Thursday 31 May 2012

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. 

Thursday 24 May 2012

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.