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

Featured Club of the Week: Jackhammer
Venue: Lane Nightclub, Edinburgh 

Date: Friday 26th August

People mourned the loss of Regis and Surgeon’s camaraderie as the British Murder Boys, but we all secretly cheer for Regis’ current collaboration with Function as Sandwell District. The live masters of modern techno are joined by the old school’s Altern8 for a DJ set. And another load of DJs keep the buzz going in all three rooms – it’s gonna be packed.

Sounds like: FREE DOWNLOAD

10pm-5am, £12  

Edinburgh
 

Club: Sugarbeat vs Musika
Venue: Cabaret Voltaire
Date: Friday 26th August  

Two hot house clubs join up to deliver the debut appearance of ‘You Gonna Want Me’ Tiga in the capital; bloody time too, the amount of times I’ve heard that tune blasted in the Cab. Three hours of electro-techno will help close the Fringe season of late night clubs, while the remaining two rooms feature the Utah Saints, Kev Wright, Derek Martin, Vincent Vega, Kirk Douglas & Chris Graham and even more!

Sounds like:   Fever Ray - Triangle Walks (Tiga's 1-2-3-4 Mix) by TIGA

10.30pm-5am, £15

Club: Xplicit
Venue: Bongo Club
Date: Friday 26th August  

I always like the sound of ‘liquid dnb’ – as if syrupy drums are going to drench through your clothes and soak you in bass-fluids. Of course, it’s only vaguely like that, and most soakings are just the result of frenzied dancing in a room of throbbing bodies to the pounding beats. Whatever – Xplicit’s festival special welcomes the head of Hospital Records, London Elektricity, and MC Darrison for a two hour set of the finest drums to make your ears ring.

11pm-5am, £12 adv.

Club: Heavy Gossip
Venue: Hawke & Hunter (Green Room)
Date: Friday 26th August  

Restless Souls’ Phil Asher spins the deep house, broken beat and disco vibes for Heavy Gossip; less nattering and more natty. Ricky Reid, one half of Soul Renegades, returns for a live set of keys and vocals, joining residents Craig Smith and Nick Yuill for a blazin’ party.

Sounds like:   PHIL ASHER - ESOTERIA EP VOL 1 by restless soul

11pm-4am, £10

Club: Karnival
Venue: Cabaret Voltaire
Date: Friday 26th August  

Edinburgh cannot resist the top-name DJs for their closing parties, and house circus Karnival flicked through their contacts and settled upon one of their past favourites: funky and soulful Jesse Rose! The Lahndahn DJ is joined by Mike Pinkerton, Oxygen Junkies and RYZO.

Sounds like:   Jesse Rose versus Made to Play all-stars - Yeah - MADE TO PLAY by jesseroseofficial

11pm-5am, £15 / £12

Round up  

Stacks is a new monthly night for Edinburgh, taking a lighter journey through soul, garage and rnb at the Wee Red Bar (26th August, 11pm-3am, £3), and Numbers host their irregular Edinburgh night at Sneaky Pete’s, spinning the freshest house, techno, dubstep and anything that can be considered de rigeur (11pm-5am, £tbc). On Saturday 27th, Big ‘n’ Bashy hit the Bongo for a wallop of grime, jungle, reggae and dubstep (11pm-5am, £tbc), and the RSI She Bang Rave Unit Festival Special, the longest-named event of the festival clubbing season features RSI residents Bill Spice and Duncan Starski, joining the She Bang Rave Unit crew for a mash-up of everything electronic at the Southern (8pm-3am, free). And Pet Rescue at The Store is actually the least likely place you’ll find Rolf Harris or wounded animals, unless they love the techno (11pm-5am, £6 / £3 before midnight).


Glasgow

Club: Killer Kitsch
Venue: Sub Club 

Date: Friday 26th August  

Killer Kitsch have hailed their next guests as a ‘massive influence’ who regularly feature in their own sets: Black Strobe take your kneecaps captive with sonic grooves through the Subby’s futuristic floor. The industrial electroclash maestros also release their ‘Best of 13 Years’ LP shortly, so first take a trip down memory lane in the flesh. Hushpuppy supports.

Sounds like:   Daddy Can Techno too - Arnaud Rebotini juin 2011 by Blackstrobe Records 

11pm-3am, £7

More info: On Sunday 28th, Killer Kitsch are joined by Dundee’s Ado, at their Edinburgh event at Cabaret Voltaire (11pm-5am, £tbc).

Club: Optimo
Venue: Sub Club
Date: Sunday 28th August  

I can definitely see a theme at the Sub Club this weekend, when a former member of Black Strobe arrives to spin Optimo right round – Ivan Smagghe treats Glasgow to a double dose of French connection with the hottest electrohouse.

