EarPIPE

A Begrudging Weekend Update

Friday, March 26th, 2010 | Event Preview | No Comments

It’s not long until the bank holiday weekend arrives. Most people would be excited… unfortunately I’ve just broken my leg and won’t be getting up to much this weekend or next… So here is my begrudgingly short weekend update.

Hi Tek Soul @ Ministry (Buy Tickets)

It mainly boils down to a US techno face off. In the red corner we have Hi Tek Soul at Ministry. Derrick May returns to his exclusive London residency with Osunlade and Theo Parrish in toe. It’s a massive lineup for the main room sound system. In the other rooms Jim Masters heads up the newly named 103 room with Alex Robotnick, whilst the Micron guys take over the loft with a bit of help from Danny Ketoloco. And this is just the start of what’s to come at Ministry over the next year.

Jeff Mills @ Fabric (Buy Tickets)

In the blue corner however is an equally big titan of Detroit techno – Jeff Mills is making his return to London and Fabric room 1. He hasn’t played room 1 for quite some time, so this is sure to be something special, especially if Mills whips out his 909 for a bit of off the cuff percussion. Aux88 and Craig Richards will provide some worthy support, whilst the folks from Wiggle 16 years on will we slamming on some tech house in room 2.

Lost @ Plastic People (Buy Tickets)

Steve Bicknell continues his Lost residency at Plastic People, where DJs come and play anything that goes. One who does play across the board is Benji B, he’s on to headline the endangered basement this Saturday.

Wish I could be at either of these! Enjoy yourselves silly.

Tags: Alex Celler, Alexander Robotnick, Aux88, Benji B, Craig Richards, Deetron, Derrick May, Eddie Richards, Fabric, Hi Tek Soul, Jeff Mills, Jim Masters, Ketoloco, Lemos, Lost, Luna City Express, Micron, Ministry, Ministry of Sound, Nathan Coles, Osunlade, Plastic People, Steve Bicknell, Theo Parrish, Wiggle

Elastik Trickery/John Rowe – Rig Ma Roll Ep | Single Review

Thursday, May 14th, 2009 | Single Review | No Comments

Its precarious times for the folk of Newcastle as they watch Alan Shearer guide the football team over a tight rope of relegation or survival. If the team does get relegated to the Championship at least the lads can go out on the town and listen to some pretty full on techno if this release by Testin Out records is anything to go by.

Testin Out’s fourth release comes from some of Newcastle’s stalwarts Elastik Trickery and John Rowe. Apparently both acts have been bowling about the North East with the techno sound for sometime. Although I’m a bit naive with the Newcastle techno scene, I just thought they drank brown ale and got semi naked at football matches.

That said Elastik Trickery’s O Beberrao De Tanners is far from semi nakedness on the terraces. It is in fact a pumped up funk fuelled monster. The scatty loops and jittery samples over funk ladened techno beats give this track plenty of energy which wouldn’t see it go a miss in sets from Sims right through to Wiggle. The other track from Elastik Trickery called Ego goes down the noisy electro route. Raw synths whip and whoop over pumped up beats. Some may like it, but it was too rough for EarPipe’s delicate ears.

John Rowe however tones things down a bit. Pigdog has an old school prog vibe to its sound. The driving bassline and subtle percussion send me back to a John Digweed moment circa 2002. And that’s no bad thing. However John Rowe could have slipped in a few more noticeable breaks in there. John’s second track Closed however veers from the linear path of Pigdog. Ballsy beats and basslines have a heavy impact which makes the slight breaks in sound ever more prominent. The fans of the heavy Pryda sound would like this.

Tracklist:
1. Elastik Trickery – O Beberrao De Tanners
2. Elastik Trickery – Ego
3. John Rowe – Pigdog
4. John Rowe – Closed

Tags: Ben Sims, Elastik Trickery, John Rowe, Testin Out, Wiggle