Feature // Skiddle April Electronic Listings

April's listings have to be some of my favourite of the year. Where Easter used to mean chocolate eggs for breakfast on a Sunday, it now means an extra excuse to dance your legs into a state of numbness all in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You can read all about my picks for Skiddle over here (Or huuugely unedited below, this month), including a run-down of Stones Throw-er Jon Wayne's hotly anticipated UK dates, as well as Andrew Weatherall playing a 'rave in a cave' for 4/20 (!!!).
Skiddle Electronic listings- April

As April and Easter rear their delectable confectionary-shaped heads around the corner, it seems that the North’s showcases this month are anything but fluffy and plucked from a pastel palette. If you planned a quiet one in pawing over your dissertations or catching up on that paperwork (I did until I composed this very piece…), then the club spaces throwing out the masculine chiefs and underground sizzlers, say otherwise. 

 With the intrusion of the significant LA hip-hop label Stones Throw Records, quite literally submerging the North this month, the opportunity to catch label boss Peanut Butter Wolf in the intimate setting of Leed’s Hi-Fi Club on April 4th, rings as a set that you’d literally kick yourself for being stupid enough to miss. Also making one of it’s UK premiers is the ‘Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton: This Is Stones Throw Records’ feature documentary, as Gorilla’s spacious club area in Manchester is converted into an independent, mini-cinema for the eve come the 3rd. Expect popcorn, hotdogs if you’re lucky, and definitely never-before-seen interviews with the likes of Snoop, Common and Tyler The Creator, talking about the surrounding birth of the influential imprint, over to the growth of hosting one of the most well-respected artist rosters and releases in hip hop. Don’t be thinking it’s all over though, as Jon Wayne plays his debut Manchunian show later on April 30th, bringing the illest beats, soulful undertones and fiercely intelligent flow to Soup Kitchen’s basement. With a little helping hand from local bad boys Metrodome and Sparkz paving the way with their take on classics the only way they know how, it’s set to be a hazed-out, impeccable month. 

 Fancy your bass a whole lot more beefy and home-grown? Then Butterz aficionado Royal-T heading up BPM at The Roadhouse should add a slick of oil to your motor, before Slew Dem veteran JT The Goon orchestrates his instrumental take on nu-grime over at Joshua Brooks. It’s not even close to over yet though, as Youngsta then takes on a rubble-shaking, 90-minute set at the under-renovation Antwerp Mansion thanks to Hit & Run. It looks like you better get your Monday morning sick voice practice in now, whilst I take a look what’s accumulating for the house heads and techno terrors. 

 Moving things along to our old favourites Chibuku and to slow things down after their insane Andy C-headed session in March, Good Friday will bring Columbia’s Shift K3y and Radio 1’s late night chameleon B Traits together, for one of the city’s top holiday bashes. Heading further afield and with Chester’s The Live Rooms turning up the dial with the mid-tempo, deep sounds of Black Butters duo Gorgon City, Ibiza-head Josh butler steps-toe-to-toe in an outer-city clash this month, flaring up behind the decks at Frodsham’s Mersey View. Feel like you need to breathe into a paper bag should you step out of anywhere remotely central, never mind a place where the Tesco Extra’s don’t even stay open till 11pm? Don’t worry, me too but luckily Leeds have our backs should we ever be so silly again. Glasgow’s Optimo nights have gained momentum for over a decade now, spinning out Sunday fun-days’ into a hedonistic powwow of diversity in Scotland, so their three-hour set at Wire should tide you over to Theo Parrish’s Easter Thursday doubled, six hour extension at Nest. 

Golden Ticket 

 Cream-affiliate 303 are making the necessarily bold leap away from traditional venues that hanker most regular evenings in Liverpool, bringing their ‘rave in a cave’ treat of accommodating eclectic master Andrew Weatherall, in the unique Williamson Tunnels heritage site. It’s an wonderfully varied venture that puts-to-shame the saturated Warehouse-venue market the North over, whilst certainly not standing dubious from providing attendees with the rousing, scintillating evening they deserve; Plus it’s all held on 4/20 and if you need your arm twisting any more, then hey, even Lauren agrees…

Words by Yours Truly X

Feature // Alizzz MIXED BY for Thump

I asked Spanish producer Alizzz to contribute to Thump's MIXED BY series and he provided a party selection, fit for brightening up any Monday. I've included the little-under-an-hour mix below, along with some words I wrote to coincide for Thump- oh and the full tracklist if you just keep scrolling!

