Hi guys, how are you? Lookin forward to Easter? I sure am and not because i believe in chocolate eggs or crazies who turn bread into fish. (Wonder if thats how fish finger sanwiches were invented???) No ,i'm excited because we're officially into British summer time at last. Yes, i know its still snowing outside but winter is officially over. I'm also excited because this weekend is the first of the month again and it looks set to be another monster on both sides of the country with loads of amazing guest djs playing at loads of rather awesome parties. Indeed there's techno from Sven Vath, Jay Shepheard ,Marcell Detmann and Carl Cox, house from Derrick Carter, Hiro, Sonny Fodera, Ultragroove and Dmitry, disco from Billy Woods and Danny Krivit and a bit of everything from Jam The Box and Melting Pot. Aye its sure lookin like another roaster of a weekend so lets take at look at this week's highlights.
FRIDAY 2nd APRIL 2010
on Leith 98.8FM
This week's show features a guest mix from Ireland's The Parallel who've been makin waves recently with a series of excellent quality, deep techno and electronica EPs on labels such as Static Recordings, Nice And Nasty and Komisch. They're currently getting support from the likes of Laurent Garnier Derrick May and Dave Clarke so well worth a listen.
Lance Blaise, boss of US label Teggno Records also delivers a crackin mix this week, showing why he's a name to keep an eye on in the near future. Recording under various monikers, including Tattoo Detectives and Taco Pimp amonsgt others, he has released an astounding number of tracks on some of the worlds best techno imprints and has had his music played by the likes of Richie Hawtin, Dubfire and Josh Wink. His friend and mentor, Carl Cox, cannot sing his praises enough and regularly invites him to join him on stage while he's touring the States. Since he parted company with his Tattoo Detectives parter in 2008 he has focussed on a more twisted, minimal style of techno. His record sales figures on Beatport would seem to prove that this was indeed the right decision for him. His innovative approach to his productions has gained him a huge following and his fans consistantly push his tracks into the top twenty on record store sites. This looks sure to be another monster show from The Vinyl Club so don't forget to tune in.
@ The Flying Duck, 142 Renfield Street, Glasgow
Depthcharge returns to The Flying Duck this week, to host their third event and this moth Frazer and Jaya have invited local hero err... Hiro along to spread some of that Tronicsole/Solemusic magic upon the Duck's dancefloor.
Hiro or Stevie Middleton as he's known to his missus has been a key figure on the Scottish house scene for years now. His record label Solemusic was set up in 1996, originally as a means to release tracks by local artists who were making and playing predominantly black orientated dance music. Since then the label has continued to flourish and is now one of the longest running independant dance music labels in the UK.
The list of artists and contributors is astounding with names like Basement Jaxx, Joey Negro, Terry Hunter, Rainy City, DJQ, DJ Spinna, Chris Harris, Dominic Martin, The Jigmastas, Cooly's Hot Box, Sandy Rivera/Kings Of Tomorrow, Milton Jackson, Inland Knights, Frankie Feliciano, Phil Asher, Sounds of Life, Fred Everything, Todd Gardner, Lego, Swirl People, Basement Boys, Homecookin, Bugz in the Attic, Jay Tripwire, ATFC, Richard Earnshaw, Liquid People, The Beginerz and Open Door all featuring. Originally the label only released tracks on 12" singles however as with any business it has had to move with the times and has now put out compilations as well as artist albums. Solemusic has also embraced new technologies and now caters for the digital dj generation, with file downloads as well.
As a producer, Stevie has released over 100 of his own tracks as well as remixing and collaborating on countless others. His tracks regularly attract huge support from the likes of DJ Spinna, Kerri Chandler, Roger Sanchez, Joey Negro and Masters At Work amongst others, leading him to gigs all across the globe. He has played in nearly every major city on the planet in his career which spans nearly 20 years to date and he shows no signs of slowing down yet.
