Hi guys. Good weekend? Mine sure was.... Again! Saturday evening started off at Max's bar on Queen Street here in Glasgow, listening to some sublime deep disco and mid tempo house from one of my favourite local Djs, Jamie Thompson.
A firm favourite on the pre-club circuit here, Jamie's love for deep and soulful grooves is earning him lots of support and respect just now. As well as playing at the likes of Bloc bar and Max's Jamie can often be found in the upstairs bar at Melting Pot. He recently recorded a mix for the Ooft Music Ruff Jamz series and its a beauty which has been on repeat on my Mp3 player for the couple of weeks. If you wanna check it out, just click on the Ooft Music Blog link down the right hand side of this page.
By around 11 o 'clock we'd left Max's and headed into Merchant City to catch up with the Solar Disco lads at their monthly free party. The music here was again really good with Kev and Craig rocking the upstairs bar till about midnight before the whole party moved downstairs to the Brunswick Hotel basement. I'm really happy to report that the party had a really great turnout and the atmosphere was fantastic. Tracks by artists such as Tensnake, Azari and Ill, Floating Points and The Revenge really pushed the soundsystem to its limit and the up-for-it crowd turned the room into a proper little sweatbox.
As is the case practically every time I go to a really good party, I was somewhat dissapointed when 2 o'clock came round really quickly and it had to finish. But it was good to get home and get some sleep before Sunday's Solid Gold Safari Back at Max's which took place upstairs this weekend. I had a great afternoon catching up with some old friends and playing some classic disco and funk records mixed up with some nice Sunday house joints.
This weekend I'm really lookin forward to catching up with some more old mates whom I haven't seen for a good while and as i'm celebrating turning 32 on Monday, i'm also lookin forward to some birthday drinks! But for those of you who are here to see what's cookin in clubland this week lets get right in amongst this week's highlights.
THURSDAY 15th APRIL 2010
Slo - Mo
@ The Flying Duck, 142 Renfield Street, Glasgow
As many, if not all of you should know by now, the first of Forever Cookin' Promotions' new Glasgow projects launches this Thursday night at one of the city's most unique clubbing spaces.
Myself, Stuart Holbeck, Charles Gardiner and Rob Firth are very excited about this new venture which will see the four of us playing some top class feel-good music to ease you into your weekend, a day earlier than usual.
With over 40+ years of djing experience between us we're looking forward to soundtracking your Thursday evening with some soul, funk, disco, edits, mid tempo house and deep melodic techno. We're aiming to create a cool, almost afterparty, kind of vibe at the duck where djs, promoters, producers and so on can come and hang out and discuss ideas and collaborations. We also want to appeal to all the tradeworkers, shop staff, NHS staff, and others who have to work all weekend but want to go out and listen to really great music midweek instead. With a ridiculously cheap door price and fantastic value drinks promotions we're hoping that you'll come and join us every fortnight as we invite some of the finest djs in the land to join us in the DJ booth. Already lining up to play with us over the next couple of months are Craig and Kevin from Solar Disco in May plus Dance Dance Dance residents Andy Piacentini and Derek Smith.
This event kicks off at 11pm - 3am and entry is only £2. Please check out our new blog page for more information, regular updates, dj charts, free mixes etc.
Those lovely lads at Equalised have also invited us along to The Halt Bar (160 Woodlands Road) on Thursday to do a wee preclub party with them. This party should start around 8 o'clock and run till the bar closes. Slo - Mo DJs Stuart Holbeck and Rob Firth will be joined by the Equalised Resident in Halt 2.
FRIDAY 16th APRIL 2010
The Vinyl Club
live on Leith 98.8FM
On this week's Vinyl Club show, John Gerrard and co will be joined by the production team behind the Unique Beats Electronic Arts Festival. Unique Beats was launched in the Spring of last year at Edinburgh's Roxy Art House, a huge converted church building located between The Pleasance and the city's South Bridge area. This years event takes place on Saturday 24th of April and features lots of live music from local electronic artists, as well as dj sets from some of the best underground talent from across Scotland. There will also be stalls, demonstrations and workshops hosted by hardware and software manufacturers such as Ableton, Roland, Moog, Korg, Akai, Novation, Yamaha, Propellerhead and M-Audio.
Live sets at this year's event will come from Anchorsong, Frog Pocket, Tokyo Knife Attack, Engine 7, Alex Tronic, Athsmatic Astronaut and Deaf Professor amongst others. There will also be a downstairs room this year hosted by The Laptop Lounge and featuring Dj sets from some excellent local acts including myself and Slo-Mo.
