Off The Record

Down in ye’ olde Melbourne town Sugar Mountain have dropped their lineup, which indicates that a lot of electronic talent will be heading up to Sydney on the Australia Day weekend or thereabouts. My personal picks include Soul Clap, Anthony Naples, Horse Meat Disco and The 2 Bears. Stay tuned for Sydney dates to be announced.

During EMC week this December there will be a special after hours event at The Spice Cellar with dirtybird head honcho Claude VonStroke. There’s little the San Fran producer and DJ hasn’t accomplished in his career, having played pretty much every major club and festival in the world, released two artists albums, a Fabric mix and a whole lot more. Thursday December 5, get down.

Speaking of Spice, they’ve just launched a new weekly Friday named Soul Control. Hosted by local legends Ben Fester (of Heavenly and Astral People) and Preacha (of Low Motion), the first month will see back-to-back performances from both Fester and Preacha, while Simon Caldwell and Andy Webb will also be dropping by.

Another new regular party: every Saturday from October Saturday 25, the Burdekin Hotel will be hosting Something Else. Hosted by Alex Dimitroff and DJ Dave Stuart, expect to see appearances from some of the most forward-thinking house and techno names in the game. The launch party will be headlined the Scottish born and Berlin-based Danny Berman, AKARed Rack’em, (Bergerac/Ramp Recordings) and will also see performances from Simon Caldwell, Magda Bytnerowicz, U-Khan and more.

Tour rumours: word on the grapevine is that Ben Frost (fun fact: before moving to Iceland he grew up in Hamilton, Victoria – wool capital of the world) will be returning to Sydney in summer. The legendary Prosumer has locked in a Melbourne date this Halloween so expect a Sydney show announced at any moment, and you can expect a return from the always on-point Dixon early next year, too.

Best releases this week: Raresh has once again brought some serious heat on his Fabric 78 mix, while other highlights include Hieroglyphic Being & The Configurative or Modular Me Trio’s The Seer of Cosmic Visions (on Planet Mu), Royer’sSkokie Intruder (on Material Image), Riohv’s Moondance (on 1080p) and Lakker’s Mountain Divide (on R&S Records).