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LABEL SHOWCASE Fenetik
Glasgow: The Renfrew Ferry, Sat 12 Au .
Glagsgow has always been home to a raft of independent labels, from indie stalwarts Creeping Bent to ultra-credible dance imprint Under The Counter. One of the more recent additions to this healthy climate is Fenetik, which has built quite a reputation among fans of breaks, beats and jazz-inflected house-not-house since its inception in 1998, thanks to a slow and steady commitment to quality over quantity. This week, the Soma- affiliated set-up is hosting a party on the Renfrew Ferry with Mo’ Wax's James Lavelle headlining, support from Fenetik founder Paul Cawley and a live set from Sidewinder.
’l’ve been with Fenetik basically since it started,’ says Alan Bryden, the man behind Sidewinder, ’and there isn't really another label like it. In some ways it's a label like Pork in Hull. Anybody who runs a record label outside London does have to be fiercely independent, and you have to do your own thing, because the London media are only interested in what they see as cool. Fenetik have good connections with Fat City and Grand Central - they've been really supportive about things we've done — basically, the best reactions we've had have been from other labels that aren't in London.‘
As for Sidewinder in performance, Bryden is keen to experiment with the presentation of live dance music. 'Each time I've played live I’ve tried to do it in a slightly different way,’ he explains, ‘just to experiment a bit. It's a case of, "Let's see if this will work". It could be a complete disaster, or it could be amazing. I think if you
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Sidewinder lays on he jazzy, breaksy house at Fenetik's label showcase
go on with a DAT machine and just dance around, you're just a lazy bastard - I think it’s important to go out there and try. This show is going to be a bit different. I’ve done a couple of gigs this year and they've been me with a sampler and a sequencer, but for this one I've invited a couple of friends along to play with me - a keyboard player who I'm recording with, Steve Urquhart, and a percussionist called Ed Stern. Visually, watching a bloke hunching over a mixing desk isn’t terribly interesting, and I thought it would be more fun to try something new.‘
The Fenetik Boat Party, then, is a chance to catch up with the activities of one of the city's finer labels, and an opportunity to see Sidewinder develop the fusion of hip hop, house and jazz in a live setting.
(Jack Mottram)
Messing about on the river: the Tangent crew live it up for their sixth birthday
were into at the time, so the first couple of years as Tangent we were techno 015, then we started playing a bit more house. Gradually we’ve started playing just about everything.‘
’On the boat you can expect to hear very little house,’ he adds. ’In fact, we’ll be playing funk, disco, soul, electro, dub, a bit of hip hop But it’s blended well, it’s not just a mush mash, it’s very structured. People who aren't very analytical about music might not notice that there's not much house in there.’
This devotion to across-the-board selections is no accident, as Tangent seem to have tired of conventional club
BIRTHDAY BASH
Tangent Love Boat Glasgow: mystery location, Sat 12 Aug
Unusual locations seem to be in vogue this summer, what with The Subbie's country outings and The Unit collective's on-going series of out-of- towners. To celebrate srx years of manning the decks together, Eamonn and Gerard, better known to Glasgow clubbers as Tangent, are set to host a one-off event on a moving boat at a top secret location. The off-kilter locale
is an appropriate choice for the celebration, as Tangent are no strangers to odd choices of venue, from late-night lock-ins at restaurants to their infamous club-on-a-train venture.
The pair are, of course, best known for their three-year stint as resrdents at The Sub Club, but the unconventional settings they have chosen over the years are a better reflection of their musical style. ’Gerard and I met on a bus going to Pure,’ explains Eamonn, ’And that was very much the music we
mores. 'A DJ’s job is to play a selection of music, as long as it’s good, and as long as you can dance to it,’ says Eamonn. ’We feel that house music has been around for too long now, it’s not as happening as it once was. The best a DJ can do these days is to have a look at the past, and all good music is about what has gone down in the past.’
For clubbers after the best of house— not-house in exclusive environs, then, the Tangent Love Boat is not to be missed. (Jack Mottram)
Phactfile
Clubs are really boring, consisting solely of a person playing records in a darkened room. This is just hunky-dory for people who can hear; but what about the punters who can see as well? Jack Mottram looks in the textual mirror.
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That introduction was a touch oblique. What's the sketch? All club promoters are lazy (no offence, like) and, more often than not, devote their time to ensuring the sounds on offer in their club are up to scratch. This prevailing trend ignores the fact that there are five senses available to be assaulted. Beer, sweaty blokes and snogging take care of taste, smell and touch, leaving sight out in the cold.
Get to the point. Sorry. L.|.V.E., which stands for Live Interaudio Visual Entertainment, is a new venture launching this week at the Art School that looks set to redress the balance, with VJs and DJs given equal billing.
Cool, I like looking at things. Jolly good. The video plans for the night are nothing if not ambitious. The visual side of things is to be handled by Noplex Design, Sas, Dr Buano, Hopper and EE-Roy, who will be mixing harsh, scary moving images using the latest digital manipulation tools in a battle of the senses with the DJs.
I’d clean forgotten about the music. What's the plan? The Vic Bar is set to rumble to breaks, hip hop and dub from Semantix, DJ Pioneer, Simon D, Steg G and a live performance from the Digital Dub Panda. Upstairs, meanwhile, is a strictly drum & bass affair with Geco, Morphy, Sadam and the gang from down in the bar.
Anything else we should know? Yup. The techy types behind the vision mixing are all set to stream the whole affair around the world via wwwselektacom, so creating an international multimedia virtual club in cyberspace. And enabling the lazier Glasgow punter access to the whole shebang from their living room.
5;; LI. V.E., Glasgow School Of Art, Fri 7 7 Aug.
10—3 Aug 2000 rue usr 27