The Chef's Specials For Week Ending 16/05/2010

Hi guys, 5000+ hits!!! Thank you so much for making this worth while. It was always my dream, while I was at school, to be a music journalist and write about the bands, the gigs and the clubs i was into. However after failing higher english and being unable to get into a degree course my careers guidance officer pretty much burst my bubble and tried to get me to take up engineering instead. Well it seems like I'm back on track, doing what I enjoy and you people seem to enjoy it as much as I do and for that I cannot thank you enough. 5000+ hits in about 8 months worth of posts!!! I never expected that at all!

Another massive weekend of ace events is rapidly approaching with around 14 or 15 excellent parties taking place between Thursday and Sunday from here in sunny Glasgow all the way to the east coast. So without much further ado lets get straight in about them.

THURSDAY 13th MAY 2010

Keep It Unreal

@ Sub Club, 22 Jamaica Street, Glasgow

Legendary eclectitian and all round harbinger of good times, Mr Scruff, makes his Subby debut on Thursday as part of his unrelenting Keep It Unreal tour. Clubland's favourite bearded tea Jenny will be doing his usual 5 hour non stop trip through jazz, funk, hip-hop, soul, house, disco, reggae, breaks, afrobeat and more although quite how he's gonna fit all those records into the Subby's DJ booth remains a mystery. I'd hate to think the long time vinylist had gone digital these days but the last time i saw him he'd brought more records to do one gig than i own in my entire collection. 

The Keep It Unreal tour has been constantly travelling the world for nearly a decade now and shows no signs of stopping any time soon. Scruff's ability to mix classic dancefloor fillers with obscure gems of every genre while his home made animations play on screens around him, appeals to massive crowds of real music fans and everytime i've heard of him playing in a venue near me, the events have been proper roadblockers, very often selling out in advance. Even on a Thursday night this event is sure to be packed so i seriously advise buying tickets in advance if you wanna get involved. Doors open 10pm-3am and advance tickets are £10 available at Gigs In Scotland.

FRIDAY 14th MAY 2010

The Vinyl Club

on Leith 98.8FM (9pm-11pm)

This weeks show is hosted by John Gerrard who turns in another crackin deep tech mix in the first hour as he warms up for this week's guest Estroe.

Esther Roozendaal hails from Zutphen in the Nederlands. Currently, she's based in Rotterdam in the industrial heartland, a city famed for its relentless fast paced hardcore techno. Estroe has been djing for over ten years but things really started to take off for her around 2003 when she made the leap to producing her own tracks, something that was always important to her. Her early works hark back to the soulful techno of detroit and is heavily influenced by the likes of Kevin Saunderson and Carl Craig, a more sophisticated and intelligent sound than the ferocious and somewhat violent styles of techno which were being made by her peers. This gave her the upper hand and soon people like Laurent Garnier, Ripperton and John Digweed became interested in her music with Digweed asking her for a remix for his Bedrock imprint shortly after hearing her "Driven" track.

These days she finds herself rolling with the elite dj Goddesses such as Anja Schneider, Mistress Barbara and Monika Kruse and its the quality of her productions which have brought her this far. Her melodic take on minimalism is delicate and full of atmosphere. She has worked tirelessly through many different software and hardware packages to achieve her sound and although it has taken a while she's happy with the final results for Estroe likes to make music which touches people emotionally as well as challenging the listener with fresh ideas.

She currently manages the Eevonext label which she runs with two of her friends. The label puts out classic techno from the dutch masters as well as loads of fresh material from some of the country's new up and coming producers. Estroe enjoys coaching these new bloods using her own experiences to guide them through the pitfalls of the music industry. She's recently given up her day job to work in music full time which is exactly where she wants to be. She has a new album about to drop on the esteemed Connaisseur label very soon so chances are if you haven't already then you will be hearing and probably dancing to one of her tracks very soon.

Bermuda Triangle Disco

@ The Brunswick Hotel bar, Brunswick Street, Glasgow

Start your friday night with the dark angel of disco, Billy Woods as he unleashes  some more bohemian rhapsodies and sleazy beatfreakery upon the post-work drinkers and pe-club revellers in the Brunswick Hotel's main bar. 

Armed with his trusty Bozak mixer and a crateful of the finest disco, acid-funk and sleazy rock ever produced, wild Bill will lead you on a heart stopping, musical mystery tour which will leave you gasping for more.

