i get lots of DMs asking “is there an nyc noise for [city]??” & hey GOOD QUESTION; if you know of an experimental / avant / improv / noise / “underground” etc-focused show calendar, please email me w/ subject line “SITES LIKE THIS”! && i know genre delineations are bs, but not looking for big gigantor sites that include *all* music events *or* sites stacked with ads*; hurray for curation + community <3 also including other small nyc lists yayyy
*hint: if a site is raking in ad cash from Big Money spots, unethical promoters, & gigantor venues… if they’re listing talk-show host tours, or clogged with affiliate/tracking links… they aren’t here to help independent artists! there are people leveraging the cultural capital of an affiliation with the ~underground~ into hella financial capital, & it is weird & bums me out; plz don’t encourage them!!
non-bold stuff = venues, labels, collectives, etc. in other places… if you do event stuff in a ~distant place~ plz let me know, & feel free to remind me if we talked a while back!! (i historically haven’t been great at keeping track of stuff whoops)
the bay (san francisco, oakland), california
bayimproviser.com // “Experimental, Improvised, Noise, Electronic, Free-Jazz, Avant Garde, Modern Composition, and Other Forms of Contemporary Sound in the San Francisco Bay Area” // curated by i think john lee tho i need to check that // venues incl. bird & beckett, ccrma, center for new music, the lab, the laundry, various mills zones, temescal
RA: san francisco / oakland // electronic music
@whitecratesf // bay area show recs + interviews & reviews thru substack, newsletter, radio show, & more! (we’ll forgive the sp*tify playlists) // started by ronny kerr, i think live stuff’s maybe curated by elliot engel, idk them but looks good yay // venues incl. the lab, el rio, uc theatre, public works, ivy room, center for new music, the chapel (just from aug 26-27 recs) // [thanks to ryen banihashemi for rec!]
berlin
[my plans] (november 2022) // ://aboutblank • anagram • arkaoda • ausland • ballhaus ost • bUm • cashmere radio • donau 115 • exploratorium berlin • KLAK • km28 • koma f • kraftwerk (atonal) • kühlspot • kunstquartier bethanie • kirche von unten • laborsonor • loophole • monom (spatial) • morphine raum • ms hoppetosse • multiversal • panda • p.a.s. •satellit • schokoladen • sisyphos • sowieso • subversiv • supamolly • trickster • villa kuriosum • west germany • zukunft am ostkreuz
echtzeitmusik.de // “The term ‘Echtzeitmusik‘ was first introduced in the mid-1990s in order to distinguish the musical practices of a younger Berlin scene from music referred to as ‘Improvised Music’, ‘Free Jazz’, ‘New Music’, ‘Experimental Music’ and so on. The website echtzeitmusik.de was launched in 2001 by Gregor Hotz and Kai Fagaschinski to announce concerts at Labor Sonor, the discontinued Raumschiff Zitrone, and the venue ausland (Prenzlauer Berg) and it’s biegungen series. The scene is constantly growing, organizing and defining itself, and offering a huge variety of concerts every day of the year. The calendar offers related events and other improvised and experimental music concerts in many venues all over Berlin.” // [thanks to great pal + biggest site helper paul feitzinger for tipping me off to this one!]
field-notes.berlin // “The field notes program by inm – initiative neue musik berlin e.V is a central point of contact for Berlin’s contemporary music scene. Since 2016 it has been working on the professionalization, structural strengthening, and improved visibility of the contemporary music scene.”
brazil
i feel like i talked to some great brazilian curator ppl a couple years ago, but my memory is so fried ?? if this was you plz send me yr info to include here!
minas gerais: seminal records
rio de janeiro: qtv (label, lee says they’ve done gr8 events)
são paulo: brava (label/curation) • leviatã (venue) • musica insolita (label)
chicago
anagram series • constellation • elastic arts • hideout • hungry brain • lampo
nowis.org // jazz realmz! // curated by tushar samant // note: there’s a *new* “now is” on the horizon! link goes to https://beta.now-is.org; site’s supposedly still “under construction” but hey it’s already fancier than mine lol // venues incl. constellation, elastic, the hideout, the hungry brain
london
another subculture (@anothersubculture) // “Another Subculture has been putting out cassette magazines, gig listings and wallet destroying pandemic printer zines since 2013, trying to signal boost London DIY punk and hardcore in whatever format makes sense at the time. 2019-21 saw monthly calendars with details of hundreds of gigs all across the capital. At the moment, we’re giving fanzines and gigs another go, seeing where punk world is twisting and turning in London and further afield.” // curated by ben perkins // [thanks to beautiful genius & friend-of-decades bryony for sharing this one!]
nyc
nonsense nyc // weekly mailing list: “a discriminating resource for independent art, weird events, strange happenings, unique parties, and senseless culture in New York City.” // curated by jeff stark for a ZILLION YEARS (started in september 2000!! mad respect), hits yr inbox every friday // very explicitly not for “just music” events, but hell interdisciplinary / rule-of-3-style stuff is becoming more the norm anyway // you can donate here & also the FAQ-style “about” page is really excellent, i would like to copy large chunks of it lol
extended techniques // “new music” + contemporary classical + jazz zones // list curated by alex minkin, who usually recs ~30 events/month; leans a liiittle fancier than me, but i def check this to make sure i’m not missing anything important cuz it’s solid! // venues incl. barbés, dimenna center, the jazz gallery, roulette, the stone, zürcher
new music calendar // “Your resource for new music in New York” + helpful gloss of new music as “contemporary concert music“; about specifies “concert music events at which the majority of work presented is by living composers” // curated & updated by todd tarantino “to replace the old paper Calendar for New Music that Bill Hellerman used to mail out”; v good site!! spreadsheet-style, super clean & minimalist, no ads or trash, scroll right for links & prices // to support new music calendar, you can send a tip
reader, i know you prolly want price listings on this site, too; i’m ambivalent cuz i think people should pay for stuff if they can, & often free events have more funding/support, but as a Poor Person i def see the appeal (hence “$$” warnings)… maybe in 2023 i’ll start marking which events are NOTAFLOF??
