Nailing The Cross

Nail The Cross was a day of experimental music and art curated by No Pain in Pop and Adventures in the Beetroot Field in a tube-less part of South London. In its second year and minus Domino Records the festival shrunk to two venues but remained as vital as ever. Mixing dubstep and ambient beats with the most interesting underground "lo-fi" acts of the year, for those brave enough to take the night bus past Peckham, this live-action blog was worth hunting down.

Tucked away in the Take Courage Gallery, Arch M plays to 20 people. "Thanks for coming up" he says. "It's pretty hidden up here". His words sum up the festival, tucked into a little corner of New Cross. Up the road at the Goldsmiths Student Union the Trailer Trash Tracys power through one of their best sets yet. A chunk of the Arms crowd even jumps between both. "How the hell do you choose" they shout, stepping outside for a cigarette to avoid making the wrong one. Followed by Hype Williams (upstairs again) it's a great back-to-back. Raw garage power subtly melts into cut and paste hip hop and fucked up nursery rhymes.

Downstairs the kids are busy negotiating the uncertain terrain of Deep Shit - Tom Watson's half bedroom fiddling half punk-rock project. Segwaying between the two halves of the festival's sound the band slot into the line up almost unnoticed, even if they are one of the best examples of the No Pain in Pop aesthetic. He flips easily between the subtleties of one-man recording and bolshy live power.

The Amersham Arms eventually gives way to guitar music. Manchester's Veronica Falls are the most traditionally jangly act of the festival but that doesn't mean they aren't at home in the pub-like back room. With their eerie Pavla Kopecna photographs they bring northern sensitivity to what at times looks a bit 'hipper than thou'. They even break a guitar.  

It's not quite a rave but Male Bonding send things predictably wild. Drinking since 3pm and riled by their midnight set they more than makes up for Gentle Friendly's absence. Clattering through their by now established routine, they kiss, they pogo, they finish with the crowd wanting more. Some drunk girl takes pictures of herself at the front of the stage. Welcome to Sub Pop guys. By the Time Hudson Mohawke takes the stage the back room is a sweat pit spilling out into the streets and crushing at the front in The Amersham Arms, finishing with Kode 9 and Spaceape.

Festival over and the two curators can look forward to being invited back next year with their purpose fully realised. For all the big man bravado and punk rock mayhem that closed the night it's still Arch M in that tiny gallery that leaves a lasting impression. His mesmeric one-man electro loop is brought to life by art curated by the work of Stanley Schinter and Off Modern. Images of the Whitechapel Video Library Project mesh with the shimmering psychedelic triumphs of his loops and drums.

Look closely and you'll realise that both today's curators aren't just planning a party. They're breaking down musical boundaries.