Sounds like:   RA PODCAST 228-SMAGGHE-11-10-2010 by ivan smagghe

11pm-3am, £tbc

Club: Clash of the Undergrounds
Venue: Stereo
Date: Friday 26th August  

In this special Clash event (unaffiliated with the band or the magazine), The Shimmy’s Miss7 and London club Fuse’s Chris Maran go head to head with a special guest to be announced. This year sees Maran releasing his own house and techno productions after numerous slots at high-profile house and techno clubs, so catch him on the brink of stardom.

Sounds like:   Chris Maran - Deeper shade of yELLOw by Chris Maran 

11pm-3am, £7

Round up  

Boom Monk Ben has been travelling further afar with his sound, and Club 520 are drawing him back in to their new club, Sound, on Friday 26th. He spins a four hour set of just about everything, from dancehall dubs to smooth futuristic garage and lots in between. Visuals will be supplied by Visual AIDS, long-time collaborators with Ben (11pm-3am, £6 / £5). Power Tools power up your Saturday at Flat 0/1 with Korben Dallas and Nushta Drognova playing italo disco and house (11pm-3am, free), while Subculture host a residents’ special at the Sub Club (11pm-3am, £10 / free before midnight) with Harri and Domenic manning your house intake.

 

Aberdeen and Dundee

Club: Wizard Festival After-Party
Venue: Club Snafu, Aberdeen
Date: Friday 26th and Saturday 27th August  

Anyone still in need of more action after the Wizard Festival up north can head to Snafu for the weekend with their two After-Parties. On Friday Ado, Bones & Money, Krazzy Martin and special guests from the Snafu tent will keep the buzz going, and Animal Farm, Bigfoot’s, Fuad and Si Smith take the Saturday sign-off.

11pm-3am, £tbc

Club: Boomin’ System
Venue: Reading Rooms, Dundee
Date: Friday 26th August  

Special guest Kidkanevil stars at Boomin’ System, mixing up jazz, jungle, and hip-hop for a hefty bass blast.

Sounds like:  The Electric - Toot Toot (kidkanevil remix) by kidkanevil

10.30pm-2.30am, £5

Club: Autodisco
Venue: Reading Rooms
Date: Saturday 27th August

Autodisco returns with more disco, electro and funk with residents Dave Autodisco and Dicky Trisco.

10.30pm-2.30am, £7 / £5 before midnight 

December (Week 1) Clubbing Listings: Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee

This week we have a rare double-header of featured clubs of the week

Ambivalent

Featured Club of the Week: Bigfoot's Tea Party

Venue: Glasgow School of Art

Date: Friday 3rd December

Bigfoot celebrate their second birthday party with special guest Ambivalent (M_nus) in a traditional venue (a change from fish factories, laundrettes and recording studios!) for techno and electronica fun. Ambivalent will be rockin’ the throbbin’ techno, but has also been invited to cut the Bigfoot birthday cake! The club also have a brand new sound system from Tannoy and rig from CPE Lighting to boost the hardware spec for their special event. Support comes from Faux Pas, Marmalade Man and visuals from Redux.

Sounds like:

11pm-3am, £10 / £8 advance or for GSA students

More info: Join the pre-party fun which starts at Offshore’s basement (Gibson St) for audio-visual art installations and music [2pm-8pm], followed by an official party of beats, vodka jelly and BYOB from 8pm-11pm.

Featured Club of the Week: Subculture Live

Venue: Sub Club

Date: Friday 3rd December

Just before they go head to head with Melting Pot, house legends Subculture have a special live event featuring Mervin Granger / Esa, Octave One, and Milton Jackson. You’ll better know Esa as Subculture’s resident but tonight you can get to grips with his alter-ego Mervin, and his deep grooves and bombastic basslines, while Detroit techno brothers Octave One show why they’re still banging it after 20-odd years. Milton Jackson brings more local flavour with his house head-ticklers.

Sounds like:

11pm-3am, £10 / £8

Edinburgh

Club: Hot Mess
Venue: Wee Red Bar
Date: Friday 3rd December

DJ Simonotron strikes out from Clubs for Heroes and Devil Disco Club for his own venture into acid house, Hi-NRG, disco, italo and electro at this sizzling gay club.

11pm-3am, £3

Club: Tokyoblu - The CD Grab
Venue: Cabaret Voltaire
Date: Friday 3rd December

Tokyoblu are back with another CD Grab - every DJ playing at the night will have 50 copies of their own mix CD - and you just have to ask! Select a mix from one of the DJs, which includes John & Iain Tokyoblu in room 1, and David McGeorge, and Tokyoblu bros Niall and Denis McKervey with funky house all night.

