A weekend bookended by bank holidays, don’t you just love Easter. Jesus died so we could rave for four days with out feeling guilty about work. I’m pretty sure that’s what it said in the bible. Plenty of stuff on so I won’t ramble on in this blasphemous theme.

Thursday

Secretsundaze @ Stamford Works (Buy Tickets)

Ooo its nearly time for Secretsundaze to emerge from its winter cocoon and head back out into the great outdoors. I cannie wait. But just to wet your whistle they’re throwing a Bank Holiday warehouse party this Thursday. I remember reading somewhere that its at the great little warehouse called the Stamford Works in Dalston where the recent DDD birthday took place. Its round the back of the Jazz Bar and Kingsland Road station. However I can’t find where I read that, so the official word is its in Dalston and yet to be announced. For the line-up they’ve got a veteran of the New York scene Morgan Geist of Metro Area fame, whilst in support they have new comer Nina Kraviz who’s found breaking fame on Radioslave’s Rekids. James and Giles complete the main room bill and their friends Electric Minds host the back room. A nice warm up for the weekend ahead.

Horse Meat Disco Bloodbath @ Hewett Street Car Park

The two dominant disco forces in London collide at Shoreditch’s Hewett Street Car Park this Thursday. You’d expect the universe to implode with forces of such magnitude, but instead it’s managed to fly over New York’s Tim Sweeney, who’s dulcet tones introduce the now globally famous Beats in Space radio show. He will be joined on his rare UK appearance by all the residents from both of London’s titan disco nights. There’s a few tickets left at Phonica, Dalston Superstore and The Eagle, get em quick!

Bedrock @ matter (Buy Tickets)

A bank holiday weekend wouldn’t be one without ol’ Diggers throwing a Bedrock party. Matter seems to be the new London home for Bedrock parties after years spent at Heaven. As well as Diggers headlining, the legendary Danny Howells is on back up duties, whilst Christian Smith and Marco Bailey give room 2 a techno workout. It’s kind of a retro classic line up that doesn’t grow old, these guys know their music and they know how to mix.

Shake It! @ Great Suffolk Street Car Park (Buy Tickets)

I was in two minds whether to recommend this. Carl Cox is a legend, but his recent sets have been short of desirable in an underground sense. However, his legions of fans that span his lengthy career will be out in force which will mean a great crowd for the ol’ Coxy. If you want something fun and accessible for friends and family then this ain’t a bad shout.

Greg Wilson  @ The Horatia

I still haven’t got myself to the Horatia yet, but they have been consistently putting on fun DJs for free. This Thursday Greg Wilson is the bill armed with a tape deck and a few decades worth of music. Clean Cheap fun!

Friday

Shoplifter @ The Horse and Groom (Buy Tickets)

After the glitz and glamour of the old guard doing their thing on Thursday, Friday seems like quite a subtle affair. However there is no reason to hold back. Derren Smart’s Shoplifter has upped sticks and moved over to The Horse and Groom. Chris Sullivan, Rock Steady and Josif join Craig Richards and Derren Smart in their new home. Free before 11pm, then only £4 after that! Bargain.

Holic @ East Village (Buy Tickets)

East Village aren’t doing things by half on Friday. They’ve got a special 12 hour party starting from 5pm right through till 5am Saturday morning. The legendary house producer DJ Pierre will be ushering you through the half day party, with support from the equally talented Argy, whilst upstairs its all discotastic with Pete Herbet and the Disco Deviance crew.

Transition @ Visions Video Bar (Info)

New night Transitions looks a bit alright too. They start things off at the ironically rubbish but brilliant Visions Video Bar in Dalston. Headlining is Wbeeza from South London. He’s been getting good coverage on Third Ear as well as joining the new Secretsundaze roster of DJs. Big things are happening for this kid. Also on the bill is Sud Electronic’s Lakuti and Runsounds Chris Box. If you put yourself on the roll call at RA its only £3 in.

Lobster @ The Shacklewell Arms

New friends Lobster begin their voyage of throwing parties this Friday. They’re beginning life at The Shacklewell Arms in Dalston. This raw and gritty pub come club will play host to Tommy Four Seven who’s had much success on CLR. The rest of the bill is made up of fresh Lobster – resident DJs David Russell, Anton & George and Ed Worboys. Its free before 11pm and then only a fiver after that… Hope it goes well guys.

