It’s a bit late in the day for a weekend run down with it being Friday and all.. So I’m just gonna blast through what’s on this weekend.

Friday

Innervisions at CAMP (info)
Tonight is sure to be a road block at the City Arts and Music Project as Innervisions rolls into town with Dixon and Ame. That’s going to be huge.

Unwind at East Village (info)
If you can’t get in at CAMP, then head down the road to East Village. Baaz, Le Loup and Simon Lee of Faze Action fame will be cosmically easing you into the weekend.

Deadly Rhythm Vs Hot Flush at Plan B (info)
For something a bit grittier, Deadly Rhythm go head to head with Hot Flush Recordings at Plan B. Scuba, Appleblim and Joy Orbison litter their line-up. And its only eight bucks.

Saturday

Bread and Butter Day Party at Light Bar (info)
We’re liking the sound of the Bread and Butter party at Light Bar. They’re in the garden, weather permitting, all day Saturday with the brilliant Argy at the helm. Lets hope its not to damp as that could be a corker.

Weatherhall, Slam, Butane Todd Terji at Fabric (tickets)
They’re open for business as usual. They’ll be fine, but they need your support through these hard times. Get yourself down this weekend!

Mulletover 5 Years of Mobilee (info)
Mobilee are only five years old? I swear they’ve been around for longer? Anja Schneider and Sebo K two Mulletover regulars return to the Shoreditch Hearn Street Car Park for a Mobilee knees up.

Sunday

Secretsundaze at RichMix
The new form Secretsundaze are now doing secret Sunday parties. So this is a secret, don’t tell anyone else. This Sunday they’re in the loft at RichMix on Bethnal Green Road. Giles and James will be joined by the excellent Mole and Brawther . It’s a paying guestlist only entry so get your names to guestlist@secretsundaze.net.

Ketoloco at Light Bar (info)
Light Bar is becoming a bit of a bank holiday epicentre this weekend. Those lads from a Leeds basement have moved things above board and into the sun light. Joining the Ketoloco DJs will be Julien Chaptal, Shonky, Alex Niggemann and Craig Torrance. Big for a Sunday afternoon. Tickets are sold out so get your queuing shoes on.

Move D at Horse and Groom (info)
The other terrace option is down the road at the Horse and Groom. The brilliant Move D will be joining the Warm and Discovery resident DJs for what will hopefully be a sunny day.

Well we’re on the verge of another momentous bank holiday weekend where the usual rule book goes out the window and things are pushed that extra mile. Once again, Friday and Saturday are looking alright, but those promoters have decided to pack in all the exciting stuff on the Sunday… Here are our picks…

Friday

Buzzin Fly at Plastic People (info)

They haven’t been killed off by Hackney council just yet! So the good times are still rolling. Ben Watt has brought in an absolute institution for his Buzzin Fly night. He’s bloody got Charles Webster to spin a few tracks in the grimy basement, he actually wrote the book on DJing. Tickets are gone, so get there early to queue up!

Heroes and Villains Warehouse Party (Buy Tickets)

Those fellas that keep Thursdays interesting down at the Hoxton Pony upscale massively this weekend with a full blown warehouse party on Bocking Street in Hackney. Wagon Repairers Konrad Black and Dinky go head to head with the Nottingham boys Matt Tolfrey and INXEC from Leftroom Records. Not a bad way to start a weekend eh?

Saturday

Fabric On & On… & On (Buy Tickets)

Technically you could start your Sunday rave up on Saturday if you head to fabric as the 30 hour party is back once again. This time on a convenient bank holiday weekend, so there’s no need to feel guilty about still being there at 5am Monday morning. The line up is a lot stronger than last time too with folk like Sasha, Carl Craig, Stacey Pullen, Seth Troxler, Reboot and Trus Me heading up things. The usual rules apply when figuring out when to turn up…

Magic and Medicine at CAMP (Buy Tickets)

Magic and Medicine bring over one of the DFA originals Juan Maclean to promote his new DJ Kicks mix CD. The guy has been in and out of the New York scene for over a couple of decades, so expect a lesson in disco, deep house and techno. The Horse Meat Disco and Allez Allez crews give some humble support. Also if you’re in town earlier that day, Juan is gonna be doing a little cameo at Phonica Records too.

