Standard Sounds

Overview

Standard Sounds, The Standard’s music division, curates a wide array of live music, from both emerging talents and legends, in scintillating and intimate settings. Just as every Standard hotel is unique, each venue and series has a distinct musical identity that reflects the ethos, scene, and history of its surroundings. These offerings include live jazz at the Top of The Standard, down-and- dirty DJ and club culture at Le Bain, stripped down folk and rock ‘n’ roll in our Hollywood Cactus Lounge, Annie O’s eclectic live music series in the Penthouse of The Standard, East Village and a recording booth at London's Sounds Studio to name just a few.

Get in touch London.sounds@standardhotels.com

London, Tuesday November 28 2023

Up Next

Sometimes Radio

Sometimes Radio is an irregular drop of music shows and cultural talks to soothe, uplift and inspire. We’re bringing The Standard, London’s Library Lounge vibes direct to you and celebrating our creative community in London and beyond with fresh mixes, ambient sets and a good helping of thought-provoking talks. A mixture of old and new, we’re also throwing back to some of our favourite panels and discussions from the Library Lounge – on topics from feminism and office politics to music and the mind – and re-playing our most-loved sets from the Sounds Studio with a healthy dose of live jazz. Stay home and listen.

Drop #3

Checking In: Liv Little & Basma Khalifa

Lockdown culture restricts many things but does allow us plenty of time to check in with our friends over this uncertain period. On this episode of Checking In, Gal-Dem founder, entrepreneur and activist, Liv Little, checks in with another polymath, Basma Khalifa, the stylist, director and presenter, to talk about coping creatively while socially-distancing. Liv and Basma discuss productivity in quarantine, organised zoom fun and the necessity for outdoor space – plus, hear about an inspired gift that involves Basma’s face on a giant puzzle. Please note, this was recorded on May 22nd 2020.

Drop #3

The Reading Club: Raven Smith

For many of us, books have become a tonic to the anxiety and uncertainty of our new reality as well as providing some much-needed escapism. To celebrate the written form, we’ve started The Reading Club, a new show dedicated to books we love and the writer’s behind them. For our debut episode, host and editor Karla Evans speaks with the writer Raven Smith whose recent book, Raven Smith’s Trivial Pursuits, has become a Sunday Times Bestseller. Hear Raven explain his unusual pivot from commissioning director to writer, wax lyrical about David Sedaris and David Hockney, and, share a hilarious snippet from his latest work.

Drop #3

Beyond Punk: The Musical Alchemy of Malcolm McLaren

Welcome to the beautiful chaotic mind of Malcolm McLaren. In a multi-layered conversation with McLaren’s biographer, Paul Gorman, explore McLaren’s distinct approach to making music. Often pigeonholed by his Punk years with Sex Pistols and Vivienne Westwood, this show focuses on McLaren’s 80s period, exploring how he drew on wide ranging discoveries and influences from Hip Hop to Paganism, World Music to Voguing, RnB to Opera, to create three completely unique albums: Duck Rock, Fans & Waltz Darling. Presented and produced by Nick Hadfield

Drop #3

12.4: Flow States with Auntie Flo

In this episode of 12.4, Brian D’Souza aka Auntie Flo explores the positive health effects of ambient music on the body and brain. As both a world touring DJ / producer and a curator of music for customer experience in business, Brian navigates a wide terrain of musical situations. Drawing on his degree in psychology and his recent training as a Sound Therapist, Brian has assembled his 12 tracks to trigger a number of “Flow States” in the listener. Listen to Brian explain his approach in a short interview before you sit back, relax and let the flow begin.

Drop #3

Threads of Conversation: HAAi

Editor Georgia Graham is back to host Threads of Conversation, a show in which creatives talk us through their most memorable wardrobe choices and the stories that surround them. For this episode Georgia speaks with HAAi, the brilliant Australian DJ (real name Teneil Throssell) whose unexpected song choices and transcendent mixes have made her one of London’s favourite go-to music curators. Listen as HAAi talks through the garments that have shaped her life.

Drop #3

Harv-Inder: Sun Ra Speaks Somewhere In Space, Calling Planet Earth Mix

Welcome to the first episode in a series on Afro-Futurist Jazz Icons by Harv-Inder aka WeAreTheHorsemen. Part 1 is a birthday celebration and dedication to the cosmic wisdom of Sun Ra. In a blend of rare interview recordings of Sun Ra himself, and music made by him and his Arkestra, gain a special insight into his rare and otherly worlds. Standard resident DJ Harv-Inder, is a DJ with a focus on spiritual and eastern jazz sounds and beyond, exemplified through his Outernational Record Label and work the counter at Honest Jons Records.

Drop #3

East Side Voices: Whose Story is This?

Harper’s Bazaar Features Director, Helena Lee, started East Side Voices to celebrate the brightest East and Southeast Asian voices in Britain today, shining a light on the oft underrepresented demographic and showcasing their talents across media, film, art, literature and beyond. In this episode Helena speaks with writers Rowan Hisayo Buchanan and Sharlene Teo to talk about the presumed ethnicity of characters in fiction, stereotypical view of Asian women and decolonising our own fiction lists.

Drop #3

Rory Mac Néill: Distant Trees, Roots Reaching Mix

On each drop of Sometimes Radio we invite one DJ or musician to delve deeper into esoteric sound worlds and assemble a multi layered sound collage around a chosen theme. On this drop we present Distant Trees, Roots Reaching by Irish ambient folk musician (& band member of Tau and The Drones of Praise) Rory Mac Néill who has put together “An Ode to Collective Yearning for Closeness”. The result is a stunning blend of music, spoken word and field recordings reflecting on the "tender longing for interhuman interaction" and how this connects to a tactile relationship with the natural world. Rory also notes that although the mix was "primarily inspired by the feeling of yearning for connection felt over the last months, the tragic murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor have brought to the forefront a whole other yearning- a yearning for equality and a world free from oppression; a yearning that we shine a light within onto our blindspots, acknowledge them, and transmute them into empathy"

Drop #3

Faris Badwan: Library Lounge Mix

In this Library Lounge mix from Faris Badwan, the musician and front man of The Horrors, delves deep into the far corners of his musical influences from afro funk, classic jazz, dub reggae, no wave, krautrock and 60s psych and soul. Prepare for a wild journey!

Drop #3

Leanne Wright & Alexander Nut: Library Lounge Mix

Eglo Records boss and NTS resident Alexander Nut joins Leanne Wright for this Vibes is Right session live in the Library Lounge on October 2019. Flexing 2step, boogie and UKG to reggae, it’s the best thing about Alex’s sets - they’re bold, beautiful and you never know where you’re going to go. Fun b2b at the end…

Sounds on Demand

FOURTH SOUNDS Vol 1: In Conversation With Peter Zummo

Standard Sounds Conversation Series

Listen to Peter Zummo in conversation with Cedric Bardawil and Nick Hadfield in the Sounds Studio at The Standard London. Peter is a trombonist, composer and producer who collaborated closely with Arthur Russell from the 1970s to 1990s shaping the New York avant-garde music scene. Peter discusses what he’s currently working on and what to expect during his performance with Peace On Earth (Robert Stillman, Tom Skinner and Tom Herbert) in the Library Lounge at The Standard, London on the 29th February 2020. Photo Credit: Joseph Zummo