The best new nights in town. This month: Weak at the Knees
Residents Perry Louis (Jazz Cafe. Pomt 101, the JazzCotech Dancers)
Guests Ronnie Coldsweat. London funk aficionado and devotee of all things Prince. Cameo and Leroy Burgess. Music policy ‘Jazz’funk. boogie and sOuI. With a touch of straight funk'. Rare groove night Weak at the Knees will. it promises. ‘to bring out the "ooh" in boogie'.
What they say According to promoter and resident DJ Perry Louis: ‘Weak at the Knees has been running for three years now down in London. every month at Salmon Compass in Islington and some Bank Holiday specrals at the Jazz Cafe. I‘m an old- school jazz-funk boy. I used to go to clubs like Royalty. Global Village and The Hundred Club in London round ‘75-'76. Since I started DJing myself about 20 years ago. I‘ve been trying to keep that underground soul, funk and disco style going. Weak at the Knees covers the rare groove period from the early 705 through to about '83—'84. No- one knows enough about it. even though it was a period in which there was a lot happening. which has gone on to influence much of today's mus:c and fashions. We just want peOple to hear this music. and they can decide if they like it or not.‘ What we say As a Jazz Cafe resident for over a decade and Roy Ayers' Current tour DJ. Louis is in a perfect position to educate a Glasgow audience in rare groove. He takes his music to a global audience. and a monthly Paris date for his other club Messin' Around is soon to join a regular residency in Madrid. Having also played Japan. Russia and Poland. this monthly slot in Glasgow is the next step in Louis' mission to keep the global rare groove fires burning. (David Pollock)
I Weak at the Knees. Basura Blanca. Glasgow, Sat 26 Jan.
30 THE LIST 773' sci"
him internationally famous. The track is still remembered as a seminal classic of the Detroit techno era.
Although he hasn’t released a self-produced track since 1993, May’s enduring DJing career has kept him busy, as have various remixes and soundtrack projects (apparently he’s lined up to score next year’s movie adaptation of Tekken). Another recent development is the revival of Transmat, in a link-up with Sony which saw two albums' worth of unreleased early recordings making a belated appearance alongside a retrospective compilation entitled Innovator.
‘A superhero‘s work is never done,’ writes May on his website. ‘Every single performance is my opportunity to show audiences around the world what real techno is.‘ This set of what May calls ‘Hi-Tech-Soul’ will be informed by experience, passion and true innovation.
(David Pollock)
:l v ;i DERRICK MAY
Pressure at the Arches. Glasgow. Fri 25 Jan
‘Trying to save the world from bad music.’ That’s the motto Derrick May lives by these days. Arguably he’s already done that though, given that, alongside his old Belleville, Detroit high school friends Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson, May was one of the fabled ‘Belleville Three‘ who contributed most to the invention of the Detroit techno sound.
During techno’s defining year zero era (circa 1987-88), May, then an enthusiastic young man in his mid-20$, made his reputation as a producer. Influenced by Kraftwerk and Yello, he released ‘Nude Photo' and ‘The Dance’ on his own Transmat label in ‘87. But it was the same year’s ‘Strings of Life‘, released as a 12in under May’s Rhythim is Rhythim alias, which blew up to make
iiiC‘lPU HOUSE ALEX METRIC Sugarbeat at Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Fri 25 Jan.
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