Every so often in Dalston, Nothing Is whirl into town to play their eclectic mix of electro, disco, afrobeat and jazz. With the esteemed leftfield troupe set to hit The Alibi on Kingsland Road tonight, we've asked them to furnish us with a Spotify playlist and a handy guide to the world of Nothing Is...

What is Nothing Is?

Nothing Is: It's an irregular night at The Alibi on Kingsland Road in Dalston, which provides an eclectic array of music and visuals.

What does it sound like?

NI: Hard to say, really. It's an eclectic mix of music played by three record collectors who each tell their own story, but these stories are entwined by cosmic strawberry laces. A common love of the 'cosmic' side of music is what has brought these three musicnaughts together, and in a way the night is a bit of an experiment to see how 'far' it can be pushed on a Friday night in Dalston where house or grime are the usual staples.

The three people behind Nothing Is are...

NI: Rik Motor, who is part of Rocket Recordings, a London/Bristol based record label who have been releasing records by the likes of Teeth of the Sea, White Hills, The Heads and other psych damaged bands for the past 13 years.

Jamie Paton is one half of London duo Cage and Aviary, who are gradually gaining notoriety for a galaxy-wide set of influences, clearly running amok throughout their productions and remixes. They hold a particular flame for the melting pot of styles prevalent in the late 70s and early 80s, as a methodology for creating forward-looking dance music that moves your feet, but may also plant a seed of thought while it's at it..

And last but not least, Little Dirty - former member of rocketnumbernine (faves of Gilles Peterson, Kieran Hebden etc) and long time east-london DJ of all things strange with that head nod-beat.

What can they tell us about the night?

Rik Motor: Nothing Is is an evening of music from all over the cosmos, from psych, kraut and rock to electro, disco, afro and jazz...

Cage and Aviary: Nothing Is is.. a chance to mix things up, in the way I think more clubs and nights should. A chance to play way more leftfield music than is normally possible. A chance to be inspired by new music from new sources, and to inspire others in the same way.

Little Dirty: Nothing Is is like Sun Ra, Ian Carr and Steve Reich and Dave Pike playing cards as Hawkwind and ZZ Top serve the drinks.

What is the future?

NI: The plan is to introduce live bands and guest DJ’s to the evening as we received had lots of offers already from people. Also the visual element of the night we want to grow and invite artists to fill the space more.

Listen to the Nothing Is Spotify playlist by clicking here.

Tracklist

'Chant To Mother Earth' - BLO

'No Devotion' - Revolting Cocks

'The Platform On The Ocean' - Arthur Russell

'Balek' - Marc Moulin

'Rock Out' - Art Ensemble Of Chicago

'Yaz Gazeteci Yaz' - Selda

'It's Not Easy' - Ofege

'Comrades' - Stark Reality

'Valium Ten' - Hawkwind

'Crosseyed and Painless' - Talking Heads

'Tom Cat' - Muddy Waters

'R U Still In 2 It? DJ Q Remix' - Mogwai

'Seventy Two Nations' - Dadawah

'The Duke Arrives/ Barricade' - John Carpenter/ Alan Howarth

'Vertical Tones & Horizontal Noise' - The Emperor Machine

'The Great Man's Secrets' - Magazine

'Kebabträume' - DAF

'Caesar's Column' - Oneida

'Air Makes My Day' - Elmore Judd

'Goodbye Horses' - Q Lazzarus & William Garvey

'Mind Your Own Business' - Delta 5

'Stuffed Tomato' - Vangelis

'All In Your Mind' - Stray

'Nothing Is True; Everything Is Permitted' - Carlos Peron

'This Fear Of Gods' - Simple Minds

'Spooky Doo' - Dick Walter

'Persuasion' - Subway

'To Nature's God' - Sun Ra