Sorry for being a bit slow on the posts front recently. Its mainly down to me being found at weekends crawling around the floor of darkened rooms playing repetitive electronic music. That said I want to tell you about a few of those excursions.

Firstly way back at the end of February we got invited to the launch of Nic Fanciulli’s Saved Sessions at matter. The brand spanking new club was ideal for the heavy weight line up that Nic had brought in. Nic Fanciulli himself played a brilliantly judged tech house to techno set, whilst the the comedy techno antics of Green Velvet blew the socks off many a bewildered tourist clubber. The New York legend Francois K then smashed it home leaving only the lovers of techno to revel in the ridiculous bass that the matter sound system pumps out. Hopefully this is the start of a beautiful residency. Judging by the next Saved Sessions it sure will be. Derrick Carter vs DJ Sneak, Dennis Ferrer, Theo Parrish, Jerome Sydenham and Will Saul!?!?!?!?!?!?Surely i’ve died and woken up in US house heaven?

Fast-forward a couple of weeks and we’re down at East Village where Prologue had brought in Norman Jay for a bit of Good Times magic. I was worried whether Norman Jay was a one trick pony with his chesse-a-thon sets as seen at Carnival. However I was happily proved wrong as he dug out some great house music to have the basement turned up to gas mark nine.

The same night Laurent Garnier began his London residency for new night Shake It run by some of the folk from the End, including Layo and Bushwacka. The venue was once again down in the Southwark railway arches; I’m pretty sure the four or five times I’ve been down for various nights its been at the same place, yet everytime I go it seems like a different place. Either they’re moving the furniture around or maybe I’m too half cut most of the time to realise but i’m sure its different every time i go.  Anyways, for Laurent Garnier they had some how got the DJ booth between two arches to create a two tunnel main room (Disclaimer: Due to general late night antics plus a lot of smoke and strobes I think it was actually just one big room). It was a raw venue with an amazing rig. As you can expect, monsieur Garnier ripped the place to pieces in a way only he knows how. Everything from house and techno right through to Jazz and drum and bass was dropped in typical Garnier style. It just doesn’t get old. Definitely a night to get to, especially if you didn’t catch his sets down at the end. Just make sure you keep your nice shoes at home. The floor is filthy there!

Looking ahead, what have we got coming up? Well this Saturday Secretsundaze take over the Scala once again. It’s a terrible venue, but I think this might be worth the hassle. Cobblestone Jazz will be performing live with DJ support from Mountain People! A housetacular lineup! Plus the whole thing will be broadcast live on www.awdio.com. Ooooo… Then on Sunday mUmU continue their London residency at Cargo with the Oslo Records boss Federico Molinari and vinyl pusher Hector. A weekend large enough to have you completely forget about your mum on mothers day!

Then the week after that it’s a techno showdown between two monsters. Over in the red corner we have Ricardo Villalobos weighing in at Fabric with Dave Clarke, Billy Nasty, Jus-Ed and residents in his corner. Whilst in the blue corner we have Derrick May weighting in at Ministry and a heavy crew of Detroit backers in the form of Octave 1 and Stacey Pullen. Which ever one you choose its going to be bloody!!

BLOC Weekend looks set to return after last year’s sell out success. Taking place on the 13^th – 15^th March weekend, this year sees the early spring weekend move location to the Butlins “mega-resort” in Minehead near Bristol. It boasts the largest water park in the South West with a water slide that can spit you out at up to 40mph. Definitely what you need after a night of jaw breaking techno and Aphex Twin’s microphone in a blender trick! But it’s not really about the luxury settings of the holiday resort its more what’s on. And judging by this year’s current line-up it could be held down the local sewage works without deterring anyone.

So who’s on the bill? Well they’ve brought in Aphex Twin as the main headliner for this year. He returns to performing with the premier of his new show, with new collaborator Hecker exclusively for BLOC. With no regard for the norm and various urban myths of him playing sandpaper or overloaded blenders this show is bound to throw a curveball for all those into the weird and wonderful. Also making a welcomed return to the scene is The Future Sound of London. Another coop for the BLOC organisers is the return of The Future Sound of London for their first show in ten years.

