HOUSE MARK MOORE
Smirnoff Experience Club Tour, Po Na Na, Edinburgh, Thu 18 Apr
DJs in bars? Pointless exercise in conversation drowning or a good way to hear great music? Vodka giant Smirnoff falls into the latter camp, if its sponsorship of a range of DJing gigs in Edinburgh and Glasgow boozers is anything to go by. Of course, it helps that people go to bars with a full wallet and a thirst for liquor rather than a pill and a bottle of water. But however cynical you want to be about the exercise, it’s difficult to deny that corporate sponsorship can bring a different class of DJ to town.
Acid house pioneer Mark Moore is inclined to be positive about the trend. ‘You can never beat when a new movement is heading through uncharted territory,’ he says. ‘But that doesn’t negate what’s going on now. Commercialism can get a bit overkill, but I’ve seen underground clubs work with sponsors in a way that benefits just by allowing them to give a better party to their partygoers. It’s fine as long as you don’t go selling your
soul.’
Moore is best known as the man (alongside Pascal Gabriel) behind ‘Theme From S-Express’, the gloriously catchy early house number that shot to no 1 at the end of the 805, turning many people onto dance music in the process. Since then, he’s worked with Carl Craig, Sonique, Prince (‘remarkably perky considering his bankruptcy thing was going on at the time’) and Malcolm McLaren (‘a great storyteller’, apparently).
Moore is no stranger to Scotland, having guested at Edinburgh’s legendary Taste and its currently homeless Glasgow counterpart Fruitfly. And he’s still eschewing headphones for the famous red phone he hooks up to his decks. ‘I can’t use normal headphones,’ he explains. ‘They just feel so clumpy! I’ve been using the telephone for ages: it’s like a sailor who’s been at sea for so long, he comes back to dry land and is unable to keep his balance. And I still haven’t got a mobile phone. I think those invisible waves are slowly frying the minds of all humans. Have you noticed when a mobile rings and your speakers go bonkers? Well that’s what I think it’s doing to our brains.’ (James Smart)
hop. breaks and beats with the inventive lot that run the Quality (‘ontrol radio show on Fresh Air FM.
I Tango Session at (‘ai‘e Royal. o—‘)ptn. Free. Weekly. Informal practice session with free tuition ayailable.
I UrbannHangSuite at Bann's.
l lpm 3am. Free. Weekly. See 'l'hu.
Club
I (2.0. Blooms at (‘.(‘. Blooms. l().3l)pm 3am (bar from (3pm). Free. Weekly. 'l‘hings mellow out (or so they claim) at this gay club. with an upbeat disco selection.
I Metro at Po .\'a .\'a. l lpm 3am. Free. Weekly. l)J Roddy Mac mixes up 80s classics. filthy disco and soulful house.
I Spanish Pub Night at El Barrio. lllpm 3am. Free. Weekly. :\ right old knees-up for the Spanish and Spanish- loying community hosted by I)Js Felix and lidu and featuring llamenquito straight through to Hispanic chart hits. I Vod: Bull at the Liquid Room. ltlpm 3am. £4. Weekly. Messy student night supplying high calibre hip hop. beats and breaks from Harry Let’s (io (Boombox) and I.y ley (Scratch). The name deriyes from the fact that yodka/Rcd Btill mixers are a mere £l all night long.
Chart & Party
I Decadence at Reyolution. ll).3()pm 3am. £4 non-students (£2 students). l)eprayed dancefloor decadence at this capacity student night where big. big prizes are tip for grabs. I Funny Farm at Subway West lind. 7pm 3am. £l (free with flyer/straight jacket). Weekly. I)t‘ Shock Jock administers his music therapy to the freaks. Funny features also include electric shock chairs and a giant ()peration game.
I The Subway at the Subway.
‘)pm 3am. Free for students with matriculation card; £l otherwise. Weekly. See 'l‘hu.
I Tentastic at (iaia. lUptn 3am. £ ll).
Weekly. Pay £l() on the door and get unlnnited drinking at the bar. This lrankly insane facility (bearing in mind
it's the beginning of the week) will be complemented by a suitable crass chart & party selection.
