Chugging, walking and leaping along...

Been a while since my last post!  This is just one for all those putting on events at all stages, whether you've been doing it for a month or 20 years... Please don't stop...

Its all very well having the music there and the DJs willing to play it but I think the work that goes into being a promoter is not well known at all...

The time, cost, exercise and stress put into putting on events from the small to the very large is something I admire - I especially admire the nights that regularly attract a crowd without going for the huge guests or fancy decor, and its not just close friends turning up everytime.  Having been around for a little while in the midlands (and then away, and back and away again) I'm very pleased to see these smaller nights getting the recognition that they deserve - theres a list at the bottom!  I'm also very pleased to see the residents going from strength to strength and getting to play on the international stage...

Part of it is skill, part of it is luck, part of it is knowing the right people, but all of it is hard work!  Sure being spotted by someone like Sven Vath is a good thing to happen, but it justifies all the work put into what is essentially a hobby before it...  Its kind of similar when the amateur football teams get to the later stages of the cups, and getting to play the championship and premiership teams... You just want to get behind them - thats how I feel with the smaller nights around the country...

Fabric and Ministry of Sound will get on fine without your attendance and money this weekend - why not try a night that you've never been to before?  Not only that, take the time out to talk to the promoter and find out what actually happens behind the scenes...

Respect:

Below
Cityfly
Sonido
Kai-Zen
Just Jack
Love Fever
Freejive
lo*kee

Some of my favourites :-)  Take a look next time they are on!!

BTW!  Am playing in Leicester - Turkey Cafe, Grandby St from 9pm, come visit...  Then its onto:

House Logger Likes... Music #4

Just because I found out last week that Carl Craig is playing at Field Day!  Wooooooooooooooohoooooooooooooooooo

www.fielddayfestivals.com

Annoyances around the music (and probably other genres too)

1)  The question have you ever been to Ibiza when you tell someone you like house or techno - its not the only fricking place abroad that is associated with house...

2)  People having images of 160bpm topless crowds at techno nights

3)  Pushy people on the dancefloor

4)  The DJ being monotonous - rather hear strange tracks mixed together than 12 hours of no variety

5)  The question how do you stay up that late when you tell someone the place you are going to is open until 6/7am

6)  Pick pockets on the dancefloor

7)  Lack of vocals in a set - they aren't gay, you're being annoying for not playing them

8)  Pretentious people on the dancefloor

9)  People saying it was better way back when.... get over it, those times are gone, these are new ones...

10)  People not opening their ears up and giving other genres a try...

I am sure I can add to these when I think of some more!

This saturday in Bristol

Looking forward to this one:

Tickets purchased this time!

Long sets

There seems to be a spate of nights set up by non-DJing promoters that book large name DJs to play all night - 5/6/8 hours whatever the opening hours are.  I approve of this, not sure why its come about, maybe the easyjetsetters have come back from Berghain and realised that these DJs are actually capable of playing long sets...

Either way it gives people chances to see 2 things...

See the older guys come out of hibernation curious about one of these 'new kids' playing a long set, and remonstrate at the back of the room "why when I was 2 years old we used to play 128 hour sets, tell a better story than JK Rowling AND we'd have to sweep the broken glass up with our bare hands...", all whilst complaining that kids these days are all using sync lock and having an easy time of it...

Secondly I hope it makes people realise that not everyone has been inspired by Mozart, so don't come expecting early night ambiance, classic disco, so don't come expecting to hear Love Sensation, early Chicago house, so don't come expecting to see a Trax record spinning...

Some of the people spinning at these nights are younger yes, and they've grown up with technology that makes new things possible, not just old things easier to accomplish, and they may not have been influenced by that dubby disco plate from 1973, some of them may be influenced by Richie Hawtin, Robert Hood, Daniel Bell... Hell some of them may even have been influenced by the Tidy Boys, Euphoric Trance Breakdown from the early '00s...

I am looking forward to going to one of these nights, the 'A night with Derrick Carter' one looks good...

So don't complain about the DJ not playing THAT disco classic you thought they must have been influenced by because they play house (and we all know that house DJs are influenced by disco don't we...), just go with open ears and enjoy them stretch their legs in public for what may be for some the first time in a long time or ever...

Live mix from last saturday night...

Played the pre-party for Cityfly at the Turkey Cafe in Leicester on Saturday night, shouts out to those that came down, it was another rammed evening!

Unfortunately Soundcloud has taken a turn for the worse and is not accepting my mix... Instead the mix is embedded above!

