Sunday 31 January 2010

February 2010 Club Listings: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee

Here are your club and event picks for the month ahead - as always this list will be updated as details are announced. Club promoters and DJs - if you want to tell Lo-Quality Music about your night, get in touch at the email address listed on the homepage.

Music fans - don't forget to comment on how any of the events went, and what you enjoyed / detested!

Glasgow

Club: R-P-Z
Venue: Glasgow School of Art, The Vic Bar

Date: 4th February

R-P-Z is a joy every Thursday, but the first show of the month sees special guest Felix Cartal (Dim Mak) draw on punk rock and electronica to break out the blogging and myspace sphere he has already won over, and treat your ears Canadian-style. R-P-Z is perhaps the only club in Scotland to advertise ‘gay hi-NRG’ amongst its favoured genres, and they say it without shame or regret! Also catch italo, disco, electro, techno, and many other European nuances.

11pm-3am, £4 / £3 / £1 GSA students

More info: The ticket price includes entry to Mixed Bizness upstairs in the same venue.

Extras: Free download! Check out R-P-Z’s ‘Dancing into the Decade’ 2010 mix featuring tracks from Zombie Nation, In Flagranti, Andrew Weatherall, Wolfmother and Sirius Mo.

Club: Monox
Venue: Sub Club

Date: 5th February


2010 means the start of a new decade, but it also heralds Monox’s 10th year with a delicious line-up of techno. Seldom Felt aka mmm men in masks who are all mysterious, but secretly well-known techno producers, will appear for a live DJ set, and the incentive that this may be their first and last appearance in Glasgow. Also making their Scottish debut is Cottam, outstripping the competition on sale at Glasgow’s Rub a Dub records, so it looks like the crowds are already prepped for his mix of disco, house, techno and hip-hop! Jackmaster of Numbers and Monox supports.

11pm-3am, £10

Club: Muck!
Venue: La Cheetah
Date: 5th February

Another Scottish debut in the mix is Lorcan Mak, bringing tribal gypsy fidget-house to all-flavours of house, electro, dubstep and disco club, Muck! Winner of IDJ’s Raw Talent Award, this upcoming star deserves at least one night of attention to pique interest. Support comes from Synth’s Shapes! and resident PMcQ for an altogether jackin’ event.

11pm-3am, £6 / £5

Club: Bigfoot’s Tea Party
Venue: Glasgow School of Art
Date: 5th February

Well there’s certainly a lot of competition ramping up for the first Friday of the month! Belgian techno courtesy of Hermanez (Circo Loco/Cafe De Anvers) gives the West Coast a taste of the sounds which have grooved the likes of Sven Vath, Gregor Thresher and recently earned himself a spot at Amsterdam's Melkweg. Support from Marmalade Man, Faux Pas and Redux (visuals).

11pm-3am, £10 / £7 students

Club: Second City
Venue: Stereo

Date: 6th February

Second City - possibly not the one mentioned in Dickens' tale of two, and definitely providing a greater musical backdrop - welcomes JD Twitch of Optimo and Pure fame on his community development project; otherwise known as an education in all forms of music for the citizens of the world. If you still haven't heard of him or seen him I'd start questioning your interest in dance music - scratch that - music, full stop.

11pm-3am, £7

Club: Melting Pot
Venue: The Admiral
Date: 6th February


This won't be one of those events where the residents try to hog the decks over their guests in a misguided attempt at impressing the crowds - the Melting Pot crew have deep respect for their first guest of the year, Mark E (Jiscomusic), and indeed couldn't resist bringing him in for a storming Melting Pot NYE party in 2008/2009. Get in the groove with looped disco and steadily rising temperatures! Also, the Admiral pre-club kicks off at 9pm in the same venue with the Melting Pot DJs Andrew Pirie and Simon Cordiner, and a limited number of £5 passes are available from the bar.

11pm–3am, £10

More info: 'Mark E works 2005-2009' was just released in January, featuring edits of the Plastic People and Mr Scruff. It's limited edition so grab a copy soon.

