But if you can bare the cold, especially up north, then Manchester has yet another surprise for you – Luciano. The cheeky chappy Chilean is back once again and here to smash out a five hour set encompassing house and techno with a good dash of South American soulfulness. We saw him last weekend at fabric and he just tore the place up with full on party tunes. A packed out warehouse project is bound to have a similar if not better electric atmosphere. He’s got fellow Cadenza friends Rhadoo, Pedro and Alex Picone joining him. Definitely worth baring the cold for.

On to Saturday and we have two major options. First is fun time disco from the Disco Bloodbath folks again. They’re back at the Bocking Street warehouse with a certain Serge Santiago in tow, he’s going to be showcasing is new live act Retro/Grade. If that’s not enough Serge is going to hit the decks with Retro/Grade partner Ben Rymer, and of course it would be a Disco Bloodbath if it weren’t for their very reliable resident DJs. Definitely get down to this if you can, it’s a great space and the last one was laser focused fun.

Option two for Saturday night is something a bit deeper. Those Need2Soul folk have pitched up a tent at new venue The Camp in Old Street. Good things have been said about the space from the Sud Electronic nights who’ve already had a few good parties in their basement. On the bill is the ever delightful Ame who can just do no wrong. The last few sets I’ve heard from the duo have been nothing short of fantastic and I’d expect them to deliver the same this Saturday. Marcus Worgull is in toe to provide some Innervisions support whilst in the other room disco funksters Linkwood and House of Traps keep the other room entertained… Expect everything from house, disco and funk to jazz, techno and hip hop. Sure to be an interesting mêlée of musical fascination.

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!

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?

It’s pretty easy to stay stuck on this fair island called London. It seems everything you could possibly need is right here within the confines of our concrete perimeter, the M25. But believe it or not life does exist beyond those walls. For the last four years, during the autumn and winter months, Manchester has been the clubbing destination of the North. The reason – a grotty car park found in the arches of Manchester’s Piccadilly train station where the Warehouse Project setup shop to host some of the strongest nights past the Watford Gap service station.

Once again the team have put together another great run of nights starting from the end of September and running every weekend through till New Years Day. Last year we had great fun at the Cocoon night where Tobi Neumann absolutely smashed the main room after Sven Vath and the Ar:Pi:Ar boys completely stamped their mark on the back room. We also heard great reports about the Minus night with Richie Hawtin and the Resident Advisor night with Luciano and John Digweed.

So what’s hot for this year season? We think the following will be worth checking out.

Saturday 17th October
Minus with Richie Hawtin and Magda

The first big party for us has to be the Minus night. Richie has been on fire recently with a stellar set at Sonar over the summer so it will be great to catch him on his own in the car park. Magda as ever will no doubt provide some solid support along with minimal pushers Ambivalent and Hobo. To add an extra bit of spice Ali Dermirel is on hand to wow the crowd with his ever stunning visuals. The last Minus night there was a road block event so better get your tickets now!

Buy Tickets For MINUS With RICHIE HAWTIN

Saturday 7th November
Resident Advisor with Dubfire

Resident Advisor, another regular on the Warehouse Project party calendar, hosts “Deep Disher gone back to his techno roots” Dubfire alongside Swedish techno stalwart Adam Beyer and wonkster Claude Von Stroke. But its not the headliners we’re excited about… Its all about the support. Jamie Jones is on the bill pushing his forthcoming album. He recently amazed us with a fantastic set at Superfreq the other week. Then there is Seth Troxler who is just doing the business all over the place with his eclectic quirky house sounds. In addition to that there is the Motor City Drum Ensemble too, whose RA podcast earlier this year had us toe tapping on public transport for weeks.

Buy Tickets for THE RESIDENT ADVISOR PARTY with DUBFIRE

Friday 20th November
Cocoon with Loco Dice and DJ Sneak

Later on in November Cocoon are back to the Warehouse Project with one of their favourites – Loco Dice. His 300 party completely stormed London with rave reviews coming from all corners. I’m sure he’ll deliver the goods at the Warehouse Project too. Also on the bill is Chicago’s DJ Sneak, a fantastic booking as he is probably one of the greatest DJs to grace the planet in my humble opinion. Once again the support for this night is astronomical – Minilogue live, Zip, Johnny D and Onur Ozer?!?!?! Yes Yes Yes! Do not hesitate..

Buy Tickets for COCOON with LOCO DICE and DJ SNEAK

Friday 4th December
Cadenza Records with Luciano

Finally in the run up to Christmas, Luciano will be popping into the car park for a massive five hour set. The last time he played he apparently blew the doors off the place rolling through his trademark South American influenced house and techno.I’d expect him to do something similar on the Cadenza night. Failing that his moustache will definitely school the kids in how to wear an ironic tache. Luciano will be bringing along a few label friends in the form of Rhadoo, Pedro and Alex Picone. Not a bad way to warm up for the onslaught of festive partying.

Buy Tickets for CADENZA RECORDS with LUCIANO

So there you have it. Four perfectly good reasons to leave London for at least a night. If you book your train tickets from Virgin now you can get up there for as little as £16. Don’t worry about a hotel as the night runs right through to when the trains start up again. I’ve done it a few times now…. It’s certainly character building.