Saturday

Cocoon @ matter (Buy Tickets)

The big one for Saturday night is undisputedly Cocoon at matter. Pappa Sven continues his residency at the London superclub. If that’s not enough for you Loco Dice is on hand to make you sweat a bit more. That’s it. Sven and Dice all night in room 1.  I don’t really need to say much else.

Prologue @ East Village

Prologue return to East Village once again with another understated but quality line-up. Secretsundaze’s James Priestley headlines with Jozif who’s found recent success on Wolf and Lamb. They’ll be rocking the basement with long time resident Paul Louth, whilst upstairs, DDD’s Simon Morell will be working things with the Stafford Brothers. Not a bad little party in the heart of Old Street/Shoreditch on a Saturday night if you ask me.

Sunday

Mulletover 6^th Birthday @ Great Suffolk Street Car Park (Buy Tickets)

Sunday is the big one and top of the picks is the Mulletover 6^th Birthday. They’re back at the Great Suffolk Street car park with the quirky and hilarious DOP headlining with their brilliant live set alongside a quality British line up of Will Saul, Matt Tolfrey and Geddes. Resident Advisor are running things in room 2 with the incredibly deep Levon Vincent and the bright melodic Floating Points. Tayo is pushing his new venture Lean Left in room 3, where he celebrates all things 4/4. He’s on the bill with Get Physical’s Heidi and Tayo’s buddy Frank Tope. The theme is silver, so get yourselves wrapped in tin foil and be careful of stray lasers being reflected off other people. Don’t forget we’ve also got our competition to win two free tickets, a bday DVD and four free drinks. Enter Here!

Product 5^th Birthday @ The Doors (Buy Tickets)

Product celebrates half a decade which has seen them venture from Nottingham to London via Brighton and Hungry. They’ve landed at little known basement club Doors near Old Street station. This great little space will have its foundations shaken by Spain’s Tim Xavier. Original Product ressie Makai will be in support along with Zade Cross, Amaus, Chris Jones and yours truly – Chris Wan. I’ll be playing with only one leg, which is worth the door fee alone.

Wet Yourself @ Fabric (Buy Tickets)

You can’t really talk about a London weekend without mentioning Fabric these days. Sunday see’s Wet Yourself expand to all three rooms. The room we’re most interested in though is room 2. Marcel Dettmann and Ben Klock will be bringing a slice of Berghain to the hallowed halls of Fabric. YES!

Fuse @ 93 Feet East

93 Feet East is going to be rammed this Sunday, as Fuse have put together a great little party for you daytime rave lovers. Pokerflat’s Guido Schneider will be joined by Get Physical’s Einzelkind, and Murmurs/Viva’s Bearweasel. A lot of name dropping there, but all good DJs in their own right. However you better get down there early as the tickets flew out  for this one in days. There’s 50 left on the door.

So there it is, my lengthy Easter weekend planner for you. Happy Easter!

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.

Horatia Opening Party with Faze Action (Details)

First off, a new venue for the year; from the people that brought you the Horse and Groom comes the Horatia, their new pub club venture on Holloway Road in Islington. They expect to bring you the same fun that you experienced at Shoreditch’s finest pub with a dance floor, so expect disco, house, live music and everything in between. They’ve already got folks like Disco Bloodbath and James Priestly already lined up for some free fun time evening shenanigans. For the opening party on Friday, the fantastic disco duo Faze Action will the in the house to commemorate this new skinny jeans haven in Islington, all for free too.

Fabric with Carl Craig, Ben Klock & Lee Curtis (Buy Tickets)

Now on to the meatier affairs for Saturday night. There are three stellar nights on the bill from the big guns but it’s just too close to call for one that stands out above the rest. In one corner we have Fabric; they’re packing a punch with Detroit legend Carl Craig. He’s never disappointed me so far and I’m sure he’s not going to start now. The support is just as compelling too, rising star Lee Curtiss is on for a live set and London favorites Jamie Jones and Cesar Merveille will fill the rest of the Room 1 schedule whilst Ben Klock, Steffi and Terry Francis will be pushing the harder edge in Room 2. If that’s not enough, all things DFA will be served up in Room 3 with Holy Ghost and Jacques Renault. Absolutely massive lineup if you ask me.

