Off The Record

The Russian queen of technoNina Kravizhas locked in a return to Sydney.

Born and raised in the Siberian city of Irkutsk, Kraviz has been one of the biggest breakthrough acts of the past decade – a journey that began after she took part in the Red Bull Music Academy in Melbourne in 2006. Recently she’s performed at such festivals as Amsterdam Dance Event, Coachella, Sonar and Decibel alongside holding down regular appearances at major clubs such as Berghain, Fabric and The Warehouse Project. Catch her on Saturday November 14 at the Greenwood Hotel.

More dance music royalty coming our way: the one and only Felix Da Housecat will return to our shores next month. Best known for his groundbreaking 2001 album Kittenz And Thee Glitz, the tour news follows the announcement of his upcoming record Resurrection, set to drop on Crosstown Rebels on Friday September 18. It’s his first Australian sojourn in five years, so don’t miss out when he hits Manning Bar on Saturday September 12.

Already announced for Victoria’s Strawberry Fields festival, Justin Martin has locked in a Sydney show to coincide with his visit to our shores. The San Francisco house don is the co-founder of the infamous Dirtybird crew, and has spent the year scouring the globe in promotion of his forthcoming sophomore album Hello Clouds. Expect to hear a banquet of new material when he hits Sydney on Saturday November 21 at Chinese Laundry.

Already planning your Halloween? Those legends over at Parksidehave thrown together an all-treat no-trick party with two of Melbourne’s finest electronic talents: Harvey Sutherland and Andy Hart. Sutherland’s penchant for analogue synths has seen him score a twice-sold-out release on Motor City Drum Ensemble’s MCDE label, while Hart is one half of the duo that runs one of Australia’s best record labels, the Melbourne Deepcast. The dress-up party goes down on Saturday October 31 at Towradgi Beach Hotel’s Waves.

Tour rumours: two artists who have served up some of my favourite releases this year – Hunee and Mr. G – will be visiting Sydney over the summer. Oh, and you can also expect to see Huxley and Jonas Rathsman coming our way in February.

Essential listening: Melbourne’s own Tornado Wallace has served up one hell of a Boiler Roommix while he’s over in Berlin. The hour-long mix is jam-packed with gems such as Jiraffe’s ‘Out’A The Box’, Jephté Guillaume and The Tet Kale Orkestra’s ‘Ibo Lélé’ and Sasha’s (no, not that Sasha) ‘A Key To Heaven For A Heavenly Trance’. Go and give it a spin at boilerroom.tv.

Best releases this week: hoooboy, Ali Nasser’s All We Need (on Pleasure Zone) is one of the best groovy and melodic minimal releases I’ve heard all year. Other highlights include Willie Burns’ Single Life (Off Minor), Art Alfie & Mr. Tophat’sKVC-4 (Karlovak Chrome), Black Rain & Shapednoise’sApophis (Cosmo Rhythmatic) and Deego Fresh’s Urgent 001 (Underground Enigmatic Techno).

Recommended

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 12

Pan-Pot @The ArtHouse

Felix Da Housecat@Manning Bar

Mark Henning@Burdekin Hotel

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 19

Kangding Ray@Bridge Hotel

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 25

Mark Henning@Goodgod Small Club

SATURDAY OCTOBER 31

Baauer@Oxford Art Factory

Harvey Sutherland, Andy Hart@Waves