^ I think we should keep this thread clubbing-only, otherwise we'll never come up with anything music releated

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June 2018 mix

I like this idea. Reading certain posts on here, I do wonder exactly what music some people are actually going out and hearing.

I went out last weekend to Back To Basics. Non-British readers will probably be only vaguely familiar with the name, but Basics actually holds the world record for the longest continually running club night, a record it would probably be merrily extending if its last home (The Garage, an excellently grimy little club) hadn't unexpectedly lost its license last year. Dave Beer, the infamously debauched promoter, is busy buying and trying to open his own club in Leeds to give Basics a permanent home again, but for now the night is somewhat nomadic and irregular.

In the last month they've thrown two parties at The Wire club in Leeds with just the resident DJs playing, a kind of love-in for the Basics faithful who will turn up without a glitzy headliner. And last weekend's event showed exactly why Back To Basics have managed to put on parties every week since 1991 when every other promoter has jacked it in or gone bust. There is quite frankly no other party I've ever been to that gets it right on every single level as consistently. The crowd are always unpretentious, friendly and completely into the music, with a mixture of old heads, 18 year old students and everyone in between. The resident DJs are all extremely good and often get bigger and better responses from the crowd than the guests. They've even got the friendliest and most efficient in-house dealer you'll ever score from.

The line-up was (from midnight, when we arrived), James Holroyd 12-2, Ralph Lawson 2-4 and James Barnsley until the close. Holroyd was playing feel-good house music from the moment we got there, kicking off peak time with anthemic fare like Kolsch - Der Alte. Nothing too fancy about his set but good energy levels and vibe for that time of night.

Ralph Lawson is probably the only name on the line-up I imagine anyone outside the North of England will have heard of, one of those vaguely-familiar names you might know as the owner of 20:20 Vision and for his Fabric association, which includes an entry into mix series. In Leeds, however, he is an absolute legend, having played the very first record at Basics back in '91 and been a resident ever since, and he brings the same response from the crowd as any headliner DJ. And this is something I've increasingly noticed with clubbing - that often the "big name" DJs don't mix any better or even have better records than the local DJs. What sets them apart is the excitement they generate in a crowd. An international DJ could play the same sequence of records as the resident and the crowd will go three times as nuts for those same records. And this is one of the keys to Basics, why you can turn up at random and it doesn't really matter who the guest is (or why they don't even need a guest), because the crowd often go more nuts for the residents.

It helps, of course, that Lawson is a fucking brilliant DJ who has 20+ years experience playing to this crowd, and he absolutely smashed it to pieces. Some really chunky, driving basslines, some feel-good moments when you wanted them and just a couple of well-placed vocals. There was one track in particular with a huge bassline and just a flutter of multi-tapped vocal pads that had exactly the kind of mid-90s epic house tinge to it to make me go weak at the knees. He also played the Andre Hommen remix of Ane Brun - Let Myself Go, one of only two tunes I could ID all night.

At about 4am James Barnsley came on, and as is expected for the closing stretch of the night, proceeded to bang out some armour-plated tough techy stuff for those with the stamina to stick it out. The night was billed as finishing at 6am but by 6 the club, which had been rammed all night, was still 1/3rd full, so things went on. Just after 6 he played a couple of really lush Detroit tracks which I thought was going to be a perfect way to mellow out a hard set and close the night, but then he went back into the thumping tech. Apparently it went on for another hour but we went home at about 6.15am.

Altogether though, it was a solid 6 hours of top quality house music. Dave Beer was constantly on the mic slurring about how he had the best crowd in the country in front of him, the crowd had grins plastered across their faces through-out; it was all one glorious homage to one of house music's great institutions. My only complaint is with the soundsystem at The Wire. It's an otherwise great club - about 500 capacity with a low ceiling and bare brick arches and a nice underground feel, but the soundsystem is utter gash. It's prominently billed on every Wire flyer as being a Funktion 1 but the higher end is just really noisy and muddy and the whole system seems underpowered, so they inevitably crank it up really fucking loud and the high-end just deafens you. The next day my ears were still ringing when I woke up, which I really hate. That is the kind of soundsystem that ends up giving you permanent hearing damage.

