PARADIS • The Tube Sat 3rd
New night Paradis marks the third stage of evolution for the promoters behind The Do and 13 Monsters. First monkey, then man and now the neo-sapien. So for those of you that wept tears right up to your (m)ankles when 13 Monsters called it a day, it’s time to rejoice and don your GG$ snapbacks for tonight’s launch where residents 20JazzFunkGreats, Ed Lilo and Where To Now? play all the best tunes you’ve never heard. If its music policy is anything like their previous nights then it won’t be confined by genre or time, just fantastic tracks back to back. (ZC)
ANOTHER SUNNY DAY INDIEPOP CLUB • Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar Fri 9th
After a six-month hiatus, and spurred on by a spanking new venue and the recent twee love-in indie tracks, DJs Craig, Emily and Rob present a night for those fans of jangly guitars and sensitive poetry-writing pop stars. Playing everything from 80s indie pop to Swedish pop and Britpop plus anything else they feel like on the night, this promises to be twee in a good way and a welcome alternative to the current trend for clubs full of ironic, knowing hipsters. (LMM)
UK AIR GUITAR CHAMPIONSHIPS • Concorde 2 Fri 9th
The X Factor may have begun to dominate our TV screens for the next few months, but a talent competition possibly even more prestigious reaches its climax at Concorde 2 this month – the UK Air Guitar Championships. We’ve all done it – on the bed, in the shower and definitely on a drunken night out, and so, after scouring the country for our nation’s finest air guitarists, we can judge once and for all who really shreds air the best. (JC)
HIGH RANKIN • Coalition Sat 10th
According to his biog High Rankin was “born into slavery at the Richard Madeley prison for the criminally sexy.” Weren’t we all, weren’t we all. One thing we can’t claim for ourselves is a talent for crunching together the best of dubstep, electro and rave into anthems that can wake the dead. This is a headline live show, and we’ve got very high hopes for plenty of slamming basslines and a handful of silliness from the Suicide Dub boss. (JK)
LIFE’S A GAS Komedia Sat 10th
Those of us who’ve been having a glam rock revival in their own heads for years now need to get their Tiger Feet down to this new night from DJs Warrlock Poetry and ex-Brighton legend Heidi Heelz (Glamracket). Expect not just obscure Roxy Music b-sides but all the glitterbeat-laden stompers of the era, from Slade, The Sweet, and Suzi Quatro to T.Rex, as well as some equally danceable 70s power pop. Get down and get with it! (LMM)
AUDIO’S 7th BIRTHDAY • Audio Fri 16th
Audio’s been pushing the underground dance envelope for seven whole years now, they’ve seen some of the biggest and best DJs top their bills from Carl Cox to Boy 8 Bit. To ensure their birthday’s celebrated with the right amount of skipping robotic beats and shifting cyborg breaks James Zabiela’s gonna help them blow out the candles with his fusion of house, techno and breakbeat. His tracks are multi-layered masterpieces with a synthetic edge, sometimes twinkling sunrise soundscapes inspired from his Space residency, often looping mechanised sonics designed for Optimus Prime, always progressive dancefloor fillers. (ZC)
WRONGTOM Fortune of War Sat 17th
A mother of reinvention, DJ Wrongtom’s not just broken genre boundaries but smashed them into little pieces, razed them to the ground and danced on their ashes. A musical stalwart for the past 10 years and originally a percussionist, Wrongtom stumbled into the pop sphere and emerged with ghettotech, jazz and house trailing behind him. With a record collection bordering on bizarre and a technical capacity which leaves even the most superior observers impressed, Wrongtom’s coming to the Fortune to baffle, delight, astound and amaze you. (JMM)
KLASHNEKOFF Audio Wed 21st
Supercharged push their hip hop sensibilities by booking the lionheart east Londoner, Klashnekoff. 2003’s ‘Murda’ is a seminal UK hip hop track full of bleak anecdotes, inner-city aggression and ‘nang’ flows. But tunes like ‘Black Rose’ showed Darren Kandler could ride a rhythm with more introspective lyrics just as well as he could spit killer verses. His gigs are rambunctious affairs so put your head-nodding cap on and get ready for some hip hop mosh pits. (ZC)
