Diggers and Xmas Debauchery

Just when you've got over the last weekend the next one is already around the corner to hammer a few more nails into your coffin. We're coming ever closer to that final nail of new years eve but before that happens there is still one more weekend to go.

But first off, last weekend. The Manchester Warehouse Project rocked my socks last Friday night. I'm sad that I only got to see the venue once this year as I think it was a big improvement on the old Boddingtons factory. The Piccadily station location was more intimate and held a better sound. OK when it was busy it was slightly annoying, but these days busy tends to equate to a better atmosphere and you're either on it with the rest or miserable at the sides. My only advice is to just go with the flow, obviously you can consume a variety of substances to ease you into the mood, say like 6 cans of Red Stripe on a long train journey. That worked a treat for me, plus the beer jacket kept me warm... Its cold up north, which I found out once again. On arrival to the venue, Mr Zabiela didnt really seem to be feeling the cold, his blend of tech house and electronic noises with a dash of efx wizardry (note only a dash) kept the man bouncing and the rammed to the rafters warehouse. The man like Sasha followed and i must say i was impressed. There's so much talk of how the man has lost it and his ableton thing is boring, but the other Friday i really enjoyed his set. However, i am a relatively young clubber, so missed the Sasha late 90's golden era. Which on the flip side might be a good thing as I had no pre-conceptions of what he should be like, I just took the set for what it was. The man like, moved effortlessly through epic prog rollers through to dark dirty electronic grooves and even threw in a smattering of techno near the end. It kept me moving until the end and many other people. The only downside to the whole night was having to get home. It took me 4 hours through a combination of taxis, trains and tube. One thing i dont understand is, who in their right minds would want to go to Milton Keynes, Coventry and Watford? There is no need for my train to stop at these places! Well that's what I was thinking after 2 hours into my journey at 11am in the morning feeling extremely on the edge of oblivion.

Saturday brought the delight of Fabric and a little Chilean. Unfortunately, the little Chilean had some family problems so couldn't make it. Hope everything is alright... But I was really disappointed that Luciano couldn't make an appearance. I was really looking forward to hearing his current standard set of Subliminal back catalog records, Freaks come out and that rose rouge remix. I know his sets haven't changed much since May, but I'm still yet to hear it on a sound system like Fabric's. I caught a bit at Wild in the Country, but the flooded tent, torrential rain, lack of crowd, early set time and quiet sound system didn't really do it the greatest of justice. I guess I'll just have to hold on a few more months :o( . Not to worry as Amé and Adam Beyer were still playing, which doesn't make it a complete lost cause. Far from it actually. Amé played some lavish deep sounds in room 3 whilst Adam Beyer and the real "Swedish Mafia" played some stern techno that would send Angello and co back under their electro gash rock. Some good music all around, however the spirit seemed a bit lacking and flat at times. However like I stated before you're either going with the flow or miserable at the sides and after my miserable train journey back during the morning I might have fallen into the latter category.

Now that's all behind me, its time to talk about this weekend. And once again I'm going to talk about what seems like my Siamese twin separated at birth. That's right, I'm heading to Fabric..... again.... But all for good reason, as its part two of London's prog grandmaster's series. Well that's what I'm calling it. John Digweed rolls into town so soon after Sasha just departed. The Dougal from Magic Roundabout look-a-like (see picture above, i think its only a hair thing really..) will be commanding Room1 this weekend, expect some relentless epic prog, tech house. Martinez are in support and should entertain with their brand of intertwined epic dark melodies which plod along in a nice groove. Just what the doctor ordered, before a week of heavy eating, Christmas songs and mince pies.

Happy Christmas!

p.s Canvas for NYE seems like a safe bet this year. Carl Craig, Dixon (current living legend in my eyes), Andrew Weatherhall, Boys Noize and Jo Jo De Freq. What more could you ask for? Did i forget to mention they're knocking the thing down soon after!? Click Here for more info..

