Signposts Underground: June 2026
This month, between two of the shows I write about, I took part in a graffiti workshop, in which I learned how to literally make my mark on the streets of London. It was a ton of fun, and massive kudos to Zayr Luciano for the tutorial. The 3 people I write about this month, however, have done a lot more than scrawl their names onto a wall to leave their marks…
Mike D 5D, in 3D
Mike D 5D in London, June 2026. ©1MU
The Beastie Boys legacy is perfectly preserved, thanks to the insistence of Ad Rock and Mike D that the death of Adam Yauch, aka MCA, would bring an immediate halt to all writing and live performance.
But 14 years is a long time to go cold turkey. So it was that, in Spring 2026, with no warning, Mike D dropped his debut solo single, ‘Switch Up’, quickly followed up by the announcement of the formation of a new band, Mike D 5D; an album, ‘Thank You’, out later in 2026; and a handful of intimate live dates, starting in Brooklyn, then spreading to Europe. His 2 June shows at 26 Leake Street, a venue with a 3-figure capacity hidden beneath Waterloo station amongst a tunnel of graffiti and street art, were possibly London’s hottest tickets of the early Summer. Naturally, I had to be there.
Support came from Birmingham's Tony Bontana who, despite microphone malfunctions, earned plenty of goodwill through some heartfelt lyrics, JPEGMAFIA-esque production, shouts out to his hometown and Ozzy Osbourne, and some decent off-mic freestyling. He said it himself in his lyrics - “no, I’m not perfect,” but he was very entertaining nonetheless.
But let’s be clear - there was only one man the crowd was there to see. And when he and his 5 compadres finally came out, outfits matching like a Brooklyn version of Devo, it was clear that they were there to party. And for 60 minutes, they delivered like only a group fronted by someone who co-wrote and performed 'Fight for Your Right’ can - crunchy guitars, synths, breaks and turntables meshed together, never aping the Beastie Boys sound, thankfully, but nicely coexisting alongside it, in a post-LCD Soundsystem/DFA kind of way. Of course, the second Mike D opened his mouth, you couldn’t mistake that voice for anybody else, even 40 years after ‘Licensed To Ill’, and even when he stopped rapping and started singing a heartfelt ballad to youth, closing the set and naming the album.
Mike D in London, June 2026. ©1MU
Other rappers approaching pensionable age might choose to rest on their laurels, supplementing royalty cheques by performing decades-old hits to undemanding festival audiences or autocratic world leaders. Mike D, on the other hand, came to this show with, for the most part, all new material, and a band that, despite having only performed in public 3 times prior to this show, didn’t feel like a bunch of session musicians thrown together to prop up a legacy act, but a dynamic, fresh band. Yes, there were references to the past - the encore consisted of an all too prescient cover of Delta 5’s ‘Mind Your Own Business’, followed by a crowd-pleasing version of all-time classic ‘So What’Cha Want’, and I swear I heard a sample of ‘Get It Together’ in there somewhere, or at least the Moog Machine track it originally sampled. But for the most part, this is a group looking forward, and they were all the better for it.
I recently learned of the death of director Shozin Fukui (second hand - I can only find one obituary, in German) who took his experience working behind the scenes on ‘Tetsuo: The Iron Man’, and made one of the most demented J-horrors you will ever see, 1991’s ‘964 Pinocchio’. It’s currently streaming on Night Flight Plus, and is not the faint of heart - somewhere between cyberpunk, ‘Possession’, and ‘Un Chien Andalou’…
Argento Tussauds
Occasionally, a series of photos will do the rounds online, depicting a set of horrifying waxworks and mannequins, allegedly depicting various Hollywood celebrities, but looking like a Backrooms version of the Paramount backlot. Many of these photos were taken at Louis Tussauds House of Wax, a knock-off Madame Tussauds in the English seaside town of Great Yarmouth, which achieved legendary status as a piece of outsider art. I was reminded of this more than once during a brief trip to Rome, and the Profondo Rosso shop and museum, co-owned by master of Italian horror cinema, Dario Argento, named after one of his giallo masterpieces.
They sell a curious mix of academic literature, fancy dress, and themed merchandise. (I fell for it - I bought a branded ashtray. I don’t even smoke.) But for 5 euros, you may enter their dark, red-lit basement, in which one finds a macabre set of life-sized dioramas, depicting and celebrating of some of Argento’s classic pictures, boasting real props and archival promotional material from films such as ‘Demons’, ‘Phenomena’, and ‘Opera’.
The whole exhibit can be seen in 5 minutes, roughly 1 euro per minute. But speaking as a lover of a) the cinema of Argento, and b) insane tourist traps, it was worth every cent. To be clear, you will learn almost nothing about his films from the museum. (You should watch his 70’s and 80’s filmography anyway, it’s wonderful.) What you will get are some lovingly crafted recreations of key scenes from these films, including the killer of ‘Opera’, my favourite of the filmography, having his neck and eye eaten by ravens in front of a grand theatrical backdrop. These recreations are never outright scary, but undoubtedly have a certain creepiness to them. In fact, the scariest moment came when an air conditioning unit loudly burst into life as I walked past.
