Studio 338 2015 Opening Party, London
Studio 338 started a year ago with a big promise: to bring Ibiza-style clubbing to London. Its location between the O2’s car park and the Blackwall Tunnel means that you’ll need to view everything through a bottle of blue WKD if you want to conjure turquoise seas, but the heated terrace is a winner and its Void soundsystem is tempting underground acts away from their enclaves closer to town. For this first lineup since New Year’s Day, the club is turning more confidently than ever towards the Boiler Room crowd. It’s topped by ItaloJohnson, a Berlin-based trio who trade in bouncy classic house with a nice hint of techno stiffness in its limbs, playing a four-hour set; Fred P is more limber, massaging deep productions with warm organ chords. Then there are two of the UK’s most exciting techno voices in Kowton, schooled in the Bristolian bass scene, and Call Super, whose jazzy album Suzi Ecto was one of the best of 2014.
Studio 338, SE10, Sat
BB
Sherwood & Pinch, Bristol
The team behind the Simple Things festival continue their off-season shows with an almighty showcase of two generations of bass creators. The cannily curated schedule sees Adrian Sherwood, one of the most important pioneers of UK dub, collide with his recent co-conspirator, Bristol dubstep genius Pinch, alongside another local musical icon in the form of Massive Attack’s Daddy G. Sherwood & Pinch will perform tracks from their forthcoming album (out on Monday), as well as each playing an individual set that represents their contribution to underground music. Pinch draws on tracks from the mid-00s, when his genre’s creativity and experimentalism peaked, while Sherwood picks classic records from the lethal back catalogue of the On-U Sound label he founded in 1979: an era-defining source of politically conscious and technologically forward-thinking music that, although dub-centric, comes smudged with the aesthetics of rave and post-punk.
The Marble Factory, Thu
GT
Machinedrum, Dublin
US producer Travis Stewart, known to the global underground as Machinedrum, is credited as being one of the early inspirations for Scottish hip-hop crew LuckyMe, and – in a happy twist of fate – even released on the label a decade into his career. More recently, Stewart has been working with Detroit techno wizard Jimmy Edgar under the guise of JETS and alongside Praveen Sharma as Sepalcure, but is still very much marching to his own beat. Over almost a dozen albums – including the fantasy metropolis concept record Vapor City – Stewart has woven hip-hop, electronica, jungle, garage and footwork into a multi-layered beast, while his DJ sets are just as unpredictable and rewarding.
Opium Rooms, Sat
LM
Zomby, London
Having taken over the exquisitely simple Autumn Street Studios space, Bloc now has a permanent London home. Its festival returns to Butlins Minehead in March, and one of the curveball sets there will be from jungle-obsessed experimentalists Raime going back-to-back with scene stalwarts Randall, Doc Scott and Dillinja. As a kind of taster, here we have Zomby, whose productions echo with the ghosts of junglism past, alongside Randall and Source Direct, two of the very people who first gave the scene its dystopian voice. A seance of sorts for British bass culture.
Bloc, E3, Sat
BB
Harri & Domenic, Sheffield
While Optimo may be the name most associated with Glasgow’s seminal Sub Club, the past few years has seen the spotlight fall on Harri & Domenic, the dynamic pair behind 20 years of Subculture, the venue’s – and city’s – most consistent house and techno party. Freed up at last from their Scottish schedule, they’re able to take the flavour of their institution across the world, delivering decades worth of powerful selections to appreciative audiences - such as this night in Sheffield, where they’ll play alongside Lo Shea.
Hope Works, Sat
JT