Club: Return To Mono
Venue: Sub Club
Date: 12th February

Craig Richards has already made a number of appearances at house and techno club Return to Mono; in fact he’s virtually playing a year’s anniversary given that we also saw him on 13th February 2009 for their Silver Screen Special. The Fabric/Tyrant resident is obviously a solid choice for Slam and RTM, and he handily carries the accolade of being responsible for Fabric 01 – the first ever in the successful mix series.

11pm–3am, £10 / £8

Club: BBL Soundsystem presents: Mutiny
Venue: Glasgow School of Art

Date: 12th February

Irie! Broken Note (Ad Noiseam) play their twist on dubstep and DnB at a debut live set for Mutiny, Glasgow’s purveyors of reggae and jungle beats. Stivs of Life4Land and DSC (with Ed Cox) adds the ragga flavours, and J Bostron will dub-reggae the night into chilled satisfaction.

11pm–3am, £6 / £4 before midnight

More info: There are plans afoot to organise a bus from Edinburgh to Glasgow to accommodate cross-country clubbing!

Club: Mixed Bizness
Venue: Glasgow School of Art
Date: 18th February

Coming to you with the DJ Food seal of approval (“[His] attention to musical detail is as meticulous as his cuts, he leaves no stone or style unturned in his search.”), Bristol's Cheeba rocks up to MB armed with a truly genre-mixed blast, monikered the 'Reels of Solid Steel' AV set: not content with cutting electronica, hip-hop, breaks and more, he's using Serato Video SL to simultaneously broadcast a live visual feed , triggered by vinyl. This is not a gig you need to spend half the time smoking outside!

11pm-3am, £3/£4 / GSA Students free before 12am / £1 after

Club: Code
Venue: The Club (aka Club 69), Paisley

Date: 19th February

It’s not often that Paisley gets to shout from the rooftops about their techno talent coming to play, but Code has scored Alex Bau’s Scotland debut, shunning the populous cities. Mechanical grinding awaits your brain!

11pm-3am, £10+bf from Rubadub

Club: Velvet
Venue: ABC Glasgow
Date: 19th February

Either the electronic community has been getting uglier, or more mysterious, as the sight of masked performers is steadily increasing to the point where we almost have enough to bring them together for a techno version of Slipknot - and I hope somewhere, someone is letting this idea go to seed... The next hidden face (and now well-known identity!) to hit Glasgow this month is Redshape (live) for some overdue detroit beats to the ears, with support from Leigh Myles (live), Le Mac and Rob Etherson.

11pm - 3am, £10 / £8 if you wear a mask or advance tickets (and advance tickets will get you a free mask at the door!)

More info: Redshape and Leigh Myles hit Edinburgh's Cabaret Voltaire the very next evening, with support from Kill the Kid and James Carroll. 11pm-3am, £10 / £8 if you wear a mask or advance tickets

Club: Mungo's Hi Fi
Venue: Glasgow School of Art
Date: 20th February

After a mini-hiatus and still in the midst of a whirling dervish of world tours, Mungo's Hi-Fi brings us Kenny Knots and a full soundsystem in play. Knots has proved to be a favourite with both Mungo’s and the attendant crowds, so to make this extra special they’re also inviting Northern Exposure, Daddy Scotty and Pupa Zeb to share the mic and spread the reggae, dub and dancehall cheer!

11pm-3am, £8 / £5 adv.

More info: Remember! Every Thursday is Dub N Grub at The 78, 5.30pm-12am, free, and cheap, delicious food while you're played choice dub cuts!

Club: How’s Your Party?
Venue: Sub Club
Date: 26th February

Can you hear that? It sounds like the earth is growling – no, wait it’s a flashforward to Caspa and Toddla T’s appearance at HYP?! They like big bass, and they cannot lie, all you other brothers can’t deny, when the bass rolls in, it spreads a grin and you get sprung… sorry Sir Mixalot diversion there. Catch dubstep phenomenon Caspa and Toddla T (skanking his way through the bass-heavy genres) making the best use of the Sub Club’s knee-cartilage-melting sonic floor!

11pm-3am, £10


Edinburgh

Club: Jackhammer
Venue: Wee Red Bar (Edinburgh Art College)
Date: 5th February

You'd have to be an idiot to wrongly guess the genre persuasions of Jackhammer – it's always going to be fuckin' hard! Techno possibly bigger than the Wee Red Bar can handle has been wrangled and assembled by Gee Dubs, Wolfjazz and we’ve got a live one courtesy of Stephen Brown.

