Friday 18 June 2010

Regis & Scorn to perform at the Narcissus Trance Exhibition (26th June 10)

Karl O'Connor AKA Regis and Mick Harris AKA Scorn will collaborate as part of the Narcissus Trance exhibition, which begins at London's E:vent Gallery next week.

The show is based around the ideas that Canadian scholar and philosopher Marshall McLuhan had on the interaction of technology and humanity, and in particular his concept of the Narcissus Trance, which is described by co-curators Paul Purgas and Shama Khanna as "a process that anaesthetises the nervous system in order to allow technological media to merge with the mind." It's not the first time that the O'Connor and Harris have collaborated with Purgas, as they took part in his two
We Can Elude Control shows alongside Sleeparchive and Secondo in 2008. Again, a physical product will be released to commemorate the commission; and this time it's 7-inch single bearing text by writer and theorist Mark Fisher AKA K-punk.

Turner prize nominated Mark Titchner, acclaimed New York painter Wade Guyton, author and conceptual artist Tom McCarthy and emerging London based sculptor Ben Washington are amongst the other artists contributing work to the exhibition, which runs from June 26th through to August 8th. The grand opening on Friday 25th June will be anchored around some special live performances, with Rose Kallal doing a new piece with three 16mm projectors and a Roland SH-2000 synthesizer, and O'Connor and Harris showcasing their latest project for the first time in public. The aforementioned artists will also contribute installed pieces to the exhibition that, according to Purgas, "will function as more of an immersive encounter." The exhibition will also host discussion events stemming from McLuhan's theories, and the project will continue into the new year, with a second exhibition at Bristol's Spike Island in January.

Find out more information at the Event Gallery Website

Friday 11 June 2010

How to use the Pioneer DJM 2000


The DJM 2000 was first unveiled back in March, but since then not much has been said about it, until now.

Pioneer have now released a video which takes you through everything on this feature packed mixer.

For more infomation check out the Pioneer Website

Thursday 10 June 2010

Samuli Kemppi - Live @ Berghain (5th June 10)

I'm a big fan of Samuli Kemppi and I'm also a big fan of Berghain, so putting them together is just excellent. Putting them together and recording it is unbelievable!


Keep up to date with all of Samuli's info through these two links

Wednesday 9 June 2010

Shake It presents Canada Day with Richie Hawtin @ Village Underground (1st July 10)

The few times Richie Hawtin brings his array of technology to London, there's always something not quite right about it. The last few choices of venues SEOne, The Brixton Academy and Ministry Of Sound have raised a few questions. The Contakt show at SEOne was over crowded beyond belief, poorly run and never got going. I saw the same show a month later at I Love Techno and it was immense. Something about London just didn't work. The idea behind it, and off shoot of the Narod Niki shows, was a great concept and ILT proved how good it could work. The ratio of scene-sters to genuine techno fans was far too high, and the main show started far too late, and by that time it was too late to rescue it. Especially as Hawtin was no where to be seen for the first 90mins after the intro.

At last years Friday night Sonar showcase however, Richie was back to his brilliant best. I put all thoughts of Contakt, Cubes, Clothing Lines and any other hype that was surrounding him at the time, to the back of my mind and, as cliche as it sounds 'just concentrated on the music'. Hawtin put in a tremendous performance that night and convinced me that when it is all the techno, there's few better.

I have a feeling this night is going to be just like that memorable night back in Barcelona, in a considerably smaller space, but all about the Techno. No frills, no spills (although maybe a few Canadian flags), the London crowd cruisers will be kept away by the annoyance of Friday work (don't worry i have the day off) and Richie will serve up his finest to mark the occasion.

Tickets are still available at:

I have mine. And for those of you that might be around the west end in the afternoon of Canada Day, Hawtin will be playing a half hour set at 5:30pm in Traflagar Square as part of the festivities

First names announced for Timewarp Holland 2010

Here are the first names for this years Timewarp Festival in Holland

Sven Vath
Loco Dice
Marco Carola
Karotte
Speedy J
Chris Liebing
Sandwell District
Gui Boratto (Live)
Joris Voorn (Live)

Early reports suggest it will be held on 4th December this year but in 2010 it looks like the event will be held in Amsterdam rather than the previous years where it's been held in Rotterdam. My 2 visits to the Maassilo venue, in Rotterdam, over the last 2 years have made it one of my favourite venues in the world. Timewarp need to have something special to live up to the old converted power station. But it's not often that Timewarp lets us down so I'm fairly confident whatever they dig out will be more than a little bit special!

You can follow Timewarp on Twitter or check out their Official Website for all the info on this event and future events

T Bar closed

The East London venue is the latest in a ever growing line of closed down London venues. It's been a turbulent few months for the London club scene, with the closure of Matter for the summer, and the news that fabric has gone into administration and is up for sale.

You'd think things couldn't get any worse, but it seems the bad news just keeps on coming with the announced closure of T Bar. Originally in it's Shoreditch High Street location the place was buzzing. Playing host to some of the best djs in the world and always for free. It seemed to lose some of it's specialness when it moved away from central Shoreditch to it's new location, hidden away out the back of London's financial district.

It never seemed to spark to life in it's new location and is now thrown out onto the clubland scrap heap. A message from the T Bar facebook group last night, read as follows

"Dear members/fans and friends,

It is with great sadness that I have to announce that T Bar is now closed. After six and a half years of incredible music, outrageously good times and spectacular memories we are calling time on the T Bar rave.

Thanks to you all for your support, loyalty and for making T Bar the special place it has been for so long. Please feel free to upload photos and memories to this page....

Big love

The T Bar boys and girls.

xx"

Monday 7 June 2010

Mathew Jonson - FACT Mix 155 (Jun 10)

One of my favourite artists of all time. His live set @ fabric's 10th birthday was one of the best live performances i've ever seen. The track listing for this mix looks like it's practically the same set. Unfortunately this time i'll have to listen to without the help of fabric's incredible soundsystem, but it's still very very special. At fabric he finished with 'Marionette' and i was almost in tears. Such a magical moment.


Tracklisting

1. Symphony for the Apocalypse – Wagon Repair – Mathew Jonson
2. After the Bombs Fell – Unreleased – Mathew Jonson
3. Never Say Die Remix – Unreleased – Mathew Jonson
4. Decompression Remix – Unreleased (original on Minus) – Mathew Jonson
5. Ghosts in the A.I. – Wagon Repair – Mathew Jonson
6. Octopus Brains (Mathew Jonson Remix) – Unreleased – Mathew Jonson, Deadbeat
7. Lizards and Dragons (Mathew Jonson Remix) – Unreleased – Mathew Jonson, The Mole, Chris Hreno
8. DMT (Mathew Jonson Remix) – Cobblestone Jazz – Wagon Repair
9. Marionette (Live Version) – Wagon Repair – Mathew Jonson
10. Marionette (the beginning) – Wagon Repair – Mathew Jonson
11. Sunday Disco Romance – Wagon Repair – Mathew Jonson

You can follow Mathew Jonson on Myspace for all the info on his future gigs and releases