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Electronica
Radio Scotland, Sun, 6.05pm, (92.4—94.9 MHZ).
Emerging after the Saturday night Sunday morning frivolities and looking for the soundtrack to bring your weekend to a suitable close, you might not have thought about turning on the trannie and tuning into cosy Radio Scotland.
For the last six months though, the searingly credible show Electronica has been broadcasting over the tartan airwaves to an estimated audience of 50,000, mixing up obscure Japanese hip hop, demos and white labels with mixes from local and internationally renowned names. Roni Size and Howie B have rubbed shoulders with Harri, Slam and KMC as previous guests on the show while there is a solid selection of DJs from all round Scotland booked in for future shows.
'Our remit is to play the kind of
music that you can’t hear on radio anywhere in Scotland,’ says Mark Percival, the 34-year-old presenter who many will know from his four year stint with Radio Scotland’s Bite The Wax and Beat Patrol.
He sees the audience base as people who are passionate about dance and electronic music, not necessarily clubbers per se, but listeners who want to be entertained and informed about the ever burgeoning scene, especially the evolution of our native talent. Percival and producer Mandy Freeman have total control over the content of the show and, within four weeks of the programme going on air, their slot on the schedules was doubled to an hour. Radio Scotland's management understood the needs of such a specialist programme: you’d be hard pressed to play three twelve inches in half an hour and a DJ on the mix would have
Mark Percival; " We have that amazing BBC freedom you get if you're doing a
specialist show"
no time to work up a vibe.
Percival is more than happy with the set up. 'We have that amazing BBC freedom that you get if you're doing a specialist show for them,’ he says. ’The management will, to their credit, say “You’re the experts, you do it".’
Mandy Freeman adds: 'The great thing about Radio Scotland is that there is no playlist. R8iB, straight house and mainstream dance music is catered for on other stations, but what we're trying to do is be distinctive and create an alternative. We can take more risks than a station that has to please the advertisers.‘
Although they reckon that the programme won’t be extended past an hour, Percival and Freeman hope to expand the show in different ways, lining up outside broadcasts and aiming for an even greater eclecticism of content. Mr Anderson’s Fine Tunes it ain't. (Rory Weller)
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Birthday bash; Groove Rider will help Manga celebrate
74 THE lIST 23 Jan—S Feb 1998
Manga second birthday Edinburgh: La Belle Angele, Fri 23 Jan.
It's been a struggle, but Manga, Scotland’s scene-leading drum ’n’ bass club, has reached its second birthday.
What makes this achievement uniquely impressive is the fact Scotland’s indigenous drum ’n' bass scene is still a marginal one. Manga aside, only Urban Flava in Dundee, Elements in Glasgow and Headrush in the Borders have been brave enough to promote drum ’n’ bass in a regular club envrronment.
Last Summer, though, the writing was on the wall for Manga. A determination to promote the harder ’iump-up’ style of drum ’n’ bass, rather than its more accessible styles, almost caused its downfall.
With numbers dwindling, Manga moved from its fortnightly slot to a monthly one. It re-emerged bolstered by a trio of key nights involving Reprazent, Ganja Kru's DJ Hype and, best of all, a two-hour live broadcast on Radio One's (now defunct) ’One In The Jungle' show.
Manga’s residents DJ Kid and 6-
Mac have also been sustaining the success. G-Mac is one half of local drum ’n’ bass act Grand Unified, who have a single and an album forthcoming on London’s Second Skin label. His production skills are also to be found on two tracks from the forthcoming East Coast Project Vo/2 compilation.
DJ Kid, meanwhile, continues to guest at high profile clubs and large scale events (Universe, Dreamscape, World Dance etc . . .) in England, Ireland and Europe. Lest we forget, he has been promoting Jungle in Scotland for six years now. His next three productions come we Eastside, Audio Blueprint and Underfire Recordings.
With Grooverider for the birthday party, and Nicky Blackmarket, Doc Scott, Suv from Reprazent, Ed Rush and Bryan (3 already pencilled into the diary, the future looks healthy for Manga and for Scottish drum 'n' bass. Respect to Manga for promoting the music they believe in. (Jim Byers)
a Special guest Grooverider will join Manga for the second birthday night.
Club news
What's going down in Clubland.
IT'S OFFICIAL, SLAM’S Stuart MacMillan and Orde Miekle are jacking in their regular Friday night slot at the Arches, six years after they moved there from the Sub Club. The duo who have been DJing for ten years are Scotland's number one dance export combining production work, their own Soma label and of course, DJing. The pair have decided to bring the night to an end in April, to allow them more time to concentrate on their studio activities and touring. The Slam team will still have an interest in the Friday replacement, which will focus exclusively on local DJs and talent. MacMillan and Miekle will continue to DJ in Glasgow, but only at monthly or one-off events.
THOUGHT ABOUT GOING to Jet lately? Don’t bother, the plans to knock the Glasgow club down and build a roundabout finally came to fruition just as last issue was going to press. Now Glasgow’s West End’s club life is suffering and it looks like it's going to stay that way for a long time.
FRESH AIR FM is back on the airwaves during February. Broadcasting on 105.4FM, the crew promise to showcase the cutting edge of new music as well as playing all the old faves. Clubheads will be particularly interested in the series of sessions and sets Fresh Air are, erm, airing from the likes of Boogie Mo'Dynamo, Pure, Tribal Funktion and Sole Fusion.
THE HONEYCOMB IN Edinburgh is set to introduce a new Saturday night club to replace Groove Theory. The as yet unnamed new night, which kicks off on Saturday 7 March, will be hosted by former Solefusion residents Mikey Stirton and Craig Smith. Ashley Beedle is the guest on opening night. The music will follow a cross section of quality garage and house, with the likes of Gareth Sommerville, Ricky Morrison and Manchester's Paper Records DJs (to be confirmed) pencilled in for future dates. in the meantime, The Honeycomb will continue with its other Saturday night Atomic Baby and offer a series of one-offs on the alternate dates. (Jim Byers and Rory Weller)
Slams' Orde and Stuart