Alizzz MIXED BY for Thump

Barcelona’s Alizzz has been drenching us all in his elastic works of high-contrast digitalism and hip-hop influenced soundscapes, with releases on labels including MofoHifi and Arkestra since 2012. Fast forward two bonkers years, and Alizzz’s latest ‘Sunshine’ EP offering on Mad Decent’s Jeffrees imprint brings shimmering synths, befuddling tempo changes, and a gurgling dose of bass to the frisky label - with his exclusive MIXED BY offering following suit. Laden with booty clap-inducing Big Sean remixes, Jersey Club big-name re-fits, as well as a slew of unreleased edits and of-the-minute pop gems, Alizzz presents an hour-long ride that cements his audacious persona as a European-centric, US-influenced platter of brilliance.

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{Tracklist: 100s - Ten Freaky Hoes Alizzz feat. Santell - I C U Promnite - She Know it Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX - Fancy Falcons - Be quiet Marian Hill - One Time (Imanos Remix) [Unreleased] Siroj - The heat [Unreleased] Seiho - Gold Moon Boots - CYS ARME - Foxxy [Unreleased] LIZ - All them boys Demon's - You are my high (Picard Bros edit) ranko feat. ELOQ & TT the Artist - Dirty Works [Unreleased] Ciara - Sorry (Playground Mob) [Unreleased] Big Sean - Marvin & Chardonnay (Trippy Turtle and Dj Hoodboi remix) Partynextdoor – Persian Rugs (salute Edit) Wave Racer - Bliss Streamers (Patrick Baker vocal edit) [Unreleased] Alizzz - What if Justin Timberlake - TKO (Lido remix) 813 - Lil bear [Unreleased] Brokenhaze - I believe [Unreleased] Flume x Hermitude - Hyperparadise (Ganz remix) Kelly Rowland - Kisses down low (Alizzz remix) Alizzz - That gurl Trey Songz - Neighbors Know My Name (Tk Kayembe RMX) Beyonce - Say my name (Cosmo midnight remix) [Unreleased] Alizzz - Sunshine}

Words by Yours Truly X

Review // Drake @ Phones 4 U Arena

The absolute angels over at Universal sent me to the opening night of Drake's 'Would You Like A tour?' here in Manchester earlier in the week. I (willingly/ unwillingly? Delete as appropriate) dragged Ceej along for throwing out some moves to my favourite non-guilty pleasure, it was an ostentatiously brilliant way to spend a Tuesday night and you can read all about it below!
Drake @ Phones 4 U Arena
Aubrey Drake Graham; Canadian child television wonder, rap superstar and poster boy for the millennial generation of emotional hip-hop, kicked off his ‘Would You Like A (UK) Tour?’ at Manchester’s Phones 4 U Arena on Tuesday. With a surplus of pyrotechnic explosions and splashing out on a reported two million dollar production budget, an additional invite to fellow Canuck The Weeknd to hop aboard his tour bus for this latest ten date run, extends further great promise and growth for tens of thousands of attendees.
 As soon as darkness dawned upon the stage, it seemed that spectators were more interested in Vine-ing blurry six second clips of the self-proclaimed Champagne Papi, rather than allowing their breath to be taken away by a, literally, sparking Tuscan Leather introduction. Holding down his on-stage territory with great audacity and a modest-sized, in-house band setting off his routine every step of the way, Graham distinguishes himself more self-assured and high-energy than ever. Alongside a mean-sounding rendition of Worst Behaviour, 305 To My City and the serenade-worthy Hold On We’re Going Home, non-album track Trophies and flutters of his guest spots on French Montana’s Pop That and A$AP Rocky’s Fuckin' Problems, make crystal clear that the So Far Gone-era classics don’t always have to be present.
 As mentioned, two million dollars is a ridiculously large amount of money by anyone’s standards to reserve solely for production value, however, surely on this titanic scale such bucks can be justified, presented and executed to an outstanding level, of which engages in nothing less than astonishing, a million times over. Or so you would believe. Realising that throughout his ninety-minute spectacular that the colossal chrome lighting rig suspended on the roof of the building, enlisted for Graham to interact more with his crowd, was utilised once for an unnecessarily lengthy period, suddenly the setting felt like a dilatory, showy attempt at being lavish purely for the sake of being lavish. Then comes the corny fifty-foot high monochrome portraits onscreen, tarnishing somewhat the latter-part of the show as wincingly self-appreciating, compared to the unpretentious aura that was present half an hour previous... and don’t even get me started on the cringe-worthy lyric adaptions of Manchester-based puns that were unavoidable come every other verse.
Nonetheless, it’s near impossible to question the OVO head’s methods of practice and sentimental lyrical ease, when he is the solitary figure on stage operating with impeccable execution. Before we know it, it’s a little after eleven and warnings of the impending climax approach; a hip-bumping portrayal of The Motto here, a smoke-rocket led swagger of HYFR there, ‘Would You Like A Tour?’ achieved the career-spanning setlist desired with formidable brilliance and just the perfect side-order of showmanship. Shouting out mentor-figures in the industry including Jay Z and Lil Wayne before bidding his sophomore arena audience goodbye, he needn’t look up nor fall back in comparison when four full-lengths deep, Aubrey Drake Graham has finally graduated with his soft-side flow crown, polished in place.