Jaya and Frazer are absolutely delighted to have him join them on the decks at Depthcharge for a night of proper deep house and sweet, soulful boogie-tech. Doors open 11pm-3am. Entry costs just £5 before midnight or £7 after.
So...Sub Club and Slam Closing Party
If solid slamming techno and minimalism is more your thing ,then head along to the Arches on Friday for the grand finale of Subby n Slam's Smirnoff associated programme of events. For the big send off they've put together a crackin line up of djs including Sensu, Telford, Harri and Domenic, Slam and headlining the night German techno god Sven Vath.
Vath's name has become synonimous with the modern, minimal techno scene also championed by his sometimes sparring partner Richie Hawtin, although his career in music spans nearly 3 decades. Back in the early 90s he was one of the first djs to push the trance techno sound coming from Europe and he was a founder member of both the Harthouse and Eye-Q record labels which specialised in that particular style of music. Vath has always been an innovator and a fan of experimental electronica, melody and rhythm. By the mid nineties he was widely regarded as one of the most successful djs on the planet, with gruelling tour schedules which took him to every corner of the globe. His dark, hypnotic, trancetech sound was making him legions of fans in every city he played in. He was by far the biggest DJ in Europe by 1995, '96 saw him launch his Cocoon project which has since grown from a regular clubnight in his home town of Frankfurt to a globally recognised brand with worldwide tours, a weekly night at Amnesia on Ibiza during summer as well as incoporating a record label and artist agency.
Last year saw the tenth anniversary of his weekly Cocoon series of parties at Amnesia and with it the launch of his Sound Of The Tenth Season mix cd. His tireless touring schedule and relentless, visionary work ethos will keep him at the top of his game for a good few year yet.
Tickets for this event are on sale now priced £18 available at Slam Events. Doors open 11pm to 3am.
Fiasco
@ Bacchus, 80 Glassford Street, Glasgow.
Tickets for this event are on sale now priced £18 available at Slam Events. Doors open 11pm to 3am.
@ Bacchus, 80 Glassford Street, Glasgow.
The Fiasco gang return from Miami's WMC this weekend with Australia's bump n funk specialist Sonny Fodera in tow. Sonny is one of the most prolific producers around at the minute having had nearly 50 releases in just 15 months. His beautifully produced tracks are getting huge support right across the globe from some of the biggest players from Sneak and Farina to Carter and Heather and he's promised to bring a whole crateful of exclusive new stuff he's recorded recently for the glasgow massive.
This will be Sonny's first performance anywhere in Europe and he's really excited about playing in Glasgow which has always been one of Europe's hotspots for house music. Supporting this month will be Marco Loco of Ibiza Groove plus resident Ed Marco. For a sneaky preview of Sonny's mastery upon the decks please check out this recent mix recorded for promotion at WMC 2010.
Advance tickets are on sale now from Tickets Scotland priced £7 or its £10 on the door. Doors 10.30 - 3am
If you can't make it along you can also tune in to Chicago House Fm for a live webcast.
@ Sub Club, 22 Jamaica Street, Glasgow.
Round at the Subby this Friday, Monox returns for another session of stripped down tech-house and pedigree techno with another of Germany's principle exports, this time in the shape of Marcell Dettmann.
A firm favourite among Europe's techno fraternity, Dettmann's dj skills have earned him a residency at Berlin's Berghain club, a residency he has held since the club opened in 1999. He has released a number of top quality productions too, on Berghain's own Ostgut Ton label as well as his own MDR imprint. His style is best decribed as dark and brooding yet experimental and always looking to push things forward. As a friend and sometime colleague of fellow countryman Sven Vath, Dettmann has similar passions and aspirations about his music, continually striving to find new production techniques and exploring different sounds.
Resident and local legend Dan Monox will be providing DJ support. Doors 11pm - 3am and entry is £10 on the door.
Saturday 3rd April 2010
Jam The Box @The Grv, Hasties Close, Guthrie Street, Edinburgh
After their insanely good Back To The 90's style rave up with Altern8 legend, Mark Archer last month, Jam The Box have decided to keep things a bit more local for their Easter extravaganza and have invited Leith FM Vinyl Club's John Gerrard along to join them on the decks in the main room.