11pm-3am, £5 / £3 NUS or ECCF

Club: Az-Tech
Venue: The Caves
Date: 5th February

Like a bear awakening from its winter slumber, Az-Tech returns with Sam Hell of Mofo Recordings to stamp out the last residues of sleep with breaks and electro. It's a pretty full-on set, taking elements of funky house and electro-house and feeding them nitrous at 30 second intervals. Support from Al Majik, Siren, Re:Tox, and a cast of goodies in the form of lollipops, retro glowsticks, and free CDs for the after party!

10.30pm-3am, £7 / £6 members

Club: EBC Bhangra Night
Venue: Studio 24
Date: 5th February


To bring a little diverse flavour into the mix, the Edinburgh Bhangra Crew are back with a live performance of Panjabi by Nature, and dust away the rock and techno vibes which tend to dominate and populate Studio 24 with the best bhangra music on the current scene.

11pm-3am, £12 / £8 advance

Club: Volume!
Venue: Sneaky Pete’s
Date: 6th February

Volume! are being good to your wallets again with a free party to start the month; residents Termite, G-Mac, Paranoise, and Brian D'Souza cosy up in Sneaky Pete's for the longest running (and still going strong) dubstep night in the capital. Baltimore, jungle… anything with a hefty bass will feature! To avoid long queue disappointment get there before midnight.

11pm-3am, Freeeeeeeeeeee

Club: Couture
Venue: Opal Lounge
Date: Every Tuesday

Described as the place for ‘Edinburgh’s it-crowd’ (and I’m almost certain they don’t mean Java specialists), Couture is the latest addition to restaurant-cum-bar-cum-club, the Opal Lounge. Curated by DJ Cunnie (Soul Biscuits) and Gino (Motherfunk), urban flavours of hip-hop, rnb, and music to look good to dominates, and there is emphasis on ‘looking your best’. Just had a look in my wardrobe – I can sense the knock-back from here.

10.30pm-3am, £5 / £4 VIP list or Couture card holders

Club: Tokyoblu
Venue: Cabaret Voltaire
Date: 5th February

Coming up for it's 8th year on the Scottish scene, house stalwart Tokyoblu brings you it melodic, sparkly and varied: favoured as support for big names like Roger Sanchez and Hed Kandi, the Tokyoblu crew are always about the joyful side of music whether that be vocal garage, latin house, or Chicago to raise the BPM.

11pm-3am, £tbc

Club: One Drop
Venue: Studio 24
Date: 12th February

Plenty of reggae, dub and dancehall this month, with One Drop adding to the mix with their welcoming gig for new resident I-tal Faya, who will be joining MC Premonitions, C-Biscuit, Robigan and Robtheft.

11pm-3am, £6 / £4 members or students

More info: Downstairs at Studio 24, another club takes centre stage with a remit for psytrance and live percussion to heighten the experience! Cosmic runs 11pm-3am, and costs £6 / £4 members / £0 before 12am.

Club: Musika
Venue: Corn Exchange
Date: 13th February

Working in association with the Sugarbeat Club, Musika celebrate their 3rd birthday with John Digweed, Timo Maas, Hot Chip (DJ Set), Tim Green, Boy 8 Bit, The Utah Saints and the Musika residents. It’s like the world’s smallest festival’s line-up, and only house and electro fans are invited to experience the made-over Corn Exchange, to be transformed into a 2000 person capacity club!

9pm-3am, £22.50 adv.


Club: Substance
Venue: GRV

Date: 13th February


Substance pull together seven DJs for a journey through techno and its’ many side avenues, led live by Rephlex’s Lory D - who has a heavy payload of releases scheduled for 2010 – through squelching electronic caverns, with first mate Ital Tek (Planet Mu) grimy-ing up dubstep and techno, still riding high on the success of his Massive Error EP. Support comes from Hektor Ruiez (Stick 430), The Wasp (Monox), Cosa (Iridium), DJ DD (Dirt), and Substance resident Gavin Richardson.