Words by Yours Truly X

Feature // Skiddle February Electronic Listings

I've been in dissertation hibernation (Along with a month full of suprise visits and big birthdays...), so completely forgot to post my Skiddle picks for February when they first went live earlier this month, whoops! You can read all about my championing of high-denier hosiery and bowing down to Valentines Day over here, with picks including Moderat, Hudson Mohawke and Gilles Peterson. Hold tight, more (Frequent, I promise) posts coming soon!

Words by Yours Truly X

Review // The Closing Party @ WHP

Review // The Closing Party @ WHP

I never thought being offered a badge at 9pm could, nor would, make me feel all kinds of emotion… pre-gin consumption, that is. However, a miniature, robust capsule branded with the text ‘Farewell Victoria’, confirmed that the inevitable had arrived. With an aura of melancholic pride oozing from even the water boys doing their bit from behind a pasting table in the forecourt, in addition to the fact that this periodic ‘closing party’ outdoes itself ever the more per-annum, begs allegiance that a significant night awaits thanks to a profusion of back-to-backs plucked from our wildest dreams.
 It has been impossible as of late to attend one of Oliver Jones’s either solo or Skreamizm-headed outings, without being swept into a syrup-smooth world of disco and funk grooves, yet we ought to have more respect than to measure that this dub veteran would follow the grain of our idle presumptions. Robert Hood’s ‘Paradise’ release under his Floorplan alias this Summer, was a minimal tech-house barrage that included the made-for-opening-your-evening-on-a-high-note ‘Baby Baby’, overflowing with curtailing horns and creditable agility within it’s exhilarating bursts. Skream knows that onslaughts of Detroit-influenced vigour is sure to get the ‘eds respectfully engaged, for the long-haul.
 Paul Woolford and Midland have locked horns in friendly b2b battles throughout the previous year, and despite the pair producing arguably 2013’s biggest dancefloor fillers in the mediums of ‘Untitled’ and ‘Trace’, tonight they opted to take a step back a decade and a double, to satisfy the bulging horde. Double 99’s ‘Rip Groove’ is only ever given the attention it deserves in such a praiseworthy environment with the white-knuckle suspense of its build-up and bass drop, followed by a deeply stringy Tina Moore sample that carries a wealth of intensity. Hold on a second, how does a track so brash even segue into the most sturdy release without nose-diving among the watchful? With the piano house classic of Inner City’s ‘Pennies From Heaven’, causing everyone to spit out their lines of ‘Bring me some love’ with all the toe-tapping and harmonising hands you could ask for, that’s how. As we scope past room one and spy a single Martinez Brother fist-pumping his way through the Jamie Jones- surveilling sea (Sorry for trying to hug you, Chris), two of the UK’s non-producing jewels, Jackmaster and Oneman, came together to perplex the brains off us in room three’s minuscule, mirrored slice of a space.

