Anyone with a copy of Vitalic‘s mighty electro-house behemoth ‘Poney‘ in their collection will no doubt have been straight out to get tickets when they saw this show announced. But the man called Vitalic is more than just a one-track wonder - no matter how good the track - as the new album OK Cowboy proves.
Who is he really?
Which led to?
And where did he go from there?
36 THE LIST ~~ ‘
CARL COX 8- FRIENDS
The Barrowland. Glasgow, Sat 30 Apr
What more is there to say about Carl Cox? He‘s a true legend, both on and off the decks, and widely regarded as the friendly face of techno. He pioneered the three- deck mix and is one of techno‘s true ambassadors. People say he's the nicest man in dance and I‘m happy to report it‘s true — he‘s a bloody nice bloke. There is a passion and commitment to the scene and creating good times that can feel sorely lacking in many of his peers.
‘FACT was Future Alliance of Communication and Technology, everything that stood for moving forward with the future with music,‘ he explains from his Majorca home (one of several across the globe) of his groundbreaking mix album released in 1995. ‘In a sense it‘s perhaps the only seminal thing I‘ll ever do in my life, but I‘m working hard With my own music to be equally as accepted as that.‘
But we‘re not here to go over past glories, and anyone who has seen the master technician knows his
PROGRESSION The Liquid Room. Edinburgh, Sat 30 April
DJ skills are unsurpassable. But he‘s playing the Barrowlands with a new concept, mixing his DJ dexterity with live vocals (including Onnalee from Reprazent and ex-Republica singer Saffron), musicians, dancers and a full-on audio-visual experience. Half live gig, half club night. ‘I made this record [forthcoming album Second Sign] now here‘s a performance of that record. Here's the person who sang it, or who played guitar or there‘s the drummer, so we get to see something at long last. I‘m never going to do a completely live show because I‘m a DJ and everything I do is DJ-led. But there‘s nothing to stop me introducing more live elements to my show,‘ he says.
The record sounds like a new branch in Cox‘s talent. taking in everything from techno to ‘punk guitar‘. And it’s invigorating to chat to a DJ so in love with what he does. ‘I haven‘t changed my attitude to the scene at all,‘ he says. “There‘s all this talk about it dying and DJs falling by the wayside, but I just haven‘t seen it. People are still making some outstanding records. I think the scene‘s at a really good place at the moment.‘
(Henry Northmore)
Tom Middleton