Juan Atkins
lit ‘l lSt
NICKY SIANO
Tramway Glasgow, Fri 29 Apr; Bongo Club, Edinburgh, Sun 1 May
‘Hang on,‘ says Nicky Siano by way of opening our telephone conversation. The next sound is a female voice laying down the vocal for Nicky‘s new track. ‘That was gorgeous, honey, just gorgeous,‘ he tells the voice. He’s right; it‘s a voice oozing with soul. Which is good, because that‘s the way he likes things.
The word ‘legend‘ tends to be chucked about willy nilly, but no one can argue with this man‘s pedigree. He set up New York‘s Gallery club in 1972 at the tender age of 17. Not know the Gallery? Well, it was where Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan cut their DJ teeth and where a certain Grace Jones showcased her talents. You may also have heard of Studio 54? Nicky was there, spinning records among the lunatic excesses of the beautiful people. So can we expect a little dusting of New York glamour at Triptych then? Nicky, what you
JUAN ATKINS/STACEY PULLEN The Venue. Edinburgh, 1 May
going to play for us?
‘If I go to a club and they play the same music for more than 30 minutes, I’m out of there. It’s boring. I’m not playing any of that beep beep beep shit. There’re no lyrics, it’s soulless. I’ll play rock, soul, R&B, house, old records, anything. It’ll be a live happening.’
Eclectic? ‘Definitely. A good DJ has inspiration; they tap into the energy of the crowd, that’s what I do. Anyone who has Cubase or Pro-Tool thinks they're a DJ now. They‘re just plateau DJs; with me the crowd keep climbing the mountain.
‘People ask me why house is dying. Because people are killing it. There’s no soul. Music has become about “Yo bitch, fuck you." There are no positive messages,’ he says and plays a rough version of his new track down the phone to illustrate what he means.
Not a smidge of beep beep beeping comes down the wire, and it’s probably safe to assume there’ll be none this weekend either, just a little slice of Siano soul. (Morag Bruce)
Name Luke Vihert
Musical style lechrnu ,and pretty much everything else you can think oh
Background Drinking out the same Cernwall waters that have ohwously warped Richard 1) ‘Aphex Twrn' Jarnes' rnrnd. Vihert Originally began his musrcal life drumming in a punk band called the Hate Brothers during the 80s. With Acid House's Year Zero in 1988 he JOIDCd the digital revolution, tinkering over samplers and sequencers in hrs hedroorn as a prelude to one of the most eclectic careers in electronic music. Early releases saw him appear on Rephlex Records as Vibert 8. Simmonds wrth the out- and-out techno ol Werrs. while his inaugural releases under the oft returnedto Wagon Christ alias came on the regarded techno imprint RiSing.
Required listening Where to begin? It all really depends which side of Vibert's style you choose to experience. For more of that dubby. sample-heavy hip hop there's Wagon Christ's Ta/ly Ho! For experiments in drum 8 bass. search out some Plug or Amen Andrews. For something different, track down ‘Sprrng Collection. 2000's collaboration With famed steel gurtarrst BJ Cole. and the Moog LP in conjunction wrth Jean Jacques Perrey. Or rust go for the latest. his recent acrd-techno offering YesepH on Warp. Did we mention he likes aliases? Hunt out names like Butler Kiev. Ace of Clubs or Kerrier District on labels such as Ninja Tune. Mo'wax and Cooking Vinyl — they’ve all been touched by the hand of Vibert. Best reference to Vibert in someone else’s song It has to be Kid 606's ‘Luke Vibert Can Kiss My Indie Punk Whiteboy Ass'. which happened to ‘thieve' a sample from Plugs ‘Milrtany Jazz'. We reckon Vroert got the jOkB, though.
(David Pollock)
I Luke Vibert appears as part of Triptych at the Sub Club, Glasgow, Fri 29 Apr; Honeycomb, Edinburgh, Sat 30 Apr.
*1 ,'~;' '. .” " THE LIST 35