10.30pm-3am, £10 / £8 before 11.30pm

More info: Ital Tek will be showcasing his upcoming LP on Planet Mu at tonight’s event!

Club: Devil Disco Club vs Wasabi Disco
Venue: Sneaky Pete's
Date: 20th February

While the cat's away, the mice will play, or something along those lines; Wasabi Disco frontman Kris Wasabi is off on a South American adventure, and he's handed over the club reins to his Devil Disco Club cohorts for a club clash smack-down. Genres will collide as the freshest tracks in italo, disco, proto-house, electro-funk - you name it, they have it - match beats and move feet. The List recently enthused they could be heirs to Optimo's mash-up qualities, and funnily enough the absent Kris Wasabi used to provide warm-up slots for the super-club in their old Venue days.

11pm-3am, £3 / Free to members

Extras: Can't wait till then? Grab live recordings of previous Devil Disco Club sets here:http://www.divshare.com/download/9874885-474

Club: Split
Venue: Cabaret Voltaire
Date: 23rd February

Cabaret Voltaire celebrate their fifth year as a top venue with their Five Days for Five Years events (find out more at thecabaretvoltaire.com), and Split provides a mid-week starter of DC Breaks, the DnB duo of DJ Samurai and DJ Kryptik. A six deck set-up; support from Andy C* under their belt; and eclectic support from Split’s residents spinning breaks, dubstep, techno, electro and jungle = winner birthday night.

*Who you can also see in Aberdeen this month

11pm-3am, Freeeeeee

More info: Continuing the fifth birthday celebrations are Slam at We Are Electric on the very next evening, 24 February. The Soma Records co-owners always have great techno music up their sleeve, and even their most average nights rate high quality. Resident Gary Mac supports. 11pm-3am, £3 / £0 before 12am.

Club: Departure Lounge
Venue: The Caves
Date: 26th February

Ahead of his latest LP ‘Black Sands’ to be dropped on the Ninja Tunes label on 29 March, Bonobo returns to the Departure Lounge for what promises to be another packed subterranean party. A live set from the Ordinary Allstars, a hip-hop, reggae and funk crew, will whip the crowd up for some more of the same with extra jazz, soul, DnB, and electronica from Bonobo. His appearances at Departure Lounge rarely need any press; his reputation already precedes in him Edinburgh. Astroboy, Jiminez and Mr Zimbabwe also deliver DJ support.

10.30pm–3am, £9 / £7 adv.


Aberdeen

Club: Jungle Nation
Venue: Origin
Date: 6th February


Andy C from Ram Records. Need I say more? He's playing at the unlucky-for-some but brilliant for others, 13th birthday party of Jungle Nation, one of Scotland's most northerly DnB clubs! Also rocking the mic and decks are MC GQ, DJ Tez, DJ Davy, MC K-Rhyme and MC Bass Monkey.

10pm-3am, £15 / £10+bf ltd edition

Club: Let It Bleed

Venue: The Forum
Date: 27th February


With the musical energy of three consecutive glucose and taurine drinks, Kissy Sell Out takes to his podium at The Forum – always a hot ticket for the electro and house scene! Support from Mash, and visuals from M.O.C.

11pm-3am, £14 / £10 advance

More info: Just in case you’re not in Aberdeen this month, Kissy Sell Out also plays Berlin in Edinburgh on 5 February at Fuse for house, disco and mash-up. 10pm-3am, £10.

Club: Everything Else Sucks
Venue: Origin
Date: 13th February

Sounding like a soundtrack released by the RAC, A1 Bassline (Southern Fried Records) proves that Aberdeen can’t get enough of a) basslines and b) electro. If you’ve said ‘yes’ to any of the options, then join in the mantra of ‘everything else sucks’. Support from residents Djamba, Giles Walker (Hush Hush / Mixtape), and Eezma (Kaplank Kapow).

10pm-3am, £7 adv.

More info: DJs obviously like maintaining an easterly direction, since A1 Bassline also appears at We Are Electric Fridays at Cab Vol in Edinburgh on 12 February. 11pm-3am, £5.


