Sonic Imperfections at The Montague Tuesday 12-08-14 - by P Budgie for Treedown Gotobed

They keep telling us New Cross is the next Shoreditch , sandwiched by Peckham and Deptford, it is edgy; aka rough on the Old Kent Road.But this monthly event is worth travelling into SE London's nastier recesses to see some wonderful arty music acts that hover on the line between daftly pretentious and innovatively beautiful. Think 1977 and Bowie's release of Low. Side 1 was all crashing drums and clever lyrics like "Always Crashing in the Same Car" and that masterpiece about writers block , "Sound and Vision". Then there was side 2. A burgeoning punk rocker at the time, I hated it. Now its my favourite record of all time. Philip Glass has written an orchestral composition  based on it, now released on CD. And a supergroup of musos has also released their version of the Low / Heroes ambient pieces by Eno & Bowie. What is it , 35 years later and those records are still reverberating around the music world. You have to admit, if Bowie was still based in Beckenham, he would be a Sonic Imperfections regular, always greedily consuming the new; Neu, Can, Kraftwerk etc.

None of the bands are to this standard, but the best, Iyatra Quartet were magnificently well drilled and developed some delightful melodies, with no electronica in sight. Just cello, violin, guitar and drums.They are a must see.

Last night featured three different acts, the old world instrumentation of Laura Cannell. The voice music of Georgina Brett, using effects to make her voice a weird instrument. Pyne Mwamba Duo both played vibes with wah wah pedal, effects and unusual bowing and and blowing into the amplification. It was sometimes laughable, but mostly the music was slow and atmospheric, and when they stopped pounding, it was frequently melodic and interesting with an arresting, sudden beauty springing out of the strange loops and noises. It was like looking at clouds on the horizon, and fleetingly seeing a stunning red sunset burst through the greyness. 

These are the nights when musicians let themselves go. Laugh all you like, in the end you may miss something extraordinary.

Next Sept 9th - Julia Mascetti, Alison J Blunt (tbc) and Collectress