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NEW NIGHT FOOT THERAPY Alaska, Glasgow, Fri 7 Sep.
Foot Therapy is the latest venture from Glasgow house music stalwart Laurence Hughes. This time, the man behind Traxx aims to combine the quality house he’s known for with a more diverse selection for what is, effectively, two clubs for the price of one.
‘The idea is to promote people, record labels, club nights around the world that I think deserve to be promoted, music I think needs to be heard,’ explains Hughes. ‘The upstairs room at Alaska is house- oriented, and when I say that, I don’t want to put too many boundaries on it - we’re going to have guests playing classic disco in amongst the house, garage and techno. There’s quality across the spectrum of house music and there’s regularly going to be guests playing alongside me. The first night it’s Common Factor, then it’s the likes of DJ Deep from Paris, Cosmo and Diesel from X-Press 2. They’re not necessarily the most hyped-up people, but they’re people we know are quality, that we respect and we know are going to do the job.’
High calibre guests are all well and good, but Glasgow isn’t exactly short on nightclubs specialising in house music, which is where the back room comes in. ‘One of the main things we want to do is put as much emphasis on downstairs as upstairs,’ says Hughes. ‘We really didn’t want the second room to be an afterthought. It’s a place for the guests to play whatever they want. We're happy to just trust in their
knowledge and experience, which is why we’ve got the likes of Bob Jones, who’s basically the don of soul and funk in the UK. For the most part it’ll be more down- tempo, but that can mean hip hop, Latin, disco, whatever. It’s a bit of a cliché, but we’re aiming to educate as well as entertain. Bob Jones, who’s playing downstairs on the launch night, will attract the Northern Soul people, but a new crowd will get to hear what he has to play after coming for the music that’s on in the
main room.’
UK GARAGE LUSCIOUS Club Java, Edinburgh, Fri 7 Sep.
When you think of UK garage you may think of sarf Londoners, dripping in crass gold jewellery and cruising about with the top down. You may think of the Dreem Teem. You may even think of Ayia Napa . . . but you don't really think of Edinburgh, and there‘s a reason for that —- until May, there wasn't a two-step night anywhere in the city.
R88 in general hasn't had an easy ride in Scotland's capital. The Mambo Club keeps keepin' on. but the resurrected Streetlife was only able to manage a short run at The Honeycomb. Philip Murphy, promoter of luscious. is confident about his night's chances. ‘If you look at record and (LI) sales in Scotland,‘ he says. “people buy a hell of a lot of garage
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Chicago’s Nick Calingaert aka Common Factor
In short, Foot Therapy looks set to be a night aimed squarely at music lovers, regardless of preference and, by the sound of it, Hughes is aiming to create his dream club. ‘I’m really excited by it myself — in the upstairs room it’s going to be quality within a certain framework, but downstairs it really will be ‘anything goes’. I’m concentrating on getting the environment and the atmosphere exactly right. I’m really trying to make it the club that I would want to go to as a clubber.’ (Jack Mottram)
records. T here's no re; son why people shouldn't come. We had 250 people at both of our first two nights, and that number is going to mushroom as more people hear about it.‘
Murphy is putting his money where his mouth is this month, as Luscious moves from a monthly slot to a fortnightly residency at Club Java. “It's a really good venue and that helps the night. .Java's got a tremendous PA and it's an old chapel designed to echo so the whole place really vibrates when we get things going.‘
The tunes start off on a UK garage tip, before getting funkier as the night builds to a close. They come courtesy of Ayia Napa veteran [)J Innovator (aka Tony Belanca) and DJ Dan .J. With guests planned for future dates. Flying them up from England won't be the night's only transport problem. 'Where we are Is great for people in l erth or
l—’ortobello,' explains Murphy 'liut rt can hard to get people from the centre of town.' Consequently, if you get a cab front the centre. the club wrll refund the cost. they seem to haxe everythrng covered. (.Jarnes Smart)
The latest club news...
archaos“
ARCHAOS, THE GLASGOW Queen Street club venue has recently been refurbished and will re-launch with a new look this Friday (7 September). New lighting, sound, flooring and furnishings have all been installed and Scottish superclub Colours have come on board to program the venue’s Friday and Saturday nights. This will of course mean guest DJs a- go-go so if you haven’t had your fill of these at The Arches, you can look forward to Danny Rampling (21 Sep), Jeremy Healy (29 Sep) and the rather famous Roger Sanchez (26 Oct). Regulars can meanwhile rest assured that unbridled student shenanigans will continue on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. See listings for full details on the new line-up.
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REBEL WALTZ, THE LONG- standing deep house pre— club at the City Cafe 2 has now finished. Its host Murray Richardson has re-located the night to Nottingham where it will take up a monthly residency at the Blueprint Club as of Friday, 28 September. Murray would meanwhile like to thank everyone who supported Rebel Waltz during its two and a half year term in Edinburgh.
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