The Brunny's impressive cocktail list and awesome variety of continental beers and lagers will keep you well lubricated as you shake off that work-week stress and get your brain into weekend mode. 

Free entry and Billy's on from 9pm - Midnight.

La Di Da

@ Bacchus, 80 Glassford Street, Glasgow

Meanwhile on the other side of Merchant City La Di Da aims to bring a bit of fun and dressing up capers to the often too serious Glasgow clubscene. With a non-compulsory but actively encouraged dress theme of Country Gents And Ladies Who Lunch, DJ/Promoters Holbeck and Gardiner hope to inject some banter into your Friday night. 

For the Gents, think Tweed, waxed fabrics, wellies or brogues, plus-fours, woolen socks, Flat caps or deer stalkers. For the ladies, its floral print dresses, wide brimmed hats or fascinators, lace, fake fur, long gloves, Mary-Jane shoes and pearls.

The music will be the only element of the night that will be taken seriously with the emphasis on soulful house and US garage, plenty of vocals and some  bottom-shaking beats with mysterious figure The Earl joining Holbeck and Gardiner on the decks.

The bar will be stocked with top quality Gin and will also serve Pimms Cocktails and various other delights to bring some rural charm to the heart of Merchant City. 

Doors open 10.30pm-3am and entry is just £5

Telefunken 

@ The Caves, Niddry Street South, Edinburgh

Over on the east side, Telefunken are hoping for a cease in Icelandic volcanic activity, just long enough so that they can get lofty house don Gene Farris over to play the set he was supposed to play last month.

Yes, along with many of the world's international djs who were billed to play in the UK and mainland Europe, Gene's set last month had to be re-sheduled due to the large ashcloud drifting south from Iceland's Eyjafyallajokul volcano. Telefunken were quick off the mark and managed to secure the capital's Caves venue so that the gig could go ahead. 

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. Support as always comes from Alan Gray with Hoss on warm up detail.

Heavy Gossip 

@ 45-47 Medina, Lothian Street, Edinburgh

 Heavy Gossip returns to the underground catacombs of Medina once again this Friday, with residents Craig Smith and Nick Yuill joined by one of South London's most promising new talents, Wbeeza who will be performing a live set.

Wbeeza is signed to the well respected Third Ear Recordings label and has been steadily making a name for himself among his peers with fantastic productions such as the "Heavy Stuff", "City Shuffle" and "New Skank" eps.

At just 23 years old, he seems to have a firm grasp of the history of house music, especially the deep and soulful sounds of Detroit. He manages to embrace these classic sounds to produce a variety of styles from tough, jacking and funky to sweet, melodic, soul grooves, putting a firm London twist on them in the process. His beat programming is particularly developed, making jazzy kit sounds into something more mechanical and he cites that as the basis for all his tracks.

"Everything comes from the kick drum," he says. "Once I've got that, then anything is possible. You can do anything on top of the right kick drum."

This will be his first time playing in Edinburgh and the Heavy Gossip team are somewhat thrilled to be hosting a full live show. Doors open 11pm-3am Entry £7/5students.

SATURDAY 15th MAY 2010

Solid Gold

Saturday Safari

@ The Halt 2, 160 Woodlands Road, Glasgow

As usual, Saturday afternoons kick of with some of the best Bloody Marys and dopest house 'n' disco joints in the city as Dribbler, Anton and myself dig in our collective crates to find some of our favourite tracks to ease your Friday hangovers and set you up for Saturday night.

With the front wall opened up to bring some sunshine into the darkened confines of the Halt 2, our uplifting and soothing selection of tracks will put you back together faster than all the kings horses and all the kings men could ever hope to. The irresistable bloody marys at £2 a pop will certainly kick start you metabolism and put some colour back in your cheeks. Watch out for some fantastic guest slots from some of the best clubs in the city and beyond over the next few months. This is definately one saturday social you should come and be part of.

Free entry all day and djs playing from 2pm till late.

From The Graveyard 

To The Ballroom

(30 Years Of Factory Records)

@ The Black Sparrow, 241, North Street, 

Charring Cross, Glasgow

To commemorate 30 years this week, since the death of Ian Curtis The Black Sparrow will play host to a party featuring 30 years worth of music from one of the worlds greatest ever record labels.

