May 2010 (Week 5) Clubbing Listings: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee

Edinburgh

Club: Sugarbeat
Venue: Cabaret Voltaire
Date: 28th May

Electro and techno fans, rejoice - Wolfgang Gartner debuts at Sugarbeat for a slathering of synth-laden bleeps. Crunchy and punchy, his jittered arpeggios jack the house. Support comes from Toolroom Records' Toni Jarvis for breakbeat heaven.

10.30pm-3am, £10 adv.

Club: No Strings Attached
Venue: Move, Galashiels
Date: 28th May
What a Rotter - Andrew Weatherall descends on the 15th birthday celebration of No Strings Attached, which will also be their last big gig in Galashiels. Weatherall proved so popular at Move last year, local fans have repeatedly called for his electro and techno talents behind the decks; your wish has been granted!

10pm-3am, £10


Glasgow

Club: How's Your Party?
Venue: Sub Club
Date: 28th May

Lime's are for many things; you can squeeze them, crush them, slice them, but HYP? prefer them dropped, as in New York DJ Drop The Lime. Incorporating ghetto bass, house, electro, tropical, breakcore and dashes of dubstep, the Trouble & Bass label boss will be joined by the very Teutonic-sounding Boris Duglosch, making his HYP? debut with his brand of house, techno and eletro music. After 15 years in the business he's still capturing imaginations, pricking attention again with the recent release of 'Bangkok'.

11pm-3am, £10 adv.

Club: Pressure
Venue: The Arches
Date: 28th May

Joris Voorn was last in the country for Edinburgh's Musika in March, shortly after the announcement of his residency at We Love Space 2010 - now he returns to house and techno wonderland, Pressure, to team up with Scottish heroes Slam. Check out Voorn's latest big room anthem, The Secret out now on Cocoon.

11pm-3am, £12 adv.

Vinyl & Digital Reviews: Lorn and Visitor

Title: Cherry Moon / Tomorrow
Artist: Lorn
Label: Brainfeeder

Release date: 31 May 2010

Sounds like: In the man's own words; like "designer rust".

High Notes: Taken from debut LP 'Nothing Else', 'Cherry Moon' puts a moody face on hesitant grimy bass; melancholic chimes over a heavy dirge - rather fitting that Lo-Quality first heard the track while taking the East Coast train line past a coal station billowing filthy smoke amidst verdant countryside. 'Tomorrow' lets grungy electro prevail, and interesting soundscapes pierce the solid bubbles of melody. Warp must be creaming themselves at not picking this up before Brainfeeder, though it's no surprise that Clark got to master the tracks.

Bum notes: Album isn't out till 7th June.

Extra: Get a free download of Cherry Moon here!

Title: Los Feeling / Love (club edit)
Artist: Visitor
Label: Vulture
Release date: 21 June 2010

Sounds like: The first carcass a Vulture has not eaten

High notes: In two songs it's over.

Bum notes: After quickly erasing 'Los Feeling' - the Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion soundtrack sound-alike (complete with maximum electro cheese) - from the mind, we look to the club edit of 'Love', unfortunately reminiscent of Daft Punk's experimental change from 'Homework' to 'Discovery'.

May 2010 (Week 4) Clubbing Listings: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee

Edinburgh
Club: Devil Disco Club
Venue: Bongo Club
Date: 21st May

Horse Meat Disco return to Devil Disco Club, for a mighty 'meating' out of disco supported by Edinburgh live-act RBRBR with the promise of 'dancing ninjas'! Hobbes, Erik D'Viking and Simonotron support with heavy sounds and aural indulgence cascading past disco into house, acid, electro and more.

11pm-3am, £7 / £5 before 12am

Club: Compakt
Venue: Cabaret Voltaire
Date: 21 May

Joey Beltram will skelp yer arses with house and techno at this rare Scottish date, and admittedly Lo-Quality was only 7 when he first unleashed his talents on the world (a testament to his longevity, rather than my own sought-after youth!). Compakt residents Paul Nisbet, Bruno FK and new addition DD will support, but room 2 also hosts Brad Charters (Kapital), Chris Meja & The Jakal (Fixate / Touch) and The Physicist (Synthetic).