Although some may see the three hundred capacity room as an ill-fitting choice for such talent that does, inescapably, bring in an audience much bigger than the area can comfortably withstand, thanks to daring track selection and impeccable mixing, everyone is too busy spiralling into a hysterical state of sing-a-long indulgence to care. As near-millennial bangers a la Gorillaz and Basement Jaxx surprise and delight, modern rap anthems from Kanye and Ace Hood max the attitude up- and this wasn’t just variety selected to please the crowds, this was frankly, a special event for those electing what blows out of the speakers, too. Staples across the UK garage spectrum such as The Streets unforgettably intense ‘Blinded By The Lights’ and Artful Dodger’s ‘Movin’ Too Fast’, provide the much-needed antidote to the somewhat unknown soul-jazz of Gregory Porter’s ‘1960 what?’, as well as the downright weird inclusion of a segment entitled ‘Duelling Banjos’ from the 70s movie ‘Deliverance’. There was Drake, The Police, Boddika and Armand Van Helden- I really could go on, yet let it be known that the best set of the season was undoubtedly had here, as unashamed expressions of personality and intrigue were splashed all over the walls…and a spasming Chunky atop Krystal Klear’s shoulders seemed to agree, too.
 Piling out into the baltic Trafford night with the sound of Green Velvet’s ‘Bigger Than Prince’ echoing behind us and an illuminated signed reminder that this really is goodbye, we may be simultaneously beaming from within yet bowing our heads in woe, yet there really is no reason to even slightly take the gloom-and-doom approach. With talks that Warehouse will be moving to a bigger (and presumably better) space with names such as Mayfield Depot cropping up, in addition to a string of one-off events including Moderat at Albert Hall this approaching February, expansion and diversion will only prevail.

Words by Yours Truly // Images by WHP via here X

Review // Sounds Of The Near Future @ WHP

Review // Sounds Of The Near Future @ WHP

Sounds Of The Near Future has had an enlightening, arousing roll-out as the latest collaboration between promotional messiahs Now Wave and the team behind the Warehouse Project, fetching crisp names in bass and house such as Henry Krinkle and Snakehips, to the city earlier this Summer. For their latest collaboration this season, Brainfeeder chief Flying Lotus made his welcome return to Old Trafford, bringing a significantly exciting chunk of his roster along for the ride with recurrent residents, making clear that the most puzzling dilemma of the night would appear in a puerile attempt to try and cram every desirable artist, into an achievable itinerary. With the double J’s of Jon K and Jonny Dub opening up Rooms one and two respectively, the latter jockey seemed the most logical point of call to cement ground, ahead of a prospective dense six hours. Walking into a consolidation of classic 90s Snoop mixed into Alicia Myers disco favourite ‘I Want To Thankyou’, a praise-worthy cocktail was granted to fortify the foundations ahead of Brainfeeder’s only UK signee, Lapalux, stepping up.
Stuart Howard’s live sets under his Lapa identity are always an experimentation to behold, adapting and evolving from performance to performance by incorporating a spectrum of R&B bootlegs and neoteric strategies, yet it was the technicalities on WHP’s part that were noticeably absent. Planting a strikingly impressive producer into a corner with minimal lighting and zero visual pieces, his performance already lost a spark at no fault of his own just a short while in- and where some of the most memorable parties may be discovered round the darkest corners, we must remember that this is Warehouse, where attendees want presence for their pounds and a full experience, with no corners cut. Despite the breach of optic stimuli present, Howard’s rousing extended introduction and a mind-bogglingly tremendous technique of infiltrating 2012’s ‘When You’re Gone’ with a hectic manipulation of Khia’s ‘My Neck, My Back’, not only raised the bar in an unconventional sense but also had a whole lot of eyebrows heading north, too. Bold, adventurous and downright brilliant, Lapalux managed to execute his spell with just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek satire and laudable commendation deserved.

Inbetween all the dancing and debauchery present, there is one obvious exclusion from the line-up that merch-clad hipsters in football jersey tees are close-to-weeping for; Zomby. He may be more well known for his obnoxious Twitter rants involving the lexicon of ‘Givenchy’ and ‘Cult music’, rather than his masterful earlier workings (‘With Love’ was a trap-heavy mess of fade-outs and uncalculated mechanisms), yet the fact that he was removed from the night’s bill without explanation or reason from the organisers, now appears to be another factor that comes part-and-parcel as each year rolls around, disappointingly through struggle.
 With Flying Lotus’s 2012 release ‘Until The Quiet Comes’ branching away from his hip-hop enticed work of the past, the secretive (at first) conception of all-rap alias Captain Murphy, formed within it’s trailing wake of intelligent psychadelia. As an exclusive debut European live show, little is known about the project apart from the occasional Earl Sweatshirt collaboration that fanatics that have been following across the blogsphere from day one, it could be described as a blessing in disguise that this venture has managed to remained enigmatic. Providing a punk-as-fuck aesthetic as one of the most forward-thinking hip-hop assemblages emerging in years, with an addition of bass-master Thundercat on band duties, Steven Ellison spits out dynamic bars with mean flow like we never envisioned, never mind the spoken word sections that collectively, are eagerly ready to hand 2013’s rap game a clear royal flush. Between hosting a terrifying finish of cackling after every turnout, Ellison shows us that he isn’t just an electronic-orientated multitude of excellence, his hip-hop roots stemming further, deeper and more superior than we ever observed before.
Inaugurating his revolutionary 3-D projection screen show on it’s sophomore trip to Manchester, the annexation of sprouting spider webs stretching forty-odd feet and musical manipulations of atmospheric, trippy proportions, further futuristic flair is propelled into his engineering soundscape. Taking a noble step forward to perform sectional vocals up-close-and-personal to his audience, tracks from past releases ‘Los Angeles’ and ‘Cosmogramma’ are mixed into ‘Another One Bites The Dust’, Drake’s ‘Started From The Bottom’ and various TNGHT snippets, moulded with mini-city metropolis illustrations, that add an essence of surprise improvisation. Mobilising a moshpit-inducing climax of his Odd Future acquaintances’ labour, FlyLo’s final run of this particular spectacle is a reflection of how tremendously esteemed for his production, knowledge and ear-to-the-ground philosophies’ he remains, leaving us swaggering out into the wee hours, quite literally, mindblown.