Dj Tam Coyle will be bringing back meories of miss-spent youth as he plays tracks from some of Manchester's most famous independent record label's vast back catalogue. Bands such as Durutti Column, Joy Division, Cabaret Voltaire, A Certain Ratio, Section 25, New Order, Stockholm Monsters, James, Kalima!, The Wake, OMD, Quando Quango, The Distractions, Ex-O-Dus, Be-Music Productions, The Railway Children, Happy Mondays, Swamp Children, The Royal Family & The Poor, Marcel King, Martin Hannett will all feature in a night of celebration and rememberance. Entry is free and doors open 9pm - 1am.

Metro Soul

@ La Cheetah, Queen Street, Glasgow

Deep, bumpin house purveyors Metro Soul are back in La Cheetah's banging basement on Saturday and they've lined up the talents of Moodymanc to deliver the kind of dj set that's made him big news around the world in the past few months.

Danny Ward is a drum obsessed musician from Manchester. Back in the mid-nineties when most of his peers were dreaming of becoming djs he kept himself busy honing his skills as a drummer. He began playing live percussion in clubs such as Back To Basics in Leeds where he met Ralph Lawson. A few years later Ralph had put out 2 albums by Danny on his 20:20 Vision label under the alias Double D.

The albums, Reachin' Out (2005) and Playin' Out (2007) received critical acclaim for their free flowing jazz grooves (played by Danny) which combined with down tempo rhythms, house samples, and soulful melodies. All of these elements helped to define the label's jazz laced, electronic sound.

Danny went on to become the perfect choice as the drummer for Ralph's 20:20 Soundsytem, having already worked with the likes of The Pharcyde, Rae And Christian and Chapter And Verse. As Ralph's house music obsession began to influence Danny further and further, he decided he needed a new alias to record more dj friendly and housier tracks so Moodymanc was born.

So far Moodymanc tracks have been released on prestigious labels like Baker Street, Outils de Connoisseur and Tsuba Recordings and Steve Bug's Dessous label which released "Omelette" at the tail end of last year. With a dj schedule that seems to be filling up at an ever faster rate, Moodymancs career as touring musician and dj is definately growing into something promising. This will be a rare chance to catch him playing in the intimate confines of La Cheetah and the Metro Soul lads are very excited about this one indeed. 

Doors open 11pm - 3am. Entry is £10 before midnight or £12 after.

 

Wasabi Disco 

Fudge Fight

@ Sneaky Pete's, Cowgate, Edinburgh

With resident Chris Wasabi currently on holiday, Controlled Demolition's Clom L'inane steps in to host the rather splendid Wasabi Disco at Sneaky Pete's in the heart of Edinburgh's old town. Joining him in a headlining role will be one of Edinburgh's biggest underground heroes. 

Gavin Sutherland is a true veteran of the Edinburgh clubscene. As one of the city's most prolific vinyl pushers he has probably sold more records than any other person living or dead in the city. He's worked in the capital's last real emporium for true underground vinyl lovers, Underground Solush'n, since the shop opened back in 1995. 

As a connoisseur of the finest disco, boogie and deep soulful house Gav's passion has earned him many residencies behind the decks at some of the city's best loved club nights. From the legendary Tribal Funktion, to Homeless and Get Together his skills as a dj have always been well respected amongst the citys most discerning clubbers. 

In the past couple of years though its his skills as a producer and musician which have propelled him to global fame. As Fudge Fingas, Gav's been involved with some of the best production crews in the UK. Indeed when long time friend Lindsay Todd set up the now globally respected Firecracker Recordings label Gav was there right from the off. He has since featured on practically every release on that label as well as working with chirpy Mancunian Trus'me, on projects for the Prime Numbers imprint. 

He has just released an ep of his own, titled "About Time", which is already a real favourite of mine and seems to be getting played by all my favourite djs. He has another stunning ep "What Works" due for launch fairly soon on Firecracker as well as a debut LP due for release on Prime Numbers.

He's also just had the somewhat prestigious honour to record a podcast for the mighty Resident Advisor which has been on repeat on my MP3 player all week. The mix kicks off with his new "What Works" track and i have to be honest, its probably one of the most beautiful deep house tracks i've heard for at least 5 years, if not, longer. 

