June Week 5 Clubbing Listings: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen

Ach I’m not keeping up a good track record on this clubbing posting – I spent the weekend dancing at the fantastic Prologue night at Colony in London instead. If I ain’t writing it about it, I’m already there.

 

Karnival return to the Edinburgh club scene at their new venue, the Third Door, now the home to many Cab Vol refugees. Their new venue launch party on Saturday 30 June for a circus of techno and house featuring Mike Pinkerton, Stu Todd, and The Oxygen Junkies (10.30pm-3am, Free entry all night). Numbers make their monthly nomadic travel to Sneaky Pete’s on Friday 29 June, cutting techno with bouncing bass and dubstep, and this time featuring a surprise mystery guest (11pm-3am £5 / members free).

In Glasgow, the schedule is a bit more packed, starting with the higher consciousness himself, Josh Wink performing at Pressure (Sub Club, 10.30pm-3am, £13.50) to celebrate 25 years of the venue - a classic evening lined up for you this Friday 29 June.

Josh Wink Dj Mix by Clash Music on Mixcloud

Extra heavy techno reigns supreme at the Stairway Club when Darkside with debuts from Megashira and Bartoch, with Neophyte bringing the hardcore (9pm-3am, £15) – gabber till you pass out on 30 June. Hacienda30 takes over the Arches on the same evening, celebrating 30 years of the club featuring Todd Terry, Allister Whitehead, 808 State DJs and K-Klass, with Scots dance troopers Jon Mancini, Iain Clark, Yogi Haughton, Craig Smith, Murray Richardson and Colin Barr (7pm-10pm pre-party in Arches foyer, then club till 3am, £15). The night leans towards house, but be sure that there will be some classic techno gems nestled throughout the sets.

At Dundee, Book Club regulars can get their dance fix on Friday 29 June with an even spread of genres – not too techno heavy, but great if you suffer from 4/4 ADHD (Reading Rooms 10.30pm-2.30am, £tbc).

Aberdeen welcomes Alex Celler to bring his Freak N Chic style to the Snafu crowds on 30 June, grooving you through a tech-house journey rolling on deep waves (11pm-3am, £6 advance).

June Week 3 Clubbing Listings: Edinburgh and Glasgow

Jackhammer can’t resist hosting a club night it seems as they’re back again with Detroit deck demon Kevin Saunderson on Friday 15 June in Edinburgh, barely pausing for breath between stellar guests this month (The Annexe @ Liquid Room, 10.30pm-3am, £3 or £10 depending on who you ask!). Substance host their free Summer Rave on the same evening with special guest Jerome Hill (Bongo Club, 11pm-3am, Free / £7 after 11.30pm) for what Edinburgh people like to refer to as their ‘wonk techno’ fix. The techno rivalry for your attentions continues over at Studio 24, again on Friday with Animal Hospital, formerly of Sneaky Pete’s (11pm-3am, Free / £4 after 11.30pm).

Glasgow’s Pi-Eyed Free Party annual rave guarantees you a little bit of everything dance-wise, and for the great price of £0 you can afford to dip your toe in the waters, with Dave Skywalker, Wombcorps and Dave Shades captaining your night (La Cheetah, Friday 15 June, 11pm-3am). To continue the Glasgow free vibe, head to the Courtyard on Sat 16 for Maneuver’s free all-day second birthday party with Rebecca Vasmant, Terry Whyte, Anima Farm, Unique, Lindsay & Kendal and more (1pm-11pm). Audio Assault’s label boss Radial guests at Code on Saturday delivering robust techno delights for your discerning palette (La Cheetah, 11pm-3am, £8 / £5 adv).

All quiet on the techno front in Aberdeen and Dundee this week...