But the real highlight of the museum has nothing to do with Argento, and comes at the very beginning. Behind an envelope-sized peephole, you will find a semi-recreation of the legendary 1995 ‘Alien Autopsy’ hoax video which, according to at least one source I’ve read online, features the actual alien from the video, surrounded by paranormal images and ephemera. And that alone may be worth the price of admission, whether you’re a horror fan or not.
“Esposto qui l’alieno di Roswell.” ©1MU
Like the London Dungeon as interpreted by David Liebe Hart, Profondo Rosso is an irresistible mix of tacky and creepy. Don’t visit Rome for it. But if you happen to be in the area, it’s a horror fan’s guilty treat.
Also in Rome, among the usual attractions, I also took 5 minutes out to visit the Museum of the Holy Souls in Purgatory, a display in the Chiesa del Sacro Cuore del Suffragio on the west bank of the River Tiber, purporting to show artefacts singed by the hands of those wretched souls stranded between heaven, hell, and the corporeal plane. Judge for yourself…
An attempt to review Merzbow
Merzbow in London, June 2026. ©1MU
In the world of extreme harsh noise music, Merzbow is the closest thing to a household name. Masami Amita, native of Tokyo, has churned out hundreds if not thousands of albums since 1979, working with every major name in underground experimental music in the process. Imagine if Lou Reed, instead of recording Coney Island Baby, spent the rest of his life trying to one-up Metal Machine Music. That, in a nutshell, is Merzbow. Live appearances outside his homeland are few and far between, and after over a decade away, he returned to London for 3 shows at the Iklectik arts space in a former multi-storey car park in Peckham. I arrived for the final one, a Sunday matinee, delighted to see earplugs being provided, having been deafened for a week after his 2008 London show.
Isn’tses began the afternoon by turning a table full of toys, mixers, pedals, and Gameboys into a noise-dub masked cabaret, complete with lightsabre fighting and climaxing with a tape being unspooled around the entire audience. Elvin Brandhi, meanwhile, kept things simple with a single synthesiser, yet somehow managed to push out a thunderous soundscape that sounded like Autechre falling downstairs. I mean this as a compliment.
Merzbow in London, June 2026. ©1MU
Okay. Merzbow is virtually impossible to review. If you know what he does - it's that. If you don't, then nothing I can say will ever convince you that he is worth your time. (I sent The Good Lady Punk Connoisseur a 20 second clip - she lasted 15 before turning it off.) With that said…
The opening minutes sounded almost melodic - arpeggios build on top of each other, bringing to mind some of the most outré of modern composers - Stockhausen, Penderecki, that sort of thing. But when strumming his sick and twisted parody of a guitar - two coiled springs attached to a metal drum - the noise truly began, and did not stop for the next 50 minutes. Walls of feedback; howling drones; unrelenting distortion - it's the most intense aural experience you will ever encounter in a music venue. Nothing comes remotely close. Even the introduction of a hypnotic looping bass drum at the 40 minute mark provides no levity.
Is it good? Is it bad? Wrong - it's Merzbow.
Without warning, the noise stops, replaced by the rapturous applause of Peckham’s most hardened listeners. The 300-odd of us walked outside that evening, ears ringing but souls pacified. Some people jump out of planes. Some people eat ghost pepper chillies. Others listen to Merzbow. What kind of person are you?
Other signposts:
Work is about to begin on an authorised oral history of The Legendary Stardust Cowboy. If you have any stories about the man behind ‘Paralyzed’, get in touch with Chaim O'Brien-Blumenthal here.
I hear rumblings of a super-limited release by grindcore legends Extreme Noise Terror that may feature a guest appearance by a certain subterraneous individual…
As part of a new exhibition in Colchester, the comedian, poet, musician, and now visual artist Phill Jupitus will be in conversation with, amongst others, Gee Vaucher of Crass, on Sunday 5 July. Limited tickets for £18.75 here.
Nicolas Cage’s best film, 1986’s ‘Vampire’s Kiss’, is getting a 4K remaster for Radiance Films. A day one purchase if there ever was one.
You won’t hear another album like ‘Mechanista’ by KOGG this year, or perhaps any year. Cerys Hogg and Selena Kay have taken Christmas cracker whistles, elastic bands, Meccano, ice, and all manner of other non-musical items, and used them to channel the spirit of Delia Derbyshire and the Radiophonic Workshop into a unique LP. Buy it from nonclassical here.
In the 80’s and 90’s, Anthony Irvine would take to stand-up comedy stages with a block of ice, then attempt to melt it. He would then leave the stage. Thus was born, the Iceman. Fans included Mark Thomas, Jo Brand, and Stewart Lee. A book and new film celebrate the man.
Is there something I should know about? Leave a comment, or get in touch with tips and bribes:
www.onemanunderground.co.uk
Bluesky
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