CLUBS listings
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Name TB-303 Bass Line.
Occupation Little box that makes farty, squelchy noises.
And why are we talking about it? Firstly, it's the piece of kit that put the
acid into house and secondly, with issue
303 of The List, we are honouring the little fella in the same way as
Edinburgh's Pure did a couple of months
back with their 303rd night.
So what is its story? The TB-303 was made by Roland ages ago as an accompaniment for pub musicians,
supposedly to replicate the sound of the
bass guitar. It was however devastatingly bad at this task. Within two years production ceased.
So how did it reach such an exalted
position? The 303 lay gathering dust in
basements and secondhand music
stores until 1986 when young electronic musicians in Detroit and Chicago started
buying them because they were dirt cheap.
But wasn't it still the same dodgy pub
instrument? Yes, and still is. What happened was that the 303 was
. monumentally difficult to work and finding instruction manuals was impossible, so the guys just pressed all the buttons and twiddled the knobs until they got a sound they liked.
So was this the beginning of acid house? Yes indeed. Records like 'Phuture Trax', 'It ls What It Is' and ‘Get Acidic' all pioneered the sound with thousands following on. Jim from Glasgow-based Soma‘s Rejuvination used it on the 'Dr Peter' track and describes it as: 'One of the most useful
boxes Roland ever made.’ Resident Pure
Di Twitch, describes it as 'vitally important to the history of dance music'. The sound is continually used today, but is seen by the 'people in the know' as a bit cliched now. Nevertheless, dance music wouldn't be where it is today without it. TB 303 we salute you.
Who saw you? see page 99
72 THE usr 13 Apr—i May 1997
EDINBURGH FRIDAYS
I Atomic Jam at The Vaults. lOpm—3am. £8. 25 Apr. Monthly. New purist techno night run in association with Sublime. Guests on the opening night are Daz Saund (Voyager) and
Brenda Russell (Deep Space). Tony Work is the resident. The Merry Pranksters host
the back room with C. K. Ray. so expect beats 'n‘ breaks from them. See Hit List. I Barfli at Negociants. 9pm~3am. Free. Frosty and A. J. (alternating)
with cutting-edge swing. rap and hip hop.
I Beatbox at Teviot Row Student Union. 9pm-3am. Students free; guests £1. Latest in dance and chart with hip sounds from past eras.
I Big at The Jaffacake. l lpm—3am. £3 before midnight; £4 after.
Mainstream chart sounds. with excellent promos. free bouncy rides. guzzle guns and Ienty of drinking-related fun.
I B 9 Beat at La Belle Angele. llpm—3am. Band on stage at lam. £7 (£5). 25 Apr. Monthly. Big Beat presents a live set from London‘s eight-piece Push. featuring saxophonist Jacko Peake. who specialise in powerful jazz-dance. Push were originally fronted by Seal and now form an integral part of the Galliano band.
I Cavendish 9pm-3am. £5. Over 25s only. Smart dress. Live bands every week. Sixties and 70s music. Ground floor only.
I Cathouse at The Rocking Horse. llpm—3am. £3 (£2 with flyer). Price includes entry to Katch and Voodoo Chile. Extremer popular night featuring post grun e-Iike rock sounds.
I C. C. B ooms l lpm—3am. Free. The near-legendary free disco downstairs at the gay pub continues to do it seven times a week. playing a party mix of commercial dance and hi-energy house. Full to bursting at weekends.
I Century 2000 I lpm—3am. £5. ()ver 18s. Commercial dance music under Scotland's most expensive lights. No ripped jeans. steel toe-caps or
trainers.
I Glitch at Wilkie House. 10.30pm—3am. £7 (£5). l8 Apr. Fortnightly. Daz Quayle (aka Scarletron) joins Steve Glencross at this Sativa-type techno club. Watch out for the customised lighting. exclusive to Glitch. I Go Native at The Gallery. 10.30pm—3am. Price the. 2‘) Apr. Monthly. Yip Yap’s Gareth Sominerville hosts this night of garage and house. He‘s joined by one of the capital‘s up and coming DJ s.
