South London Hardcore go live tonight

I guess Transpontine is concerned with 'the Matter of South London', starting from the basis that historically much that goes on in the capital on the south side of the river has been marginalised, overlooked and treated with condescension. The word 'transpontine' itself expresses that - on the other side of the bridges from the centres of political, financial and cultural power, an area regarded as 'common', vulgar and lawless. Coming across that word for the first time ten years ago gave birth to this blog, as reclaiming it provided a framework for the half-formed notion we had of documenting interesting things that were going on in our area.

Many others in the blogging world are doing similar things for particular areas (Brockley, Deptford, Hither Green etc.), but in terms of the broader 'Transpontine Question' the biggest contribution is being made not by a blog but by a series of podcasts - South London Hardcore. Started by Steve Walsh and Jack McInroy in December 2011, they are now approaching their 100th episode. There is a quite an overlap with some of the interests of this blog, particularly in terms of music, film, literature and general weirdness. But they do have a broader geographical focus, covering the whole of greater London south of the Thames, and stretching out to the western lands of Barnes and Wimbledon. Over the last couple of years they've had some very interesting guests, including comic writer Alan Moore (talking in particular about Shooters Hill) and recently Sean O'Hagan of Microdisney, Stereolab and the High Llamas.

To mark their 100th episode, they are doing a live show tonight from the Old Kings Head off Borough High Street, starting at 7:30 pm. Admission is free.