CLUBS listings
Phactfile Kile": may and he's funky. Luke Slater “taintede with lim‘Byers. ’
flame Luke Slater.
Age 29. Lives Crawley.
Occupation Prodigious techno producer (aka ‘the unsung hero of British techno'). Past history Had a drum kit as a child, establishing an early fascination with rhythm (he played briefly in a prog rock band, but we won't go into that). Before he got into Chicago house (and later Detroit techno), his big influence was electro.
What else did he do? For a while there in the late 80$ - while he was resident DJ at Tloll in London - he went a bit OTT in the old hedonism department. Then he realised there was more to life than drugs and parties - his son Jay — so he began to concentrate on other things, like setting up Brighton‘s Jelly Bean record shop and making his own music.
Previous form Over the years, he has recorded under various guises, including Clementine on Wax (the first British artist to work for the famous Dutch imprint), Planetary Assault Systems and X-Tront on Peacefrog, Morganistic on Input Neuron and 7th Plain on GPR.
What does his music sound like? it varies from bone-crunching, Jeff Millsostyle techno (Planetary Assault Systems, X- Trent, Clementine), to abstract, home- listening electronica (Morganistic, 7th Plain).
Present activity He's just put out a new album called ~ suitably - Freek Funk (Novamute) under his own name.
What's it like? Ambitious, challenging and very good. It has everything from smooth funky groovers and dark, metallic sounds to blissed out ambient noodlers - interlinked and overlapped by a healthy smattering of electro, trip hop and breakbeat in between.
What he says 'A studio is just boxes - boxes of electronics not saying much. The hardest thing is to make the machines human. You’ve got to make them talk, make them human.‘
I Luke Slater 015 at Normal, Wilkie House, Edinburgh, Fri 28 Nov. His Freek Funk album is out now on Novamute.
78 THE UST 21 Nov—4 Dec 1997
GLASGOW CLUBS: SAT continued
I The Cathouse 10.30pm—3am. £4 (£3.50; £2.50 before 11.30pm). Three floors of rock, grunge. contemporary indie and indie dance. Bit cheesier and more accessible than before. Cue Spice Girls. Drinks promos.
I Classic FM at Fury Murry’s.
l 1pm-3. 15am. £5 (£3). Club classics in the main room with DJs Jim Downie and Sean Webster. Quality indie music from Twister upstairs.
I Club 69 Rocksy’s Basement. 10pm-2.30am. £5. Martin, Wilba and Bam'e of Rub-A-Dub playing the best and deepest from the underground, joined frequently by guests of high standing. Well worth the taxi fare out from Glasgow, but note the midnight curfew. I Club Cubana at The Bedsit. 10pm—2am. £4 (£3). 22 Nov and fortnightly. More Latin sounds by the inimitable DJ Tchico. one of Glasgow‘s hottest clubs of its type. All proceeds to the Scottish Cuba Defence Campaign. I Club Iris at Bennet‘s. 11.30pm-3am. £6 (£4). DJ Sara with a good dancey mix. Drinks romos. Gay.
I Cul e Sac Cul De Sac Bar. 9—1 lpm. Free. Spin-back king Jim Hutchison from Teknotis with hard house and techno. Drinks promos.
I Divine at Glasgow School OfArt (downstairs). lOpm-late. £3.50 (£2.50 Glasgow School Of Art students). Andrew Divine and Hush Puppy with Northern soul, Hammond grooves, bubblegum p0p, wah wah funk, moog power and chemical breakbeats.
I Easy Street at CCA Cafe Bar. 9.30pm—midnight. Free. DJ Gordon Allan with a house/dubby pre-club.
I The Garage lOpm—3am. £6 (£4); £1 off before llpm. An honest-to-goodness top night out with charty dance sounds downstairs from Dave Ross and alternative sounds in the attic.
I Inside Out at The Arches. 10.30pm—4am. £12 (£10). 29 Nov and monthly. Special Club For Life night featuring Brandon Bloke, Darren Stokes. Lawrence Nelson and residents Simon Foy and Zammo.
I Knucklehead at Glasgow School Of Art (upstairs). lOpm—late. £3.50 (£2.50 Glasgow School OfArt students). Underground electronics presented by dem DJs Jilkes and Hatch. Into its fourth year and consolidating itself as the club to hear true funk technology. Freaky dancing actively encouraged.
I Lure at R.G.’s. 8pm—midnight. Free. DJs Ziggy and Bob get housey for a crowd heading off to Archaos and Sub Club. Pre-club.
I Polo Lounge at The P010 Lounge. 10.30pm—3am. £5. Take the choice of the Polo Lounge upstairs. open until 3am. or downstairs for DJ lna with a camp mix of housey faves and anthems. Gay.
I Pure at The Arches. lOpm—late. £10 (£9). 22 Nov only. Another stylishly quirky Pure night with the residents Twitch. Brainstorm Dribbler and The Bill joined by David Holmes doing a Northern Soul set and a live show from Ege Bam Yasi. See Hit list.
I Q-Base at The Queen Margaret Student Union. 10pm—2am. £4 (£3). 22 Nov and fortnightly. New outing for the ever more successful funky techno collective Tangent featuring A-Man and Panic. Drinks promos.
I Reds 11pm—3am. £6 (£5). A packed night specialising in mainstream dance. funk, rap and house. Intimate. smart and friendly.
I Strawberry Fields at Strawberry Fields. 9pm—3am. £5 (£4). Party night with retro sounds.
I Stereo at The Asylum (Caledonian University Student Union). 9pm—2am. £3. Alternative indie night with DJs Rowan and Angela.