Glasgow’s Pi-Eyed Free Party annual rave guarantees you a little bit of everything dance-wise, and for the great price of £0 you can afford to dip your toe in the waters, with Dave Skywalker, Wombcorps and Dave Shades captaining your night (La Cheetah, Friday 15 June, 11pm-3am). To continue the Glasgow free vibe, head to the Courtyard on Sat 16 for Maneuver’s free all-day second birthday party with Rebecca Vasmant, Terry Whyte, Anima Farm, Unique, Lindsay & Kendal and more (1pm-11pm). Audio Assault’s label boss Radial guests at Code on Saturday delivering robust techno delights for your discerning palette (La Cheetah, 11pm-3am, £8 / £5 adv).

All quiet on the techno front in Aberdeen and Dundee this week…

Glasgow’s Pi-Eyed Free Party annual rave guarantees you a little bit of everything dance-wise, and for the great price of £0 you can afford to dip your toe in the waters, with Dave Skywalker, Wombcorps and Dave Shades captaining your night (La Cheetah, Friday 15 June, 11pm-3am). To continue the Glasgow free vibe, head to the Courtyard on Sat 16 for Maneuver’s free all-day second birthday party with Rebecca Vasmant, Terry Whyte, Anima Farm, Unique, Lindsay & Kendal and more (1pm-11pm). Audio Assault’s label boss Radial guests at Code on Saturday delivering robust techno delights for your discerning palette (La Cheetah, 11pm-3am, £8 / £5 adv).

All quiet on the techno front in Aberdeen and Dundee this week…

June Week 2 Clubbing Listings: Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen

At Aberdeen’s Snafu the weekend starts early with a Thursday 7 June performance from Claude Vonstroke, undoubtedly Snafu’s favourite DJ, US-flavour drenched house and techno beats, or so a little dirty bird told me (11pm-3am, £8 adv / £7 early bird).

At Aberdeen’s Snafu the weekend starts early with a Thursday 7 June performance from Claude Vonstroke, undoubtedly Snafu’s favourite DJ, US-flavour drenched house and techno beats, or so a little dirty bird told me (11pm-3am, £8 adv / £7 early bird).

How was everyone’s clubbing experience last weekend? No time to breathe as another weekend rolls in and the Jubilee-infested holiday rolls on out… correlating figures tell me that pageantry and massive techno nights must go hand in hand, so unless someone puts on a parade this weekend it’s a lighter selection of treats for Scotland.

Edinburgh is all worn-out after that massive line-up across the venues for the start of the month, all filled up on Landstrumm, Traversable Wormholes and Silent Servant. Take this weekend to a) recuperate b) visit another city for techno or c) broaden your music taste and slide some breaks, electro, and dubstep into your Sunday night with Coalition at Sneaky Pete’s (10 June, 11pm-3am, £free).

If you chose option b), invest some interest in Glasgow who never take a techno-breather. La Cheetah welcomes Tribute for a free entry dive through techno, house and electro (Friday 8 June, 11pm-3am) as an aperitif to the mighty Jeff Mills at Sub Club’s Subculture on Saturday 9 June with support from Telford (11pm-3am, £10). If you like a younger and deeper vintage, check out Eric Cloutier and John Osborn at Wax Works (Chambre69, 11pm-3am, free before midnight / £5 after) – some serious competition for your ears in the Weeg over the coming days.



At Aberdeen’s Snafu the weekend starts early with a Thursday 7 June performance from Claude Vonstroke, undoubtedly Snafu’s favourite DJ, US-flavour drenched house and techno beats, or so a little dirty bird told me (11pm-3am, £8 adv / £7 early bird).

June Week 1 Clubbing Listings: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen

It’s the first club listings of the year! Granted, I’ve started 6 months into the year, but I was very tired.

Traversable Wormhole touches down in Edinburgh for his Scottish exclusive at Unseen (Studio 24, 11pm-3am, £8) on 1 June for some industrial darkness at the second and widely-talked about Unseen event, with support from Neil Templar. Over at Henry’s Cellar Bar on the same evening, ETC explore electronica with a chopped buffet of jungle, techno, dubstep, house, metal for their Grindhouse theme (11pm-3am, £5) with the Edinburgh Tekno Cartel and special guest Jeff23.