The Vinyl Club has become a real jewel in Leith FM's schedule as an outlet for some of the most groundbreaking, electronic dancemusic. It's popularity continues to grow week in week out and it now attracts thousands of listeners every Friday night from places like Croatia, Serbia, Portugal, Spain, Estonia, Hungary and even South America and the USA via its online broadcasts. The show features exclusive guest mixes from some of the biggest names in house, tech-house and proper techno with artists such as Steve Rachmad, The Advent Neil Landstruum, Hans Bouffmeyer, Gabriel Onanda, Butch etc all regularly sending in mixes and actively supporting the show.
The show was launched nearly five years ago by the Dysfunktional residents James Carrol and John Gerrard, who now also co-promote Pulse nights in the capital. Their dj talents have gained them a huge following with mixes posted on their soundcloud pages regularly getting hundreds of plays and downloads. They've both recently been getting into producing tracks as well and they're already showing great promise. John's passion for the music he plays is incredible. He's always on the look out for new artists to showcase on the vinyl club and regularly send out messages to listeners to send in demo mixes or tracks to be played on the show. He is a true hero in the broadest sense and Jam The Box are somewhat honoured to have him join them this Saturday.
John's Soundcloud
James's Soundcloud
Through in the bar area Picassio and Default from Dapper Dan's will be joined by JTB favourite Rosco Disco to drop some funk, disco, soul, boogie and classic house cuts all chopped up with some crazy effects and turntablist skills, making sure that no matter what room you find yourself in, you won't be able to stop dancing.
Doors open from 10.30pm -3am and entry is £5 all night.
@ Cabaret Voltaire, 36 Blair Street Edinburgh
Also in Edinburgh this Saturday, Ultragroove throws caution to the wind and lets the legendary Yogi Haughton loose in the booth of Cab Vol's main room. Yogi's is one of the citys longest serving djs having been spinning records all over the world for nearly 40 years. He's credited as the man who brought house and techno to Scotland back in the late 80s but he's probably most famous for his unrelenting passion for all kinds of black music, especially soul, jazz, funk and northern. His record collection to date stands at over 80,000 and is still growing making it one of the biggest and most prized collections in the UK and the world. This Saturday though, he's promised to deliver a set of soulful house cuts ,both new and classic, to a clued up bunch of revellers at the capital's longest running house emporium.
Also on the bill this weekend local boy Stewart Wilson makes his Ultragroove debut. Stewart's played in most of the decent clubs in Scotland as well as further afield in Barcelona. He likes his house on a deep n tribal tip with plenty of vocals and tough beats. As always main man Gareth Sommerville completes the line up. Entry is £5 before midnight or £8 after and doors open 11pm -3am.
Paradise Garage Tribute
@ The Admiral, 72a Waterloo Street, Glasgow
Here in Glasgow, Melting Pot teams up with Dance Dance Dance! once again for an evening of proper disco, soul, funk, boogie and early house music in tribute to the NYC institutions that were The Paradise Garage and its resident dj Larry Levan. This is the first part of a massive double header from Melting Pot and will feature many of the most popular and well loved tracks played by Levan at what is regarded as one of the first real superclubs.
The Paradise Garage was a discotheque notable in the history of modern gay and nightclub cultures and in dance and pop music. It was founded by Michael Brody, its sole proprietor, and was located at 84 King Street, New York City. It operated from 1977 to 1987 and was the base for DJ Larry Levan. Its name derives from its origins as a parking garage. The Paradise Garage's business model was largely inspired by David Mancuso's Loft parties: no liquor was served, there were no sales of food or beverages, and the club was not open to the general public.
The sound system was Developed, Designed and Installed by Richard Long & Associates, Kenny Powers and was said by those that attended to be the best in New York City at that time. The club has been credited for its influence on the development of the modern dance club as it is today: unlike other clubs of its time, the Paradise Garage was focused on dancing rather than social interaction, and it was the first to put the DJ at the center of attention.
