (QUARTET)£14 adv (£8 members) / £16 door |
| WED 10 NOVEMBER SHIFA (PAT THOMAS / RACHEL MUSSON / MARK SANDERS)£14 adv (£8 members) / £16 door | FRI 12 NOVEMBER NEIL CAMPBELL & HELENA CELLE£10 adv (£6 members) / £12 door | SUN 23 NOVEMBER BABA YAGA’S HUT: ROGER ROBINSON & THE BLACK SPACE QUARTET£16 adv / £18 door |
| CAFE OTO TOTE BAGS: |
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