London Zine of Music, Arts and Miscellaneous Happenings. Monthly updates & seasonal physicals.
/ˈpɪnˌdrɒp/
1) adjective describing the silence produced when a performance leaves the audience speechless (ie: one could hear a pin drop)
2) verb to indicate the location of a particular happening
03
___Queer @ Genesis Cinema £14 [FILM] - In an adaptation of William Burrough’s 1985 novella, Luca Guadagnino (of Challengers and Call Me By Your Name fame) captures humid, insecure Mexico City nights rife with the delicate pining of junk-ridden 50s homosexuality. The semiautobiographical ‘Lee’, played by Daniel Craig, works to wean himself off heroin as his self-loathing tears apart the only relationship he finds dear. tickets
06
___John Coltrane's A Love Supreme: 60th Anniversary @ Jazz Cafe £18.15 - An opportunity to experience an album many consider the pinnacle of the ‘spiritual jazz’ style should not be quickly turned down. Especially if fronting the widely influential odyssey, on tenor saxophone, is the immensely powerful Kaidi Akinnibi of solo work and black midi fame – we are in good hands. Perhaps Trane’s magnum opus, the album is the culmination of the mach-speed development of jazz, unlocking a language able to describe his complex relationship with faith and alternative religions. tickets
07
___paper hats @ Shacklewell Arms FREE - The London post-hardcore quartet take inspiration more heavily from the American canon than the British. Under red strobes, their spitting, glitched-out guitars and desperate, emotional lyrics incite the chorusing shouts and moshing of the audience. Support comes from Pindrop favs Speedial – for no money, it’s a no-brainer. rsvp
08
___Butch Kassidy @ MOTH Club FREE - As part of Wide Awake’s pre-party series, the elusive Butch Kassidy return for a much-anticipated headliner, after nearly a year of not playing in London. Heavy riffs drenched in reverbs, drum chops sent from the heavens, and walls of noise culminate into an ascendant experience you’d be silly to miss. rsvp
___Eat Your Own Ears Recommends: Pem @ Shacklewell Arms FREE with Optional Donation North London Action For the Homeless - Pem Perry’s wide vibrato is at the forefront of her ballads. Over glistening guitar chords, her soft sonority translates emotion in such an engaging way. A great gig for a great cause. rsvp
09
___The Umlauts Residency No1 @ @ The Windmill £7 - The Umlauts mix both the languages of Europe with the continent's electronic music tradition, wiring the infectiveness of early Krawtwerk and Italo Disco into a grotty south-London melting pot. They’ve brought 2 of Pindrop’s favourite noisy dance groups for their premier residency night at the Windmill: Manchester’s SILVERWINGKILLER and Leed’s Bathing Suits. The groove will not stop. tickets
10
___The truth, the whole cat and nothing but the microplastics @ George Tavern £6.5 - What a bunch of weirdos! For a night of quirky, creative, more-than-folk bands look towards the George! The night contains not 1 but 2 Manchester bands who employ synthesis into their whimsical and progressive indietronica numbers: Truthpaste and catbandcat (whose studio releases promise great things for the gig) both demonstrate splendid sides of a similar coin. Openers MPTL Microplastics are an unbelievable, amorphous "anti-fascist anti-folk" amoebus that seems to be ravaging its way through the London gig circuit – their debut single ‘Plastic Princess’ is gosh-darn terrific. tickets
___C Turtle @ Two Palms £11.85 - With one of Pindrop’s favourite tracks of the 2024 ‘Melvin Said This’, C Turtle play with fuzz and feedback without compromising tight catchy tunes that ooze with the coolness of Dinosaur Jnr, Pixies or earlyish-MBV. This is one for those who severely missed out on coming of age in the 90s. tickets
11
___the Jesus Lizard @ Electric Ballroom £39.4 - One of America’s great noise rock bands is back in Brittania on their 2nd reunion tour (heard that one before). They’re still as gut-punching as ever with their mad frontman David Yow. Anyone who is severely missing some post-hardcore in their life should attempt to scrounge a ticket. tickets
13
___New Music Mondays @ The Windmill FREE - Perhaps the best opportunity to say you saw a band before they got big. NMM showcases the young acts that manage to weasel their way through the strong and admirable censoring of the Windmill’s bookers. Those who have played before include The Orchestra (For Now), BLACK FONDU and Ziplock. Acts TBC! rsvp
14
___Ugly @ MOTH Club FREE - A Pindrop favourite. Not much needs to be said that hasn’t been said before except that this gig is FREE and will be GOOD. rsvp
18
___Pindrop Presents: Bingo Fury @ The Windmill £6 - 2025 brings our biggest night yet! After extensive research, we present an exposition of Bristol's greatest bands, right on your doorstep (and with ticket prices lower than a National Rail coach to the southwest). Headlining is Bristol’s beat-jazz Sinatra, Bingo Fury, who conjures sultry slow burners that explode into manic no-wave dissonance. Support comes from the “Art frog snail prog” group Foot Foot, jazz-noisers Ex Agent (so good they’ve improvised with Lee Ronaldo of Sonic Youth) and inventive, unpredictable The Scuttlers. tickets
20
