Make Me With Pearson Sound, London
Even before he released his debut album this year, Pearson Sound was a force to be reckoned with. As Ramadanman, he produced a raft of tracks that skipped between junglism, juke and techno, and induced the kind of tongue-lolling you get from a great head massage. Then, under his new moniker, the breakbeats got flung off their axis to leave a thoroughly British kind of minimal bass. As one third of Hessle Audio, he’s shepherded that sound out of dubstep and into a refreshingly open field, where round-spectacled techno fans nod next to grooving bassheads. But his self-titled album sees him levelling up once again. Touched with the mystic austerity of Actress, but with strong links back to rave culture, it’s like a carpenter’s workshop, with some tracks carved into lean bangers dotted with pearls of melody, and others just scraps slotted together, quietly malfunctioning in the corner. Both styles are brutally funky in their own way.
Studio Spaces, E2, Sat
BB
The Late Escape, Brighton
The Great Escape, the south coast’s big showcase of new bands, has launched a new club-based offshoot for its 10th year, and the Saturday night, curated by writers at Resident Advisor, is formidable for its variety of underground strength. Berceuse Heroique, a label at the rawest end of the UK underground, is repped by leading lights of gritty gutter-techno Hodge and Koehler with boss KEMAA; Tama Sumo is, straight up, one of Berlin and the world’s finest DJs; and there’s almost too much to say about DJ Nature. Part of soundsystem and party crew the Wild Bunch, he pushed forward rap music in the UK, melting it into dub and funk (the team would eventually gestate Massive Attack). To cut a long story short, he resurfaced five years ago as a sublime producer of slowed-down, funked-out house; carved out of disco-experienced rhythms and soaked in soulful loops decanted from decades of hungry crate-digging. It’s music that cuts straight to the heart of the dancefloor.
Patterns, Sat
GT
Sleaze Up: Red Light Series, Glasgow
Sweatbox club La Cheetah has become one of the cornerstones of dance music debauchery in Glasgow since it opened six years ago, and its enthusiasm still knows no bounds. A brand-new party, Sleaze Up: The Red Light Series, aims to dig its nails deep into the filthier side of the underground, and with JG Wilkes (one half of Optimo) and the Revenge as its first guests, the freakier, sassier selections should set the tone. Wilkes is tens of thousands of records into the game now, so he knows how to turn a tiny basement with one red light into a house of sin. Think sleazy old-school electro, peppered with ghettotech vocal pumps, and clothes-to-the-floor disco and techno classics.
La Cheetah, Fri
LM
Ovation, London
Oval Space’s live series continues, with this edition topped by Howling, the pairing of Aussie acoustic musician Ry Cuming and one-half of deep-house duo Ame, Frank Wiedemann. A bit like Rhye, it consists of the soft materials of vocals and instrumentation grazing against the starch of techno pulses, and looks set to soundtrack many a pillow-clutching Sunday afternoon. In support are Ghost Culture, of Erol Alkan’s Phantasy label, bringing gothic synth-pop and room-filling techno, and Solar, a DJ in the classic Balearic mould who moves between blearily downtempo disco, Euro yacht jams and deep house.
Oval Space, E2, Fri
BB
Oneman & Benton, Nottingham
Best known for his blistering Boiler Room sets, and seamlessly mixing hip-hop with the cutting-edge of bass in his Solitaire series, Oneman’s reputation as a formidable force behind the decks continues to hold strong. While perhaps not as feverishly eclectic as cohorts such as Jackmaster, Oneman originally turned heads melding UK garage with DMZ-style dubstep, and his ear for selections and blends remains potent. Playing alongside Benton, expect a riotous evening that doesn’t go easy on the sub bass.
Stealth, Fri
JT