The tracklist is here:

Black Sabbath - Planet caravan
Donald Fagen - The night belongs to Mona
Ike Turner - Bold bold sister
Pacific Gas & Electric - Staggolee
Pepe Deluxe - Ask for a kiss
Lightning Rod - Sport
Gorrilaz - Clint Eastwood (Phil Life Cypher version)
Funkadelic - Freak of the week
The Fugs - CIA man
The Blackbyrds - Rock creek park
Hall & Oates - I can't go for that
Cameo - Single life
Booker Newbury III - Love town
The Coasters - Down in Mexico
Hot 8 Brass Band - Sexual healing
Awolnation - Sail
Dan le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip - Fixed
Eric B & Rakim - I know you got soul
Failed attempt at Earth, Wind & Fire - Boogie wonderland
Tim Roth/Amanada Plummer; Dick Dale & His Del-Tones - Pumpkin And Honey Bunny/Misirlou
Successful attempt at Earth, Wind & Fire - Boogie wonderland
George Baker Selection - Little green bag
Chuck Norris - All that she wants
Imagination - Just an illusion (L Vs. T dub)
Paul Simon - Diamonds (Terje edit)
Jayson Bros - All my life
Mario Basanov - All i remember (Arithmatix! remix)
Mocky - Just a feeling (Ewan Pearson remix)
Prince - Sexy MF
Rolling Stones - Miss you
Janes Addiction - Summertime rolls (Drilla's re-edit)
Nicolas Jaar - Angles
Death On The Balcony - Cruel banana
America - Horse with no name (Terje edit)
Azari & III - Into the night (Nico Jaar remix)
The Embassy - Lurking with a distance (Tensnake dub)
John Talabot - Afrika
REM - Orange crush (Drilla's re-edit)
Kano - Its a war
Carl Craig & Kenny Dixon - My first mistake
The Fab Four - Last night a DJ saved my life
Frank 'o' Moiraghi Feat Amnesia - Feel my body
Jimmy Edgar - Hot raw sex (Kris Wadsworth remix)
Robert Owens - Bring down the walls (Wrong bpm on Traktor!)
The Jacksons feat. Mick Jagger - State of shock
Justin Martin - Nightowl
Moodymann - Shades of Jae
Art Department - Vampire nightclub
Dennis Ferrer - Church lady


There is another 30 mins but I couldn't be bothered to upload that after the trouble with this one!

House Logger Likes... Music #3

I'll be spinning this on saturday night down at the Turkey Cafe, come say hi if you're out!

The joys of alcohol...

We are lucky in the UK to have good opening hours of bars and clubs that mean we can get alcohol pretty much  whenever we want over the weekend.

But have we become too reliant on it to have a good night out?  The pre-drinks, the first bars, the drinks in the club, the after party drinks... Nights out now seem to be all about what is consumed and I'm wondering have we become too reliant on it for a good night out?  What set me wondering was a documentary on the Wigan Casino -

One of the things that you'll find out is that alcohol was never served in the Casino, this is a mind blowing thought to people going out now, but its even more mind blowing when you realise that the venue was open from midnight until 8am.  Being honest - how many of us could last that long without a drink on a weekend night when out?  I know i'd struggle!  It may sound strange to us Brits who are lucky but there are places in the USA and Canada that shut at 2am, and even in the larger cities the drinking licences do not extend past that time...

What kept them going in Wigan was discovery - hearing new tracks out loud on a big system, they were there for the music, and only the music.  Coke was the drink of the night, no red bulls!  If you watch the video above you can see that the casino wasn't exactly unpopular even with no alcohol!  People pushing to get in and hear the music

So what if... what if a club opened in London that was purely concentrated on the music and didn't sell alcohol?  Would unique line ups rule over somewhere that sold alcohol?  Alright people would just pre-drink before hand harder to make up for the lack of drink later, but just think, could we ever go back to going out for the music alone?

I am DJing in Leicester this saturday (details on the right hand side of this blog!) and I am planning to drive in and have a sober night.  It will be the first in a while as usually I'm drinking at home before going out, but this time i'll be on the cokes.  I am hoping to 1) have more money in my wallet at the end of the night! 2) Not to have to pay for an expensive taxi home 3) Remember more of the night 4) Hopefully enjoy it more!

So i'll report back on Monday about what it was like after such a long time...  Red Rack'Em on saturday night in Leicester, hope to see some people there!