london modular alliance is the raw and unpredictable music project from the uk’s best known, dedicated modular synth shop london modular. its members simon lynch, phil ventre and gavin pykerman met through a shared passion in modular synthesisers. impromptu gatherings and jams soon turned into live performances at clubs, festivals and museums. from the hushed environs of the tate modern and v&a to vast sweatboxs such as fabric, bloc, freerotation, weather and berghain, london modular clearly have a flair for all things modular. this year sees a return to bloc weekender as well as new adventures at festivals such as dekmantel. they create an intense live show with a huge setup of self-assembled modular gear. every set starts with one small looping beginning – a patch – and is expanded into a deep sonic landscape. with the use of cables they build unexpected circuits and explore the power of pure electronic sounds without the use of a digital software infrastructure. no laptops, no button pushing, everything is created on the spot using modular synthesizers and is based on live improvisations. overall lma tries to keep its live sets in the dark: unrecorded, off the internet and only for those who are present in the moment. a clear break with the capture-all mentality of the internet age.