Tickets for the festival cost just £7 plus booking fee and are available from the Unique Beats website (Click link above) along with more information about the event and the featured artists and companies.
The second hour of the show will feature a guest mix from the capital's MomentuM djs Adam Famos and Paul Thompson who've been throwing parties downstairs in City Cafe and hosted the second room at Ultragroove recently. Their blend of classic Chicago house and deep Detroit-esque techno is proving to be quite a hit with the natives and they're looking to branch out to Glasgow soon too.
Equalised
@ Stereo, Renfield Lane, Glasgow
Friday sees the Equalised lads host another of their events at Stereo here in Glasgow and this month residents Bobby Wilson, Alex Ash and Truman Data will be joined by Chicago dj/producer Kate Simko.
Kate started her musical career in her early childhood as a classical pianist but by the mid nineties, by then in her teens, the blossoming house music sounds emanating from her home town soon got her hooked. Her passion for electronic music continued to grow and eventually led her to Northwestern University where she studied Music Technology and Piano. By 2001 she'd moved to Santiago in Chile and had hooked up with Andres Bucci with whom she recorded her first record "Shapes Of Summer" as Detalles.
Since then she's been back to South America numerous time, recording more work with Andres as well as playing gigs in cities like Buenos Aries, Caracas, and Punto Del Este. Kate's sound has developed into a hybrid of deep, soulful techno reminiscent of Detroit and the jackin', funkier house sounds of her home town. Throw in her classical training and some beautifully intricate programming and you have a rich tapestry of funky basslines, deep grooving synthlines, driving percussive rhythms and lush, textured ambience. She's been voted one of the top 10 djs in Chicago by XLR8R magazine and her diverse and versatile dj style has won her thousands of fans around the world.
Equalised are very excited to welcome the first lady of techno to Glasgow for the first time and this party looks set to be a real stormer. Doors open from 11pm to 3am and entry is just £7.
Telefunken
@ Cabaret Voltaire, 36 Blair Street, Edinburgh
Over in the East, Edinburgh's Telefunken lurches back into action after a short winter break. After a pretty massive 2009 which saw the likes of Mark Farina, DJ Sneak, Hector Moralez and Derrick Carter all fly in to rock Edinburgh's old town, The club have roped in another of the Windy City's big guns.
This time the mighty Gene Farris will be delivering one of his trade mark, funky, ass-shakin' looped out disco-techno sets to the Edinburgh faithful. Gene is currently the boss of no less than three different record labels at the moment Farris Wheel Recordings, lunched in 1998, Farris Wheel Limited which he started in 2001 and his latest addition Industry Records. The labels are responsible for releasing cutting edge funky dance music from the likes of Funky Transplant, Onionz, Boo Williams, Glen Underground, Demarkus Lewis, JT Donaldson and Bryan Jones amongst others.
Gene's DJ sets are renowned for their relentless, driving energy which mashes tough, syncopated, percussive rhythms with really funky bass lines and ocassional dark brooding grooves. Throwing in some spooky sci-fi style effects and wicked vocal tracks he never fails to create a hot and sweaty vibe on the dancefloor. As a true master of his artform, he really knows how to read a crowd and he feeds off their energy before channelling that same energy right back into his set. I've been fortunate enough to have caught him djing numerous times here in Scotland and I have to say he's definitely one of my favourite djs on the planet. His Scottish debut at Tribal Funktion in Edinburgh back in 1996 was and still is one of my top 10 nights out ever, and after nearly 14 years of clubbing almost every weekend, that is quite a title to hang onto. Main room support as always comes from Alan Gray with Hoss on warm up detail.
In room two Scotland's favourite funk-soul-brother Yogi Haughton will be doing his trademark, boogie, funk, northern and proto-house thang. Yogi is one of Scotlands biggest heroes although he originally hails from Manchester. He owns one of the largest black music collections in the world and is allegedly responsible for bringing the sounds of US house and techno to Scotland back in the 80s.
Advance tickets are on sale from Tickets-Scotland, Ripping Records, Underground Solush'n and Xile Clothing priced £7+bf or £9 on the door. Doors open 10.30pm -3am.
SATURDAY 17th APRIL 2010
Metro Soul
@ La Cheetah, 72 Queen Street, Glasgow
Back in Glasgow, Saturday night sees the return of deep techy house emporium Metro Soul to the infamous La Cheetah, basement club. The venue has recently benefitted immensely from a new sound system installation and i have to say its pretty damn impressive.