11pm-3am, £10 / £8 adv.

Club: Departure Lounge
Venue: The Caves
Date: 21st May

Take up your place in the Departure Lounge for a flight into hip-hop and nu-funk courtesy of DJ Parker; broken beat, dub, jazz, afrobeat and more is served up live for the tastiest in-flight bytes you'll ever have - Paper Tiger featuring vocals from Sabrina Jade . Support comes from residents Astroboy, Jiminez and Mr Zimbabwe.

11pm-3am, £8 / £6+bf

Club: Xplicit
Venue: Potterrow
Date: 21st May

Chuck off the bonds of student-food for the start of summer holidays, and Xplicit know how to get the months started - Noisia sport their debut album Split the Atom for your dnb pleasure, and more tunes abound from London Elektricity (Hospital Records) and dubstep/dnb remixer Nero. Paul Reset, MC Tonn Piper, MC AD, and MC Bz support.

10pm-3am, £12 adv

Extra: Need something a little lighter on the pocket? Xplicit host their debt-busting £1 party at The Bongo Club on 28th May with ENO, Paul Reset and MC BZ. 11pm-3am.

Glasgow

Club: Death Disco
Venue: The Arches
Date: 22nd May

It's DJ set a-go go at the dirty Death Disco, with Calvin Harris, The Juan Maclean, Hostage, Felix Cartal, Renaissance Man, Eskimo Twins, and live beats from Man Like Me. Jam-packed with disco, house and electro, Death Disco always stands up to the crowds demands for new music every month!

10pm-3am, £18 / £9 with half price pass

Club: Tronicsole
Venue: The Admiral
Date: 22nd May

Tonight's guest DJ released his first production on Tronicsole and soon worked his way up to the accolade of Best Deep House Records 2009 for Ghosts in My Machine and Best Deep House DJ 2009 - if you're in any doubt as to what he plays, and how good he is at it - re-read this post! On support is residents HiRO and Steven Coyle.

11pm-3am, £7 / £5 members

Aberdeen

Club: Bigfoot's Tea Party & Mixtape
Venue: Snafu
Date: 21st May

Bigfoot's Tea Party travel north and join up with Snafu's pride and joy, Mixtape for electronic giggles and a blast on the Mixtape soundsystem with Faux Pas, Simon Stokes and Redux. Techno, techno, techno!

£6 / £3 before 12am / £0 - passes from The Athenaeum

More info: Free entry party in The Athenaeum from 9pm-11pm with Fuad.

Vinyl & Digital Reviews: Pete Heller and Rodriguez Jr vs Marc Romboy

Title: Overtime

Artist: Pete Heller
Label: Buzzin' Fly Records
Release date: 10 May 2010

Sounds like: Finely tuned deep house vibin' on Latin

High notes: 'Overtime' works the bongos (can practically feel the drum skins) and Latin vibes, sliding in looped vocals around the two minute mark and peppered with deep stabs for a surprisingly summery dance tune. There's a bizarre sub-bass interlude of a breakdown close to the finale, but adds an extra 'oomph' to the deep sounds.

Bum notes: Pretty unimpressive remix - simply entitled 'Overtime (Dub)', it's a straight-up dub version of the original.

Title: Lac De Nivelles

Artist: Rodriguez Jr vs Marc Romboy
Label: Systematic Recordings
Release date: 12 May 2010

Sounds like: That unmistakable European sashay of tech-house

High notes: Ah, two hot properties getting it on - Marc Romboy and Rodriguez Jr (The Youngsters) join forces for 'Lac De Nivelles'; techno looking towards influences from hotter, Eastern climes, even taking a shot at brief Asian arpeggios. The Youngsters influence is clear, injecting a shot of energy and inducing sideways flashes of F-Communications. The remix by Glimpse sports a tin pan quality, like playing railings with iron spoons, oddly producing a chill-out groove. Slightly dashed by the cheesier quality roused by deep synths, however.