Discoteca at Matter with Jamie Lidell & Francois K (Buy Tickets)

Out east, sister club matter weigh in with a night equally as heavy. The extremely talented musician Jamie Lidell performs a live set alongside a DJ set from New York heavyweights Francois K and Metro Area. There’s also a label showcase from Italians Do It Better and in house duo Disco&Mercy will be keeping things warm. In room 2 the Disco Bloodbath boys take over with Scotland’s finest Optimo for a second room of anything goes. If you’re still unsure what to expect, then the matter blog has a pretty comprehensive post of mixes, vids and words to bring you up to speed.

Mulletover with Wolf and Lamb (Buy Tickets)

Third but not least, Mulletover shake off the New Years hangover with this winter warmer featuring the Wolf and Lamb lads Gadi Mizrahi and Boston duo Soul Clap. The label can just do no wrong at the moment and any Wolf and Lamb DJ sets have been the talk of the town, so expect a fantastic range of diverse music with plenty of soul and feeling. The venue should be just right for this with the intimate low ceilings of the The Black Lotus Karate Club on Scrutton Street. However with a fair few down to attend this, be sure to keep the clothing layers to a minimal as it can get a bit schweaty in there.

Dig Deeper with Danny Howells (Buy Tickets)

That’s not all however. Danny Howells wants to completely ruin you by throwing another Dig Deeper this Sunday at the Notting Hill Arts Club. The last one went down so well that’s he’s back again to punish you into Monday morning with another one of his spectacular 7 hour sets.

So there it is… Let’s hope London has started as it expects to go on!

Hypercolour with Mark Henning

I’m guessing the promoters and clubs have all chipped in to charter a Mega Bus from Berlin as practically all the DJs headlining are coming over from our twinned party city. On the Friday Hypercolour are taking over East Village and they’ve reserved a seat for Mark Henning on the Mega Bus. He’ll be pushing his new HYpercolour EP, ‘The Right Time’, out in all good record shops now! Supporting him will be the Hypercolour head honchos Alex Jones and Cedric Maison whilst Pete’s 50th keep the upstairs warm with the Dalston connection.

Fabric with Luciano, Pedro, DJ Hell and Tiefschwarz

For Saturday we have Luciano cashing in on his Mega Bus ticket by including a spot of Christmas shopping over the week. He’s up in Manchester the weekend after for the Warehouse Project, but this weekend sees him return to Fabric to take control of Room 1. In toe will be his Romanian protégé Pedro who’s now convincingly made his own name with his A:rpia:r buddies. Room 2 features yet more current Berlinites in the form of DJ Hell and Tiefschwarz. A stellar line up in think you will find and coincidently it comes around just as I’ve got over the Fabric 10th Birthday. Salute!

Ekstravaganza with Prins Thomas and Lindstrom (Buy Tickets)

If you still can’t bare to look at the walls of Room 1 from the 10th birthday then how about looking at the four walls of Corsica Studios? Featuring is Scandinavia’s 5th most popular export after Ikea, Volvos, Lego and liberal sex; it is of course Scandinavian Cosmic Disco! Prins Thomas kicks off the second coming of his bi-monthly London residency Ekstravaganza with close friend Lindstrom. The pair have been known to go nuts and play well into the night, so having the pair together in London is certainly a treat. Label friend Magnus International provides some support, whilst the Horse Meat Disco guys have trundled along the river from Vauxhall to prop up room 2. Expect lashings of camp cosmic disco sure to make December open with a smile.

Mulletover Xmas Party with Prosumer (Buy Tickets)

Too Scandinavian? Fair enough… There’s still plenty more Berliners coming in on the bus. The ever delightful Prosumer is supplying the Worthers Originals for the trip. He’s dropping records and toffees at Mulletover’s Xmas party at the Bocking Street warehouse. We thoroughly enjoyed the venue when we were there at Disco Bloodbath the other week. It’s sure to be a winner with Prosumer on the decks, however it’s a bit tenuous calling it an Xmas party in November.