I Juice at Teviot Row Student Union. 9pm—3am. Students free. guests £ l. Mellow hip hop. acid jazz and funky tunes.
I Katch at The Rocking Horse.
l lpm—3am. £3 (£2 with l‘lyer). Price includes entry to Cathouse and Voodoo Chile. Eighties and 90s indie dance.
I The Lane at The Lane. llpm—3am. £3 before midnight; £5 after; members free. Residents Jon Flowers and Kev McGinley with a wide dance-based playlist.
I Kerplunk at Club Mercado. llpm—3am. £5. 25 Apr. Fortnightly. A new night from Trendy Wendy (Tackno) teaming up with Grandmaster Fly and inviting you to tune in. turn on and get down with the super sounds of the 70s. I Lift at Wilkie House. l().3()pni—3am. £7 (£5). 25 Apr. Fortnightly.
Euan and Paul control a mixed crowd of up-for-it students. crusties and dressed-up clubbers at this two~year-old techno and acid club. Watch out for guests.
I The Living Room 9pm—Ittltt. Free. The Living Room presents Andrew Moisey. Dillon and Christopher Wright with a freestyle mix of dance sounds. Pre-club.
I Manga at La Belle Angele.
l lpm-3am. £5 members; £7 non- members. Special offer of£l offeach price before midnight. Membership available on the night. l8 Apr. Fortnightly. Monster drum 'n' bass action with Smokey Joe and MC Cisco joining
residents Kid and G-Mac. Expect plenty of ruff. party-stylejump up action from the guests who feature on the new No Smoking Records compilation album. Aphrodite returns in May. and look out for a Manga-associated night in June featuring Roni Size's Reprazent live. See Hit List.
I Marley's Reggae Klub at Cavendish. l0pm-3am. £4. The city‘s longest-running reggae night situated on the middle floor of Cavendish.
I Music For The Masses at ()ddfellows. 8.30pin—Iam. Free. Local DJs mix old classics with modern chart and student faves.
I Planet Earth at The Citrus. llpni—3ani. £4. Happy Hour cocktails llpm—midnight. New Romantics. punks. glam rockers and disco freaks relive the era others try to forget.
I Po Na Na I lpm—3am. Free before llpm; £2 after. Weekly. Busy night of old and new skool grooves.
I Pure at The Venue. l().3()pm—3ani. £4 members; £6 non-members. Prices vary when guests appear. One of the UK's most respected house and techno clubs with residents Twitch. Brainstonn. Dribbler and The Bill and regular quality guests. I Purple Moon at Moray House. llpm—3ain. £6 (£5 students; £4 members). l8 Apr. Fortnightly. Acid trance and tribal techno.
I Reaction at The Subway. l lpm—3am. £2 (free for students with
matriculation card). Weekly mix ofchart. dance and classic disco.
I Roadrunner at Potterrow Student Union. 9pm—2ani. £l students: £2 guests. Happy Hour ‘).3()—l().3()pm. After-school music for independent kids and occasional exciting happenings upstairs.
I Rumbeando at Cafe Graffiti. ll).3()pm—2am. £5 (£4). l8 Apr. Monthly. A highly recommended collaboration between the live music of Salsa Celtica and the DJs from Club Latino. housed in an excellent venue.
I Scooter at The Gallery (formerly the 369 Gallery). l lpm—3am. £4. 25 Apr. Fortnightly. Indie for the new heat generation on the ground floor: 60s and early 70s sounds upstairs.
I Seen at The Honeyc‘oinb. l().3()pm—3am. £7 members; £8 non- members. l8 Apr. Monthly. Seen proudly present DJ Jazzy Jay (Soul Sonic Force. Def Jam etc) at their successful hip hop night. Eh? Wun supports. while Jode and Frosty go for beats. rhymes and life through the back. This is Jay's only UK date outside London. See Hit List.
I Solefusion at The Honeycomb. l().3()pm—3am. £6. 25 Apr. Monthly. Residents night with Craig Smith and Mikey Stirton dropping a real garage. quality house vibe in the main room and The Cricket Club doing an old skool thing through the back. Phil Asher guests in June.
