Clubs PROFILE
THE WEE CHILL Occupation Boutique clubbing mini-festival taking over the Glasshouse at Queens Park in Glasgow.
Bit late for a festival isn’t it? Admittedly it has been moved back from their original September date but it’s all indoors so who cares about the inclement weather? Good point, so who’s playing? Yet again they haven’t disappointed with cutting edge electro house from Get Physical’s MANDY; Chicago house don DJ Sneak (pictured); leftfield cosmic electro from Cosmo Vitelli (I’m A Cliché Records); nu-disco funk from Daniel Wang and acid house from the Hacienda’s Graeme Park being just some of the highlights.
What should we expect then? The Wee Chill cares about the music, always going for quality and as the name suggests a relaxed atmosphere. With some of Glasgow’s best loved club nights (Subculture, Optimo’s Hung Up!, Billy Woods’ Supermax and Hijacked Records) each hosting a room you know you’re in safe hands.
How’s the support line-up shaping up? As you’d expect there are representatives from all the clubs mentioned with favourites like Harri & Domenic, Junior, the Optimo DJs and Billy Woods manning the decks but also expect live shows from ‘rudewave’ pioneers The Statler Project, sharp indie types The Zonules of Zinn (who have supported Texas in the past but we won’t hold that against them) and the lush vocals and electronica of Leigh Myles. Anything on for the night owls? The Wee Chill runs from 5pm-11pm, so that’s six hours of club action across five rooms (with a bus service running folk back to the city centre), but if that just isn’t enough there are afterparties at the Subbie and the Admiral which keep things going until the small hours. (Henry Northmore) ■ The Wee Chill, The Glasshouse, Glasgow, Sat 23 Oct.
36 THE LIST 21 Oct–4 Nov 2010
ELECTRONICA MEN & MACHINES Stereo, Glasgow, Fri 22 Oct
Men & Machines is over, but this isn’t the end. After two and a half years of regular nights at Stereo, the M&M team of Ewan Dunnett and Alasdair Stewart will be giving up their bi-monthly residency status. ‘We’re slightly reluctant to call it a finale,’ says Dunnett, ‘because we’re promoting a gig with Manuel Gottsching at Stereo in December, and the intention is still to do things, just not with the pressure of having to fill a monthly or bi-monthly slot.’
Why is the night winding down? It involves the work pressures and family commitments that come with being just a little bit older, and the fact that most of their friends are in the same boat and can’t commit to supporting a regular night. It’s good to hear that such
discerning promoters won’t be completely lost to the scene, though: they’ll still DJ together (a date at the Arches’ Death Disco is upcoming in November) and, says Dunnett, they now have the freedom ‘to put on guests when they’re available, in larger or smaller venues, wherever fits.’ For this kind-of finale, then, they’ve chosen to send off their regular shows with New York’s Cousin Cole, head of the Flagrant Fowl label and remixer of Ram Jam’s ‘Black Betty’ and Bruce Springsteen’s ‘I’m On Fire’. ‘We’ve always booked people we like, regardless of genre,’ says Dunnett. ‘We’ve had bands like Brain Machine, live acts like Gavin Russom, DJs like Mr Raoul K, Etienne Jaumet and Pantha du Prince. The genre doesn’t matter to us as long as the music is quality and the artist is good at what they do, and Cole’s certainly one of those guys.’ (David Pollock)
BREAKBEAT/HOUSE/ELECTRO PLUMP DJS Bass Syndicate at the Liquid Room, Edinburgh, Sat 23 Oct
The advent of dubstep has confined many formerly fashionable styles to the bargain bin which might be described as ‘old-school’ over the last decade or so, but a lot of the purveyors of those classic sounds are changing up to meet the needs of a new generation. Take London’s breakbeat idols Plump DJs, who altered their sound to reflect house and electro styles around about the time they debuted their Headthrash night at Fabric in 2008.
‘We’ve always felt most at home making music that’s fresh and new,’ explains the Plumps’ Lee Rous via email. ‘We continue to develop and strive to better ourselves. We made music that people called breakbeat, now we make music that doesn’t really have a name. Plump music.’ Introduced to each other by Matt Cantor of Freestylers way back in ‘93, the Plumps (Rous and Andy Gardner) betray their 90s roots by the fact their name is porn mag slang for material involving the, err, larger lady, which is just a little bit Loaded.
It’s the last decade, though, which has given them success, including the artist albums Eargasm and Headthrash on Finger Lickin’. ‘Now we have our own label called Grand Hotel, though,’ says Rous, ‘which is a chance for us to experiment with a new musical direction and to work with new acts like Dirty Super Car and Bonsai Kat. Now we’re Grand Hotel for life.’ (David Pollock)