Well that’s another year over. Where did the time go? For us it was mostly spent in darkened rooms listening to repetitive electronic music in and around London with the occasional trip to another city or abroad. It probably explains why this look back on 2008 is a hazy one at best. I believe we left most of our brain cells splattered across Fabric’s dancefloor. But we’ve managed to piece together the fractured pieces of memory to come up with this half rate look back at 2008. Enjoy )

One of the main stories of 2008 has to be the shake up of London clubs. 2008 kicked off on a sombre note with the closure of The Cross/Key/Canvas complex in Kings Cross. Apparently Kings Cross needed some regeneration to make it look good for the incoming French on the EuroStar. As a double whammy Turnmills also decided to close their doors at the end of January, due to the lease holders deciding their central London location would make much more money as flats and offices rather than from weekends of debauchery. They’re right, but even though Turnmills had pretty much run its course pushing a dying Trance night and a load of “electro house” nights with asymmetrical haircuts it was still a shock losing two stalwarts of the scene.

But all was not lost as around the same time Fabric finally confirmed that they were building a super club called matter at the O2 arena and the once Medicine Bar in Old Street reopened as East Village. So maybe things weren’t going to be so bad? It wasn’t until the End decided they would no longer open their doors after Jan ’09 and everyone’s favourite free hangout T-Bar were made homeless mid way through December, another massive blow for the London clubbing community.

So for a period of what seemed like vital organs were carelessly being ripped out, on reflection it was perhaps a much needed shake-up of the scene to reignite what had long been a tired machine. This year we’ve seen more “secret location” parties which may not have been that secret but the warehouses, car parks and outdoor spaces they occupied were definitely refreshing. Secretsundaze and Mulletover both had great parties on all over the place. There has also been a migration to new locations outside of central London like the ever increasing number of parties in Dalston utilising dingy but charming basements and back rooms such as Visions Video Bar (We took a trip there recently for Disco BloodBath and it was a fantastic party). Then there’s Elephant and Castle re-stamping their claim on London’s nightlife with Corsica Studios and the Coronet Theatre putting their grimy paws back on London clubbers.

In all this we haven’t mentioned Fabric who continued to deliver fantastic Saturday nights. The Minus 10th Birthday comes to mind, although ridiculously overcrowded it was exceedingly good fun as well as all the times they had Villalobos through the door. Even Ministry made a bit of a comeback with their Hi Tek Soul nights.

So it seems all is not lost in London. Further a field the Manchester Warehouse Project saw another successful autumn season at the Store Street car park which we thought was going to be the last year. But since the credit crunch the developers building a hotel next door ran out of money allowing the warehouse to run for one more year! Alas a sparkle in the ever impeding global financial doom! Whilst the warehouse lives on, our old friends Firefly in Nottingham continue their East Midlands party with new edition BedBug. Their free Thursday night shenanigans have seen the likes of Matthew Dear, Alex Smoke and Phil Kieran pass through the narrow Eleven bar doors destroying Friday mornings for students and Nottingham natives alike. Over on the west side of the Midlands in Birmingham, the folks from Below continued to stick two figures up to the vomit laden Broad Street by putting on excellent parties in the Rainbow pub and warehouse out back. Meanwhile down south Brighton struggles on with new club Digital helping Audio supply the small city with quality electronic music.

When we weren’t in the clubs it was highly likely we’d be at a festival. This year like the club scene the UK festival season had a bit of a shake up. It seems the crowds were disenchanted with the whole ordeal. Too many festivals, extortionate prices and unreliable weather saw the festivals take a knock this year. The biggie being Glastonbury failing to sell out some say due to the hip hop fiasco but more likely the kids voted with their feet for the bigger line-ups at Reading and V. The party still went on and it was said that it may have been the best Glasto for many years. Other festivals however weren’t so lucky, Renaissance’s Wild in the Country and new comer Wax:On Live were both cancelled due to unforeseen financial circumstances leaving many punters frothing at the mouth with anger over refunds.

Then there were the severely pissed on festivals, Bestival was completely washed out whilst EarPipe got pissed on at Field Day which had a solid line-up and a lot to make up for from last year. Unfortunately, the rain meant all the minor teething problems were exacerbated making a lot of the second chancers angry again. Maybe next year eh? Third times a charm n all that? So it’s no surprise this year saw more festival goers going abroad to warmer climes. We were no exception. EarPipe headed back to Barcelona again for Sonar where we enjoyed ourselves so much we wrote three massive posts about it here, here and here. We also headed out to Germany to check out the Techno indoor festival monstrosity Timewarp where every conceivable techno DJ was playing under one roof. It was definitely an event not for the faint hearted lasting over 15 hours.

So that’s what we remembered of the year in clubs, festivals and parties… Next up is the soundtrack to all this…

If we’ve missed anything let us know in the comments section below!

You can catch our review of music in 2008 here.