Melting Pot and Dance Dance Dance residents are really excited about this event and have been digging in their collections for some of the most amazing and timeless tracks from the golden age of disco and protohouse, many of these tracks are real rarities and it will be a real privalege to hear them on the Melting pot soundsystem. As always the pre party starts in the bar upstairs from 9pm with £5 passes for the club on offer at the bar. Club doors open from 11pm -3am and full price is £8.
@ The Sub Club, 22 Jamaica Street, Glasgow
Glasgow's premier weekly house night Sub Culture is very pleased to have Chicago House master, Derrick Carter, back for the first time in nearly two and a half years. Carter was one of brightest stars of Chicago's nineties wave of bumpin, jackin house music. Although his sets feature predominantly house music he has a habit of veering off seemlessly into Jazz, oldschool disco, funk and techno or whatever else he feels will work on the dancefloor. He's was one of the pioneers of the swing/jazz influenced house music which reached almost fever pitch over the last couple of years with artists like Mes, Gramaphonedzie, and Greens Keepers amongst others all getting the bug.
His touring schedule is still as relentless as it has been for the past 15 or so years with gigs right across the globe nearly every weekend. This is his first trip to Glasgow in a good long while and i've no doubt it will be a tremendous night at Subby. Support come from Harri this week. Entry is £9 before midnight or £12 after. Doors 11-3am.
Sunday 4th April 2010
Solid Gold Sunday Safari
@ La Cheetah, (Under Max's Kansas City), Queen Street, Glasgow
Easter Sunday sees Solid Gold roll into La Cheetah for another Sunday Safari session. This regular Sunday afternoon party which has seen the likes of JD Twitch, and Chicago's Chez Damier drop by to play seems to really be making its mark on Glasgow's clubscene. The whole concept is a continuation of the East Village NYC Sunday parties which held their last event on Sunday 9th September 2001. The terrorist atrocity which took place two days later, closed down the venue and consequently the club.
Here in Glasgow, the ethos of the events remains the same. Families and children are welcome to come along and have a bite to eat and a dance to some of the best contemporary dance music around, supplied by resident djs Anton and Dribbler (Pure) as well as some quality guest djs. This week, Glasgow's professor of disco ,Billy Woods, will be popping in with some absolute killer tunes to rock out the kind of set that makes his Supermax events some amongst some of the most hedonistic in the city.He will be joined by a real superstar from the former Soviet Union Supa DJ Dmitry (pictured) who was one third of Dee-Lite back in the late 80s to early 90s. Their single Groove Is In The Heart became a dancefloor anthem around the world when it was released in 1990 and spawned subsequent tours all over the globe. Since the band broke up in 1996 Dmitry has maintained a succesful career as a club dj as well as being involved in many production projects including a single with Julee Cruise.
Entry to this event is £5 and doors open 3pm -11pm.
@ Universal, Sauchiehaul Street Lane, Glasgow
Cosmic Microwave takes flight to The Universal on Sunday with residents Aaron Petrie and the hugely talented Brian D' Souza (Slabs Of The Tabernacle) joined by a relative newcomer to London's deephouse and techno scene, Jay Shepheard. This will be Jay's first gig in Glasgow and he's really looking forward to it after a successful, recent tour of Australia, releases on Buzzin Fly, Dirt Crew and the mighty Compost Black Label as well as launching his own label, Retrofit, and being signed up by the Secret Sundaze agency. Yes 2010 is already looking like one of the best years of his career so far.
His productions skills are pretty well defined already and his music is gaining much respect and admiration from some key players in the scene. His style appeals to a broad spectrum of music fans, straddling the divide between deep house and melodic techno with ease and creating some pretty stunning soundscapes. His track Last Days Of Cou Cou D taken from his debut on Compost Black Label #19 is a real favourite of mine and has been for ages now. That Ep gained him a lot of support, which he built upon with further releases CBL #28 and CBL #34 both of which were also widely acclaimed by djs, music fans and the press alike earning him a nomination for Beatport's Best Deep House Act award for 2007.
