Live music listings: December 2006

Doors 8.00
£8 via WeGotTickets

Thurston Moore once told The Wire that the most interesting acts in the world were "The Dead C. and all the bands that follow them" and who are we to disagree? This New Zealand trio, comprising Bruce Russell, Michael Morley and Robbie Yeats, have thrown up 19 albums in their 19 year existence, most recently the career-summarising double disc 'Vain, Erudite and Stupid' (BaDaBing). Their radical approach to noise and improvisation put them at the forefront of the 1990s rock underground and they've been tipped as an inspiration to outfits as diverse as Flying Saucer Attack, Pavement, Black Dice, LaBradford and Bardo Pond. This is the first time ever they've brought their 100% improv show to London, and follows an appearance ATP's Nightmare Before Christmas.

To say that the words "unique" and "singular" are over-used in describing music is to state the obvious. Yet to apply these words to the sounds created by the Texan duo of Tom and Christina Carter over the last decade would be an understatement. For Charalambides have broken so much new ground in the primitive, folk, mystic, improv, psych valley in which they toil, creating a truly 21st century experimental ethnic music that explores quietness and stasis, in much the same way that musicians in the second half of the 20th century discovered amps, noise and speed. Their latest album 'A Vintage Burden' is out now on Kranky, following a series of reissues of their earlier work, and it is undoubtedly their most cosmic and beautiful to date.