CHAOS THEORY

09/05/2025

Very excited that we get to work with the enormously talented Seaming To again soon! She will be the sole support for USA supergroup Extra Life on Saturday 27th June at New River Studios.

Seaming To has previously released music on Ninja Tune with her project Homelife, and has performed and recorded with a huge range of musicians including Robert Wyatt, Herbaliser, Leila (Warp Records), Bordeaux Symphony Orchestra, The Cinematic Orchestra, and pianist Matthew Bourne, to name a very small selection of her collaborators.

Usually accompanied by her daughter and son these days, she makes full use of her stunning voice alongside a multitude of instruments and technology, creating ethereal experimental pop that could easily be the soundtrack to the most fantastical dreams.

Really hope you get to join us for this. You can get tickets on Dice as usual.

Photo taken by Bryan Taylor the last time we worked with Seaming To at The Harrison, when she shared the stage with kariti and Kunal Singhal Music.

“... eccentric compositions and significant emotional depth” - Pitchfork

“Summoning up a psychedelic wonderland of alluring songs draped in pastoral string arrangements and playful synthesisers” - Clash Magazine

“...a journey through myriads of visions, evoking distinct images. Whatever elusive or strange thing Seaming To might be, the experience she offers you is always a thrilling one” - The Quietus

08/05/2025

Tickets are now live for Lay Bare Fest - Frequencies Across Borders at The Black Heart!

Line-up so far:

Coltaine (DE)

Rosy Finch (SP)

Mrs Frighthouse (UK)

kariti (RU/IT)

The Answer Lies In The Black Void (HU/NL)

The label showcase festival will feature exclusive album release shows from some of the Lay Bare Recordings roster. More announcements coming soon...

07/05/2025

Lots of fun stuff coming up for all of you.

24th May - Echoes Off The Pages: Bartholomew

14th June - Echoes Off The Pages: Kate Arnold

27th June - Extra Life (ex-Secret Chiefs 3, Kayo Dot, Zs) + Seaming To

28th June - Echoes Off The Pages: Jo Quail

5th July - Echoes Off The Pages: Lia Mice

27th September - Lay Bare Fest - Frequencies Across Borders [TICKETS & ANNOUNCEMENTS TOMORROW!]

Get yourselves involved.

📷: Estie Joy Photography

02/05/2025

As someone who used to mainly love fast, frenetic, loud, heavy and manic music before I moved to London in 2010, it took me a couple of years of being exposed to bands like Thumpermonkey and The Fierce & The Dead before I was able to fully appreciate just how much there is actually going on in "slower" and "lighter" prog, jazz and ambient music, more subtly nuanced yet still riddled with stimulating complexity to explore with every listen.

The sonic education provided by those bands, alongside an existing love of Zs and Secret Chiefs 3, prepared my young mind to fully appreciate Extra Life, who I'm really looking forward to seeing paired with Seaming To on 27th June at New River Studios. Two brilliant projects, made up of genius talents who've been in many major bands that have inspired people all over the world, and continue to work immensely hard to express themselves in new ways.

Hope you manage to check them out, look forward to the experience with those of you who've already booked!
❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥
- Kunal

Photo credits:
Extra Life by Jessica Hallock
Seaming To by Holly Broomhall

30/04/2025

Announcing Lay Bare Fest - Frequencies Across Borders!

A Cross-Border Collaboration Empowering Underground Music.

In response to the growing challenges faced by emerging European artists in a post-Brexit music landscape, Lay Bare Recordings is proud to present a Label Showcase Festival in London, aimed at building bridges between the UK and European underground scenes.

The label showcase festival will feature cutting-edge acts from the Lay Bare roster and exclusive album release shows. Line-up TBA and tickets released in May.

Presented as a collaboration between Lay Bare Recordings, Pride Management, Chaos Theory, and The Black Heart — a collective effort to push underground music forward and create space for artists to thrive in the post-Brexit era.