Dundee


Club: Headway
Venue: The Reading Rooms
Date: 5th February


The Dundee residents have been waiting for this – Funk D'Void touches down on Scottish soil to play Headway. The Soma legend fills the Reading Rooms with groovin' house and techno, supported by Andy Barton, Neil Clark, Bruce Anderson, and Graeme Binnie.

10.30pm-Late, £10

Tuesday 26 January 2010

Vinyl and digital reviews: Tiga and Roland Nights


Title: Sex O'Clock Remixes
Artist: Tiga
Label: Turbo
Release date: 1 Feb 2010

Sounds like: Full throttle, chunky electro

High notes: Lidell's Sex O'Cloak n Dagger remix was always going to be a winner - the almost belching bass and low rumbles suggestive of all the funky bodily fluids that may accompany sex; and Playgroup's (Trevor Jackson) remix decides to wash your head in throbbing electrics, while a predator bassline roams with lust and notes hang in the air like dirty suggestions - it's Sex O'Clock indeed.

Bum Notes: It's not fair to class this as a bum note - but in comparative analysis, Matias Aguayo's remix is missing something amongst the snare and dangerous-edged electro.

Title: Bright Light EP
Artist: Roland Nights
Label: Urban Torque
Release date: 25 Jan 2010

Sounds like: Will strike chords with the Soma camp

High notes: Roland Nights aka Danny Stott is starting to make waves in the UK techno scene, and 'Bright Light' holds all the traditional Soma school of techno nuances, while 'Phonic' works on classic techno swell patterns, imbued with old rave melodies updated for 2010.

Bum Notes: The chintzy strings on 'Bright Light'

More info: This is Roland Nights' first appearance on Urban Torque, after winning of Tom Middleton's 'Hypnotizer' remix competition

Vinyl and digital reviews: Peter Van Hoesen and Cobblestone Jazz



Title: Entropic Minus Six
Artist: Peter Van Hoesen
Label: Time To Express
Release date: 8 Feb 2010

Sounds like: Cleaned-down techno with added fuzz; punchy bass throbbing in and out, up and down

High notes: The acidic 'Terminal'; kick-drum and dissipating bleep dominated 'Strip It, Boost It', with a hint of Gus Gus in the breakdown; the harder and more abrasive 'Quartz #1', obviously taking a cue from hard minerals; and the crashing wave of techno, 'Defence Against The Self, jostling you with claustrophobic atmospherics.

Bum Notes: None

More info: Grab a free four track download care of petervanhoesen.bandcamp.com, including 'Strip It Boost It - Entropic Dub' and 'Terminal - Markov Layout'. Get it in mp3, FLAC and more, and hold tight for the forthcoming full-length LP!


Title: Chance EP
Artist: Cobblestone Jazz
Label: Wagon Repair
Release date: 22 Feb 2010

Sounds like: Deep, melodic house with a river of keys running through it

High notes: Side-A's 'Chance Dub' demonstrate that looser ambiance does not increase production sloppiness; it's interlocking cogs of leftfield. B-side 'Chance' is a lighter affair with Air keys and an echoed vocoder, and keeps a curious pace - like someone went to the chillout room and dropped some 'phetamines.

Bum Notes: It's only a two track EP!

Wednesday 20 January 2010

New club night launch: Dub Kaoss

Just in - Dub Kaoss is a new dnb and dubstep arriving at the Citrus Club in Edinburgh on Thurs 21st aka TOMORROW!

Traditionally the venue for rock and 80s-themed nights, or indeed, 80s rock theme nights, a different kind of bass minus the lycra shakes the food off the table at the chinese buffet next door, and will rustle the dreads and 'dos of mid-week slackers / nihilists / people who love music more than their Friday mornings.

A mixture of DJs and live acts squeeze any bitterness from the Citrus with the freshest tracks currently wowing the scenes: Paranoise, Mikey Static, Tactus, Special Ed, Covert Op's, Dual Frequency and the twisted genius - Morphamish.


11pm-3am, £3 / free b4 12am


Tuesday 19 January 2010

Jimmy Shand and 50 Cent



Quite frankly, that's a match made in heaven. Now Scottish people can emulate their cross-Atlantic rap heroes while retaining a sense of country music decorum and patriotism. I don't do Facebook or that shit, but surely there's other ways to campaign for the SNP to adopt this for the opening of each parliament. Suggestions?