I Sublime at The Vaults. l()..‘i()pm--3ani. £6 members: £8 non-meiiibers. Membership available on the night. IS Apr. Fortnightly. (.iermany's Paul Van l)yk guests at this on-forin trance night. Van l)yk has been I)Jing in Germany and around the world for almost a decade. His current base is the li-Werk in Berlin where he can be found hosting montth parties with the likes of Darren limerson. Sasha. Carl Cox and John Digweed. He also has a residency at Tresor. l)Jing apart. he is respected for his productions and his remixes. most notably reworking the likes of New ()rder. Sven \"ath. BT and Tori Amos. As for Sublime. the dancelloor atmosphere is still something to behold thanks to the club‘s superb residents ldge and Kev Wright.
I T.F.I.F. at Cltib Mercado. 4~ llipm.
Free. Friday nights have changed forever thanks to Happy Hour 5—6.3(lpm. £l drinks. £l() bottles ofcliampagne and great. nostalgic music courtesy of Trendy Wendy.
. VOOdOO ill The Rtic‘ls'lllg Iltil'sc‘. llpm—3am. £3 (£2 with t‘lyerl. Price includes entry to Cathouse and Katch. Full of lovely boys (and girls) headbanging to classic heavy metal.
H it List The best Edinburgh club nights this fortnight.
Manga Manga continues its mission to give Edinburgh the finest in drum 'n' bass sounds. This fortnight, G-Mac and Kid are joined by Smokey Joe and MC Cisco, who specialise in a party, hip hop- based jump up style. La Belle Ange/e, Fri 18 Apr.
Tribal Funktion Chicago's Gene Farris is the main guest at this long-running American house night. This club offers quality drum 'n’ bass and hip hop. One of Edinburgh’s best. The Venue, Sat26 Apr.
Sakrade The enigmatic Sakrade welcomes Detroit's Kenny Larkin to Ross Keddie’s main room. Larkin plays a very funky US house and techno mix which ought to go down well. Garage through the back with Yogi Haughton and Mikey Stirton. The Honeycomb, Sat 26 Apr.
Atomic Jam First night for this Birmingham based techno club. Guests are Daz Saund and Brenda Russell. The Vaults Fri 25 Apr.
Seen The legendry Bronx pioneer Jazzy lay (Soul Sonic Force, Def Jam) makes an exclusive appearance at Seen. Expect the hip hop community to be out in force. The Honeycomb Fri 18 Apr.
EDINBURGH SATURDAYS
I Altered Beats at Henry's Cellar Bar. l().3(lpm—3am. £4 (£3). 1‘) Apr. Various old and new skool sounds with a hip hop edge.
I Baby Fox at La Belle Angele. 7.30pm. l‘) Apr. Cancelled.
I Burger Queen at (‘lub Mercado.
llpm 4am. £8 (£7). 26 Apr. l-‘ortniglitly Residents are Craig. Iluggy and Stella Superstar at this. one of lidinburgh‘s most famous clubs. .‘sltisic-wise. it‘s rampant. pumping party house all the way: Stella warms it tip. lluggy pumps it tip and Craig
adds an anthemic finish. Dress—wise.
you'll have to make aii extra effort to get
in. Some people loye it. some hate it. . liither way. it is one of the few clubs that
can almost always batik on being busy. I The Cavendish ‘)pni— 3am. £5. Over 25s only. Smart dress. Live bands every week.
- I Century 2000 llpiii giant. £5. See
Fridays.
I Club Bezique at titliiiburgh Rock Cafe. l|piii—-3;iiii. £5 in advance from Saki (k Flynn Barbershop. I l liast Fountainbridge: £6 on the door. 26 Apr. Monthly. An easy-going. fun-loving celebration of all things 80s with plenty of dressing tip and sliamelessness. Dis are few ‘Silk' Singleton. Alphonse ‘\\'ikki \Vikki' Parker and (iary ‘I.ager' Costello.
It's hip to be square. apparently. Best to
get kitted out as kitschly as possible. If you don't. you’ll be iii the minority.