I Sub Culture at Sub Club. 10.30pm—5am. £8. Harri and Domenic lord it over the legendary night of nice 'n' groovy. hard hittin‘, funky house in the radically changed Sub Club. 29 Nov, check out Johnny Fiasco (Chicago)
I Tonka at Jet. llpm-3am. £6 (£5). The legendary Tonka returns after a brief absence, fired up and ready to party. Features resident Tonka DJ Colin Walker of New York Alliance fame (Sugarcube Records) plus monthly guests.
I Trash llpm—3am. (£7) £5. House in Room One with DJ Matt, funk in Room Two from Paul N’Jie plus eclectic beats by lnnes in Room Three.
I Triumph at The Tunnel. 10.30pm—3am. £6 (£4). A huge night of Italian and UK house at one of the country’s best looking venues. Colin Tevendale and Steven McCreery take on the main room while Kevin McFarlane offers up a different vibe with a wide mix of soul, funk and dance classics in Room Two. 29 Nov. Liverpool's Cream guest with Dave Seaman, Paul van Dyk. Chad Jackson and Tunnel residents.
I Velvet Rooms 10pm-late. £8 (£4 before midnight). DJ Skud in Room Two with house, garage and club classics. John Lyons in Room One playing mellow hip hop, swingbeat and classic soul.
I Wired at Strathclyde University Student Union (Level 8). lOpm—3am. £2 (£1.50). Dance. indie and 60s. Dn'nks promos.
I Wild at Lime. llpm—3am. £6 (£4 students). Funky dance with DJ Ray. Drinks promos.
GLASGOW SUNDAYS
I 4th Dimension at The Baby Grand. 9pm—midnight. Free. Andy Young plays jazz, Brazilian. soul. fusion and funk. Drinks promos. Pre-club.
I Babaza at Babaza. llpm—3am. £2.
CLUB REVIEW Babaza
Seven ni hts a week, Royal Exchange Square, lasgow.
Clientele Older, dressed up. Atmosphere Depressing.
Music Uninspiring musak.
Bar promos Doubles for singles from 5.30-1030pm. - Admission fee £5 cover charge applies after llpm.
Door policy Smart but casual. Opening times 5.30pm until 3am.
Babaza, a Moroccan-style club aimed at older clubbers, opened on the old site of Club Xchange four weeks ago. Tea and coffee is served to weary shoppers from 5.30pm then, later on in the evening, the club caters to
Garage and swing from Scott and Geoff. Drinks promos.
I Beatworlts at Betty’s Mayonnaise. lOpm—3am. £3. 30 Nov only. Mixture of musical styles featuring Burd Called Ger's hard bangin‘ style. Dribbler from Pure and a Ground Control live act consisting of MC, drum pads. bass guitar and DJ. S ecial light show by Holger.
I Bill & Sen's Flowerpot Men at The Garage (upstairs). llpm—3am. £2 (£1). DJs John and Gavin with indie classics. Drinks promos.
I Bubblelicious at Reds. llpm—3am. £5 (£3). Club classics and a touch of soul plus dn'nks promos.
I 8.0.P. at Fury Murry’s. llpm—3am. £3 (£2). Music your mother would know, from DJ 5 Desperate Dave and Weird Phil. Drinks promos.
I Club Jamaica at The Venue. 10.45pm-3am. £2 (£1). Reggae night from Sweet T playing dub to soul, all with a reggae tinge. Dn'nks promos.
I Club Havana at Trash (cave).
9—1 1pm. Free. DJ Jazz with his regular assortment of quality Latin sounds plus free entry to The Sunday Hang Suite after. All drinks £1.
I Club Zebra at Nice ’n‘ Sleazy (upstairs). 8pm—midnight. Free. Orbitally, Sneaker Pimpsy sort of night. I Code 99 at The Brewery Tap. 7.30pm—midnight. Free. Dub techno pre- club from Andrew Taylor, Richard Nolan. Alan Atkins and Paul.
I Contact High at Nice 'n‘ Sleazy. 8.30pm-midnight. Free. 23 Nov and fortnightly. Northern soul. garage. funk, ska and soundtrax.
I Depth Perception at Bargo.
Jodi Nealon. 25. DJ: ’i'm amazed they let me in with trainers on.‘
those after alcohol and a turn on the dancefloor. Babaza does business seven days a week, but the music offered on each night is in a similar vein. On Fridays, DJ Lex Blackmore, formerly of Archaos, plays a unexciting blend of pop and watered~down funk. it was on such a Friday that my companion and I arrived at the doors of Babaza. After lengthin surveying my friend's trainers, the doorman reluctantly admitted us on to the next stage of gaining entry to the club. Once downstairs, our progress was halted by another doorman. He was none too impressed by my explanation of being there to review the club.
Once we finally managed to negotiate getting into the place, we sank wearin onto very comfortable seating covered in cushions. I bought some extortionately priced beer and placed it on a miniature Moroccan-style table. I took note of the rustic effect yellow walls, the shiny tiles, the lush drapery and the drunken blokes in suits gyrating to 'lungle Boogie' on the undersized dancefIOOr.
The basic layout of Club Xchange has been retained, with the bar situated in the centre of the club, and the seating and dancefloor located around the sides. This layout, when combined with subdued lighting and numerous ethnic style obiet d'art, gives Babaza a claustrophobic feel, despite the fact that it was not
particularly busy.
According to Babaza’s manageress, the club’s design is based on the impressions of someone who was sent to Morocco for a month to ’get a feel for the place'. For some reason, this blatant cultural appropriation appears distasteful.
The whole concept of Babaza seems hideously contrived, from the dinky little candleholders, to the restrictive door policy, to the bland, low level music. It is all so obviously calculated to win over older clubbers looking for a more 'sophisticated' evening out. Whether it will catch on or not is purely a matter of
taste. (Sarah Lowndes)