GetPhysical and Phonica 6th Birthday with MANDY (Buy Tickets)

Occupying the back row of the Mega Bus from Berlin will be those naughty GetPhysical kids MANDY and Thomas Schumacher. They’ll be causing mischief at Cable along with the Phonica boys and girls who are celebrating six years of selling records.Heidi, Hector, Anthea and Simon Rigg are all on board.

matter with Vitalic, Black Strobe and Morgan Geist (Buy Tickets)

Finally, if none of that takes your fancy, then matter doesn’t look too shabby. Vitalic live, Black Strobe DJ Set, Mero Area’s Morgan Geist and Guido Schneider for Very Wrong Indeed in Room 2.. A great mix of artists which should drop a mix of electronic sounds, house, techno, disco.. basically the works. Not sure what Black Strobe are doing these days Smagghe-less or what Vitalic have been producing, but going on past experiences they have always been good quality. Failing that there’s Morgan Geist!

Fuck me that was a mouthful to reel off. Hope you have fun!

I love this stretch of April to May. There’s a nice series of bank holidays which firstly equates to four day weeks or long weekends, but secondly and most importantly it means so many great rave up opportunities. You might have only just flushed the last bank holiday weekend out of your system, but here it is again, another extended weekend in our midst.

So what are the options for the May day rave up?

Saturday has some nice options with Excuse The Mess being top of the pile. They’ve got My My live along with the always excellent Matthew Styles in room 1. Then in room 2 Ralf Kollman takes the spotlight to entertain along with Shane Watcha.

The first part of Eastern Electrics also kicks off on the Saturday too. They’ll be vibing with some dub-tastic sounds with Dublime who have brought in Brendon Moeller. Room 2 has been taken over by the folks that brought you the Bloc Weekender. Their room is looking particularly sharp with the likes of Metro Area, Appleblim and Zomby. Then the third and final room is hosted by the Man Make Music guys. They’ve got the West Coast house head and Buzzin Fly aficionado Justin Martin.

Tickets are still available for both, so get Excuse the Mess tickets here and Eastern Electrics tickets here.

But in true bank holiday weekend style, the parties really kick off on Sunday and being the start of May for most Brits we’re in full blown summer. That means, outdoor parties in blustery not quite hot weather. Secretsundaze have their first outdoor party on the recently refurbed terrace of That formerly the House and Terrace in Greenwich. Apparently the terrace was always quite good, but with its Greenwich location it used to attract a pretty unsavoury crowd. Anyways, with a strict door policy and the terrace done up in the Secretsundaze way we can expect a pretty decent party. Brothers Vibe, Move D and Melon will be providing the tunes to what we hope will be a sunny day (a quick BBC weather check says sunny intervals!). If you’re after tickets you might be out of luck as they sold out the other week. But you could give your money a run on the door.

Another outdoor party which is a bit closer to home comes from those Circo Loco and tranquiliser lovers KetoLoco. They’re throwing a shindig at Light Bar in Shoreditch. They’ve brought in man of the moment SiS to do a live set along with Hobo from Minus, Ilario Alicante and Craig Torrance off MurMur. A balanced quality underground lineup. Lets hope its stays sunny for those guys too.
Get your tickets here.

The final outdoor party that takes our fancy is the Escape From New York Roof Top Party at the Queen of Hoxton. They’ve got a pretty spectacular roof top terrace which will play host to Holy Ghost from DFA and The Revenge. They’re also laying on a BBQ spread for those which need to eat through the daytime sessions. Sounds yum.
Tickets for this here

Once the sun sets, not to be seen until Monday, the main option is to head to Eastern Electrics for their second part of the Bank Holiday extravaganza. Sunday sees them team up with Mulletover once again who have brought in 2000 and One, The Mole, Craig Richards and Karl Gonzales. Our disco favourites Disco Bloodbath once again take over room two with Manchester and Electric Chair legends The Unabombers. The third room sees the Freak n Chic label setup shop with Dan Ghenacia, Shonky and Terry. MASSIVE. Get your tickets from here

If you’re wondering where Eastern Electrics is, its down at the Union Car Park on Great Suffolk Street.

View Larger Map

So there you go.. I’ve laid it out.. You just need to play it out. Good luck and see you there.