Prologue at East Village (Buy Tickets)

Prologue stick to their guns this weekend as their much frequented guest DJ Norman Jay returns to dish out some good times. He’s sure to surprise you with some gems that you wouldn’t normally here him play at top a double decker bus. He’ll be joined by the ever faithful resident Paul Louth.

Sunday

Eastern Electrics (Buy Tickets)

If you haven’t heard by now then you’re too late. Eastern Electrics have a truly monstrous line up for the Sunday. A three pronged attack by BLOC, Disco Bloodbath and Mulletover brings Ellen Allien, Ivan Smagghe and Tim Paris as It’s a Fine Line, DJ Sneak, Omar S, Shackleton, Andre Galluzi and Still Going from DFA. They’re spread across three rooms in the usual Suffolk Street Car Park. The tickets have nearly run out so get them as soon as possible.

Secretsundaze @ TBA

For their 9th London summer season Secretsundaze have decided to go back to their roots which made them what they are today. So for us this means they’re throwing a party somewhere in London on Sunday…That’s about all anyone knows at the moment. Although we are hearing murmurings about an industrial Shoreditch location with one of the new breed Detroit legends to headline. Those in the elite will get a text message and those of you that aren’t elite will have to over hear it in conversation between some achingly cool people. Phones at the ready, ears peeled.

Hybrid Life @ Black Lotus Karate Club (Buy Tickets)

The Sunday line ups just keep on coming this weekend. Brand new night Hybrid Life materialises out of no where to begin their love affair with the city. The Black Lotus Karate Club in Shoreditch is the setting and filling the speakers will be the hottest thing on the planet Joy Orbison, alongside getting hot Kyle Hall from Detroit, still hot Will Saul, the “do not touch very hot” Donnacha Costello and “crap I forgot to turn the iron off” hot Alex Jones. Great underground line up in a great underground venue.

Minus @ Ministry of Sound (Buy Tickets)

Fighting for space in the limelight on Sunday will be the Minus juggernaut. However fighting probably won’t be the case, as according to our tags we believe the limelight shines out of Richie Hawtin’s arse and that he will bask his own event in is personal arse lime light. The usual suspects of Magda, Gaiser, Barem and Ambivalent will also be basking in Hawtin arse lime light. It’s a good techno line up on a brilliant sound system. All yours for a cool £27.50.

Mn to That Boat Party (Buy Tickets)

Beats ahoy hoy! Irish promoters Mn to That will be throwing their second boat party on the Thames. At the helm will be the extraordinary Maurice Fulton. We’ve seen the guy rock basements, warehouses, clubs and pubs, I’m certain this guy can also rock a boat too. Joining him in the Ninja Tunes saloon will be the legendary DJ Food who will jibe out all manner of funk, breaks and hip hop with that Ninja Tunes quirk. Plus if you buy the tickets from this link they’re only 15 bucks. Winners.

Quite frankly it’s a mouth watering selection for the weekend.

As you all know, staple London night Mulletover will be celebrating its sixth birthday this Sunday. So we thought we’d catch up with its co-founder Geddes for a quick chat on all things Mulletover.

Hi Geddes, 6 years of Mulletover, that’s quite a milestone. Are you feeling tired or have you still got plenty more to give?

This year I feel we’ve turned a corner, 6 years a long time to be doing a party.  We’ve not missed one event in all that time.  So crazy and surreal at the same time. I’ve still got more to give, as long as I’m excited the parties will keep happening.

So let’s start from the beginning, what were you doing before Mulletover and how did it come about between you and Rob Star?

Before Mulletover I worked in the bars in and around west London, did a bit of PR here and there for various companies and basically supported myself with freelance work while I concentrated on building Mulletover and my DJ career.  The very first Mulletover party was due to happen at the Fortress Studios off Old Street but on the night of the event, Shaun who owned the gaff rang me and said it couldn’t happen as the police were on to him and threatening action.  Jafar (who was my partner at the time) said he new of another warehouse partying going on in White Chapel so he put a call in to Rob and that’s how we met and our partnership began.

Where did the name come from? Is it more to do with mulling things over or more about the mullet hair style favoured by Germans?

The name was always to do with mulling things over, obviously at the time there was this fascination in East London with hair cuts and lots of heads believe this is the real meaning but you’ve heard it from the horse’s mouth, it’s not!

How does it work between you and rob, as well as the rest of the team? Who brings what to the Mullet over production?

