Disco Doom’s Nick and Paul get stuck into a bargain bucket of deep fried electro

NlW NIL‘rl ll OFF THE HOOK Weekly Sundays at Yang, Glasgow (from Sun 8 Apr).

Sundays are fast becoming the new Saturdays, at least for those who can reconcile a night on the tiles with the demands of a Monday morning’s work. The latest contribution to Glasgow’s ever-expanding definition of the weekend is Off The Hook.

As ever, the new night is a response to lacklustre clubbing experiences. ‘For years my friends and l have gone out and bitched about the music being played in clubs,’ says promoter and resident DJ Polstyle, aka

‘There’ll be room for 808 electro-pop, and maybe a touch of cringe—worthy rave.’

Paul Beveridge. ‘No matter how much fun we’ve been having and no matter how good the atmosphere has been, I just can’t help wishing they’d played this record or that record.’

The music Beveridge has been missing is electro, a genre that isn’t exactly underexposed in the city, but doesn’t have a place to call its own. ‘We’ll be playing mostly electro,’ Beveridge confirms. ‘Mainly up-to-date stuff, but then bands like Kraftwerk still sound up to date to me, and there’ll be room for some 805 electro-

(EULSl DJ GUY ORNADEL

pop at points, and maybe a touch of cringe-worthy rave!

‘Just now in Glasgow, I think there’s room for a night like this. Obviously for electro, there’s nights like Mystec and Club 69, which have inspired me, but not everyone can get out to Paisley every week, and it will be the only night in the city like it.’

Off The Hook is also set to be a showcase for live acts, including Disco Doom, Beveridge’s own electro outfit. ‘We want to be a forum for live electronic music,’ he says. ‘In the past Disco Doom have played live at places like the 13th Note alongside guitar bands and even if it’s gone really well, it doesn’t quite fit. We’ve had people asking us when we’re playing next, and we’ve really wanted to be able to play on our own territory, rather than in the wrong context. And we want to provide that opportunity for other bands, like Mendel, who are playing the second night. We plan to have someone playing live every week. If we have the opportunity, it’ll be great to get the sort of virtually unknown people from Europe whose records we’re playing, but there seems to be a lot of people in Glasgow making good diverse electronic music.’

Off The Hook, then, looks set to be a hit with the electro fraternity, and the promise of regular live acts should bring the efforts of Glasgow’s underexposed electronic musicians to a wider audience.

(Jack Mottram)

Cream, The Venue, Edinburgh, Sat 31 Mar.

Accordrng to the musrc press. 'pr'ogr'essne house' if; thrs year's sound. The tag refers to a style of house lltUSIC t‘lrar'actensetl by deep. dark and trrbal grooves and played by popular DJs like Sasha. Danny Howells and Anthony Pappa. Essentral'y t'tough. progressrve house rs nothing; new and leadrng trance DJ and owner (‘f h s own mus‘rc management carr‘pany. Guy Ornadel. hrts the narl on the head when he says: 'lt's Just a case of the Emperor’s new clothes'

Ornadel has been around long enough to recOgnrse another instance of the llTLlSIC press turning a style of musrc that's been aro.rnd for some trrne rnto the 'next big thing. After leavrng school at 17, he started work rn leSlC management and now at the age of 31. he looks after the careers of Sasha. Steve Lawler. Sander Klernenberg and Charlre May Boastrng a Successful DJ

64 THE LIST 39 Mar—12 Apr 2001

career of hrs own. Ornadel regularly plays for all the major superclubs at home and abroad and sales of hrs recent remrx CD for Slrnky suggest a good future ahead.

Describing hrs DJ style as “electro trance'. Ornadel rs nonetheless sceptrcal of persrstent prgeon-holing rn the rndustry. As a consequence he favours playrng longer sets that allow a range from 'deep house through to hard trance'. Sweeprng trends like progressrve house lead only to a dull hornogenerty In dance rnusrc and. as he explarns. the backlash agarnst thrs latest fad rs already underway.

‘lt‘s very fickle.‘ he says. ‘I think a lot of clubs are backtrackrng now because therr numbers have dropped by half. booking rust progresswe hOLrse DJs and trying to be cool. There's a slot rn the nrght for all krnds of muSrc. be rt progresswe house or trance or hard house or deep. American stuff. It's rust abOut programming and there should be a Cun'e rn the night. rt should start off slowly and end up pretty manrc.' (Catherine Bromleyl

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LEVI‘S ARE GETTING twisted at Inside Out at Glasgow‘s Arches on Saturday 31 March with its live contortionists joining an impressive line-up that features Judge Jules, Fergie, Sister Bliss (pictured), John 00 Fleming, Lisa Loud and John Johnson. The night has already sold out, but the Levi’s store on Argyle Street will be giving away 50 free tickets on the day. The store opens at 9am.

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WlLKIE HOUSE, THE LONG- established live music and club venue on Edinburgh's Cowgate, has closed. Many club nights have been relocated to sister enterprise, the Venue, but following the controversial rescheduling of nights at the Venue and the delayed opening of the Honeycomb, promoters (and listings compilers) are getting understandably frustrated.