ABUSE • Green Door Store Fri 23rd
GDS spread their wings and keep things fresh by launching a new electronic music night that’s steeped in mystery. For the enigmatic ABUSE we’ve been told to expect dark and alternative moody synth pop via coldwave with some aquacrunk twists. Think artists like the ghostly Oneohtrix Point Never blended into the sci-fi sounds of Kraftwerk, satanic Salem’s orchestral electronics alongside the psychedelic krautrock of Can, spun by Fokkawolfe and DJs from XANADU and Be Nothing. Suffice to say we’re intrigued and giddy with excitement. (ZC)
AKA AKA ROAR • Fri 23rd Life
More wonky post-dubstep and blissed-out future house delights from the AKA AKA ROAR crew. Mosca tops the bill and anyone who loves their club music knows this guy is one step ahead. We’ll be in attendance just to hear him drop his new tune ‘Bax’ which rinses the 90s rave bassline over a skipping 2-step beat. In support are Altered Natives, aka Danny Native, who’s blend of deep rolling percussion and broken beat created last year’s banger ‘Rass Out’. (ZC)
HORSE MEAT DISCO Audio Fri 23rd
Big fat gay party Horse Meat Disco hits Brighton for a night of debauchery, camaraderie, spilt drinks, and a full spectrum of classic to modern disco hits. Immoral self-indulgence and shocking dance moves are guaranteed; bad dance moves are guaranteed; an aching head and wallet in the morning are also guaranteed. Get down early to check out if the hype’s deserved. (JMM)
SOUTH CENTRAL • & THE JAPANESE POPSTARS Concorde 2 Fri 23th
What a double bill. Two absolutely killer live acts that we haven’t seen down here for a while – which is surprising as The Japanese Popstars aren’t from Japan (they’re Irish) and South Central, despite being Maltese, live in Brighton. Anyway, what can we expect? Well, SC are pretty much the noisiest electro we’ve heard and JP have taken classic stadium dance and added songs. An absolute bargain for a fiver in advance, even before you throw in a DJ set from our own dubstep hero Riskotheque. (JK)
COVERT REUNION • Tube Sat 24th
Back in the olden days if you wanted a track to play you had to go to a record shop and buy it on vinyl. Crazy, but there was really no other format that had the best dance music. Through piracy and the fact that everyone plays MP3s now there are very few specialist dance shops, which is a shame cos spending the afternoon listening to careful curated tunes was a great way to put a set together. In the world of techno, Covert was a Mecca. What Alex and Japhy didn’t know about Germanic 4/4 could fit on a stamp to Detroit. Thank God (ie Jeff Mills) that they’re back for this one-off. (JK)
DEVOTION • Concorde 2 Sat 24th
Bassline Smith and Drumsound have been producing drum’n’bass bangers for over a decade now. The production group, made up of Simon ‘Bassline’ Smith, Benjamin ‘Drumsound’ Wigget and Andrew Wright, have seen Radio 1 daytime airplay for their recent release ‘Freak’ with Fearne Cotton rinsing it out on her show, probably because of its heavily autotuned vocals. Even so, the tune still retains the grumbling, winding bassline and spitting drum loops that distinguishes their sound, and it’s good to see the guys getting mainstream recognition. (ZC)
FILTHY DUKES Audio Sat 24th
Warehouse have got a Fabric takeover on their hands tonight – Filthy Dukes host legendary electro party Kill ‘Em All at the London hotspot where they flaunt their synthpop and electroclash sounds. As a band they’ve also made time to release tunes such as ‘Messages’, which received a lot of positive airplay back in 2009. Tonight they’re joined by Stopmakingme aka Daniel Avery who supports them regularly at Kill ‘Em All with his sets of post-punk, electro and techno leanings in between remixing for Metronomy, Munk and Hercules & Love Affair. (ZC)
WORDS BY ZAC COLBERT, JAKE CUNNINGHAM, JAMES KENDALL, JESSICA MARSHALL MCHATTIE, LISA MARIE MUNDY