The 21st sees an old heavyweight come head to head with a new heavyweight. The long time prog purveyor John Digweed heads the bill with relatively new heavyweight Luciano and all his Cadenza chums backing him up. Its sure to be a heavyweight clash. So for your chance to get some ring side seats for this baby, simply answer the question below:

Luciano is the the head honcho for Cadenza, but which label does John Digweed run?

A. Seabed
B. Redrock
C. Bedrock

Send your answer along with your name and location to sublevelsessions@googlemail.com. Compeition closes Thursday 20th November 2008.

So for your chance to win a pair of tickets to the Exhibitionist night at the Warehouse Project on 1st Nov 2008. Just answer the simple question below:

Which Detroit collective was Jeff Mills once a part of?
A. French Resistance
B. Underground Resistance
C. Constipation Resistance

Send your answers with your name and address to sublevelsessions@googlemail.com
Competition closes 29th October 2008.

Have you noticed that the evenings have been getting darker a little earlier? You might put that down to winter. Actually the truth is the Berlin juggernaut label Minus is making its way to town. The UK leg of their Contakt tour will be rolling into London on the 18^th Oct but not before a quick Minus showcase at the Manchester Warehouse Project on the 17^th which I hasten to add we have a delightful competition to win a pair of tickets!

But first let’s talk about Contakt in London. On Saturday 18^th October, Richie Hawtin and friends will take over the tunnels of SE One to wow your senses in an orgy of twiste, abstract techno whilst an invigorating, immersive visual display of lights and images will suck you into the dark world of Minus. Together, Richie Hawtin, Magda, Troy Pierce, Marc Houle, Hearththrob and Gaiser will collectively build a journey of music whilst Ali Demirel will interpret this into a visual extravaganza so your eyes don’t feel too left out. It’s quite a spectacle. Those that were at Field Day this year would have seen a glimpse of the visuals to be expected, whilst anyone that made it to Sonar would have seen the whole show in motion. EarPipe saw both and we can say it is visually stunning as the pictures in this post prove. Some of the best visuals we’ve seen at an event. As for the music, expect all kinds of techno and house with each of the djs inputting their mark on things. With their collective minds the possibilities are endless. Tickets are still going at Phonica and on the door, so better get in there early as this one is definitely a road block!

Now on to Manchester. Before their London show, Hawtin along with Troy Pierce, Gaiser and Barem will be commanding the northern masses. This won’t be a full blown Contakt show but it sure will be entertaining. It will be the first time that Hawtin has played the Warehouse in three years it has been going so it is sure to be something special. To make it even better, for one night only those folks from WHP have managed to smooth talk the environmental officers of Manchester to let them stay open till 7am!!!!

As attendees of that infamous ambassador’s party would say, Excellente!

So, how does one win a pair of tickets to Minus Presents… at the Manchester Warehouse Project on the 17^th October? All you need to do is answer the simple question below:

Where did EarPipe catch the Contakt show this summer?

Send your answer along with your name and location to sublevelsessions@googlemail.com
Competition closes on the 12th October 2008

Just a quick note to let you know those folks in Manchester are at it again. The third season of the Warehouse Project sees them take over the Store Street car park for the final time. For twelve chilly winter weeks you can see the finest lineups ever to hit Manchester in a stunning urban and underground setting. Co Founder Sam Kandel says,

“The programme for this years series is, we think, the best yet. It has been gradually pieced together since last October. This year there will be a second more intimate room of music, which has allowed us to go even deeper with the line-ups, putting on some really underground breaking talent in addition to the huge main room action you are used to. The preparation for the annual series has become a genuine labour of love for all involved – now everything is set its time to get moving… Welcome back to The Warehouse.”

So which nights are EarPipe looking forward to? Well the first one on our radar has to be the Minus Presents night on the 17^th October. You would have thought we’d be sick of Richie and his label mates. But no we keep going back for more. Friday will see the Minus gang roll into Manchester ahead of their main Contakt event in London. Support comes from Troy Pierce, Gaiser and Barem. This will no doubt be a road block event, so get your tickets early!

The next big one has to be the Exhibitionist night on 1^st November. The alien from Detroit returns to pummel the north with his space aged techno. Joining Jeff Mills will be three of the hottest heads in house music, Ewan Pearson, Ame and Dixon. Definitely not one to be missed.

Sven Vath does his usual stop off with his Cocoon night on 14^th November. He’s joined by Extrawelt and Tobi Neumann, both hot property right now, especially after Tobi’s recent Secretsundaze CD release. They’ve also got all three of those Romanians doing the business right now. Raresh, Rhadoo and Pedro will be playing for six hours as the RPR sound system in the intimate backroom.

Finally if Novembers at home don’t mean anything to you the 21^st November sees Resident Advisor host John Digweed and Luciano. The cheeky Chilean has also called in support from his label buddies Thomas Melchior, Alejandro Vivanco and Reboot.

So there the nights we think might be a bit alright. Obviously there are the other twenty odd nights which also look fantastic, there just isn’t enough room on these pages.

Don’t forget to check back for competitions to win free tickets to some of the nights we’ve picked out… .Viva Manchester, Viva Warehouse Project!

www.thewarehouseproject.com