www.list.co.uk/clubs
ELECTRO WE ARE . . . ELECTRIC Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh, Fri 8 Jan
In terms of clubbing, We Are . . . Electric has ruled the midweek party scene in the capital for the last few years. ‘It’s a punk-funk electro-disco,’ says WAE mastermind and resident DJ Gary Mac. ‘Essentially it’s an electronic-body-music club that crosses genres to maintain the elements of fun and funkiness. We’re trying to mix a little bit of what people know and are familiar with and the really new and fresh sounds from Europe, London and NY.’ It’s a formula that has worked with names such as MANDY, Larry Tee and The Presets dropping by for a Wednesday-night get down. Despite the odd one-off weekend party (most recently a collaboration with Sick Note for special guest Steve Aoki), the week-night
setting can be a problem for some people. But WEA wants to address this and is now launching a monthly Friday-night slot.
‘The main aim is to bring our sound to the weekend and to the people who wanto to come to WAE but are unable to do so because of work, et cetera,’ says Mac. Things kick off with a residents party in January, followed by a night of hard and fast bassy action and manic hip hop rhythms from A1 Bassline in February. WAE isn’t the only Cab club with a new weekend slot as indie/electro night Sick Note has signed up to take control of a regular Saturday night party. A chance for anyone trapped by college, uni and work finally to sample the goodness without the sleepless nights. (Henry Northmore) ■ Sick Note Saturdays, Cabaret Voltaire, launches Sat 9 Jan.
INDIE/DANCE/POP TEENAGE LUST Nice’n’Sleazy, Glasgow, Thu 14 Jan
‘The way I see it,’ says Teenage Lust promoter Richard Scott, ‘if you’re going out clubbing, you’re generally stuck with three options. You either go to an indie night, where you’re going to hear that Smiths song four times and meet a lot of assholes. You go to a dance club, where everything’s just a bit too separate (in terms of genre). Or you’re into cheesy pop, so people who are into indie and dance automatically look down on you. We wanted our music policy to incorporate all three.’ It’s a formula that has already met with success in
Aberdeen, where Scott started Teenage Lust and promotes it infrequently with his friend Blair Swanson. For this monthly residency in Glasgow, though, he runs the show
with his bandmates in acclaimed young indie-rock group Copy Haho; that’s Joe Hearty, Rikki Will and Stuart Mcintosh. Despite this alternative career, though, Teenage Lust is a bit of fun for mates, rather than a tool to promote the band. ‘The two are nothing to do with each other,’ says Scott.
‘In fact, I’d be quite happy to not associate them at all.’
No can do, we’re afraid. But what we can do instead is
let Scott tell us exactly what we should expect from such a wide-ranging evening. ‘I want to go to a night where I can listen to Slayer then dance to Fleetwood Mac,’ he says, ‘or hear some new punk band from the States and then “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel. Most people have eclectic music tastes, but not many clubs cater for that fact. If we could make people feel like they’re at a wedding reception, that would be great.’ (David Pollock)
Clubs PROFILE
Twilight Sad
WIRE Occupation Multi-genre club night that welcomes a different Scottish band to DJ each month all under the watchful gaze of Craig Jamieson (Modern Lovers).
So what’s the music policy? ‘It doesn’t really have a music policy, it is after all Scotland’s most eclectic soundclash,’ laughs Jamieson. ‘The concept of starting the club in the first place was as a mechanism of reflecting Scottish musical talent. The guest DJs are encouraged to play what they want to play, to surprise, be quirky and do something as individualistic as they possibly can.’ Why musicians on the decks rather than DJs? ‘Scottish music is good because it’s managed to absorb such musical diversity in the first place, having people from bands in doing the guest DJ sets is a perfect way to reflect Scottish musical DNA, the diversity of musical influences that go into the Scottish musical talent, the bands, that we have.’
How does it differ from Modern Lovers? ‘Modern Lovers is essentially my passion for retro music. Wire is a contemporary night that reflects contemporary musical talent and bands that are about just now and what they are up to. It’s plugged into Scottish cultural activity at this moment, as it happens. We get bands playing but in the future I’d like artists, writers and poets to come down and do guest slots as I like the idea that Wire is plugged into a broader Scottish cultural dynamic.’ Sounds good to us, what has it got planned for January? Having featured DJ sets from the likes of Frightened Rabbit, 1990s and Dananananaykroyd, Wire kicks off its 2010 with special guests Twilight Sad – and features a return visit from Glasgow electro quartet Errors in February for a special album launch party. ■ Wire at Electric Circus, Edinburgh, Sat 16 Jan.
7–21 Jan 2010 THE LIST 37