The other club facing the chop happens to be the last of the super clubs – The Ministry of Sound. The sharp edge of the guillotine isn’t so imminent in their case as their threat comes in the from a property developer requesting to build a residential building next door. Obviously residential areas and nightclubs don’t really mix, so it should be opposed from the outset which is what the MOS Save Our Club petition is all about. http://www.ministryofsound.com/Petitions/PetitionForm.aspx. Whilst it might not be the underground clubland jewel it once was, it is still an institution that should have its place like the monarchy, red telephone boxes and Cadbury’s chocolate.

Get those names down now.

Soonnight’s Chris Wan spoke to Frenchman Agoria about his influences, minimal prejudices, and the original and interesting way in which he assembled his track list for this mix.

So, you’ve got your new Balance mix coming out soon; could you tell us a little bit about why you decided to do another compilation and how it came about?

Well I made a long break not producing techno/electronic music during two years as I worked on the soundtrack of “Go Fast” and then I spent few months working on establish my own label InFiné, trying to develop it, searching new artists, helping them to reach their aim…

At the beginning of last year I asked myself if I wanted to start working on a new album or anything else. I wasn’t sure I was ready to create new materials and honestly I was wondering if there was still a relevant reason to make a new mix CD. Every website get his own quality podcast, music is everywhere, I wasn’t sure of the necessity of releasing again a mix CD. But I decided to try. I thought it was relevant to find my own personal and exclusive selection in a time when you can find any single track you look for in less than a minute. How could I excite the desire of the listener one more time with this excessive music offer? First I needed to find by myself the key to discover those tracks… but I guess we’ll speak later about this…

Your ‘At the Controls’ mix from 2007 received quite a bit of critical acclaim and was ranked as the 13th best compilation of the 00s by RA, plus the previous two Balance mixes by Joris Voorn and Will Saul were big successes. Did you feel any pressure in trying to recreate something as good or better?

When ATC went out I didn’t receive so much good critics about my mix…. people were not so much into it, I remembered lot of comments saying it was just weird! It grew step by step months after the releasing, and in the end it became a classic mix. At the releasing it wasn’t really acclaimed and the label went bankrupt, I really hope it won’t happen to Balance! When I released “La Onziéme marche ” all the feedbacks in a first time were really shitty and when “The Green Armchair ” came out lot of people were surprised not to get a minimal techno album but a bunch of luxury music of different kind of style.

I remember some magazines writing how Agoria can’t be into minimal!!! It was the trend of that time and I was saying in interviews that I didn’t enjoy so much this music, because I couldn’t find a soul in it. I love the beauty of minimalism but most of the time I don’t think minimal has any quality of minimalism… Steve Reich “Four organs” for example is a masterpiece of minimalism. Plastikman’s “Consumed” too. I might not be good releasing records at the right moment or I am really bad in communication ! That’s why I m not feeling pressure, I m much more curious and excited that stressed.

Read the rest of the interview at www.soonnight.com

We Fear Silence at Corsica Studios (Buy Tickets)

Ever since the End closed down, it’s been few and far between for Border Community action. This Friday will hopefully remedy that a little bit as We Fear Silence have James Holden and label friend Avus headlining. No doubt Holden will be ready to skull fuck your brain with his twisted and boundless electronic sounds.

Warm at The Big Chill House

Warm continue their new bi monthly residency at the Big Chill House in Kings Cross. They expand out into the bigger space with a bigger line-up. Mark E and Gerd Janson from Running back will be strutting their stuff along side the halves of Faze Action (Simon Lee) and Quiet Village (Joel Martin). Also if you get there before 10 it’s free!

On and on and on… at Fabric (Buy Tickets)

One night leaps out for this weekend mainly because it takes up most of the weekend. 30 hours to be precise. The line up is huge and the session is long. Not enough space to list it all here, but you can read all about it in this post from a few weeks back. But before you head to fabric, you might want to consider some of these beauts…

A Night With… Michael Mayer (Buy Tickets)

On Saturday night Derren Smart ex booker for T-Bar begins his new concept for 2010. Using his skill in laying on quality nights at T-Bar he’s combined it with the roaring success of Loco Dice’s 300 concept to produce “A Night With…”. The first party will see Michael Mayer play all night to a crowd of just 350 people in a small leather factory warehouse in East London. This sounds magical.

Disco Bloodbath at TBA

More Disco Bloothbath loving from EarPipe this weekend where a living disco legend will be in their presence. Daniel Wang who’s produced some absolute classics over the years will be centre stage at the Bloodbath. This will be a corker of a night.