Unseen goes head to head in scheduling with Jackhammer so punters might feel torn between these two – if the bass-laden techno of Edinburgh legend Neil Landstrumm supported by Hans Bouffmyhre is more your style, head to the Caves (10.30pm-3am, £7). But what’s this? Another Jackhammer, the very next evening? Hold on to your hats, because I can’t think of a much better option than starting with Unseen and then continuing on Saturday 2 June with the fabulous Silent Servant and his metallic-tinged techno at The Third Door (10.30pm-3am, £10).



Saturday continues with acid house and techno from Musika, and their special guest, Hot Creations’ Denney (Liquid Rooms, 2 June, 10.30pm-3am, free before 11.15pm, £6-10 after). The gig is Musika’s warm-up event before taking to the stage at Exit Fest in Serbia (and much more reasonably priced for those of us trapped on this godforsaken isle unable to make the jet-set Euro-trip). Speaking of Hot Creations, label boss, Richy Ahmed spins at Sneaky Pete’s just down the road on the same evening with tech-house flavours with We Own (11pm-3am, £5), and a quick visit back to Third Door for Do it Again on 3 June with techno, house and electro for this Sunday social with Kenny McAlpine and Steven Wanless (11pm-3am, £5).

There’s even more competition for your attention over in Glasgow at Chambre 69 with Zeroten and Palace presents: 50 Weapons label showcase with live performances from Shed, Addison Groove and Phon.O (Friday, 1 June, 11pm-3am, £12) with more edgy techno than you can shake a stick at. Still contemplating the new Shed release; I’m undecided about the level of white noise that pervades the album but I’m eager to hear about his live shows, so comments please! Over in Paisley on the same night, Blink returns to Club69 with special guest Andy Martin on his first stop of his Creepy Finger Records showcase European tour – tech-house grooves (11pm-3am, £6). If that’s not quite your pace, ramp things up at La Cheetah with Banjax with crazy guest Shitmat guaranteed to explore the extremes of what humans can sonically manage; rave, jungle, gabba and total mash-up with support from Dave Shades (11pm-3am, £10 / £8 before midnight). Keep to La Cheetah on 2 June to check out new night Synesthetic, with first guest Mobilee’s Dan Curtin for minimal tech beats and Detroit stylings (11pm-3am, £8). Supported by Scott Rowan and Stuart Reedie. 

At Aberdeen's Motown Rooftop at the Beach Esplanade, Minival is celebrating the festival's fourth birthday - injecting frivolity amongst the beats with Matt Tolfrey (Friday 1 June, 11pm-3am, £8). The night continues over at Snafu from even more stripped techno and jacking house beats from Matt. 

It's been a while...

There's a cupboard in my flat that I do not dare open. I opened it once when I first moved in, and the horrifying level of grime, smears and smells made sure I close the door and never look again. I walk past that door every day and feel a squirm in my stomach as I uneasily think of it festering; knowing one day I'll have to venture there.

I have to confess a similar feeling towards this blog. I went away on holiday and never came back - each time I felt I should go back to it another work project got thrown up, and the slippage of time between posts started the uneasy squirm all over again. I've spent months thinking about how much time I can actually dedicate to it, and what direction I want to take given the bounty of music blogs out there.

I have to write about what I know; what I spend most of my time doing, and in recent years, that's techno music. I was hesitant to narrow my sights when I first launched this little corner of the internet, but I also know I need to make this a strong blog if it's going to have any more than a brief ripple in time.

With that, I leave you dear reader(s) with the newest product of the Scottish techno music scene, and hitting shops on 28th May - new LP Labour Division by Forward Strategy Group (Perc). Shiny metal CD tin, fantastic artwork, and an industrial and dark exploration of electronic music for this ominous age. Brutal.