___In The Dark: Funny Sounds with Talia Augustidis @ MOTH Club £9.79 [MISCELLANEOUS] - In 2005, Sky Travel used pseudoscientific mathematics to calculate the saddest day of the year, Blue Monday, occurring usually in the 3rd week of January. For the last 12 months, producer and community organiser Talia Augustidis has been combing through audio archives to compile a heartwarming and surreal compilation of ‘funny sounds’, that, this year, will chase everyone’s blues away. tickets
21
___Index For Working Musik @ Shacklewell Arms FREE - With songs that fall into either dark, whispered tracks or 12-minute free-form soundscapes of janky, climaxing strings and tape loops of deformed voices underpinned by unflinching drums, Index For Working Musik are an enigma. Not playing live often, it is unsure what you can expect from the group; however, their 2 albums and recent single ‘Purple Born’ predict something interesting. rsvp
22
___Westside Cowboy @ Sebright Arms £6.12 - Multi-part harmonies, occasional slide guitar, and an appreciation for disciplined compositions transform the Manchester quartet’s engaging indie rock into what they describe as ‘Britain-icana’. One listen to their debut single I've Never Met Anyone I Thought I Could Really Love (Until I Met You), released on Nice Swan Records, and you’ll buy a ticket instantly. These guys are really going places… tickets
___Morgan Garrett @ The Windmill £8 - Catch the disturbing noise of Philadelphia artist Morgan Garrett as he brings havoc to the UK. Sometimes playing twisted Appalachian folk on a broken acoustic or wailing over what might sound like a noise-grind record slowed down beyond comprehension. His recent track ‘Alive’ manages to push the blood-curdling lethargy of Swans’ ‘Filth’ into even more freakish heights. tickets
26
___Milkweed @ Cafe Oto £14.5 - Joined by a plethora of friends, the bewildering and terrifying avant-garde folk duo will be taking on Oto with braying horses, chopped-and-screwed banjo and loose interpretations of American folksongs. Feel goosebumps flare up as the band conjures new, harrowing material. tickets
27-1
Independent Venue Week
The UK's annual celebration of grassroots music, empowering local communities to put on some of the most exciting line-ups of the year. Some really smashing gigs from a lot of Pindrop's favourite acts – too many to name! Here's some that peak our interest:
27
___Broadside Hacks: Tribute To Bob Dylan @ MOTH Club £15 - If Timothy Chalamet’s performance in ‘A Complete Unknown’ has left you longing for even more Zimmerman, trot down to Hackney Central in your tiny double denim and shades for a night dedicated to one of the greatest American songwriters. Performances come from Clara Mann, Brown Horse and more TBA! tickets
___The Orchestra (For Now) @ The Windmill £7 tickets
28
___lots of hands @ MOTH Club FREE - With the crackle and bitcrusher crunch of watching Vine compilations on your older brother’s Nintendo DS, the Newcastle duo’s lofi indie-pop creates melancholic, nostalgia-dripping songs that weep with nursery rhyme sentimentality. Accompanied with glitches and synths, textural easter-eggs complete their sweet sonic arsenal. rsvp
___Glasshouse Red Spider Mite @ George Tavern £6 tickets
___Rabbitfoot @ The Windmill £9.04 tickets
29
___UNIVERSITY @ The Windmill £7 tickets
30
___Ut @ Cafe Oto £15/17 - Forming in 1978, the all-girl NYC No Wave trio concocted clanging masterpieces (listen to their track ‘Evangelist’ and be converted!) before moving to the UK and touring with The Fall and The Birthday Party. Guitars sprang wild chords that are as rhythmic as they are harmonic, propelling minimalist drum beats and repetitive bass into wild non-structure songs. Disbanding and reuniting, they playing every now and then – this time they hit up Cafe Oto to celebrate a reissue of their catalogue. tickets
___DHP's INTRO25 Present: thistle. @ The Grace FREE tickets
___Ebbb @ The Windmill £7 tickets
31
___Rosie Alena @ Morocco Bound £15 tickets
For even more crucial dates that couldn't fit on the list...
Add January's Recommendations to your calendar: Click Here
GKA
___Love Takes Miles by Cameron Winter (2024, US)
___Revans by Sora (2003, Japan)
___Destroy the Tabernacle! by TTNG (2016, UK)
MLT
___Rock Show by Peaches (2002, Canada)
___Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above by CSS (2006, Brazil)
___Creator (vs.Switch & Freq Nasty) by Santigold (2008, US)
MR
___Baby by Gal Costa and Caetano Veloso (1968, Brazil)
___$ome drugzzz by MGNA Crrrta (2022, US)
___Spiral Staircase (AFX remix) by Aphex Twin (2024, UK)
SE
___Cut Self Not by Faraquet (2000, US)
___Creature of the Sea by catbandcat (2024, UK)
___Kalimankou Denkou (The Evening Gathering) by Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir (1975, Bulgaria)
Pindrop is GKA, MLT, MR, & SE
Contact us at @pindropzine (instagram) and pindropzine@gmail.com (email)