Rob brings a lot of the logistics into the fold, he’s good at organising and making sure mail outs and text messages go out on time, then we have Phil who handles all our bars and stock, Simon on production and me doing all the bookings and look after the acts on the night

Over the years you’ve held parties at many different locations and had a whole host of DJs headline. Which DJs and locations have been the most memorable, and which party has been your overall favourite?

May bank holiday 2005 with Ivan Smagghe, that party was off the hook

Does Mullet over take any inspiration from other parties and nights?

Speaking for myself I spent some time going to low life, lazy dog and soul sonic when I first moved to London so I guess I took inspiration from whatever I was going to at the time. Those parties were all about the vibe, music and people; it was those characteristics that gave me the drive to do something similar.  Rob on the other came from a rave background and I know those events were a major influence for him.

Looking into the future, where can you see Mullet over going over the next 6 years? Any sister projects, new directions, new sounds?

We’re always trying to be at the forefront at what we do and that will always be the case.  I don’t see us going on for ever, I never wanted to be promoting nights at 40!  Although that’s a long way off it is something both Rob and I have spoken about, as long as we’re enjoying it and the music and party is lighting our fire we’ll continue to do it.

To add to that, what would be your dream line-up (dead or alive), location and party, the ultimate goal for Mullet over if you will?

Ricardo, Cassy, with DJ Harvey in the back room.  For a venue it would be the ultimate place that we only dream about

Finally what’s happening for the rest of the year in terms of Mullet over and yourself?

We’re doing all the events at Eastern Electrics this year and some great line-ups in the pipeline for those, Glade Festival, and Garden Festival in Croatia.  Personally I’ll be doing a couple of dates at space this year, some more label nights around Europe the first being at Watergate in Berlin, remixes and productions in the pipeline, it’s going to be a good year.

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 their 6^th Birthday they’ve got the warehouse on Suffolk Street in Southwark lined up with three rooms of delectable music. Mulletover will command the main room with those funny French blokes DOP doing a live set. We caught them at Lo*Kee back at the end of last year and they were amazing – fun quirky house that makes you dance. Will Saul and Matt Tolfrey along with the ever present resident Geddes will be providing support for the rest of the night. In the second room hosted by webzine Resident Advisor will feature the insanely deep Levon Vincent and the warm bright sounds of Floating Points whilst in the third room Tayo celebrates all that is 4/4 with Radio 1’s Heidi and Frank Tope for his night Lean Left.

It wouldn’t be a Mulletover party if there wasn’t some kind of fun dress up theme to get involved with. Whilst they haven’t quite reached 25 years they’re going for a silver theme, so anything goes from tin foil hats to full on shiny human sized disco balls. Sounds like the magpies will have a field day.

Since Mulletover are turning 6 they’re letting us run a competition for you lovely readers of earPIPE. For your chance to win two tickets, two birthday CD/DVDs and four free drinks, just simply answer the following question:

Along with Geddes who is the other creative force behind Mulletover?

A)     Rob Star

B)      Rob Jar

C)      Rob Bar

Send your name and postal address to info@earpipe.com

If you win, you’re going to need some tickets for all your other friends too. You can still get them from Ticketweb and they’re still going at the £10 rate!

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.

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!

Image by Paul at Vision7Media

All things exciting seem to point to Clapham Common on the bank holiday weekend. But in all honesty, it’s not really all that it’s cracked up to be. Here are some reasons why not to waste your time on the common and some canny alternatives.

Rubbish Soundsystems

Being stuck in the heart of Clapham means you’re in the middle of a massive residential area. Residential area equals people with dogs, children, twitching curtains and a massive thirst for pissing on any parade. Call me crazy but these people hate it when their windows are vibrating during afternoon tea. Unfortunately they also pay taxes and actually have a say in how the world is run. So despite the soundsystem probably having tens of thousands of watts bottled up at its disposal, you can probably expect that the local council has it capped to a dreary cesspit tap drip. So the only way you’re going to hear anything of worth is if you’ve camped out inside the bass bin like some free party crusty.

What you need is some grotty warehouse space where you can crank it up a few notches. It just so happens that Eastern Electrics will be holed up in some grotty warehouse space where they will be cranking it up. Eastern Electrics staple Mulletover will be hosting the main room and they’ve got the Mobilee mistress Anja Schneider to headline. A so so DJ headliner in my opinion (great producer not so great DJ). But don’t worry as Damien Lazarus, fresh from recording a new album, has got Anja’s back. Glimpse will also bolster the support with one of his fantastic live sets too.

