Pride Of Gombe, London
Not sure whether the people of Gombe, Nigeria, are indeed proud of this barnstormingly wonky all-dayer, but someone should be at least. It’s another outing for a loose collective of like-minded UK producers who care not for hi-fi gloss or genre tags, but champion dance at its most digitally psychotropic. Berlin-based techno expat BNJMN has, like so many of late, gone analogue for new label Brack, and the results are truly stunning; tracks such as Luster punch you in the gut then squeeze it until you look like the surprised emoji. In support are cosmic bloke Mr Beatnick, neo-trip-hop producer Kelpe and Lukid, whose recent work on Liberation Technologies is exceptional. They all start off with a free party in outdoor Southwark space The Paperworks from 2pm, before accruing a secret special guest and upping sticks to Corsica Studios down the road through till 6am.
The Paperworks, SE1 & Corsica Studios, SE17, Sat
BB
Dancers Wanted, Manchester
Partially inspired by the new breed of underground, strictly vinyl London clubs such as Rhythm Section, where Dancers Wanted founder Ruf Dug is a regular guest, this basement soiree neatly turns the spotlight away from the DJ and on to the dancefloor, before dimming it to an enigmatic red haze. He’s a well-respected expert at finding the scenes, links, sounds and records that nobody was necessarily looking for, and each edition sees a special guest and friend going toe-to-toe with Ruf for the duration of the evening. This time around it’s the turn of the very German-sounding Wolf Müller, AKA Jan Schulte, a crate-digging wunderkind closely associated with Salon Des Amateurs, a white-hot Dusseldorf club night taking place after dark in the cafe of a city museum. With the production skills of “a demented pied pan-piper” – according to his promotional blurb – expect cosmic bells, voodoo drums and nicely twisted synths from the pair, all fed through on to the smoky dancefloor with extra echo and some serious bump.
Soup Kitchen, Fri
JT
The ‘Free House’ Sound Of Chicago, Bristol
Free House returns after its opening with Finn Johannsen for a dancefloor journey into the sound of the city that created house music, at a subterranean wine bar that doubles as a historic bastion of Bristol’s underground. Alongside resident Richard Carnes, Placid will be your guide for this edition. His credentials in the world of acid are second to none, having been part of the scene since the very first wave in the UK. His encyclopaedic record collection travels the whole spectrum, from the early Chicago experiments that became the house sound, to the cyborg jive of acid and the rhythmically wild juke and footwork movements that followed.
Cosies Wine Bar, Sat
GT
Thunder Disco Presents Matias Aguayo, Glasgow
Glasgow’s Sub Club usually champions the kind of techno that makes the ceiling crumble (it’s a miracle it’s still intact after all those raised fist-bumps), but this weekend sees the arrival of a more esoteric figure from the world of house, the Chile-born, Germany-raised Cómeme label boss Matias Aguayo. As a globe-trotting producer and DJ his feet barely touch the ground, but his selections have deep roots: cumbia rhythms dance through pounding drum machine basslines, and South American vocal harmonies are strung out with cheeky nods to post-punk, kuduro and disco.
Sub Club, Fri
LM
Memory Box: A History Of Electro
The word electro is a bit meaningless now, used to describe anything from Ed Banger bangers to the kind of trashy house that Ibizan promoters brand up with naff punk fonts. But in the 80s it meant hip-hop nerdily infused with digital beats and lots of talking like a servile android. Robot-walking us through its history is Egyptian Lover, whose live 808 jams still sound like the future. Backing him up is crate-digging knowledge font Greg Wilson.
Cafe 1001, E1, Sat
BB
