Clubs
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‘WE DECIDED TO PLAY WHAT WE LIKED AND SEE WHAT HAPPENED’ Hitlist THE BEST DANCEFLOOR ACTION*
Derrick Carter
✽✽ Pulse Deep resonating techno, tinged with electro and house rhythms, from Sweden’s Samuel L Sessions (pictured). The GRV, Edinburgh, Fri 9 Oct. ✽✽ Devil Disco Club A cutting edge take on the discotheque format from those nice chaps at Trouble, with a live set from special guests X-Lion Tamer. The Bongo Club, Edinburgh, Fri 9 Oct. ✽✽ Mudhoney Aftershow Party Keep the scuzz rock party going with a night of grunge rock classics plus live entertainment from Hippocampus, Hosemox, Who By Gun and Captain Pap. Henry’s Cellar Bar, Edinburgh, Fri 9 Oct. ✽✽ Telefunken Fifth birthday with special guest Derrick Carter. Result. Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Fri 9 Oct. ✽✽ The B^stard Dancehall Kinky Afro’s still warm in its grave, and already its host Mr Mafro is welcoming Andrew Weatherall to this new night. Stereo, Glasgow, Fri 16 Oct. ✽✽ Pest Control Records First Birthday The local boutique electronic label celebrates with Marco Passarani, Dan Monox and The Wasp. The Universal, Glasgow, Fri 16 Oct. ✽✽ Sensu Is 5: Part One The techno club celebrates the first half of its half decade with Michael Mayer. Sub Club, Glasgow, Fri 16 Oct. ✽✽ Mount Heart Attack/Boogie Pickers Two new nights for the first weekend at this debuting club where the Twisted Wheel used to be. Le Cheetah, Glasgow, Fri 16 & Sat 17 Oct. ✽✽ Numbers The official launch party for Hudson Mohawke’s debut album Butter. See feature page 30. Stereo, Glasgow, Sat 17 Oct. ✽✽ Ultragroove Tenth birthday special with Joey Negro, Al Kent and The Blessings. Result (again!). Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Sat 17 Oct. 8–22 Oct 2009 THE LIST 39
The housing market With Ultragroove reaching its tenth birthday and Telefunken celebrating five glorious years, David Pollock looks at the state of house nights in the capital
T here are few people working in the clubbing world who would look you in the eye and honestly tell you that the last year hasn’t been a tough one. The fact that attendances have been fluctuating for one reason or another is is impossible to ignore. Yet Ultragroove and Telefunken also have reason to celebrate this fortnight, and their collective attitude is that tough times call for even more determination to carry on the party.
Between them they’re providing Edinburgh with three of its biggest house parties of the year in October. First of all, Telefunken’s fifth birthday celebration begins with a guest appearance by pillar of the Chicago house sound Derrick Carter, and then a week later the city’s most iconic house night Ultragroove will celebrate a whole decade in business. ‘Joey Negro’s a great DJ with a great heritage,’ says promoter/DJ Gareth Sommerville of the night’s impressive bill. ‘Most importantly, he knows how to rock a crowd. Al Kent [of Million Dollar Disco] is arguably the best disco DJ in Scotland, and I wish I was half as talented, or as young, as The Blessings and Ricky Reid. They’re great local talents.’ Two weeks later, Telefunken is back again with Chicagoan DJ Sneak. Both Sommerville and Alan Gray (co-promoter of Telefunken with Nick Wilson) agree that the halcyon days of the Edinburgh house scene were witnessed around a decade ago. But, as Gray also points out: ‘At that time Edinburgh was saturated with clubs that were in it for the money. Other than Ultragroove, we felt there weren’t enough people who cared about the
music, so we decided to go out and play what we liked and see what happened. I never expected to see the night last five years.’
What Edinburgh has now is a house scene run by a smaller group of promoters who work hard to keep their playlists fresh and book new and interesting guests survive. As well as Ultragroove and Telefunken, other nights such as Huggy’s Stereotype (at Berlin) and the electro flavoured Musika (also at Cabaret Voltaire) have carved out a dedicated following. By searching out ‘a mix of new and innovative DJs and old-school favourites,’ as Gray puts it, they maintain a credibility far in excess of some party nights, which simply lay on house as part of a predictable commercial menu.
‘Credibility isn’t a reason I do this, really,’ says Sommerville. ‘It’s the desire to keep putting on good parties which people are going to enjoy, and continually keeping the music fresh so that they don’t get bored. I don’t think that the milestone of ten years is going to change that or make us [he and fellow founder and promoter Frazer McGlinchey] think about stopping. After all, there’s still a market for good house music.’ All of which is summed up by Gray in four words, when asked what Telefunken’s next move will be: ‘Keep on keepin’ on.’
Ultragroove’s tenth birthday is at Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Sat 17 Oct. Telefunken’s fifth birthday at Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Fri 9 Oct and the GRV, Edinburgh, Fri 30 Oct.