Bum notes: There is a certain je ne sais quoi missing, but Lo-Quality is still scratching the noggin trying to put a finger on it! Maybe's its the want of more tracks.

May 2010 (Week 3) Clubbing Listings: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Dundee

Edinburgh

Club: Telefunken
Venue: The Caves
Date: 14th May

This just in - after a reschedule from the month of volcanic ash that was April, Gene Farris (Farriswheel) will now be appearing in place of Rolando. Underground Chicago house in Farris' cherished style, blending funk, deep house and soul to uplift crowds. Support comes from residents Alan Gray and Nick Wilson. Stay tuned for more Telefunken news.

10.30-3am, £8 / £6 students

More info: Tickets purchased for the original Gene Farris gig are still valid.

Club: Kapital
Venue: The Caves
Date: 15th May

Ah, more techno - Lo-quality breathes easier this month! That'll be helped further by the Chilean and Latin infusions running throughout, and swathes of melody tied into electro. Bucci's latest LP 'Amigo' came out on his Maruca label last month, moving towards vocals and concepts - find out how it translates to the club with Kapital.

10.30pm-3am, £10 / £8 adv.

Club: Headspin
Venue: Bongo Club
Date: 15th May

This time at Headspin it's our boy from Livi, Krash Slaughta - possibly the only Livingston inhabitant to scratch and spin with hip-hop love, and get signed in the process! As always support comes in the form of a four-deck mix of breaks, funk and house from residents Allan Dunbar, Steve Austin, Dava, and percussionist Bongo Dave.

11pm-3am, £7 / £5 adv.

Glasgow

Club: Return to Mono
Venue: Sub Club
Date: 14th May

While we're entering a UK Tory Government, Lo-Quality looks with keener eyes for the best clubbing value just in case we end up back in post-war rations time. With that in mind, a mid-May option presents itself at Return to Mono, where Slam will play a 4 hour set for £5 (that's less than an hour's minimum wage to you and me!) - forget jostling and straining for a view at festivals; Slam will render the Sub Club as their private house and techno venue.

11pm-3am, £5

Club: Muck & Debauched
Venue: Stereo
Date: 14th May

Muck and Debauched join forces to bring electro tease Strip Steve of Boys Noize fame to Stereo; check out the Delta Disco Ep for electrifying cuts. Head-warping disco, techno and dubstep awaits with B-Tone (Spectrum) in the upstairs bar and Joe Crogan on visuals.

10pm-3am, £6 / £7

Club: Supernova
Venue: The Arches
Date: 15th May

The Hell Boys have come a long way since their beginnings in Glasgow 2007, turning the Hell club into Supernova and moving to the spacious Arches venue. Now they welcome guests Oliver Huntemann and Koen Groeneveld for German and Dutch flavours of techno and house with minimal twists, heavy bass and dark electro.

10.30pm-3am, £13 adv.

Club: Mungo's Hi Fi
Venue: Glasgow School of Art
Date: 15th May

My Lord in session:


The premier sound system of the Middle East, My Lord Sound aka husband and wife duo Ranking Levy and Elen, will be dubbing out the Mungo's rig in May. As always, you can also hit the pre-club at the CCA Bar with Argonaut Sounds, 9pm-12am, free.

11pm-3am, £7 / £5 adv.

Extra: My Lord Radio Show archive available here.

Chrissy Murderbot's Year Of Mixtapes

http://yearofmixtapes.blogspot.com/

Now this is dedication: Chrissy Murderbot is a Chicago-based DJ and producer, and last year he set himself the formidable (and enviable) task of creating a mixtape every week for a year. Entitled 'My Year of Mixtapes', the blog features free mixes with full track-listings in just about every genre.