Metro Soul residents Ryan Alan and Rob Firth will be testing it thoroughly on Saturday with some deep and moody house and tech house before they hand over the reigns to Sub City Radio's undergound hero, Domm who runs the Slave To The Rhythm show.
Nominated for Best Newcomer and Best Specialist Show awards at last year's Scottish Radio Awards, Domm's passion for deep and techy house music is astounding. His Slave To The Rhythm show regularly attracts some of the biggest listener numbers to the station. With guest dj sets from the likes of Laurent Garnier, Carl Craig, Agoria, Sebastien Leger, Slam and Loco Dice amongst others, its no wonder the he's getting the respect and admiration of clubbers and music industry bods alike.
This looks set to be a real belter for Metro Soul and a welcome return to La Cheetah. Doors open from 11pm -3am and entry just £5 before midnight or £6 after.
Solid Gold Sunday Safari
Optimo Penultimo
FRIDAY 16th APRIL 2010
live on Leith 98.8FM
On this week's Vinyl Club show, John Gerrard and co will be joined by the production team behind the Unique Beats Electronic Arts Festival. Unique Beats was launched in the Spring of last year at Edinburgh's Roxy Art House, a huge converted church building located between The Pleasance and the city's South Bridge area. This years event takes place on Saturday 24th of April and features lots of live music from local electronic artists, as well as dj sets from some of the best underground talent from across Scotland. There will also be stalls, demonstrations and workshops hosted by hardware and software manufacturers such as Ableton, Roland, Moog, Korg, Akai, Novation, Yamaha, Propellerhead and M-Audio.
Tickets for the festival cost just £7 plus booking fee and are available from the Unique Beats website (Click link above) along with more information about the event and the featured artists and companies.
The second hour of the show will feature a guest mix from the capital's MomentuM djs Adam Famos and Paul Thompson who've been throwing parties downstairs in City Cafe and hosted the second room at Ultragroove recently. Their blend of classic Chicago house and deep Detroit-esque techno is proving to be quite a hit with the natives and they're looking to branch out to Glasgow soon too.
@ Stereo, Renfield Lane, Glasgow
Friday sees the Equalised lads host another of their events at Stereo here in Glasgow and this month residents Bobby Wilson, Alex Ash and Truman Data will be joined by Chicago dj/producer Kate Simko.
Kate started her musical career in her early childhood as a classical pianist but by the mid nineties, by then in her teens, the blossoming house music sounds emanating from her home town soon got her hooked. Her passion for electronic music continued to grow and eventually led her to Northwestern University where she studied Music Technology and Piano. By 2001 she'd moved to Santiago in Chile and had hooked up with Andres Bucci with whom she recorded her first record "Shapes Of Summer" as Detalles.
Since then she's been back to South America numerous time, recording more work with Andres as well as playing gigs in cities like Buenos Aries, Caracas, and Punto Del Este. Kate's sound has developed into a hybrid of deep, soulful techno reminiscent of Detroit and the jackin', funkier house sounds of her home town. Throw in her classical training and some beautifully intricate programming and you have a rich tapestry of funky basslines, deep grooving synthlines, driving percussive rhythms and lush, textured ambience. She's been voted one of the top 10 djs in Chicago by XLR8R magazine and her diverse and versatile dj style has won her thousands of fans around the world.
Equalised are very excited to welcome the first lady of techno to Glasgow for the first time and this party looks set to be a real stormer. Doors open from 11pm to 3am and entry is just £7.
@ Cabaret Voltaire, 36 Blair Street, Edinburgh
Over in the East, Edinburgh's Telefunken lurches back into action after a short winter break. After a pretty massive 2009 which saw the likes of Mark Farina, DJ Sneak, Hector Moralez and Derrick Carter all fly in to rock Edinburgh's old town, The club have roped in another of the Windy City's big guns.
This time the mighty Gene Farris will be delivering one of his trade mark, funky, ass-shakin' looped out disco-techno sets to the Edinburgh faithful. Gene is currently the boss of no less than three different record labels at the moment Farris Wheel Recordings, lunched in 1998, Farris Wheel Limited which he started in 2001 and his latest addition Industry Records. The labels are responsible for releasing cutting edge funky dance music from the likes of Funky Transplant, Onionz, Boo Williams, Glen Underground, Demarkus Lewis, JT Donaldson and Bryan Jones amongst others.