Jimmy Shand - The Man

Wednesday 6 January 2010

January 2010 Club Listings: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee

The first month of dancing is upon us, even if most of the roads are snowed in: travelling to your night-time activities by snowboard or husky is de rigeur if you're serious about dancing off the winter meat and chocolates!

Clubbing travel - sorted

As always, this post will be updated as the month progresses / whenever I get time to write it up / whenever I get info, but whet your whistle on this for starters:

EDINBURGH

Club: Dirt
Venue: The GRV
Date: 8th January

To gently ease you into the new year, Dirt return with a dirt-cheap night of house, electro, techno and dubstep, with heavy emphasis on the bass. Join Weakhunt (SMAC), Kris Meja (Touch), Al Majik (Aztech Breaks), Cobi, Maestro DD and Unsettla for a dance at GRV.

11pm-3am, £4 / £2 before 12am

Club: Xplicit
Venue: The Bongo Club
Date: 8th January

In the fine name of charidee, Xplicit aka the dnb club of the capital, will be hosting a fundraiser in honour of the Sick Kids Hospital, at a bargain donation of £5 each. Messenger Sound System will raise the levels with their behemoth speakers. In the main room Paul Reset (Nerve), Gmac (Underground Solution), Morphy (Cyclone), Beast (BigNBashy), and Eno (Parlay) bang out the beats, with your indomitable host MC BZ. As if the lights won't be getting a big enough shaking, upstairs is also Termite (Volume!), Tactusabaga Records, and Tekamine (Jungledub) - for the rough equivalent of 50p a performer what a great way to dance and raise donations at the same time.

11pm-3am, £5

Club: We Are... Electric
Venue: Cabaret Voltaire
Date: Wednesdays

With another three WAE nights left in the month you're getting plenty chance to shake off the post-new year blues; first up on the 13th Gary Mac and Babes bring the electro, disco, punk-funk and indie, then Gary is joined by Ruairi on the 20th, and Jacek Zamojski and Dava Le Funk (Headspin) on the 27th. Cough, cough, anyone feel some mid-week skives coming on?

11pm-3am, £2 / Free for members or before midnight
NEWS UPDATE: Launching this Friday 8th January, the monthly We Are Electric Fridays comes to Cabaret Voltaire for those us who can't make their mid-week affairs. Wolfjazz and B-Sides form the first guests, so if you've missed out all this time grab your chance with both hands!

11pm-3am, £3

Club: Compakt welcomes Kapital
Venue: Cabaret Voltaire
Date: 15th January

It's always a good 'un when two clubs join forces (like Captain Planet but less geared towards the environmental - might still get to wear the rings tho) to focus their techno directly through your chain of ear bones. Minimal rubs shoulders with fleshy 4/4 beats courtesy of Barry O'Connell (Kapital), Brad Charters (Kapital), Paul Thomas (Compakt) and Jamie Kidd (Compakt) in the main room, and room 2 keeping up the temperature with Pyz (Split), DD (Dirt) and Bruno FK (Compakt).

11pm-3am, £5 / Free before midnight

Bonus: Grab a mix by resident Bruno FK here as a taster

Club: Ultragroove
Venue: Cabaret Voltaire
Date: 16th January

One of Edinburgh's house giants,* Ultragroove returns with Hiro (Tronicsole) and resident Gareth Somerville for some West coast meets East coast action. The timing is right for Japenese-obsessed Hiro, who has a number of releases lined up for the year, including on Jef K's Silver Network and Claude Monnet's SSOH: 'Woman Of Colour / What You Trying To Say' with remixes by the Torre Brothers and Klement Bonelli is out now at iTunes, Beatport and Traxsource.com.

*Their 250th event is on the horizon!