A Taste of Sonar at The Roundhouse (Buy Tickets)

With the summer fast approaching some folk from Barcelona want to remind you why you should buy a ticket for Sonar this summer. They’ll be taking over The Roundhouse to give you a showcase of what will be happening this year. Laurent Garnier will be doing a live show whilst Kieran Hebden from Four Tet will be laying down some grooves.

Secretsundaze at Paramount (Info)

On the Sunday Secretsundaze swap their grotty outdoor surroundings for the glitz and glamour of Paramount, 31 floors up the Centre Point building. To accompany the sunset will be Todd Terje and Sound Stream along with Giles and James. A line-up and venue to sex wee over! Its a free event too, but you need to apply for the tickets, follow the link for more info

There it is. MASSIVE.

One of the themes for this year will be a focus on the multi faceted British music scene which will showcase everything from the large acts like The Chems and Hot Chip though to the underground with the likes of Joy Orbison, Speech Debelle, Sandwell District and Fuck Buttons. No doubt more will be announced in the coming weeks and we’ll be sure to keep you posted.

In the mean time you better buy your tickets now:
UK residents should buy tickets from TICKETWEB

Everyone else in the world buy your tickets from Tickaticket

For the full line up so far visit www.sonar.es

Wax’d at Public Life
Just a bit of self promotional glory first. This Friday I’ll be laying down some grooves for Wax’d at Public life – Shoreditch’s most loved toilet. I’ll be playing alongside Andy Richardson and Nick Warren, where we will be laying down your typical offering of house and techno fit only for a toilet. Its free before 11 and then only £3 after that. We finish at 2am so you’ve even got options to go other places after….

Derrick Carter at T-Bar (Buy Tickets)
One of those places is most definitely T-Bar. They’ve been pushing hard on giving you good reasons for paying on the door and I have to say with recent line-ups they’re doing a pretty good job of convincing me. This Friday they’ve got the teddy bear of Chi-town Derrick Carter busting out those bumping rhythms that there windy city is so famed for. Dave Congreve the legendary Bomb resident is down to give some support too. Big for a Friday night!

Buzzin fly at Plastic People
Also in the general Shoreditch vicinity will be Ben Watt and Buzzin Fly chums at Plastic People. He’ll be taking the deeper stance on house with his long time side kick Chris Woodward. Tickets are gone so get there early!

Paradise 45 at Dalston Superstore
Guy Williams of DTPM fame brings kicks off a new monthly night called Paradise 45. Serge Santiago will be joinging Guy to start things with a bang at the now staple Dalston Superstore. At only a fiver on the door it sounds like the start of something promising.

MuMu 1st Birthday at The CAMP (Buy Tickets)
Saturday sees The CAMP play host to relative London new comer MuMu who will be celebrating their 1st year in the city. They’ve just got the opening hours extended so that Boris Werner and Lauhaus can now do a five hour extended set. That is a great way to celebrate being one.

Mulletover at The Basement (Buy Tickets)
Mulletover are sticking their two fingers up at Valentines Day which happened two weeks before. I’d imagine Mulletover were busy wining and dining their Valentine which is why their Anti-Valentines Special is happening now. Either way Luke Solomon of Freaks fame will be headlining, so expect all manner of quirky house sounds for your listening and dancing delight. Another of the third wave Detroit contingent Ryan Elliot will be in support along with Tom Demac who’s making his debut. And of course Geddes will be there to keep things tidy.

Lick MY Deck T-Bar (info)
Finally, another great line-up at T-bar. Lick My Deck have Baby Ford and Bruno Pronsato for a night of introspective minimal techno, and that’s minimal in a good way.

To a certain extent yes, his three track beatless intro with nonsensical but amusing chat about white rabbits and quantum physics is a fine example of him making his mark by keeping you in a holding pattern and subtly controlling the build of rhythm. It’s a ballsy move when you’ve only got 70 odd minutes to play with but when the beats finally kick you know you have been dropped into the weird and wonderful world that is Seth Troxler. His track selection is house music, yet it’s not middle of the road house. Each track beats 4/4 yet each have their own hallmark and hints of eccentricity, all the while being smoothly blended together through great depth and body. He has a knack of slipping through so many different textures; such as transitioning from the laidback sunset layers of Baeka’s Right At It through the wonky blues bass line of Dinky’s Westoid and then somehow contrasting that bright dimension with the dark, hypnotic and very athemic Kurtel remix of Fables and Fairytales.

