www.list.co.uk/clubs
PREVIEW DRUM & BASS GROOVERIDER Street Knowledge at the Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Thu 18 Dec.
Street Knowledge’s ‘Drum & Bass Legends’ series has served up exactly what it promised with Andy C in September, while part two weighs in with the return of one of drum & bass’ founding fathers Grooverider (aka Raymond Bingham). Grooverider was DJing at the inception
of rave culture back in the late 80s, before dance music splintered into it’s various subgenres. He was key in establishing drum & bass as the force it has become, particularly his Radio 1 show with Fabio and his groundbreaking label Prototype (especially his hugely influential compilation album Prototype Years).
Since then he DJed relentlessly up until 23 November 2007 – a dark day in drum & bass – when Grooverider was arrested and later imprisoned for possession of 2.16 grams of cannabis in Dubai. ‘It was marijuana but it was a very, very small piece. It was just under a joint that was loose in the pocket that had been washed out,’ he explained.
In line with Dubai’s harsh stance on drugs he received a mandatory four year sentence. ‘They don’t have toilets, they have holes in the ground,’ says Bingham, ‘there’s eight people to a cell and they do treat you alright, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just horrible seeing so many people come in for nothing.’
Fortunately he was pardoned in
September this year as part of Ramadan. ‘When it got announced there were people crying and rolling around on the floor. Everybody was excited to finally get out of there.’ It’s great to have him back doing what
he does best. (Henry Northmore)
PREVIEW ELECTRO DOLBY ANOL Cancelled at the Barfly, Glasgow, Fri 19 Dec.
‘It seems like everywhere else cares more about us than Glasgow, especially Europe and London,’ says Graham Peel, one half of Glaswegian DJ and production duo Dolby Anol. He’s laughing, but he’s got a point. In their home city, the pair are known – if they’re known at all – as a quirky electro duo with a party-pleasing reputation and a sometime history of playing in bands (Peel used to be frontman of Flying Matchstick Men, John Baillie Jr is in Dananananaykroyd).
Meanwhile, they’ve been feted by Mixmag and Annie Mac, booked to play some of the continent’s finest underground parties, have recorded on Tigerbeat6’s Tigerbass label and now BackYard, and their in-the-works debut album features contributions from Lola Olafisoye of
Chrome Hoof/Spektrum and Amandah Wilkinson of Operator Please. So Peel can afford to be philosophical: ‘If we moved to London or Berlin we’d just be two of many people doing the same thing, whereas coming from a smaller place makes you stand out. But a lot of people get to the stage where they end up doing well in Glasgow and then are afraid to step outside that safety net’. A healthy balance of home and away is what the pair aim for, so they’ve returned to the promoting game with their bi- monthly night Cancelled at the newly-refurbished Barfly, this fortnight featuring Boys Noize’ Shadow Dancer and Strip Steve. ‘We borrowed a lot of the aesthetic for Cancelled from a club we played in Antwerp called Blast Your Ghetto,’ says Peel, ‘it knows its own style, it’s not pretentious . . . and we’ve got lasers in! There aren’t enough clubs in Glasgow with lasers.’ And with that, we’re sold. (David Pollock)
Clubs PROFILE
Name: Fred Deakin
Also known as: One half of the now defunct Lemon Jelly
Occupation: Successful DJ, music-maker and arty type, Deakin is also Creative Director/Founder of London-based design company Airside. Where is he from? Deakin started his music career while studying in Edinburgh, organising and DJing at a variety of bizarrely- named club nights. After moving to London he formed Lemon Jelly with Nick Franglin in 1998, and the pair went on to release three albums with XL, the second (2002’s Lost Horizons) earning them Mercury Music Prize and Brit Award nominations. Last offering ‘64-’95, guest starring William Shatner, was based entirely around samples from songs released – yep, you guessed it – between 1964 and 1995. Earlier this year, after selling half a million records worldwide, they announced that they would not be working on any new projects as a duo.
What next? Deakin gets even busier. He continues to work with design company Airside, regularly DJs with Tom Middleton at Cosmic Fury and has put out acclaimed solo work in the form of last year’s triple CD boxset The Triptych and 2008’s post-disco compilation Nu Balearica, a Mixmag album of the month.
What might I have heard? Any number of his Lemon Jelly offerings. ‘Nice Weather For Ducks’ was the twosome’s most successful single but many of their tracks were used for TV on such programmes as Jamie’s Kitchen, Spaced and CSI Miami. Any other business? Mumbo Jumbo is a complete musical mix, from funk and hip hop to house and electronica, care of resident disc-spinners Trendy Wendy, Colin Millar and Steve Austin, so Fred Deakin should fit right in. He recently claimed to have whittled down his vinyl collection from 22,000 to 12,000 records and cites a diverse list of musical inspirations, from The Beatles and Todd Terje to Kimya Dawson, The Beastie Boys and De La Soul. Eclectic stuff. (Camilla Pia) ■ Fred Deakin plays Mumbo Jumbo at The Bongo Club, Edinburgh, Sat 13 Dec.
11 Dec 2008–8 Jan 2009 THE LIST 41