11pm-3am, £7 / £5 guest lists - see here for guest list info.

Club: Ultragroove
Venue: Cabaret Voltaire
Date: Saturday 4th December
Right this is going to be interesting, logistically, given that resident Gareth Sommerville is also playing at a Melting Pot event in Glasgow on the same evening! He’s lined up for soulful house and disco in the backroom, while Craig Smith of 6th Borough takes the front room with Stephen Rodgers (Elements of Soul) for a selection of house, techno and disco. Martin Valentine, Lel Palfrey and Carina Ramos support.
Sounds like:

11pm-3am, £8 / £5 before midnight or with student ID

More info: Melting Pot vs Subculture at the Sub Club on 4th December for house and disco grooves featuring Andrew Pirie, Harri, Domenic and of course Gareth Sommerville on his cross-country venture.

11pm-3am, £10 / £8 before midnight

Club: Messenger Sound System
Venue: Bongo Club
Date: Saturday 4th December

Special guests The Educators join Messenger Sound System for reggae, dub and roots basslines to shake the snow from your hoods. Comprised of Burning Bush, Errol T and Mr Fabulous, The Educators will bring fresh dubs to accompany the lyricisations of MC Ras Echo.

11pm-3am, £7 / £6 before midnight

Club: Volume!
Venue: Sneaky Pete’s
Date: Saturday 4th December

Not only is this event free, it features special guest DFRNT, the Echodub label owner and bassline / dubstep producer. The Volume! crew bring up the rear with roots, electro, Baltimore, crunk and more.
Sounds like:

11pm-3am, free


Glasgow


Club: Mixed Bizness
Venue: Vic Bar, Glasgow School of Art
Date: Thursday 2nd December

Tonight is the launch party for the new Medusa EP from Glasgow’s S-Type, appearing on electronic label Phuturelabs. A mix of electronica, grime, p-funk, and hip-hop, Phuturelabs are delighted with the new release. Catch S-Type with fellow guest Ninja Tune’s Hint, host Profisee and resident Boom Monk Ben to kick off your weekend.

Sounds like:

11pm-3am, £4 /Free for GSA students before midnight

Club: Killer Kitsch, Muck and Dirty Noise
Venue: Stereo
Date: Friday 3rd December

Coalitions are a theme this year - even if the Con-Dem pact ain’t working at least our clubs can shown them how it’s done! Armed with an extra late night licence, Killer Kitsch, Muck and Dirty Noise join forces to secure an appearance from Reset! (Cheap Thrills) who are promoting their new fidget house / turbofunk EP. Fellow guest Ado (Blood Music) will blister the eardrums with his brand of electro.
Sounds like:

11pm-4am, £7

Club: Supernova
Venue: The Arches
Date: Friday 3rd December

Slovenia isn’t usually picked out for its music scene by the mainstream press, but the techno community knows that hard beats lie there! Valentino Kanzyani crosses Europe to take the Arches with the Hell DJs for bubbling electro-house, techno and tech-house to cover your bass bases!
Sounds like:

10pm-3am, £12

Club: Symbiosis
Venue: The Admiral
Date: Friday 3rd December

Symbiosis bring Lahndahn north when drum and bass producer Data (Metalheadz / Tempa) has all hands on deck for the Admiral. Resident DJs Calaco Jack and Alcane are first and second mates of the evening.
Sounds like:

11pm-3am, £7 / £5 students

Club: Slabs of the Tabernacle
Venue: La Cheetah
Date: Saturday 4th December

He’s an International Deejay Gigolo, but goes by the more sedate name Mick Wills - a master and lover behind the decks - he whips up a blend of house, techno, italo, Hi-NRG (the recurring buzz-word of 2010!) and electro; perfect for the Slabs crew.
Sounds like:

11pm-3am, £7

Club: Tiga
Venue: The Arches
Date: Sunday 5th December

Are you going to want him? Well Tiga is all yours on the finishing Sunday of the week when he has the Arches all to himself, for a night of himself. Support is to be announced, but if you want to wear your sunglasses at night to Turbo-charged electro, Tiga is in the house!
Sounds like:

9pm-3am, £12.50


Dundee


Club: Ctrl-Alt-Defeat
Venue: Reading Rooms
Date: Saturday 4th December

Electro guests Hey Today!, Clouds and Ado (who was performing in Glasgow on the previous night!) bring the big beats for Crtl-Alt-Defeat. Surrender now!

Sounds like:

10.30pm-2.30am, £tbc

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