Probably the next highlight for EarPipe is the announcement of DJ Q-Bert joining the line-up. Probably the best turntablist to ever walk the planet, QBert had to retire from competition just to give everyone else a chance. However he still performs and is still pushing the boundaries of turntablism. In the same hip hop vein Afrika Bambaataa, one of the original originators of hip hop culture is also on the bill.

That’s only the tip of the ice berg. There is a plethora of underground genres being catered for. In the techno corner you have the likes of Carl Craig, Green Velvet, Robert Hood and Frequency 7 featuring Ben Sims and Surgeon. All things dub are covered by the likes of Skream, Benga, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Digital Mystiks and Kode 9. The list of artists just keeps going on and on. So rather than bore you to death you can find the current full line up at the end of this post.

So its look to be a corker of a weekend once again for BLOC. If you’re up for a weekend of forward thinking music in a dry location and a 40mph water slide within the UK, then look no further. Get your tickets and accommodation from www.blocweekend.com.

FULL LINEUP TO DATE / MANY MORE ACTS STILL TBA:

Aphex Twin + Hecker

The Future Sound of London

Jamie Lidell / Carl Craig / Afrika Bambaataa

Green Velvet / DJ Qbert / Skream / Benga / Metro Area / Altern-8 / 4Hero

Busy P/ Egyptian Lover / Daniel Bell / Heartbreak / I-F

Dublime feat. Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry / Scientist / Digital Mystikz – Coki / Tipper /

Kode 9 / Rusko – Debut Live show / Ed Rush and Optical / Mad Professor / Zion

Train / Plastician / Pole

Overkill feat. Modeselektor and Pfadfinderei / Beardyman / Clark / Richard

Devine / Tim Exile / Otto Von Shirach

Subloaded curated by DJ Pinch, feat. DJ Pinch / 2562 / Jamie Vex’d /

Appleblim / Peverelist / Joker b2b Blazey / MC SGT Pokes

Split and Tilted Disco feat. Robert Hood / Frequency 7 feat Ben Sims and

Surgeon / Redshape / James Ruskin / Colin Dale / Steve Strawberry / Alex

Downey

Numbers feat. Martyn / Rustie / Hudson Mohawke / Jackmaster

Dynamix II / Dj Godfather and MC Omega / Dylan & Robyn Chaos b2b / Ulrich

Schnauss / Ed Chamberlain / Global Goon / Rob Hall / Transparent Sound /

Ceephax Acid Crew / Cosmic Force BassClef / Ital Tek / Lief Ryan / Alexander

Robotnick / Bizzy B / 2 Bad Mice

Greco-Roman feat. Rob Da Bank / Drums of Death / Totally Enormous Extinct

Dinosaurs / Greco-Roman Soundsystem: Raf Daddy, The Great Mentsh & Full

Nelson

Cocadisco feat. Russell Haswell / DJ Benetti / Louis Enchante and friends /

Andy Blake / Rodaidh and Piers

Caravan Recordings feat. October / Emptyset

Wifey feat. D’explicit – LIVE PA / China feat. Black the Ripper / DJ Undecided /

Wifey DJs

Cliché feat. French Kriss / Michel Dupont / French Connection Trio + Special

Guests

Pathic / ADJ / Junq / P45 / Ebola / Lusinda / AGT Rave Cru / Amental / McMash

Clan

Residents from: WANG – Electro Elvis and Lula / Braindrop / Dub Pressure /

Drums of the South / Square Roots / Sequence / Plex / Dissident

BLOC Residents: Billy Nasty / Radioactive Man / Ed DMX / Jerome Hill / Luke’s

Anger / James Tec / Rebel Intelligence / Joe Hart / Oliver Way / George ‘The

Skull’ Hull