Anyway I'll be out at Basics again this weekend (thankfully at a different venue), as they have Andrew Weatherall booked for a six hour set. I'll report back here afterwards.

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Mixes:
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24
> Surface Tension [Progressive Trance]
> Back To Deep [Deep Trippy House]
> Terra Nova [Modern Progressive Trance]

If you enjoy any of these sets and want to hear me live, I'll be playing a 2 hour progressive trance set at Basing House in Shoreditch, London on 11th October.
I'm also a resident at our bi-monthly party Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

Last edited by SYSTEM-J on Oct-28-2014 at 13:47

Roger Sanchez this past Saturday at Hacienda, which is arguably the best sound system/lounge'esque venue in Philly right now. From what I heard prior to the Event, Roger is known for using 3 or 4 decks. I wasnt gawking near the booth at all so I can't say to what extent he was getting tricky. He played a good, not great selection of house music and a little bit of techy material as well. There were definitely some big transitional moments and some housey classics with a 90's vibe dropped in his set. The best part about the night for me was not his music, but rather the crowd that he drew. Bboys, house heads, SMOKIN hot babes. As soon as Sanchez took the decks a dance circle formed in the middle of the floor and persisted for about 10 or 15 minutes. I really miss those circles, they were the lifeblood of NYC clubbing back in the day and I just dont see it happen that often anymore in NY or Philly. 4 out of 5 stars on Roger's set and a 5 star crowd. Great night.

This was played around 3am, and went over very well with the ladies.

Great idea for a post!

Last week, I went to Fabric for the third night of their '15th Birthday' weekend. Very much enjoyed Levon Vincent's whole set, which was as great as expected, then heard about 30 minutes of Ben UFO. Nice, solid stuff, but the girl I was with wasn't enjoying it as much, as it was a bit too harsh for her. Bit of a shame, but we went to the main room after that, where I'm not sure who was playing. It was decent music-wise, but the crowd was annoying, as one would expect. Tons of university kids wearing sunglasses, multiple people coming up and asking if I wanted to buy molly, etc. Around 3am we gave up and called it a night, since we had class the next day at 9. As much as I think it's ridiculous one has to be 21 to drink in America, it does a good job of keeping annoying kids out of venues. Still, it was great to finally see Levon Vincent life. Definitely enjoyed that a lot!

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Quarantine Classics Brunello di Montalcino (In Transit) Edition [Progressive Classics] (August 2020)
Quarantine Classics - Puligny-Montrachet Edition [Progressive Classics] (April 2020)
What Is Progressive Anyways? [Progressive House Classics] (November 2019)

Saw Klock at the weekend - he was very good and played some really hard techno, really sounded like old German techno from yesteryear

3 plus hours of that is just too much for me these days but i enjoyed it as much as i could

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quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J The next day my ears were still ringing when I woke up, which I really hate. That is the kind of soundsystem that ends up giving you permanent hearing damage.

hope you are wearing earplugs when you go out clubbing

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quote:

Originally posted by evo8 hope you are wearing earplugs when you go out clubbing

No I don't, and I know I really should. Generally my ears feel okay after a night out and I don't think my hearing has deteriorated that much after 8 years or so of clubbing. I still have my MP3 player on the same volume, and the same with my laptop, and I've had both for 5-6 years. Given that I've got a few mates who now have tinnitus or hearing problems from clubbing and DJing I'm not doing too badly.

I generally believe that a good soundsystem doesn't do too much damage and that you can feel when a soundsystem is knackering your ears. I have even walked out of clubs before if the sound system is painful to listen to, but if the music's really good I'll take it.

___________________
Mixes:
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24
> Surface Tension [Progressive Trance]
> Back To Deep [Deep Trippy House]
> Terra Nova [Modern Progressive Trance]

If you enjoy any of these sets and want to hear me live, I'll be playing a 2 hour progressive trance set at Basing House in Shoreditch, London on 11th October.
I'm also a resident at our bi-monthly party Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J Anyway I'll be out at Basics again this weekend (thankfully at a different venue), as they have Andrew Weatherall booked for a six hour set.

