Last weekend a small warehouse tucked in between some housing blocks just behind Kingsland Road Station hosted DDD’s MJ themed 7^th Birthday. It was an inconspicuous location with the warehouse nestled in a very quiet residential area. Walking round the corner from the station it seems like a walk home rather than a walk to the party, but looks can deceiving. It still doesn’t seem normal as I pass the two solitary bouncers out the front, then the guest list girl with gay porn playing cards for accessories. But after going through the curtained entrance into the main room it all falls into place. A small warehouse space is bustling with a comfortable crowd lapping up the techy dish being served up by DDD resident Simon Baker. Simon has always been a quality resident for DDD and his main room set comes up trumps. He’s cranking out some big beats which keeps a fair sized dedicated crowd down the front. Walking through to the back room you pass all manner of MJs from yesteryear. Michael Jackson circa 1979 Off The Wall was a particular favourite as full tuxedos with too short trousers were dug out. There were a couple of MJs from the Thriller era and even one from the more up to date Bo Selecta guise. Quite a surreal backdrop whilst Daniele Moore is dropping classic disco and house cuts. Daniele showed some good music knowledge with her tune selection, but lacked a little finesse in mixing. However disco is a hard genre to mix and more often than not the stop/start is king, or queen in her case.

She was in good company for learning though as The Revenge came on directly after her, showing a masterclass in mixing disco through house. Custom edits, plenty of funk and some super stellar cosmic vibes – make The Revenge one of the best in his field. If you can definitely catch him play at a disotech near you.

Over in the main room Ekkohaus is tearing it up with his Chicago-esque bouncey house set goes down a treat with the still strong crowd. It was the first time for me catching the chirpy greek and I have to say his Chicago 2.0 sounds really did lift the room and provide a nice hark back to the happier days Chi-town grooves. Ripperton stuck with the theme too. He laid down some heavy grooves with some bump, but with a distinctly electronic edge. I hadn’t really take much notice of Ripperton until now, but this guy really does seem like a consistent DJ when checking back over various podcasts and mixes.

So happy 7^th birthday DDD. They laid on a great party in a great venue. Its just a shame the wind and rain kept a lot of late comers away. But those that battered through the forces definitely left with a smile on their face or at least some sparkles off the nearest MJ outfit.

But what now? Another weekend another warehouse of course. This week the abundance of London warehouses doesn’t fill my needs so I’m trundling up to Manchester for the now long running Warehouse Project. Cocoon is in town and they’ve got a fantastic line up. The heavyweights are Loco Dice and DJ Sneak – both excellent DJs in their own right. If heavyweights aren’t enough then the B-team is like the Man United Carling Cup team. Onur Ozer, Zip, Minilogue and Johnny D – you’d be hard pressed to find a better line up this month. FACT. Unfortunately tonight ain’t particularly a secret, so its completely sold out. You’ll just have to take my word for it in my review next week.

Closer to the M25 Danny Howells is randomly doing a dig deeper session at the Notting Hill Arts Club on Sunday. Strange time to do it, but it might bring in only the heads. If Monday doesn’t exist to you then by all means denounce its existence by attending this. Although if West London is too ritzy for denouncing things, you can always waste a Sunday night away at T-Bar. Trus’Me, Jamie Jones and Craig Richards will certainly do a good job helping you do that… all for free too.

What happened to just clubbing on a Saturday like normal people?

Disco Bloodbath continued their sound system travels around north east London locations last weekend. Previous Bloodbaths that I have been to always tended to be held in various ironic Dalston clubs which were always great fun. But with its astronomic rise to popularity over the last few years it was just getting harder and harder to pack everyone in to those sweaty basements. On Saturday they set up shop at a warehouse on Bocking Street and I have to say it was a great location. The space was just perfect for the size of crowd. Furthermore it was in an actual warehouse with real warehouse pillars and high ceilings rather than a mock warehouse which is actually a car park under some railway arches.

As for the music – top marks all round. As from any Disco Bloodbath, the mix was a fine blend of house and disco which provided plenty of fun and had a lot of dance-ability. It’s a great niche which plays the best bits of house off the best parts of disco giving you a good balance between rhythms and grooves against the big melodies, riffs and “moments” from disco. It’s easy to see why this night has grown so much and so quickly.

So that was last weekend, but what does the fallout from discarded rockets and burnt out sparklers entail?

Top of the picks is DDD’s MJ themed Big Bad Birthday Do. They’ve found some warehouse space in deepest darkest Dalston to put on two rooms of thoroughbred house to celebrate seven years. Headlining DDD’s room will be the delightful Ripperton who has been churning out great house over the last few years. In support will be a live set from Ekkohaus who has been putting out tracks on all the right labels, from 2020 Vision and Circus Company to Leibe Detail. But the biggest draw for me is Pete’s 50th room where The Revenge will no doubt be laying down some serious grooves. And if that’s not enough to wet your appetite then the sight of a flood of worn out MJ costumes is sure to provide some comedy.

Tickets for DDD still available here.

If warehouses and dressing up isn’t for you this weekend, then how about retreating to the confines of a loft? Giles Smith from Secretsundaze has got together with Alex Ruello from Need2Soul to create Lost in the Loft. I’d imagine they’re aiming for that Brooklyn/New York loft party vibe which definitely isn’t a bad template. They’ve also lined up some pretty awesome talent too. Sven Weisemann is on the bill and he’s been shaking Berlin to its foundations in recent years. Giles Smith will also be dropping some records to celebrate his birthday, but the main headline is Chicago’s Chez Damier – a legend from the early house scene. There’s going to be some serious deep house action going on.

However if a loft space just isn’t high enough off the ground, you can always go higher with Superfreq. They continue their monthly run of parties at Paramount, 31 floors up the Centre Point Tower on Tottenham Court Road. DJ Three, the DJ’s DJ, will be headlining the towering party along with Moscow’s SCSI-9. Expect some diverse and incredibly underground music in an ironically very over ground location. Does that balance out to purgatory?

You can get Superfreq tickets here.

So there you have it… Try not to get caught out in the rain.