Unfortunately Lo-Quality only got wind of this into the 49th week of the blog - which also happens to be happy hardcore, oo-er - but there's plenty of back catalogue to go through. Think of it as a crash-course in genres, starting with Week 1: Tin Pan Tape, a delve into the sub-genre of dancehall popular in the late 80s and 90s. You can learn a lot from this site, plus get oodles of free tunes.

Personally, I'm still in awe of the amount of effort which has gone into this - the weekend is now clearly mapped out, and the broadband will be maxed out!

May 2010 (Week 2) Clubbing Listings: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Dundee

Edinburgh

Club: Tokyoblu
Venue: Cabaret Voltaire
Date: 7th May

Rebel Waltz left these shores and Edinburgh's City Cafe to travel the world with Murray Richardson at its helm, settling in London's East Village for a bi-monthly blast of underground house. After being enticed back by the Capital's current house legends Tokyoblu, Rebel Waltz will return to the same street as their original venue with the Tokyoblu DJs on support in Room 1: Room 2 sees Marco Smith and Little Grooves spread house and disco love to the Cab Vol crowds.

11pm-3am, £8 / £5

Glasgow

Club: Numbers
Venue: Sub Club
Date: 7th May

Numbers essentially stands as the answer to the following question; just how many great artists does your club book? For the awakening of Summer Numbers bring Joy Orbison (Hot Flush) hot on the trail of his floor-buzzing Hyph Mngo release last year. Eyes off the shoes for a fusion of house, dubstep, tropical and UK funky edges! Residents Nelson and new addition Kasrave will be on support; also keep an eye out for Kasrave's debut release entitled Quotes, due on the Numbers labels this month.

11pm-3am, £10

Club: The Viewpoint Sessions
Venue: Kelburn Castle and Country Park, Fairlie (Ayrshire, left of Glasgow!)
Date: 8th May

The first of The Viewpoint Sessions takes place at Kelburn Castle & Country Park, site of the annual boutique festival, Garden Party, and the Graffiti Project, a collaborative art work painted on the Castle's external walls. The 'al fresco' club night kicks off at 7pm, urging you to dance in the forest to an exciting line-up of DJs and live music, amongst fires, lighting installations, and visuals. Guests for the first event include Mungo's Hi Fi Soundsystem, MC Soom T, Found (live, Boom Monk Ben, DJ NoFACE, Edinburgh Samba School (live), DJ Astroboy, Radio Magnetic Soundsystem, Lenny Love and more tbc. There are also plans afoot to build the Viewpoint Sessions into a monthly event.

12pm-late, £15+bf

More info: Food and drink will be available all day, and capacity is limited to 300, so get tix in advance from Ticket Web. Map to event here.

Club: Mixed Bizness

Venue: Captain's Rest

Date: 11th May

Hosted by local MC star, Profisee, Planet Mu's grime and dub champion Starkey comes to Mixed Bizness for a mid-week tune blast. Support comes from Boom Monk Ben & Point to C (Solid Steel). Grab your Starkey podcast for Resident Advisor here.

8pm-12am, £5 adv.

Dundee

Club: Headway
Venue: Reading Rooms
Date: 7th May

From Detroit to Dundee: Carl Craig leaves Planet E for Planet Earth to ring in Headway's 6th Birthday with a special extended set. And they may not have all of it, but Headway are also bringing in part of the Funktion 1 sound system to ensure the moody bass and enticing melodies are at just the right level.

9.30pm-3.30am (tbc), £12 adv.

Aberdeen

Club: SugaRape
Venue: Origin
Date: 11th May

Taking its name from the deliberately obnoxious magazine of Channel 4's cult sitcom 'Nathan Barley', SugaRape indulges breaks aficionados with guest DJ Kaos Theory this month. There will be plenty breakin', dubsteppin' and hip-hoppin' fuelled by the 50p vodka jellies!

11pm-2am, £4