29/04/2025

Toby Driver - "sublime"

Alora Crucible - "a sonic bath"

Black Arrows (Aliki Karveli) - "took you somewhere else entirely"

A lovely and thoughtful report and photo gallery in Boolin Tunes by Dobbin Thomas of the artists at our recent event at New River Studios.

You can read their full account of the evening below.

Does not my countenance resemble yours?

29/04/2025

Michael Woodman Music of Thumpermonkey looking sharp as he celebrates his excellent new solo release.

Hiss of Today is out now!
https://michaelwoodman.bandcamp.com/album/hiss-of-today

It would not exist without the generosity of some truly wonderful people.

Thank you in particular to:

Christian Browning at Big Seas Productions, whose patience and attention to detail while mixing brought coherence to the wonky plugin onslaught.

Ben Wren for mastering the album so that it came out extra shiny.

Teddy Powell and everyone involved in the Lychgate and No Moon, No Throne videos – your time and energy meant the world, and I had a whale of a time getting dragged into the undergrowth by puppets.

Ashley Jones, who managed to make me look dignified in faux masonic robes, (well, maybe he didn't, but that's not his fault - clothes were the model's own).

John Simm for his incredibly tasteful drumming.

Mike Hutchinson for designing the CD artwork and helping me realise the Hiss of Today text adventure.

Kavus Torabi, for believing in this strange record and giving it a home on Believers Roast
..and everyone who pre-ordered, tipped, and shared in the lead up to the release. I remain astonished by your continued generosity.

25/04/2025

"Over fifteen years, Chaos Theory have put on a swathe of the most eclectic, the most innovative, the most welcoming, and the most vital, musical events that it’s possible to see"

Thanks so much to Joseph Norman for this excellent review of the bands (and people) at Day 2 of 15 Years Of Chaos at The Underworld Camden. Reading this helped to relive killer experiences with Svalbarduk, Underdark, Shooting Daggers, Five The Hierophant and Codex Serafini ❤️‍🔥🖤❤️‍🔥🖤❤️‍🔥

Festival Review | CHAOS THEORY 15

Joe Norman joined the crowd at The Underworld Camden to celebrate 15 years of the best underground music club in London.
📷 Svalbarduk by Estie Joy Photography https://bit.ly/Chaos15

24/04/2025

The first event of free afternoon concert/workshop/demo series starts in exactly one month!

Echoes Off The Pages will start with incredibly inventive electronic composer, programmer, visual artist and creative technologist Bartholomew, who will perform his music live and give an introductory talk about experimental music, integrated with live sampling, granular processing and audience participation.

Free entry, welcome to people of all ages and tastes. Booking ahead on DICE for the whole family is recommended. Catford Library is a fully accessible space.

A collaboration between Lewisham Libraries and CHAOS THEORY, supported by Arts Council England.

Looking forward to a mind-expanding afternoon with you!

Thanks to Faster than a Galloping Horse for the poster designs. You can find all dates for the series on the second image, each featuring VERY different musicians Kate Arnold - Music, Lia Mice and Jo Quail!

22/04/2025

Here are the final photos from our recent event at New River Studios. Pictured are the same musicians Toby Driver, Ana Cristina Pérez Ochoa, Sam Gutterman and Timba Harris, reconfigured for their second set as Alora Crucible.

Thanks to Simon Kallas Photography for capturing them and these candid shots of some of you in the audience. A very special by the band in travelling to the UK just for this one date, and from all you who came, especially those who travelled some great distances themselves.

Really hope to see Alora Crucible in the UK again before long 🖤🖤🖤

22/04/2025

Thanks to Simon Kallas Photography for capturing the atmosphere at this recent double performance at New River Studios. Here are moments from Toby Driver's UK exclusive event with friends Ana Cristina Pérez Ochoa, Timba Harris and Samuel Gutterman, playing music from his recent solo album Raven, I Know That You Can Give Me Anything.

Photos of their second set as Alora Crucible coming shortly.