But what is really hitting the mark is the Need2Soul second room. They have Patrice Scott fresh from riding in on the recent wave of Detroit techno. He’ll be serving up deep techno cuts alongside the purveyor of dark pummelling beats – Ben Klock. These two names alone should be enough to hit this party for the measly £8 that they’re asking for. Instead they decided to chuck in a Claude Von Stroke and a Trevor Jackson in a third and final Resident Advisor room.

Great deal…. Get those tickets from HERE….  whilst you can!

Short DJ sets

On paper it looks great having every conceivable big name DJ on the bill. But the problem with having them play in one afternoon of raving is that the laws of time only permit a DJs set to be shorter than the time it takes to piss out a tinnie of luke warm festival cider. With only a few hours for prime time DJ sets you’re likely to get a Sasha and Digweed set consisting of half a monster prog record played and tweaked between them. Richie Hawtin will be barely through a bass filter drop before his set ends; and Zabiela would have only had half a fumble of an EFX knob before being kicked off.

What you really need is one amazing terrace and five quality DJs for the day. Who else can do that but Secretsundaze. They return to THAT, the site of this year’s opening party. Hopefully any niggles from last time involving sound and turntables will be sorted. If they get blessed with sunshine then the THAT terrace should bring back some of those happy Space/DC-10 terrace memories of yesteryear. There to invigorate happy terrace times will be the man who is all things insect in house – Steve Bug, a firm favourite of the Secretsundaze bunch and now an annual occurrence. With record labels in every pocket, his extensive electronic tastes are sure to ignite Sunday. In support is Doc Scott, one of the old guards of dance and making a much fabled Secretsundaze return. Like riding a bike, once you know how to rock a crowd you never forget and Doc Scott has been doing so for over a decade and a half. Finally on a live tip is the Canadian born Guillaume and The Coutu Dumonts. They’ve released a string of fantastic tracks on uber-cool labels Oslo and Circus Company and they feature heavily in the Secretsundaze sound. Their brand of percussive house should smoothly go down with the SS crowd.

Don’t miss out. Earlybird tickets are still going at RA.

Tourist Clubbers

Photo by Nick Ensing

The weekend is sure to lay prone to thousands of clueless clubbers that have rolled in for the one weekend of their lives. They’ll be lapping up the big beats as they come flying out the speakers like bricks hitting them square between the eyes. They’ll be saving their biggest “whoops” for the one with the hair on the Loreal advert or the other one that had the hot aerobic fitties in his music video. I mean how can you enjoy and dance to the music when you can’t recall when it was released, what label it was on, what mixes it has featured on and who was the assistant engineer in the second breakdown.

What you need is a versatile crowd open to the unheard boundaries of music. Warm tend to get a good crowd in for their underground house shindigs and the Innervisions showcase at Corsica Studios should be a bit of a roadblock, especially when you’ve got Henrik Schwarz, Dixon and Marcus Worgull on the bill. A massive one for the heads!

Get your tickets from RA.

Despite everything I’ve just said, all these recommendations all take place on a Sunday. So if you are heading down to Clapham Common, I guess it would be rude not to check out a bit of Hawtin, Danny Howells and Sasha & Digweed. But don’t say I didn’t warn you!!

DISCLAIMER: I’ve never actually spent an August Bank Holiday weekend on Clapham Common. So everything i’ve said is completely unfounded and might well be complete bullshit.

Geddes and Alex Jones team up on the latest MurMur release for another slice of deep house action. Tubular has some great beats. The only way I can describe them is that they sound like big bubbles that rise up inside a water cooler bottle. Kind of that bassy tubby sound, ya get me? Geddes and Alex Jones then sprinkle a few hi hats and vocal snippets to give you another simple yet hypnotic slice of deep house; however its not Geddes and Alex Jones who are the stars of this show. It’s Lauhaus who turns out a remix which retrofits the hypnotic vocal snippets over a far hookier bassline and shuffling up beat rhythms. I’m pretty sure he’s done something similar on his own productions, but like they say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Tracklist:
1. Tubular
2. Zeiss
3. Tubular (Lauhaus remix)