go out! // weekly list for music, dance, opera, theater, performance (& food!!) w/ a very pretty website! // also trends ~fancier~ but great range, jazz & new music & experimental, includes some soundwalk stuffs // list curated & (v thoroughly annotated!) by barry michael okun // recent venues include green-wood cemetery, bk botanic garden, lpr, public records, the armory, roulette
jazz generation // this is the ~parent entity~ (i think??) for keyed up, which i think is a booking entity pairing jazz artists & venues…? sorry i didn’t fully check background on this yet lol––point is Jazz of a more capital-J persuasion, including some sessions & jam-type things // venues include williamsburg music center, the flying lobster, rebar chelsea, 11th st. bar, lowlands, bar bayeux
kevin reilly // kevin runs relative pitch records, a “NYC-based independent record label specializing in avant-garde, free jazz, free improvisation, experimental” musics, & his monthly email recommendations are very in-line with the kinda music he puts out (& documents on his youtube channel) // he’s stopped sending those, but if you wanna make sure you get any future mailings (or encourage him to start again?? cuz c’mon kevin i’m bad at checking insta!!) you can write him: kreilly@aol.com // he also v helpfully used to include a pdf of monthly listings from the…
…new york city jazz record // …jazz! both ~avant~ & cap-J; they include listings at the end of every (monthly) issue (tho since you can’t update a print pub you’ll obvs wanna confirm elsewhere) // apologies for the slight interruption to alphabetical listing to keep this after kevin; i appreciate your understanding
resident advisor // “A platform to discover electronic music, artists and events.” // i don’t think i’m boosting some ~deep secret~ here––if you found my site, you’ve almost def encountered the infinitely-more-popular resident advisor––& they’re also a multi-city site, which makes me a lil nervous… but if you dig electronic music, don’t let RA be so big that you forget about them? let me know if there’s f*ckery behind the scenes, but for their size, they seem to be doing a pretty legit job of staying “independent” & supporting locals.
nyc insta roundups: @chaoscalendarnyc (punk gigs!), @kharaxresidency (inactive; dance / electronic / dj-based music), @new_york_underground_official (sermon3–affiliated, curated by sweet + nymph, v gr8 electronic-leaning weirdo selections), @tappedinnyc (inactive; piles!)
FILMS // i only list screenings if there’s a live component, but screen slate has the full rundown if you’re looking for that kinda thing! // “It’s difficult to define exactly what we feature, but generally: arthouse, repertory/restoration titles, radical film, genre cinema, pornography, experimental film, media art, and more. Throughout our history we have placed an emphasis on historically under-represented filmmakers, genres, modes of expression, and filmmakers.” // founded by jon dieringer
++ cc often does screenings on mondays & tuesdays; i don’t list those on the main site, but if you send me a flyer i’ll include it on the cc page
philadelphia
Anthorna • Ars Nova Workshop (insta) • The Barbary • Beautiful World Syndicate • Bowerbird (insta) • Building Bok • Cherry Street Pier (insta) • Common Beat Music • Dear Life Records (insta; nyc & philly) • Electric Factory • Foto Club • Haus of Yarga • House Cat Presents • Institute of Contemporary Art (insta) • Johnny Brenda’s (insta) • Kimmel Center • Kung Fu Necktie • MaasBuilding • Machines with Magnets (insta) • PhilaMOCA (insta) • philly fringe fest • R5 Productions (insta) • Ramp Local (insta; philly & nyc) • The Rotunda (insta) • Sera Phi (insta) • Underground Arts (insta) • Union Transfer (insta) • Vox Populi (insta) • The Woodlands • WXPN (insta) • World Cafe Live (insta)
playinpossum.org // SOMEONE MADE A PHILLY SITE!!!!!!! HURRAYYYYY—noise, avant-jazz, “new music,” weirdo hangs, shared ~areas of interest~ but even more minimal/clean than this site, gr8 job (just add a page for the past!!!) // venues incl. century bar, philly argentine tango school, solar myth (boot & saddle), big farma, ukie club, johnny brenda’s, evangelical lutheran church of the atonement, philamoca, haw den // [ty to captivating weirdo ben bennett for the tip!]
philly-shows.org // woahhh just after freaking out about playinpossum i found this other philly resource, also v new (looks like august 2022)??? technically goes against my own rules to include it here bc about says the aim is to list *EVERY* show, but it’s minimalist + no ads + seems to skew avant/experimental/indie soooo check it out!
wprb.com concert calendar // “WPRB Recommends… Some concert recommendations in the NJ, Philly, and NYC areas from wprb to you.”
philly insta roundups: @labelrockers (hip hop!)
vienna
schalltaucherin : music events // weekly mailing list!! “Weekly newsletter landing in your mailbox every Sunday with a few hand picked crisp local gigs, that you almost missed. Happening in Vienna, next week! Covering jazzy, electronic, noisy, punky, experimental, classical, improvised music… and more!” // run by ROYAL SWEETHEART, exuberant fan, & physics grad student (!) lidija radovanovic, who went to so many shows during her 10 days here in september it felt like she was a local lol