We get further depths and textures throughout the whole mix from the haunting trip of Alexi Delano’s Molar One or the bleepy schizophrenic Stricher by Roman Flugel intertwined with sweeping melodies and bright layers of Birds and Souls’ self titled track or Troxler’s remix of Fever Ray Seven. It’s all in there and its refined yet not over worked, just great tracks mixed with panache. However I did say he had only captured himself to a certain extent. The one thing missing is the spontaneity that makes a Troxler set so enjoyable, those curveballs that come out of no where and just wipe you out, stamping that mark of timelessness on those forever remembered sets. It just lacks that one defining moment yet despite that the mix intelligently delights as it unfolds through every subtle (maybe too subtlety) twist and turn. The mix certainly delivers for now, but with so much expectation for Troxler to create something phenomenal, the true test is whether this mix can still entertain and amuse years into the future. All that’s left is for time to tell.

Buy Seth Troxler Boogybytes Vol 5 from Amazon (CD)|Play.com (CD)|HMV (CD)

Tracklist:
01. Seth Troxler – Intro / Ryan Crosson – Amb 1
02. The Royal We – Party Guilt (Dinky’s Arp-A-Pella)
03. Luciano – Fran Left Home / Mike Shannon – Sweet A Pella
04. Craig Smith & The Revenge – The Soul Part II
05. Baeka – Right At It
06. Dinky feat. Update – Westoid
07. N/A feat. Rosina – Fables and Fairytales (Deniz Kurtel Remix)
08. Spektrum – Freakbox (Richie Hawtin’s Uncontrolled Edit)
09. Alexi Delano – Molar One
10. Jabberjaw – The Connie Shake
11. Heartthrob – Signs (Thrill Cosby aka Seth Troxler Remix)
12. Birds And Souls – Birds and Souls
13. Roman Flügel – Stricher
14. Fever Ray – Seven (Seth Troxler Remix)
15. Kiki – Cinema Obscura
16. Nicolas Jaar – Time for Us

For your consideration – a few things happening this weekend, and they’re all underground quite literally in basements.

Warm at Plastic People with Steve Bug (Info)

London just can’t get enough of the Bug at the moment. He’s been popping up all over the place of recent times. This Friday sees him in the intimate surrounds of Plastic People for Warm. Steve Bugs mix of electronic house will be perfect for the  low ceilings of the plastic people basement. However this perfect match of DJ and venue has caught the eye of many. So if you haven’t got one of the few tickets that went on sale you want to be getting yourself down there early doors.

Red Bull Music Academy at The C.A.M.P (Info)

On the same night, another basement on the other side of the Old Street roundabout will be having its foundations tested. Red Bull will be taking over as part of the Red Bull Music Academy and they’ve brought in a cosmologic line-up. They’ll be hosting the king of bubble tease Maurice Fulton and New York’s Morgan Geist of Metro Area fame. If that’s not enough to get you out in the cold, the fact that this is all on for free should definitely seal the deal.

Fabric with Tobi Neumann and Akufen (Buy Tickets)

Saturday night looks a bit quiet in the city but there a still a few gems that shine out. One of those, of course, is fabric. When all else fails you can always count on the sturdy “super club”. The delectable Tobi Neumann is back in town to jack up room 1 on a course of big house beats and rolling basslines. Akufen is on with a rare live appearance and the likes of Vera, Billy Nasty, Sammuel L Sessions, Mark Broom and Fred Everything. Not bad for a quiet Saturday.

Hypercolour at T-Bar (Info)

Hypercolour start their new year with their first night at T-Bar. They’ve shipped over Catz and Dogz to headline the basement. I only found out that Catz and Dogz were formerly known as 3 Channels, who were knocking out some great dark technoey tracks the other year. So if the production is anything to go by they should put together a full of beans set. Support will be coming from the Hypercolour residents and new Leeds export Mono Cult. Also don’t forget there’s a new door tax at T-Bar, but its still free before 11pm.

Others worth a look in are East Village’s 2^nd birthday with Quentin Harris, Vita Luna Presents 8Bit Records at Cable with and Parallel presents INXEC at Sosho.

Just a heads up for an upcoming mammoth party – Fabric On & On & On & On…. The folks at fabric are going to throw another 30 hour marathon since the 10th Birthday was so well received. The last one was definitely one of the legendary parties of 2009. It had the perfect crowd with the most eye watering of line-ups ever seen and an unbelievable atmosphere that validated why the club has been around for 10 years. We certainly gushed about it in our review the other month.

On the 6th March Fabric will be doing it all again, just for shits and giggles. The line up isn’t as stratospheric as the birthday, but it is by no means light weight. There’s a nice selection of heavy weights with Dave Clarke down to annihilate a room, Radioslave will be bringing his cloak of darkness as will Patrice Scott and Ellen Allien will add her touch of wonky Berlin. But backing them up will be a fine selection of strong DJs that know how to get a party going. You’ve got the unexpected sounds from the Wolf and Lamb camp featuring Seth Troxler, Soul Clap and Gadi Mizrahi, plus Trus Me kind of falls into their category too. Then you’ve got the German techno brigade from Cocoon to BPitch and Minus with Onur Ozer, Dinky, Konrad Black and Thomas Muller. A great mix of talent there.