He's now playing gigs all over Europe including a regular stint at Fabric in London for Prime Numbers. Global domination is inching steadily closer for this amiable chap so this is sure to be one of his most intimate gigs for the next ten years at least. Entry is free before midnight and just a few quid after so get down early to avoid the queue. Doors open 10.30pm - 3am

Ultragroove

@ Cabaret Voltaire, 36 Blair Street, Edinburgh

 Edinburgh's longest running house club plays host to its Geordie counterpart this week as Shindig take over the main room of the Cabaret Voltaire as part of their 18th Birthday tour.

 

Djs Scott Bradford, Neil Bainbridge and Mark Lowry will be looking after dj duties in the main cavern whilst Ultragroove Capt'n Gareth Sommerville stirs up the boogie, funk and disco joints in the back room for the entire evening.

Shindig has been one of England best loved clubbing institutions for what seems like forever. This is a rare opportunity to hear the clubs residents playing together without having  to spend a couple of hours on a train first. Doors open 11pm -3am and entry is £5before midnight or £8 after. Students get in for £5 all night.

  
SUNDAY 16th MAY 2010

Sunday Gold 

and Tic Tac Toe 

@ Max's and La Cheetah, Queen Street, Glasgow 

If you're still out on Sunday then Max's on Queen Street is the only place to be as from 5pm the Solid Gold Safari crew will be on hand armed with more of those disco, soul, funk and house vibes to try to ease away the pain caused by the smug Toley... sorry Tory in number 10. 

From 11pm the basement club La Cheetah will come to life as Tic Tac Toe kick off their summer Sunday Sessions. Andy Doran and Domm will be boshing out the bumpin house and deep techno for anyone still standing as well as the retail and hospitality crowd who have to work the rest of the weekend.

With djs playing all evening from 5pm till 3am and free entry all evening too this should be your one-stop party shop every Sunday throughout the summer. 

Ear Candy

  

This week's Ear Candy features mixes from SLO-MO resident Stuart Holbeck, a new house and techno mix from Red Rack'em, plus Garcon's awesome deep techno n house mix for the Keep It Deep Blog

Stuart Holbeck - SLO-MO Promo 1.2

 Lump - Rain 

6th borough project - Stratus Quo

Neighbour - Charo Claptrap

The beatdown soundmachine - More love (LTJ X-perience mix)

Space Ranger - Herbal cake (the Revenge rubdown)

Johnny Dynell - Jam hot (40 thieves dub)

The Revenge - Heavy love

 SFPV - Cosmic funk (SFPV edit)

Roundtree - Get on up (Brevil edit)

Eddie C - One with the stars 

The Revenge - Just be good to me (Revenge alternative dub)

Red Rack'em - Shift Workout 
Cloud - Untitled (Juju and Jordash Remix) (Exceptional)
Mark Du Mosch - Satical (Cyberdance)
Red Rack'em - Exhalt (///Shift Music)
Daniel Stefanik - One (In Day Of Old Part 1) (Kann)
KaSpar - Path Of Spheres (4lux)
Rick Wade - Melancholy (Harmony Park)
Red Rack'em - Underground (///Shift Music)
Newworldaquarium - Trespassers (Delsin)
Plasmik - Faces (Hypercolour)
Mike Dehnert - Umlaut 2 (Clone Basement Series)
See The Road - Pondora (See The Road)
Tribal Son - Hi Tech Groove (Easy Street)

Please remember that Red Rack'em is playing at Ivory Blacks here in Glasgow on Friday 28th May with support from Billy Woods. Advance Tickets are on sale now priced £7 plus booking fee from Tickets-Scotland, Rubadub and Ché Camille or contact me on my usual number or through Facebook to book tickets for £7 without the booking fee.

Garcon - Keep It Deep
Black Jazz Consortium- far away (atmospheric pass)
Jitterbug- speakers corner
Big Strick- a walk down linwood
Omar S- b2
Anton Zap- i'm fine
Jason Fine- nutella
Marcello Napoletano- what's going on detroit
I.F.M- yes we are (bonus deep mix)
Levon Vincent- double jointed sex freak
Basic Soul Unit- hope unity vision
Roman Lindau- combiner
Bruce Ivery- a1
Jacob Korn- supakrank
Scott Ferguson- warehouse dream
Larry Heard- you rock me

That's about it for this week guys. Thanks again for reading and for sharing. Hopefully catch up with some of you on a dancefloor soon! Rave safe. Peace!

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