10pm-3am, £7 / £5 students or with flyer before midnight

Club: Xplicit
Venue: Potterrow
Date: 22nd January

Xplicit return later in the month to celebrate their own 5th birthday and specially mark it with an appearance from DJ Friction, who performed at their first ever Xplicit event at the Honeycomb venue. Not content with Friction's three deck magic, ably supported by SP MC, Xplicit pile on the dnb with Dillinja, Spor, Eno, Morphy, and MCs Tonn Piper and BZ. From the mouth of promoter Simon: "We’ve had the opportunity to introduce a lot of people to the music, and had some groundbreaking events and the biggest drum and bass events to take place in Scotland. We’re pushing different styles - not only drum and bass - and opening people's eyes to other styles of music in a familiar environment."

10pm-3am, £12 / £10 for first 500 advance tickets

Club: Axis
Venue: Cabaret Voltaire
Date: 22nd January

Electro, techno, funk, soul and hip-hop await at the three roomed Axis, featuring head of Venga Digital, Liam Vizzle, Anarkid, Kai Davidson and Victor Q in the main room; all techno in room two with Neil Fernie, Alex Wilson, Les Hinks and Bobber, and a chilled affair in the Speakeasy.

11pm-3am, £5

Club: Headspin
Venue: Bongo Club
Date: 23rd January

Still going strong since their launch in the 20th century, Headspin cheer on their 12th birthday with a residents special and live percussion and visuals. House, hip-hop, funk and more await the club faithful, and in response to feedback from the crowds, Headspin are mainly concentrating on their top quality resident nights this year, selecting the finest guests for select events later in the year.

11pm-3am, £8

Club: Musika
Venue: Cabaret Voltaire
Date: 23rd January

After rescheduling Felix Da Housecat, Musika were beset with another cancellation recently, with the non-appearance of James Zabiela at their NYE special due to bad weather grounding his aircraft. But that hasn't stopped Musika from getting back on track with two special events, starting with a free house party (entry before midnight) with Musika residents and local guests, followed by the re-scheduled Zabiela gig next month - more details to follow. If you would like to see the Zabiela apology, click here. In the meantime, enjoy house and techno courtesy of Derek Martin, Blair Harrower, Neil Bartley and Laurie Neil; electro, nu-wave and electronica from Stu Todd (Fuse), Gus Armstrong (Fuse) and Gary Johnston; with a third treat of deep house and disco from Gav Grant and Kirk Douglas.

11pm-3am, £free (entry before midnight) or £7

Club: Devil Disco Club with Findo Gask (live)
Venue: The Bongo Club
Date: 29th January

The devil wore a blue dress, and now it has it's own Disco Club; supported by residents Kris Wasabi, Nick Yuill, and The Trouble DJs (Hobbes & Erik d'Viking) with a buffet of electro, house, disco, italo, rap, hip-hop and more to feed the crowd baying for the oscillating electronics of Findo Gask.

11pm-3am, £tbc

Club: Sugarbeat featuring Doorly and Riton
Venue: Cabaret Voltaire
Date: 29th January

The always spot-on Sugarbeat help bring the first month of the decade to a close with special guests Riton and Doorly. Similar to the Utah Saints residents, Doorly brings a mash-up of electro, techno, dnb, dubstep and choice beats, and the Ibiza Rocks Podcast presenter will play to impress with his 2 deck and 3CDJs set-up. Electronica / electro-clash artist Riton to inject a sparkly disco vibe and explore the meaning of Sugarbeats - check out his new release with Primary 1, entitled Radiates:



11pm-3am, price TBC

Club: Karnival
Venue: Cabaret Voltaire
Date: 30th January

In a month of club collaborations, Karnival opens the doors to DJs from Taste and Compakt for a genre face-off; Fisher & Price of Taste take on the Karnival residents in the main room, and the Compakt residents conquer the second room from the very beginning. The Latin-influenced celebrations will be accompanied by the usual on-site magicians (aye, you read that right, where else can you find dance music and magician tricks?)!

11pm-3am, £7 / £5 students or before midnight


ABERDEEN

Club: Everything Else Sucks
Venue: Origin, Windmill Brae
Date: 9th January

With such a bold statement, it's certainly a reason to investigate whether the club lives up to its own hype: with house, electro, breaks, acid techno and electro techno spinned by Djamba, Giles Walker, Eezma, Krazzy Martin and Talcolm X!