The format stays the same as last time. Tickets at varying prices can be bought for entry on the Saturday night, Sunday morning and Sunday evening, all of which will allow you to leave and re-enter up until the close on Monday morning.

Tickets are now available at TICKETWEB and are priced as follows:
Saturday Entry – £23 General / £18 Fabric First
Sunday entry after 10am – £15 General / £10 Fabric First/Students
Sunday entry after 10pm – £10 General / £8 Fabric First

So there you have it a great line up for what is shaping up to be another masochistic weekend.

Red bull Music Academy at South Bank Centre (Buy Tickets)

This weekend sees the start of the Red Bull Music Academy which is taking place over the coming weeks in London. The academy brings together prospective musical talent from across the world to work and share ideas with help from established and successful music industry types. In conjunction with the academy, Red Bull have a series of events lined up for the general public. This Friday sees Red Bull team up with Resident Advisor at the stunning Royal Festival Hall in the South Bank Centre for a head on collision of experimental electronica, Jazz and techno. There are two acts in particular that have us foaming at the mouth. We have a showcase from SHAPE, a collaboration between Detroit heavy weight Carl Craig, the classically trained pianist and Innerzone Orchestra member Francesco Tristano and minimal dub techno innovator Moritz Von Oswald of Basic Channel/Maurizio fame. The other act will be another massive collaboration between Innervision’s Henrik Schwarz and Nordic Jazz sensation Bugge Wesseltoft. Their recent showing at Giles Peterson’s Ronnie Scotts takeover was supposedly incredible, so it will be a privilege to see these too jamming out in the distinguished Royal Festival Hall. Don’t expect danceable 4/4 beats, this is going to be a proper sit down affair. There are still some tickets available at TICKETWEB.

Egyptian Lover at The Big Chill

Probably a little less serious for a Friday night will be a live show from 80s rap legend Egyptian Lover. His early rap records of ballsy 909 beats and distinctly electronic synths helped pave the way for the hip hop movement in the 80s. He’s even had a bit of a comeback after his Egypt track was sampled/covered by Jamie Jones on his recent track Galactic Space Bar. Fun beats and straight up classic 80s rap. What’s not to love?

Musiq Concrete 2D at The Lightbox (Buy Tickets)

Saturday brings us a selection of equally solid nights. Down south at Vauxhalls Lightbox, we see Musiq Concrete return for their second night with a well rounded lineup. The dazzling lights of the Light Box will play host to Get Physical’s Thomas Schumacher who’s techy sound will give London its very own slice of pseudo Berlin Watergate. Whilst Simon Baker and Alex Cellar will provide some worthy London based support. In room two Brighton’s Cagedbaby and acid house legend Justin Robertson will show us another side to electronic dance music. Also if you print out this flyer you get a free drink!

Phonica at T-Bar

T-Bar are now running a new freemium business model. No more are the fall back nights where if all things failed you could always end there for a relatively cheap one. They’ve gone and started asking for some money on the door now. However to back up the asking they’ve bumped up the quality. This Saturday the record selling folks from Phonica have brought over Sascha Dive. Him and Anthea are sure to lay down some deep groves into the early hours of the morning.

James Priestley at The Horatia

Disgusted at the fact that T-Bar want to charge? Well there are new free options out there. New venture The Horatia have some solid nights lined up over the coming weeks. This Saturday James Priestley of Secretsundaze fame will be digging out his disco records and showing the masses that he’s not just about playing deep house outdoors with ironically tashed friends.

Superfreq 8^th Birthday at Centre Point (Buy Tickets)

Finally if you didn’t have enough of the birthday celebrations last weekend, then there’s one more for you. Those sycophantic slags Adultnapper and Mr C celebrate 8 years with original London tech houser Dave Mothersole. They’ll be wiggling their way until sunrise 31 floors up at the glamorous Centre Point.

The show will debut at this year’s Timewarp in Mannheim followed by a show this April at Coachella festival in California. I’d bet a lot on a showing at Sonar festival, and maybe even Glastonbury? I’d also imagine that all the big cities will be included from London and Berlin to Tokyo and New York.

We’ll keep you posted when the full tour is announced, but for now you can get you Timewarp tickets from TICKETWEB

UPDATE: Plastikman just got added to Bestival taking place this September on the Isle of Wight.