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THUNDERHEIST
We Are . . . Electric at Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Wed 13 May; Mixed Bizness at Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow. Thu 14 May
Canadian girl-boy electro/rap duo Isis and Grahm Zilla, aka Thunderheist, may not be the first band to owe their existence to the internet, but they've certainly taken digital-age creativity to impressive lengths. The two began as casual MySpace friends, with Isis living in Toronto and Zilla in Montreal, and began collaborating musically only after Zilla accidentally emailed Isis a remix he‘d done for Spank Rock. There followed a lengthy period of firing MP3s back and forth before the pair finally met for the first time - a couple of hours before their first show.
Thunderheist have spent precious little time apart
TECHNO
since then, their burgeoning success and heavy touring schedule fuelled in equal measure by the star quality of frontwoman Isis and their irresistible melding of jacking party-rap with Zilla’s ominous, Moroder-style synth lines. Indeed Isis, a woman who not unreasonably describes herself as ‘the black Kate Moss’ on the track ‘LGB', is the kind of startlingly charismatic talent you can easily imagine transcending temporary underground fame to make a compelling career of her many gifts.
A self-titled debut LP appeared on Big Dada in March, garnering praise every bit as gushing as the heavy blog and magazine coverage already afforded to their frantic live shows. The band themselves warn that the audience “will get wet,’ underlining the point that though Thunderheist once existed as a purely virtual proposition, they're very much flesh and blood now. (Kit Macdonald)
BULLET:DODGE Flying Duck. Glasgow, Sun 3 May
While there's a surplus of techno nights springing up in venues across Glasgow at the moment. Gareth Whitehead believes his new monthly reSidency has an advantage which sets it apart. BulletzDodge is a forum for the artists involved with the Wishaw-based label of the same name, of which Whitehead is the manager.
HaVing preViously worked as a studio engineer for Sonia and been in charge of the speCialist minimal label Edit Select alongside Soma artist Percy X, Whitehead initially set up BulletzDodge as an outlet for his own productions. “The label has been running for around a year and a half now.’ says Whitehead. 'The purpose behind what we do is really Just to promote up and coming electronic artists. specialising in techno, minimal techno and tech-house. We've had some great Support so far. Guys like Laurent Garnier. Ben Sims and Deep Dish have played our tracks out, and a few of them have also charted in the Beatport chart.‘
With the 1 1th BzD release coming up later this month (those issued so far have been Via a combination of Vinyl and download availability). he's branched out in the interim. releaSing muSic he's found online from artists based as far away as Holland and Argentina. 'The label is international,' Whitehead says. ‘but the aim of the club. at the moment, is to celebrate the talent we have here in Glasgow'.
AlongSide Whitehead's live set. the club Will feature guest appearances by ED artists My Evil Twiin and Jan Cree. as well as local guests Define Define of the Art Schools One More Tune night. (DaVid Pollock)
THIS MONTH: VINTAGE VIOLENCE Readout: Long-time friends Anastaziya Violence and Christopher Fast. whose previous night, Fast Punk Club. clocked up five years as one of Edinburgh's finest evenings out before finishing up in January. Guam Billed for the second edition of W are DJ sets from Chrissy from The Gussets. Mike from Sara 8. the Snakes and Lysimachos of Popscure. th0ugh Chris is at pains to stress the informality of the Vintage Violence DJ booking policy: 'lt'll basically just be our friends turning up and playing records.’ Music policy Primal rock'n'roll, 605 pop. post-punk, garage punk. rockabilly and the like. What they say ‘We can't put bands on at the Wee Red Bar at the time of night we'd need to. so we'll be concentrating on having people DJ rather than play live.‘ says Chris. ‘That could turn out to be a good thing. as it means there's nothing to interrupt the dancing. It'll be none too professional and we won't be trying to educate anyone. Think of The Goulag Beat [the erstwhile. anarchic Edinburgh punk party in the basement of Ego] and you've got the general idea.‘ What we say Few track records in Edinburgh clubbing can compare with that of Chris Fast. whose previous venture has been one of a handful of enduringly successful and high- quality nights during a generally unstable period for clubbing in the capital. The combination of his knack for filling a dancefloor and Anastaziya's penchant for glittery. stomping rock nihilism should equal natural fun on a scale worthy of the 1970 John Cale album from which the night takes its name. (Kit Macdonald) I Vintage Violence, the Wee Red Bar. Edinburgh, Fri 8 May.
30 Apr—14 May 2009 m us? 37