M.A.N.D.Y Fabric:38 Review

The last few Fabric releases have been pretty star studded. Pokerflat head honcho Steve Bug compiled the last one, Villalobos did an artist DJ hybrid release and before them Ewan Pearson and Ellen Allien. The trend continues this January in the form of M.A.N.D.Y. Despite having quite an annoying name to type, the Berlin duo has been at the forefront of the ongoing “German” trend for over the past 4 years. Their co-owned label Get Physical has had a meteoric rise in popularity, not to mention the numerous releases and remixes they’ve produced on their own and with label mates Booka Shade. And the last time M.A.N.D.Y put tracks to CD for a compilation back in 2006, I saluted as they brought together techno and house in a percussive, funk fuelled and eclectic manner over two CDs for the At The Controls series. So I and probably many others were intrigued to see how M.A.N.D.Y would fill one single CD.

After a bizarre bananas based intro the duo fall into the atmospheric and eerie Darkslide by Minz, setting the scene for a mix of dark electronic grooves. The mix shifts into some bright percussion before dropping into the driving, melodic tones of the Crowdpleaser mix of Quarion’s Karasu . The CD continues to twist and turn along a road of sinister grooves and eerie haunted synth stabs, always continually building. M.A.N.D.Y do an excellent job of bringing the mix in to many crescendo points making the listener expect a step up in gear but instead is teased like a kitten with string.

Rewards are reaped with the fantastic Magic M by Lucio Aquilina whose intricate chimes move the mix into the next phase of dark pulsing grooves and futuristic melodies. Again the mix just continues to shift and glide through these different moods arriving at a glimpse of Robag Wruhme’s Dopamine followed by the glitchy but not twitchy Claude Von Stroke mix of War Paint before moving on with its urging groove. The mix plateaus out into a wash of bright pads and strings through Sebo K & Metro’s take on Tunnels and Julian Ganzer’s funk driven mix of 2 Fast 4 U, which completes the mix and for some reason conjures up images in my mind of Disney’s 1933 animation, Father Noah’s Ark.

Imagery aside, this mix is great. Its dark driving groove throughout makes a night time drive or walk home seem epic. If you like the dark and sinister stripped back grooves, then this CD is definitely a recommended buy. M.A.N.D.Y do an excellent job creating an atmospheric mix and whilst I still think their At The Controls CD is better, this effort is not far off from that. 8/10

M.A.N.D.Y will be playing at Fabric on 26th Jan 2008

Tracklisting
01. Intro;
Franco Bianco - Noches De Superacion - Italo Business
Robag Wruhme als Rolf Oksen - Rolf auf seinem Auskukk - Freude Am Tanzen
02. Yello - Bananas To The Beat - Mercury
03. Minz - Darkslide - Perspectiv
04. Guillaume & The Couto Dumonts - Mederico - Oslo
05. Quarion - Karasu [Crowdpleaser Remix] - Drumpoet Community
06. Gui Borrato - Tipologia [Lucy Remix] - Parquet
07. Mark-Henning - Sicknote - Cynosure
08. Decimal - Idiosynkratik - Enemy
09. Lucio Aquilina - My Cube - Cocoon
10. Booka Shade - City Tales [Dub] - Get Physical
11. DJ Yellow & Astrid Suryanto - To The Top [Guy J Remix] - Project
12. Dubfire - I Feel Speed [Audion Remix] - SCI+TEC
13. Martin Eyerer and Toni Rios - Chorizo - Kickboxer
14. Robag Wruhme als Rolf Oksen - Dopamin - Freude Am Tanzen
15. poxyMUSIC Ft. Gina Mitchell - War Paint (Claude Vonstroke Remix) - Hussle
16. Djinxx and X-Pansul – Spanish Kebab - Ovum
17. Matchbox - U Can Get Sonar - Kindisch
18. Deadset - Farm House (Deadset Dub Tool) - Front Room
19. DJ T. - The Dawn [Nass Remix] - Get Physical
20. Simon Flower - The Whisper Had It [Mark August Remix] - Pokerflat
21. Raz Ohara and The Odd Orchestra - Kisses - [Kabuto & Koji Carnea Remix] - Get Physical
22. Basic Soul Unit - Tunnels [Sebo k & Metro Remix] - Mule
23. Lopazz - 2 Fast 4 U [Julian Ganzer Remix] - Get Physical
24. Mike Monday - Bhalobashi [Sideshow Dub Mix] - Simple
25. M.A.N.D.Y. - Don't Stop - Get Physical

The Weekend is Nearly Upon Us!!