That will be super happy fun times

saw Virginia about a week and a half ago at Stereo in Montreal. Best club in the country and probably top 5 or at least top 10 in the world. The club itself is quite simple, basically just one big room. So you can never quite have an adventure in there like some other clubs that are more elaborately constructed, but it's pretty much all about the sound system and the dacne floor, and on that front, it might just be the very best in the world.

So the night started at the basement club Stereobar where I'm also a resident DJ. The club's main resident was playing his monthly all-night set there and the music was definitely very solid but never quite picked up past the point of an opening set. It was definitely a very well-sustained vibe, but he never really set the crowd off in any way. That's fine I suppose, as I think he was mindful of the fact that a lot of people would later head upstairs to the main room, to dance the rest of the night (and morning) away.

So this night was a bit extra special for me and my friends as it was that first time that one of our close friends was playing there. It should be noted, that in Montreal, playing at Stereo is the ultimate gig, and quite an accomplishment. As a DJ, there is a definite sense of "having made it" when you are booked to play there. So we were all quite happy and excited for him. The thing is that another DJ was originally set to play that night, Ukraine's Nastia. Unfortunately Nastia couldn't make it due to immigration issues, which left just my friend and Virginia on the bill. The problem is, my friend was not at all familiar with Virginia (he hadn't even heard of her prior). As such, while his music would have been a good fit for Nastia, it wasn't really a fit for Virginia. While she plays more rooted drum machine-based house and housy techno, he plays really the more linear, minimal sort of tech house. So while it was not out of place in a general sense, it didn't quite suit Virginia's style. To top it off, we were all quite disappointed that he chose to play a lot of MP3's that night, which simply did not sound good in there, at all. All in all, we were left with the feeling that while it was nice for him to receive the opportunity to play there, he was not ready for that gig. Don't get me wrong, his mixing and flow were on point, but he was lacking in other areas.

Anyway, Virginia eventually came on and impressed us all. Such a humble person. I went up to her mid-set, proclaiming "this is the real Panorama bar sound!" to which she smiled. She played for 3 hours a very tight set that left a lasting impression. Eventually my friend came back on but just could not measure up, unfortunately.

All in all it was a good night though that started around midnight and lasted approximately 8.5 hours.

Since I am playing quite a lot these days, many of the nights I attend now are ones where I'm also playing. So this Friday there will be a big, 1,000+ person Halloween party and I am playing in between Swayzak and Zadig. Excited for that

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quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J Levels is...decent...damn better than a lot of the shite dominating the charts at the moment. It sounds absolutely nothing like...a billion and one similar tracks in this big-room style. I always had a soft spot.

Last edited by Adam420 on Oct-28-2014 at 16:46

quote:

Originally posted by chris1011 That will be super happy fun times

Oh yeah. He's playing with Sean Johnston as one of their "A Love From Outer Space" parties. I've heard a couple of sets by them both B2B and the flow isn't quite as good as it was on the six hour Basics set we witnessed last year, but it's still very much the same style.

___________________
Mixes:
> Higher Peaks [Progressive House]
> Dance:Love:Hub Afterparty (The Return) 23.11.24
> Surface Tension [Progressive Trance]
> Back To Deep [Deep Trippy House]
> Terra Nova [Modern Progressive Trance]

If you enjoy any of these sets and want to hear me live, I'll be playing a 2 hour progressive trance set at Basing House in Shoreditch, London on 11th October.
I'm also a resident at our bi-monthly party Kibosh in Manchester: https://www.instagram.com/kibosh.mcr/

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J I generally believe that a good soundsystem doesn't do too much damage and that you can feel when a soundsystem is knackering your ears. I have even walked out of clubs before if the sound system is painful to listen to, but if the music's really good I'll take it.

I have tinnitus/hyperacusis. I dont need earplugs in good venues but the I keep a set in my wallet for when I'm stuck with a shit venue and/or DJ.