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

I normally struggle to think what tunes have been and gone in the last month, so trying to remember what I was listening to back in January is a mountainous mission in itself, which is probably why I’m going to write this avoiding any specifics and will talk around the subject pretending I know what I’m talking about like any good politician would do. But from what I can recollect “minimal” became housier (or maybe I became housier?), Dubstep collided with Techno and Disco has undergone a massive revival

So lets start with the shift towards the housier sounds. We noticed a lot of DJs ditching the repetitive and bland “minimal” sounds that were starting to stagnate and instead nudging more towards the house end of the spectrum. This meant a bit more funk and soul embedded into tracks, more vocals and jazzier samples. It may sound like we’re harking back to the funky house days circa 2000-02, but this was slightly different, it was more an amalgamation of what came out of the “minimal-tech” sounds which dominated ’05-’07 with older house music sensibilities as seen from the Chicago deep house days. A perfect example of this is probably My My, their remix of Djuma Soundsytem’s Les Dijnns ’s typifies where the sound was during 2007 whilst their latest release Everybody’s Talkin’ is a glimpse into the house sound doing the rounds at the moment. The same goes for Josh Wink’s Stay Out All Night and Matthew Styles We Said Nothing, both distinctly Chi-town influenced numbers which bebop’s to a fun and funked up skipping rhythm. In a similar vein who could forget Johnny D who’s had a fantastic year. His track Orbitallife was causing raucous everywhere through the summer not to mention all his other releases.

But then it wasn’t all fun funked up house, this year saw a lot of dub style house and techno music with heavy basslines at a relaxed pace. Tracks like Trus’me’s W.A.R Dub particularly stood out as did a lot of the output from Gedde’s new label MurMur which had artists like Bearweasel pumping out deep and hypnotic house. One of the best tracks of the year for me was the highly elusive Wax1001. There was no artist or label, just this white label containing the rawest house track ever. A simple track with clunky beats, classic hi hat patterns and a dark raw bassline made Wax1001 show how less is definitely more.

Amongst all of this was another return. Afrobeat house started reappearing in a heavier form predominately coming out of the Innervisions camp but also a whole host of producers. This house sound brought a lot of energy through African rhythms, chants and tribal beats. Henrik Schwarz’ I Exist Because of You was a prime example as was Dixon/Ame/Schwarz’s effort on D.P.O.M.B and to a lesser extent Laurent Garnier’s return to production on his Afrodiziac mix of Back to my Roots. Away from the Innervisions folk, Osborne’s Afrika had a not surprising African feel making it a firm favourite for many including EarPipe and was part of an incredible year for the Michigan born producer who’s self titled album received critical acclaim. The other big African influenced house but probably more so house influenced African music came from Afefe Iku and his track Mirror Dance. The heavy tribal beats and highly infectious glockenspiel hook were an instant success made apparent when every one would always poorly attempt to vocally imitate the glockenspiel hook.

Aside from genre nit picking, house and techno came out with some pretty good gems. SIS was a massive mover this year mainly with his track Nesrib but there was also Orgasa, Clarinete and that annoying but quite fun Trompeta. Truly a stellar year for the young producer. Another trend for 2008 was taking samples from old scratchy foreign records and working it into restrained house beats a la Italoboyz style. Stimming’s Una Pena and La Pena’s A1/Davino Canto were particular highlights of this trend and pushed massively by the Lucianos and Villalobos’ of the world. Radioslave also continued his world domination with a new direction through Eyes Wide Open not to mention his more ambient and down tempo project with Joel Martin as Quiet Village. But that’s not to say Radioslave’s dark technoness didn’t continue on. Dubfire’s remix of Grindhouse Tool was making a right mess on most techno dancefloors right through the summer. It was fun at first but it has become a bit dull.

Whilst many were disputing what house and techno had become there was an alchemy experiment happening behind the scenes where Dusteppers were blending Dubstep with Techno in an attempt to produce gold. Their attempts have been pretty successful Shackleton returned the favour by remixing Villalobos’ acclaimed Vasco EP, whilst Appleblim and Peverelist topped many charts with their track Circling as well as pushing their Skull Disco label to new nether regions in the Dubstep world. But it’s probably Appleblim’s RA podcast which helped to break down Dubstep/Techno/House barriers for many people.