The weekend is finally here and the feeling of Christmas keeps creeping in. Expect packed shops, crazy shoppers, overly happy people and repetitive Christmas songs. However there is always the plus side to Christmas, work parties with free booze and a whole hamper of parties from now until the New Year with plenty of debauchery involved. To me this weekend kicks all of that off. The work xmas party is tonight, which is then followed by two monstrous weekend outings.

Saturday in London see’s a massive lineup at Fabric, with everyone’s favourite pint sized Chilean Luciano commanding the main room. Amé are providing some deep stylings in room 3 and room 2 welcomes a Swedish techno invasion with Adam Beyer at the helm. If that doesn’t tickle your taste buds, then Renaissance at The Ministry of Sound might well do. Having had their last outing at The Cross the other week, Renaissance try their hand at rocking the MOS. To do so, they’ve brought in a DJ just as old as the brand. That is of course Sasha..

But for all you people up north that cant make it down here, there is a similar calibre of line-up. The people at the Warehouse Project have the man like Sasha with James Zabiela and Martin Buttrich playing this Friday, so expect carnage in the rave in a cave under the station! Tickets have sold out for this event, so get there early to see if there are any door tickets for those who didn’t manage to get one…. Well all those but the person who won our third and final ticket giveaway.

The entries have been collected and much amusement was had over the optional answers given. It appears that the general public consensus believe that the older, wiser Sasha would ‘ave Zabiela in a scrap, with a consistent theme of long hair being an issue for the young DJ. Anyways I digess! So the person not hassling the ticket touts on Friday night will be:

JOE ASHTON from Manchester

Congrats man!! You’ve won yourself a pair of tickets, which are winging their way to you now! For everyone have a good weekend and i hope you get to whatever party you can!

Coming soon: MANDY Fabric CD review.

The final Warehouse Project Ticket giveaway!!

My how the months have passed… It seemed like only yesterday when I was harping on about the Warehouse Project…. Now it’s dark, cold and wet, people are talking about Christmas shopping and what to do for New Years Eve, and it’s the last Warehouse Project event before the New Year festivities, which ultimately means our last ticket giveaway… We hope you have enjoyed our coverage, with guest mixes on the show from Marco Carola, Sasha and James Zabiela, plus all the tickets we’ve given away. So for our final competition, we’ll be giving away a pair of tickets for the 14^th Decemeber, which plays host to two of clubland’s most well known DJs.

If he played hip hop and wore gold chains with a retro 80’s Addidas tracksuit, we might have called him Grandmaster Sasha, but he don’t, so he’s just errrrm, Sasha, but that doesn’t detract from the fact he is a master of the DJ circuit and clubland and sure enough he will be reverberating the Warehouse walls with his raisin maven ableton contraption show thing.

Dalek lover, James Zabiela the once apprentice/student will feature alongside his former master, unfortunately not for a classic kung fu movie student-teacher fight off, but more so to blind us with one of his renowned decks and efxs trickery sets that has made him one of the last true pure DJs.

In addition to these DJ heavyweights, next Friday will feature a live set from the once mystery producer/silent partner Martin Buttrich. You may not have heard of him, but he’s always been there, kind of like the telephone bidder at auctions, you don’t see them but you know they got some bidding clout. Buttrich has been producing some excellent tracks for a whole host of artists and more recently releasing tracks under his own name. I’m not sure what his live shows are like, but if his productions are anything to go by it should be pure gold.

To win a pair of tickets for the 14th December at the Warehouse Project, Manchester, just answer the following super simple question.

Which DJ is a DR Who fanatic and owns a life size Dalek?

1. Dr Pepper
2. James Zabiela
3. Grandmaster Sasha

Optional question for my own amusement:
If Sasha and James Zabiela had a classic kung fu movie student-teacher fight off, who would win and why?

E-mail your answer, name and location to the usual address of sublevelsessions@googlemail.com, competition closes Weds 12^th December.

Warehouse Project, Manchester
FRI 14 DEC ///
In Association With MySpace
Sasha
James Zabiela
Martin Buttrich [ Live ]
Andro

9.30pm - 5am ///
£17.50 advance

Tracklisting 30th November

Audiojack - 'Panic Attack' [2020 vision]
Booka Shade - 'Numbers' (DJ Kicks Club Mix) [K7 Records]
Ludovic Vendi - 'Magic Morning' [Minisketch]
James Zabiela - 'Perspective' [Renaissance]

** GUEST MIX - Sasha **
DJ Set Recorded Live