This year he's just launched his Retrofit label which aims to marry futuristic production techniques and sounds with the disco, funk, acid house and classic techno styles of the past. The first release simply titled #1 is already finding its way into some of the world best deephouse dj's record boxes.
This is sure to be a crackin finale to the weekend for fans of more futuristic techno based music and will no doubt be a busy one. Universal is quite an intimate venue as well so worth getting down early to avoid any queues. Doors 11pm - 3am. Entry £7
@ The Admiral, 72a Waterloo Street, Glasgow.
Easter Sunday night, for me, is all about Melting Pot's doubleheader second half, featuring another legend from NYC. This time its Body And Soul's Danny Krivit who will be gracing the hallowed MP turntables. Krivit has been involved in the dance music scene since his childhood. When he was just seven years old he helped out as a waiter in his step dad's place Ninth Circle in Manhattan serving the likes of Jimi Hendricks, Janis Joplin and John Lennon. He got into music even before he'd realied it due to his parents love of Jazz. By 1971 his Stepdad had decided to cater for the increasing number of gays moving into Manhattan so he converted the downstairs restaurant into a disco and Danny started programming and compiling tapes of tracks to play in the disco as well as borrowing tapes from other more established disco venues. The place didn't have decks back then and it wasn't until much later that Danny began to experiment with mixing records.
By 1976 he was hanging out with David Mancuso, who's Loft parties were becoming unmissable social events. It was at these parties that he discovered a love for less mainstream and more underground music. Mancuso liked to play the freshest new tracks as well as more obscure b-sides and album tracks which many of his guests had never heard before but which they began to love more than the more popular records of the time.
Danny eventually became a resident at The Ones and from there his career really started to take off. Hanging out with the likes of Nicky Siano at The Gallery and Larry Levan at Paradise Garage he learned how to work tracks together, how to contruct a set, to create the tension and release of energy that played with his crowds emotions, taking them to places with a tweak of an isolator or a drop of heavy bassline.
During the 80s Danny developed his skills at re-editing tracks and many of his edits became the standard version of the tracks, for example MFSB's Love is the Message and James Brown's Funky Drummer. Since then, he's notched up over 200 edit and remix credits with many of his tracks featuring on compilation albums from the likes of Defected and Strut.
In 1996 he joined forces with two other New York heavyweight DJs, namely Joe Claussell and Francois Kervorkian to launch a new weekly Sunday venture called Body And Soul. This decision became a pinnacle in his already glittering career. Over the 7 and a bit years that Body and Soul ran weekly, the events became a huge international phenomenon. Clubbers flew in from all over the world especially to sample the atmosphere of one of the greatest clubbing institutions on the planet. The forward thinking approach to new music, combined with an understanding of the rich heritage of disco, funk, soul, hiphop and latin beats on which NYC's clubscene was founded, made it the closest experience to the legendary Paradise Garage since it closed its doors for the last time in 1987.
Body and Soul's unparallelled success has meant that Danny is now one of the worlds most in demand djs alongside Joe and Francois. He has now played all over the planet and continues to do so as often as he can. Body and soul no longer runs a weekly party but they do throw special parties at least 3 times per year in NYC as well as annual bashes in Japan, Brazil, London and elsewhere.
Melting Pot are absolutely delighted to have him back in Glasgow for his second guest slot at the club. This will no doubt be an incredible event for fans of deep, soulful house, classic disco and funk. Tickets are on sale now from Aspecto Clothing on West Nile Street and The Admiral bar priced £12 doors 10pm - 3am.
Well there we have it folks, another mammoth weekend of ace music for heads and feet alike. That's just about it from me this week but do have yourselves a great weekend, wrap up warm cos temperatures are supposed to plummet again this weekend and please rave safe!
Thanks again for reading The Chef's Specials in association with
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