Clubs picks of the week Jul 20th 2013, 05:00
The i Am Presents – Richard Fearless | Electric Daisy Carnival | Selective Hearing | Fabric | Womad
The i Am Presents – Richard Fearless, Edinburgh
After a flirtation with the charts in the late 90s, experimental electro/techno rockers Death In Vegas made a brief reappearance in 2011 with their fifth – and less well-received – studio album, Trans-Love Energies. Despite being best known as their frontman, Richard Fearless's accomplishments in the music business stretch far beyond his stint with the band. During DIV's hiatus, he spent a few years in New York, formed the band Black Acid and studied film and photography, then returned to London and produced his own music, including a Fabriclive mix, and tweaked the output of artists such as Yoko Ono. He recently launched Drone, a bi-monthly club night in Glasgow, and the fruits of his revived DJ career are ripe for the picking at next Thursday's outing of weekly electronica and bass evening i AM, alongside residents Beta & Kappa.
Cabaret Voltaire, Blair Street, Thu
PB
Electric Daisy Carnival, London
After attracting 300,000 people to its Las Vegas outing last year, the biggest dance festival in the US arrives for its first-ever UK incarnation, and the urge to shout WHO ARE YER is almost overwhelming. After all, we defined rave culture, and the likes of Global Gathering and Creamfields have been doing it legit for years. And these Yanks come along, puppyishly overwhelmed by EDM and molly, and try to sell it back to us? Don't try and teach grandma to huff Vicks, guys. And yet if you swallow your national pride, this is an undeniably massive lineup in the iconic Olympic Stadium, and thus not to be sniffed at. Avicii, Tiësto, Hardwell and Steve Angello bring the yacht-trance, while bassier fare comes from Nero, Sub Focus and Flux Pavilion. Goldie and Shy FX are repping old-school jungle, and face-warping electro silliness gets doled out by Crookers and Fake Blood. Finally, in what could be an inspired move, Big Driis AKA Idris Elba swaps treading the boards for manning the decks.
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, E20, Sat
BB
Selective Hearing, Leeds
It's an exciting ride at present for Manchester based crew Selective Hearing, following the success of their spirited hometown warehouse parties. There's more of the same to come, both at home and in Leeds. Tonight, they swap Manchester's Roadhouse for the Garage, hosting an extended set from exciting Ukrainian producer/DJ Vakula. As a remixer, DJ or producer, his music incorporates everything from rave and glitch electronica to jazz and ethno samples, and he manages to cram the lot into his addictively basic deep house and techno.
The Garage, East Parade, Sat
MR
Fabric, London
Apollonia are the trio of Dyed Soundorom, Shonky and Dan Ghenacia. Each are respected solo DJs, but together they're a constantly improvising sonic architecture firm, rotating their deep, Latin-inflected house back-to-back-to-back for hours at a time. Room one also sees a live set from the seriously talented Canadian house producer The Mole, while there's harder stuff in room two from Adam Beyer's Drumcode stable of techno doomsayers. Sheffield's industrial techno bods the Black Dog also play live.
Fabric, EC1, Sat
BB
Womad, nr Malmesbury
Comfortably into its fourth decade, Womad now has a defined area for beats-based sounds; The Big Red Tent being the place to head when things kick off this Friday. It's the ideal place to make the acquaintance of names that might be less familiar, such as the airhorn-heavy, bass-driven sound of Bavarian duo Jakob and Benedikt (AKA Schlachthofbronx) as well as South African kwaito ambassador Spoek Mathambo. There's also room for decorated reggae selector David Rodigan, whose profile has never been higher thanks to his shows on 1Xtra and Radio 2, as well as fellow BBC radio DJ Craig Charles, who brings his eponymous Funk and Soul Club to the festival.
Big Red Tent, Charlton Park Estate, Fri to 28 Jul
JM
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