CLUBS | Reviews
PROFILE MOONBOOTS
Occupation A Manchester stalwart who, along with Jason Boardman, has been running the Aficionado night for the last fifteen years. A relaxed DJ who still favours the true meaning of Balearic (even though he’s never been to Ibiza). How would you describe your DJing style? ‘I wouldn’t call myself the most technically adept DJ but I like records to breathe so I’m all up for playing tracks in their entirety. Also, I like to throw the odd curveball in there. I guess I’m not too bothered about keeping up with current trends but a good record is a good record. If I like it, I’ll play it.’ How did you first start DJing professionally? ‘I always bought records and around late ’88 I got asked to play, badly, at various friends parties. Then I got a job at Eastern Bloc records and the gigs picked up from there. I was still pretty rubbish but at least by then I was getting paid.’ How would you define Balearic? ‘It’s an all-encompassing term which means everything from new-age and flamenco through to dubbed-out industrial with a bit of everything else in between. It’s the “anything goes” attitude that I fell in love with in the first place. For me, there’s nothing more boring than listening to the same musical style/ tempo all night. I love peaks and troughs. It’s sort of become more fashionable in recent times, which makes me laugh though.’ What can we expect on the night? ‘Musically, it’ll be pretty much all over the place. I’ve been digging out a lot of nice disco, some great 80s European records and even the odd acid track. If you fancy hearing the greatest record you’ve never heard before, pop along.’ (Henry Northmore) ■ Moonboots guests at Melting Pot, The Universal, Glasgow, Sat 3 Aug.
56 THE LIST 11 Jul–22 Aug 2013
FUNK FOUR CORNERS Bristo Place, Edinburgh, Fri 26 Jul
Their usual home at the new Bongo Club might be on ice for the duration of the Edinburgh Festival while Underbelly moves in, but it’s pleasing to see that funk and soul night Four Corners has found a temporary new venue in the atmospheric festival-only space otherwise known as Checkpoint Charlie or ‘the old Forest Café’. It’s one of the most characterful, rough and ready spaces for a live set in Edinburgh, and it’s just a shame it’s wasted for the rest of the year. ‘There’s a very vibrant scene for soul and funk
music in the UK and right across Europe, and it’s really exciting to tap into that now and again,’ says the club’s Simon Hodge, for whom this Edinburgh Jazz Festival date is the only live show of the year. ‘If it’s the right band it’s difficult to beat the atmosphere that a live funk act brings. They’re so much fun to do, if it were easier to do financially we’d do it more often. Although by having just one a year, it allows us to be very selective about who we choose.’
This year the chosen ones are the Haggis Horns, who often play alongside Mark Ronson and Jamiroquai, remembered by Hodge from when they
were music students at Leeds College of Music who played on the classic jazz-funk record Keb Darge Presents the New Mastersounds. ‘Even then they were far too talented to be just a horn section,’ he s ays of the band, which count Scots amongst their number, hence the name. ‘Their time on the big stage has really paid dividends, they’re almost unrecognisable from the guys at the back of the New Mastersounds’ stage.’ (David Pollock)
HOUSE & TECHNO BIGFOOT’S RIVERSIDE 100 Stobcross Road, Glasgow, Sat 10 Aug
‘Music drowns out the rest of the world down there,’ says promoter George Russell of the unique location he’s discovered for his club’s summer outdoor party. It’s true that Bigfoot’s Tea Party has previously held events at the old Tall Ship building on the banks of the Clyde, and that they run events regularly in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, but this one is special on the Bigfoot’s calendar. ‘It’s pretty hard to find locations like this in the city, ones with outdoor areas you can have a FunktionOne rig and not worry about any housing or businesses being around to complain,’ says Russell, ‘and it’s a restaurant by day so the owner sorts out the barbecue as well.’ This time out Bigfoot’s will be inviting fellow Glasgow club Waxworks to play, as well as two big special guests. One remains top secret (‘they come from another of our favourite labels, based in Germany,’ is all Russell will say), but the other will be Santiago, Chile’s Alejandro Paz, playing lithe, dark techno with real bite and vitality. ‘As Comeme has developed and grown we’ve also developed,’ says Russell of Paz’s label, a part of the Kompakt stable. ‘Our sound seems to have aligned itself more with a lot of the guys putting out music through them.
‘We thought Alejandro was one of the perfect guys to invite as his music is so energetic,’ he continues, ‘like a techno carnival. In the last two years he’s just come out and absolutely smashed it, and Comeme has a sound no-one else has.’ And he’s got a venue like no-one else, so they should be a perfect fit. (David Pollock)