Compact Disco, Newcastle upon Tyne
This bumper edition of Compact Disco – in aid of Cancer Research UK – is set to span both dancefloor spaces at Cosmic Ballroom, offering two very different flavours. Hotflush mainman Scuba has been busy lately, thanks to his 12 Weeks Of Techno residency at XOYO (EC2, to 26 Mar). Warming up and cooling down from the likes of Matthew Dear and Deetron will surely have left this occasionally provocative tastemaker in fine form to deliver a crowd-pleasing set, shot through with the experimental flavours established early in his career. He’s joined by Boddika, no doubt armed with an enviable selection of tough acid techno and his usual no-prisoners attitude. Meanwhile, next door, electro-funk pioneer and archivist Greg Wilson offers lighter-footed sounds from his vast archive of disco edits, drawing on his unrivalled knowledge of dance music’s humble beginnings on British shores.
The Cosmic Ballroom, Thu
JT
Fabriclive 25.3: Bad Company, London
This is surely one of the biggest drum’n’bass nights of the year, headed up by Bad Company, the supergroup that comprises DJ Fresh, dBridge, Vegas and Maldini. With their acid-facing, chest-beating productions that threaten to split apart under the sheer weight of bass and snare, they emerged in the late 90s as an alternative to the sensual “liquid funk” style and radically increased the likelihood of being whipped in the face by sweat-soaked Trustafarian dreadlocks on the dancefloor. After going solo, Fresh scored a series of poppy hits and dBridge became the thinking man’s DJ; the quartet have now reformed for their first new material in a decade. They’re supported here by a ridiculously starry lineup of A-list names: Pendulum (whose career they built a platform for) are DJing, and original junglist Ed Rush goes back-to-back with Audio. Over in room two, Fabio is likely to paint it black, while Marcus Intalex will essay the more ruminative side of D&B. Verse, Jakes and 2SHY are on mic duties.
Fabric, EC1, Fri
BBT
Dekmantel Presented By Sub Club, Glasgow
Marcellus Pittman was first introduced to Theo Parrish in the early 90s by a mutual friend at The Billiard Gallery in Detroit. At the turn of the millennium, the two cemented their friendship with a collaborative release on Parrish’s Sound Signature label, a warm, groove-ridden three-track 12-inch, peaking with sonorous B-side African Roots’ glossy synth chords flecked by punchy drums. After that debut, Pittman went on to release a succession of solo records on his own Unirhythm imprint and Omar S’s FXHE Records, as well as joining two key Detroit groups, Rotating Assembly and 3 Chairs. Catch him here, fresh off the asphalt from a recent Australian tour.
Sub Club, Thu
SC
Dot Product, Bristol
Adam Winchester and Chris Jarman are veterans of a number of murky musical projects in Bristol; their latest, Dot Product, is darker and stranger still. An extreme, abstract collision of hardware faults and electronic exploration, they’ve even been commissioned by the Watershed Cinema to create a sonic interpretation of cult modern horror film Let The Right One In. Support here comes from two longtime associates: local hero Appleblim and Bristolian techno-electro wiz Second Storey.
The Crofters Rights, Thu
GTDC
Peckham Paradise, London
Part of the irony-exploding collective PC Music, Kane West – AKA Gus Lobban – made one of its best releases to date with his 2014 mixtape Western Beats, a cute splurge of electro, whistles and a woman saying “shower curtain” over and over. Using percussion seemingly made by a Nokia technician in 1995, he’s since made satisfying ghetto house tracks for Tiga’s Turbo label, and plays here alongside fellow Kero Kero Bonito member WHARFWHIT and Nighswan. Pre-game with a cocktail of cherry Lambrini and Panda Pops for the most appropriate mindset.
Canavan’s, SE15, Sat
BBT
• This article was amended on 22 March 2016. An earlier version had the previews for Compact Disco and Peckham Paradise under incorrect headings.