But the most interesting development for EarPipe has to be the recent Disco revival. Its been bubbling away since the start of 2007 and properly came to attention when the James Murphy and Pat Mahoney FabricLive 36 release came out in October 07. From there Disco has gone from strength to strength in the capital. New night Disco Bloodbath and Horse Meat Disco have been busy throughout the year, whilst Fabric, Secretsundaze and Mulletover have all jumped on board with Disco backrooms. One of the biggest developments for the Disco revival was the release of Hercules and Love Affair’s self titled debut album. The album hit the charts and was widely respected by the critics putting this new Disco come House sound in the spotlight. Across the North Sea our Scandinavian friends Lindstrom and Prins Thomas continued pushing their cosmic disco sound on Smalltown Supersound and Metro Area’s Fabric 44 gave us a reminder of where disco came from.

So that’s what we at EarPipe can remember from the year in music. It has been fun, there has been some rubbish, but then there have been some delectable moments and no doubt this will continue into 2009.

If we’ve missed something out then do stick it in the comments!

You can catch our review of clubs, festivals and parties here.

For Fabric 43, Metro Area has the fortunate or unfortunate task of following the LCD Soundsystem duo in the disco stakes. Hailing from Brooklyn, Morgan Geist and Darshan Jesrani should know a thing or two. They’ve been producing and DJ’ing since the 90s and were affectively ahead of the curve with their seminal release Metro Area 1 fusing the delights of early Detroit and Chicago music with their native Harlem disco.

On this CD they set out themselves the task of doing a mid 80s mix with emphasis on the not so obvious disco. And true to their word they have, about 90% of the tracklisting is circa 1985 and I don’t recognise a single record. The closest I come is knowing who Devo and that said I don’t even know any of their music.

So what can I tell you about this mix from my obviously lacking knowledge of disco music? Probably not that much. But I can tell you that this mix is crafted quite beautifully from start to end. They explore organic and synthesised sounds, they ooze funk, groove with a great sense of urgency and they get inside your mind with so many different hooks.

They effortlessly glide between the laidback grooves of Disco Four’s Move to the Groove and the luscious RnB infused You Should Have Known Better through to the urgent funk of italo disco I love with tracks like Swede’s Scandal’s Atmosphere and Mascara’s Baja. If the hooks don’t get you the percussion sure will.

But its not just pure disco throughout, tracks like Ray Martinez’ The Natives Are Restless provides a great tribal interlude before being followed by the Chicago and Detroit influences through Dreamhouse’s I Can Feel It and Plez’ I Can’t Stop. There’s even a head nod to French synthpop’s Poupee Flash. They’re completely different genres but one thing that unites them all is that they have this groove flowing through them.

There are some real gems on this CD, but then there are some tracks which stray into the dubiously cheesy disco territory. Souvenier’s Voyage stands out in particular. It has a strange resemblance to the theme tune of Love Boat a 70s TV show which aired 14 odd years before I was born. The way the funk bass jogs along before a crescendo into a flurry of clichéd strings and horns. As clichéd as it is however, it does just work, like the rest of this CD.

It’s great to see Fabric taking the series in a completely different direction and I think with Metro Area it’s paid off. For those not wholly into disco this is great journey through some of the great music that came from that era. It’s well put together and has great progression. However for me this still doesn’t top the FabricLive:36 effort from the LCD SoundSystem boys.

Buy Metro Area – Fabric 43 on (CD)

Tracklisting:
01. Babla’s Disco Sensation – Ghar Aya Mera Pardesi (Intro)
02. World Premiere – Share the Night (Breakdown Mix)
03. Ministry – Work for Love (Dub Mix)
04. The Disco Four – Move to the Groove (Instrumental)
05. Skratch – You Should Have Known Better (Instrumental)
06. Barbara Norris – Heavy Hitter (Dub Version)
07. Gary’s Gang – Makin’ Music (Dub Mix)
08. Voyage – Souvenirs
09. Five Special – Why Leave Us Alone (Long Version)
10. Ray Martinez – The Natives are Restless
11. Dreamhouse – I Can Feel It
12. Mascara – Baja (Instrumental Dub Version)
13. Play by Numbers – Cloud Nine (Ready Mix)
14. Midway – Set it Out (Funky Breakdown Mix)
15. Heaven 17 – Penthouse and Pavement
16. Data – Blow (Remix)
17. Atmosphere – Swede’s Scandal
18. Wiretap – X-Rated Man
19. Plez – I Can’t Stop (Acid Rainforest Mix)
20. Baby Oliver – Feelings2
21. Jean Luc Ponty – Open Mind (Special Dance Mix )
22. Premiere Class – Poupée Flash
23. Devo – Freedom of Choice