Well, there you have it. London has gone and taken a page out of Mike Baird’s book and shut down one of the greatest clubs in the world,fabric.
There’s been a huge outpouring of grief from the global electronic music community, but perhaps it was best put by drum and bass royalty Goldie: “I’m wondering whether or not the likes of me, the likes of Jazzie B, Norman Jay, Pete Tong for that matter, should just trade our MBEs in, melt them down and put them in a pencil-pusher’s coffee, so it can taste a little bit sweeter for him today, so he feels more successful in killing counter-culture and culture itself.” Massive fucking sigh over here. All too familiar. The Lord Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has now invited Four Tet to City Hall to discuss fabric’s closure – it will be interesting to see what, if anything, comes from it.
You’ve got once chance left to see arguably the only good thing to come from Newcastle, Mall Grab [above], before he moves overseas to the UK. Side note: I’ve been told that Newcastle once demolished a heritage-listed building to construct the largest KFC in the southern hemisphere. Can someone confirm this for me? Anyway, back on track. The producer, who only entered the game a year ago, has already released eight singles, and even launched his own label titled Steel City Dance Discs. Kid moves fast. Catch him on Friday September 30 at 77. See him before he’s playing headline shows all over Europe at some of the biggest clubs in the world like fabr… oh.
One of the biggest names in UK garage, DJ EZ [below], is coming our way. A true veteran, the don has held down a weekly radio show for London’s Kiss FM for 15 years, and most recently has shown no signs of slowing down with gigs for Boiler Room, Mixmag and Coachella. Furthermore, earlier this year he raised over $80,000 for cancer research in the UK by DJing for 24 fucking hours straight. Legend. Catch him at the Oxford Art Factory on Thursday November 10.
Some news for the producers and gearheads out there: Rolandhas announced the release of three new products in its Boutique line: the TB-03, TR-09 and VP-03. It’s also teamed up with Serato and announced the DJ-808, which adds 808 drum machine and synth connectivity to the DJ controller in an aim to bring “production, live performance and DJing even closer”. Native Instruments is releasing the Maschine Jam performance instrument (piano role mode, anyone?), while Pioneer is bringing out a new two-channel mixer dubbed the DJM-450, with an inbuilt soundcard and USB input for integration with laptop set-ups.
Tour rumours: some bloody serious techno is coming our way with the one and only Ben Klock. Announcement imminent. A return of Radio Slave is also on the cards – not to confused with the god-awful Audioslave.
Best releases this week: Kornél Kovács’ new album The Bells (on Studio Barnhus) is bloody fun listening, as is his latest mix for Resident Advisor. Otherwise I suggest spending some time with Ruf Dug who has just put all of the Ruf Kutz releases up for free on Bandcamp. Although, to be honest, after being in a room with The Sun Can’t Compare while it was performed by Larry Heard on the weekend, I don’t know if anything will ever sound that good again.
Recommended:
FRIDAYSEPTEMBER 16
Detroit Techno Militia@Goodbar
Al Dobson Jr @TBA
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 24
Rebekah @Burdekin Hotel
FRIDAYSEPTEMBER 30
Prosumer @Red Rattler
Mall Grab @77
SUNDAY OCTOBER 2
Bicep @UTS
SATURDAYOCTOBER 22
Seven Davis Jr @Civic Underground
SUNDAYOCTOBER 23
Honey Soundsystem @Cruise Bar
SATURDAYOCTOBER 29
Green Velvet @Greenwood Hotel
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 10
DJ EZ @Oxford Art Factory
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11 – SUNDAY NOVEMBER 13
Return To Rio: Carl Cox, De La Soul, Eric Powell, DJ EZ + more @Del Rio, Wisemans Ferry
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12
Marcel Dettman @Chinese Laundry
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 26
Randomer @TBA
Jackmaster @Greenwood Hotel
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30
Machinedrum@Civic Underground
FRIDAY DECEMBER 2 – SUNDAY DECEMBER 4
Subsonic Music Festival: Lee Scratch Perry, Mad Professor, Josh Wink, Ben UFO + more @Riverwood Downs Mountain Valley Resort
Got any tip-offs, hate mail, praise or cat photos? Email [email protected] or contact me via carrier pigeon. Hit me on Twitter via @tysonwray.