10pm - 3am, £5 advance (And tickets include a shot of Sambuca, Tequila or Sourz)

Club: Mixtape presents Breakbot
Venue: Snafu
Date: 22nd January

Aberdeen house and techno stalwart Mixtape welcomes Breakbot from Ed Banger Records for sunny breakbeat, electro, and disco to brighten the winter nights.

11pm-3am, £8 / £6 advance / £5 members

Club: Full Spektrum
Venue: Origin
Date: 22nd January

For their second birthday Full Spektrum serve up Morphy (Function / Nerve) for a live dnb set, and residents Y2D, D:liva, Tendek and Gandah armed with dubstep and jungle rhythms.

10pm-3am, £5

Club: Hush Hush
Venue: Origin
Date: 29th January

Hyperdub's Joker comes to Aberdeen to swathe the granite city in dubstep and grime, and perhaps infuriate budding producers with his young age and confirmed talents! Blessed by Kode9's recommendations, all eyes are on Joker in 2010. Djamba and Giles Walker carry support duties for this tasty Hush Hush event.

Enjoy Joker's remix of Simian Mobile Disco's 'Cruel Intentions':



10pm-3am, £8 advance


GLASGOW

Club: Dub n Grub
Venue: The 78
Date: Thursdays

Although this is not traditionally a club, it's the hippest music you'll get while eating for low, low prices. Kicking off at 5pm, food is served up with dub (Main course with starters - £4, sides and desserts at £2) until 10.30pm, and between 8pm-12am the Mungo's Hi-fi DJs and occasional guests will entertain. There's optional dancing from 10pm onward! To be guaranteed a sit-down table at this popular night, they recommend you get there by 6pm.

5pm-12am, £free entry

Club: How's Your Party? with Scratch Perverts
Venue: Sub Club
Date: 22nd January

For the first of two HYP? event this month, the Sub Club and its bassy, bassy sonic floor play host to the legendary Scratch Perverts; Prime Cuts, Plus One and Tony Vegas are joined by Boom Monk Ben for a fine night of vinyl mastery.

11pm-3am, £10 / £8

Club: How's Your Party?
Venue: Sub Club
Date: 29th January

HYP? returns before the month is out with a DJ set from Hot Chip's Joe Goddard, a live electro peformance from Peter Digital Orchestra (Eklektik Records) and Mixed Bizness DJ Point to C in a bid to prove their growing reputation for class line-ups stacked one after the other.

11pm-3am, £10 / £8

Club: Impact
Venue: Soundhaus
Date: 30th January

Finish the month with hardcore beats when Impact in association with Motormouth Recordz welcome Day-Mar and The Sickest Squad (live) to girate to gabber/gabba/industrial/speedcore and of course, hardcore techno. The Sickest Squad and Igneon System (Motormouth XL) will be making their Scottish debut amongst ten other DJs to coat your ears in hard, hard love. Remember, the Soundhaus is for members and guests - one member can sign in six guests, and you can obtain the £4 membership when ordering tickets online.

9.30pm-3.30am, £12 advance

Saturday 2 January 2010

Happy New Year!

Well it's 2010, hopefully you've wiped the vomit off the carpet by now, or were classy enough to retain all unnecessary bodily fluid release at this period of excess. I'm in the latter category but cannot account for some lost memory - seems if you stop one leak, another one springs.

Anyway, with a new year in mind, its fitting that we look to new talent on the horizon, and here is your chance to win a digital release on Soma Records!

Soma Records Remix Contest


In conjunction with FOEM and Harvey McKay, Soma are running a remix contest until 28 Feb for all budding electronic producers. Glasgow's Harvey McKay is submitting '69' - the track which first attracted Soma's keen ears - to the public for whatever they want to do to the original techno monster (two remixes per artist maximum).

As well as at least one digital release on Soma, the lucky winner will receive a 6 month subscription to Soma Records releases, and a t-shirt to wear while enjoying it all! You can obtain all the samples by registering with the FOEM forum and upload tracks in the same location.

Important Info from Soma:
  • Don't send your tracks directly to the artist or the label
  • Do your very own style
  • Take your time to remix, remember, a winning track takes time
  • Master your track but keep a raw version so Soma Records can master it
  • No legal recourse. The judges' decisions are final. The panel will include Harvey McKay and the Soma Records team

Good luck!