Gene's DJ sets are renowned for their relentless, driving energy which mashes tough, syncopated, percussive rhythms with really funky bass lines and ocassional dark brooding grooves. Throwing in some spooky sci-fi style effects and wicked vocal tracks he never fails to create a hot and sweaty vibe on the dancefloor. As a true master of his artform, he really knows how to read a crowd and he feeds off their energy before channelling that same energy right back into his set. I've been fortunate enough to have caught him djing numerous times here in Scotland and I have to say he's definitely one of my favourite djs on the planet. His Scottish debut at Tribal Funktion in Edinburgh back in 1996 was and still is one of my top 10 nights out ever, and after nearly 14 years of clubbing almost every weekend, that is quite a title to hang onto. Main room support as always comes from Alan Gray with Hoss on warm up detail.
In room two Scotland's favourite funk-soul-brother Yogi Haughton will be doing his trademark, boogie, funk, northern and proto-house thang. Yogi is one of Scotlands biggest heroes although he originally hails from Manchester. He owns one of the largest black music collections in the world and is allegedly responsible for bringing the sounds of US house and techno to Scotland back in the 80s.
Advance tickets are on sale from Tickets-Scotland, Ripping Records, Underground Solush'n and Xile Clothing priced £7+bf or £9 on the door. Doors open 10.30pm -3am.
SATURDAY 17th APRIL 2010
@ La Cheetah, 72 Queen Street, Glasgow
Back in Glasgow, Saturday night sees the return of deep techy house emporium Metro Soul to the infamous La Cheetah, basement club. The venue has recently benefitted immensely from a new sound system installation and i have to say its pretty damn impressive.
Metro Soul residents Ryan Alan and Rob Firth will be testing it thoroughly on Saturday with some deep and moody house and tech house before they hand over the reigns to Sub City Radio's undergound hero, Domm who runs the Slave To The Rhythm show.
Nominated for Best Newcomer and Best Specialist Show awards at last year's Scottish Radio Awards, Domm's passion for deep and techy house music is astounding. His Slave To The Rhythm show regularly attracts some of the biggest listener numbers to the station. With guest dj sets from the likes of Laurent Garnier, Carl Craig, Agoria, Sebastien Leger, Slam and Loco Dice amongst others, its no wonder the he's getting the respect and admiration of clubbers and music industry bods alike.
This looks set to be a real belter for Metro Soul and a welcome return to La Cheetah. Doors open from 11pm -3am and entry just £5 before midnight or £6 after.
SUNDAY 18th APRIL 2010
Solid Gold Sunday Safari@ Max's Bar, Queen Street, Glasgow
Dig out your blunderbuss and pith helmets once again on Sunday for some more Safai fun at Max's on Queen Street. This week Anton, Dribbler and myself will be hosting the afternoon session of beers, banter and great music and we'll be joined on the decks by Mr Jamie Thompson plus a surprise guest. Lashings of Sunday soul grooves, a soupcon of classic funk and some tasty disco nuggets being the order of the day along with fresh coffee, homecooked food and the Sunday broadsheets.
Party starts at 5pm and entry is free all day.
@ The Sub Club, 22 Jamaica Street, Glasgow
The Sub Club's sunday institution of genre-smashing, hysteria inducing funkiness Optimo is about to close its doors forever and this Sunday sees the last but one event. Your hosts, legends JD Twitch and JG Wilkes will be pulling out all the stops over the next two weeks and dropping every tune that ever rocked the Optimo dance floor over the past decade. This week they'll also be joined by KXP.
The first band not from Glasgow that Optimo ever put on at the club were Finland's Opel Bastards. They were also one of the best bands they ever had play and are one of only a handful of bands they had back to play again. They also had them play as their alter ego And The Left Handed, and they have remained great friends of Optimo's. They have now morphed into KXP.
There is S-F-A about them online but their album is great and the Optimo (Espacio) remix of their song "18 Hours Of Love" has become a bit of an Optimo fave (and is featured on the Synth Summer podcast).
It seemed very fitting and a seemly symmetry to have them as the last ever band to play the club. The past and the future collide...
Get down early or be prepared to queue.
Well guys thanks for reading The Chef's Specials once again. That's it from me this week. I'm off to get everything sorted for Slo-Mo and to get ready for another monster weekend as I'm celebrating my 32nd birthday. Hopefully I'll catch up with many of you over the weekend but if I don't see ya have a good one and please rave responsibly! Cheers for now.
The Chef's Specials is brought to you every week in assossciation with...
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment