Nail the Cross

Back when we started this website shin-dig in 2007, New Cross was one of London's emerging areas, filled with hideously cool fashion students from nearby Goldsmith College, bad ass bands and some pretty decent kebab shops. Then someone decided to close its tube station and the whole area seemed to wither on the vine.


It all looked pretty bleak, but those NPIP and AITBF never gave up on the area, and last year they decided to show London what it was missing out on by throwing a day of live music called Nail the Cross. These New Puritans, Benga, Micachu, The XX and Shapes all played, people from Hackney mixed with the people of New Cross, everybody had a pretty fun time, as our writer Lauren readily testified.

On the back of that, it seemed stupid not to have another one, and Nail The Cross 2009 is looking even more intriging than the last one. On the one hand, you have the wonky, subterranean beats of the hotly tipped Joker and Warp Records' golden child Hudson Mohawke rubbing shoulders with the old school garage of Ikonika and the groundbreaking sounds of Kode9. But, on the other, you'll also find a range of other aural delights, from the dreamy haze of Trailer Trash Tracys to the cracked, spectral garage rock of Dignan Porch; from Hounds of Hate’s new wave sex music to Kindness’ off-kilter pop shapes, the untethered lo-fi whirlwind of Male Bonding and Veronica Falls’ gorgeously nostalgic jangle-pop.

Should be well worth the trek down South London!