Justus Kbhncke * ' _.,', .- “$33. '
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‘I JUST LIKE THE WORD WHOREHOUSE’
David Pollock guides us through Twitch and Wilkes’ world of microhouse and glitch techno at the BLACK RABBIT WHOREHOUSE.
i/ari'ely. oyer the course of the last couple of
years. the Sub (‘luh‘s Sunday night celehration ol
all things special that is ()ptimo (lispaciol has hecome ey'er more accepted hy the mainstream. Not that we‘re suggesting. eyen l‘or men one second. that it is mainstream. Quite the contrary. ll‘ any cluh in the country pt'olcsses to maintain such integrity. diy'ersity and commitment to new dancing sounds. we’d line to hear ol‘ it. Then we'll call it a liar to its lace unless we see some damn good ey'idence to the contrary.
It‘s just that ey‘erything l'rom l‘ran/ l5ei‘dinand‘s liey'ered appreciation ol' the cluh in the pages ol Nil/i to Twitch and \Vilkcs‘ eyer-more-iii-demand l)Jing skills -~ supporting the likes of Black Rehel Motorcycle (’luh. Sotilw'ax and the .lon Spencer Blues lixplosion. l‘or example ~ means that ey'eryone knows ahottt it now". Which is why Black Rahhit Whorehouse may well merit description as ‘the underground ()ptimo'. contradiction in terms though that might he.
Twitch agrees with that statement to a certain extent hut he's quick to point out that the music policy is yery different. indulging his and .lonny \Vilkes' loy e ol' (iliteh techno. or — as they’y-e rechristened it — \\'lioi'eliotise.
‘When we started ()ptimo we were hored with the whole house and techno scene.‘ he e\plain.s. 'lt was really stagnant. just in a had place. When you‘ye heard the introduction to one anthem. you‘y‘e pretty much heard the whole thing. But what we did like was a lot ol the techno coming out ol‘ places like (iermany at the time. which was a hit more creatiy'e and interesting. We played a little at ()ptimo. but we didn‘t want to go entirely down that route so we decided to create a
34 THE LIST 1-1—38 At"
separate night where we could indulge this passion. So where ()ptimo‘s a hit more l‘reel'oi'm. Black Rahhit \Vlioi‘eltouse is Very much detined in terms ol' genre.
‘.-\s liar as the name goes. we heard a record hy a (‘anadian artist called :\ls‘lllcll |w ho .coincidently. is playing on the same hill as the ()ptimo l).ls at this month‘s 'l‘t'iptycltl called “Tittle/THINK .Vt'ii' l’i'iii'i'sy. ll's hasically the same thing as house. htit it's heen hastai'dised hy new technologies: more challenging and interesting things happen than in your ayerage house track. So that was an inspiration. htil liiist like the word "Whorehouse" more than any thingf
The reason the semi-regular adyentures ol the \VhorehoUse continue with this large-scale date are special guest appearances l'rom Michael Mayer and Jiistus Kohncke and a link with the (ilasgow International liestiyal ol' ('onteiiiporary Visual .-\rts. \\'hile .Mayer runs the ('ologne-lxised lahel. shop and distrihutors Kompact Records (also the home ol \Vilkes' hand \aumi. Kompact signee ls'ohncke was l‘oi'mei'ly one quarter ot Whirlpool Productions. which made the fantastic cl'osso\CT track 'l-‘rom l)isco to Disco in the late 90s.
'Michael has played the \VhorehoUse hel‘ore.’ says Twitch. 'lle hrings a great party energy. But .ltistus will he hringing a lull liye set with three other people. He's a \cry eccentric character. so we haye no idea it they're musicians or w hat. We wait with hated hreath?‘
Black Rabbit Whorehouse with special guests Michael Mayer and Justus Kohncke is at the Arches, Glasgow, Fri 22 Apr.
list
THE BEST DANCEFLOOR ACTION
Diggin’ Deeper The. "
hack l‘tl‘s’i'lil ott "i't‘s ’Iiesw l
dance t‘eats .mth h it h a ,l_ "i‘lillae anti tl‘ti'l‘. tiiiis the .listi.l' .‘Jeii'igtitesss (its) tile-oh, it l?.t'(1' 1:. The litres f t:,',‘."i,'<r", i" '3') Ant.
Get a Room NI“ a'l i“~tlll.lllll ltiitdi'aiseis are f‘réttiit‘d v ital" This one features tin.- taieiit. at Mellox‘.’ Sol) T‘Jléli’ililltt“, NM fr il'i l-ran/ litifllillilll'i King wt B4,. Saitiha Ya Bahilia and the {illi‘l‘ NOlT gins, Hit/risehijfx i’lote', Glasgow; in 7.") Am.
Numbers and Eskrima lloy'.’ aliotit i‘ytite’iiie pl;i',iiiii ti rare live date? How zil)’;lli i llillO'.'aTl‘.‘(3 (:lti'tis (mining together to celebrate.) ilou‘.’ about that? Glasgow Smool of Art. (Ei'gisgr Fri l5 Apr.
Outer Drive Bill, V‘Jooils and Ash host this great night with “.Ui‘. special guest Theo Parrish. It's a fine party at the liest of times. and this is the liest 0t tiiries. Sir/i C/iih. G/risgov.». / n 7."; Apr,
Death Disco lllf3,",’(-; oiil; gone and polled out all of the stops. Dal/Ki l’lOll‘lfij if; the man with the plan, along with Radiosiax'e. The Arches, Glasgow. Sat it; Apr.
Musotica Another Detroit techno god is in to K(:‘.'lli Saunders/an llleTUTf't’iL need .‘rr: say more”? This man helped invent techno. The i/O/lt/O. Edinburgh, Sat 76 Apr.
Scratch Back again fr'lll‘. another killer DJ producer from the world of hip hop -— none other than Ali Shaheed Mohammad iA Tribe Called Ouesti. Can .‘JC Mix it? Yes .‘re can. The Honey/comb. Edi/inurgh Sat 76 Aer.
Caribou The hand fori’neri,' known as Manitoba ioin those nice folks at Jtlalli' Control txiho broognt us the wonderfi.ill,« twisted Pogo Vogue. The Bongo C/uh, Edinburgh, 7771. 27 Apr.
Club Tromolo ‘~/.'elcome back to the tra,z ladies. gents and Jazz Badgers. This great. and greatly mad. club does its thing at the Arches. Willi live music from Ournn. The Arches. Thu Apr 28.