Words by Yours Truly // Images by WHP (via here) X

Review // Evian Christ's 'Trance Party' @ Corsica Studios

Last weekend I ventured off to London to catch Evian Christ tear up Corsica Studios for his introductory 'Trance Party'. It was sweaty, fun and there were new faces and old- my review is now live over here on Crack, or you can read the unedited version below...

Evian Christ's 'Trance Party' @ Corsica Studios

London, you never fail to stump me with the unexpected. As a Northern soul in the Big Smoke, I am often pooled in with the relentless incursion of tourists when asking for tube directions, not to mention encompassing a Scouse born-and-bread twang that makes any Cockney I come into contact with recoil in uncommunicative horror, just like I do when it comes to forking out a fiver a pint. Still, there is always a dusting of hidden beacons that summon us in exactly why we put up with the ridiculous congestion and annoyingly quaint wine bars on every corner, from time to time- and South East’s Corsica Studios is one of these glimmers of hope. Hot from lacing Mr. West’s ‘Yeezus’ with his ingenious expertise, Ellesmere-Port-boy-done-good Evian Christ enrolled in the likes of Jam City, Wanda Group and Arca to throw the first in his duo of ‘Trance Parties’, promising to detract away from the genre and coiling it all back to what ‘trance’ actually means.

After several hiccups involving group members falling off the wagon and step-in heroes missioning from the eternity-away zone four, no unforeseen obstacles could cast a cloud once inside the remarkably well-equipped venue.  With a roaring sound system that makes your bones shake as if you’re rolling down a hill implanted within the acoustics, the night’s curator bounced from his earlier status-cementing, hip-hop modified electronica, over to the snarling expletives of ‘I’m In It’ and teases of what we’re to expect for 2014. As hot-off-the-press ‘Salt Carousel’ was released into the web sphere only a day prior, it’s mind-boggling to contemplate the heights he actually has the ability to rocket to. The brutal bass, hyper-speed recitals and unforgiving rave synth slashes that echo as melodically accessible and ballsy, are not only insightful of where Christ is heading but also of the leap he’s made from indie-label bedroom experimentalist to, deservedly, globally-appreciated producer.

As the night plummeted further into the wee hours, developments from alternative guests only crept to more bizarre and delightful ranks. Take Brooklyn’s Alejandro Ghersi, or Arca as his haunting but crazily danceable mononym plays out, of as we enter through various curtains and almost sacrifice shoes to catch a glimpse of, thrives off the dance-floor frenzy he’s fashioned, spinning and gyrating behind the decks just as the hundreds of youngsters surveilling are. Then steps-up Night Slugs eccentric Jam City, following the fabulous care-free ethos that a guilty pleasure shouldn’t be guilty. Streamlining antagonistically throbbing techno with tropical edits of Drake’s ‘Started From The Bottom’ and Ne-Yo’s ‘Sexy Love’, the too-cool-for-school-boys find themselves slinking for the nearest lady that catches their eye and the gaggling drunk girls can’t help but swoon like it’s 2006 all over again. Oh, and any artist that manages to admirably insert ‘How Soon Is Now’ into what is dubbed a trance event causing admirable uproar, is an honourable revelation in our book.

Words by Yours Truly X