Edinburgh Tuesdays
Pre—Club
I Beluga at Beluga. 8pm lam. Free. Weekly. Big Beat l)Js Simon Hodge and Stuart Bennet spin jazz funk and rare gl'ooy‘e classics from across the decades. I Caramel at Rush. 9pm lam. Free. Weekly. 1)] ('PR mainlines the freak funk. with cocktails at happy hour prices all night long.
I Flowin’ at Bam Bott. ()pm- lam. Free. Weekly. JP and P Styll. proyide more bounce to the ounce with their weekly fix of soulful to scratchy hip hop and R&B.
I Immersed In Music at l’iyo. ()pm lam. Free. Weekly. ()li and cheeky ‘Monkey Boy' Mark lidmondson play .-\fro-(‘aribbean. funky phatback gl'tHHCS.
I UrbannHangSuite at Bann‘s.
l lpm 3am. Free. Weekly. See 'l‘hu.
Club
I 0.0. Blooms at (‘.(‘. Blooms. 10.30pm 3am (bar from 6pm). Free. Weekly. Take a step back in time to ()(lS. 7()s. Xlls and early ‘)()s tunes at this gay clttb.
I Come Correct at ()pium.
ltlpm 3am. Free. Weekly. The nu metal theme bar takes a break frotn the norm. showcasing underground [S and [K hip hop with l)JRed() (Fl Segundo).
I Livin’ It Up at If] Barrio. 9pm late. Free. Weekly. Smooth urban grooyes (for this. read hip hop, R&B and street soul) at this new session hosted by 1)] Bayo and gttests.
I Motherfunk at the Honeycomb. ll).3(lpm 3am. Free. Weekly. Messrs (iino. Fryer and Spectrum freak the funk fantastic at their consistently rammed night of classics old and new.
I Paul Maslin at Po .\'a .\'a.
l lptn 3am. Free. Weekly. 1)] Patil Maslin may not haye the imagination to give his weekly session a name bttt he cart play quality dance fare from across the board.
I ' law, I i " “win. he
I Wax Factor at Liquid Room. 10.30pm 3am. Free. Weekly. All new weekly fix of hip hop. breaks and funked tip house. See Word [p for more details.
Chart & Party
I Fairy Liquid at l.oca. lnpm 3am. £3 (£2 with student II) or offers of sexual fayours). Weekly. Immenser popular gay night featuring uplifting commercial chart and dance. with heayy bias on disco.
I Jackass at Subway West Iind.
7pm 3am. £2 (£l with student 11)). Weekly. A night of shameless fun and games. including ‘lind the prize in a bowl of maggots'.
I Shagtag at (iaia. ltlpm 3am. £4 (£2). Weekly. Alcohol-fuelled flirting (aided and abetted by drinks promos) \‘ia the infamous number-based introductions system. If. on the other hand. you'd rather take the piss than flirt your way to a cheap shag. why not gather a posse of your mates and wreak havoc. using the message boards to publicly insult the freaks that are hoping to get lucky.
I The Subway at the Subway.
t)pm 3am. Free for students with matriculation card; £l otherwise. Weekly. See 'l‘hu.
Edinburgh Wednesdays
Pre-club
I Beluga at Beluga. Spin lam. Free. Weekly. Bob (aims and Dom Flanagan select the best itt global ja/z grooyes for the local drinking hordes.
I Excursions at lguana. 0pm lam. Free. Weekly. Rotational residents (i- Mac (Manga). (iary Mac (Sublime). (‘olin Millar and Adam Bray (Headspin) demonstrate their astounding decksterical Versatility in the licltls of drum & bass. hip hop. funk and breaks. I Libertango at (‘afe Royal.
8.3() l lpm. Free. l7 Apr. Fortnightly. Tango session featuring a 90 minute free instruction class with Steye McKay from 8.30pm. Beginners and non-dancers welcome to this informal gathering incorporating classic to contemporary tango tunes.
I Smirnoff Experience at l’iy‘t). 9pm lam. Free. Weekly. lidinburgh’s up-and-coming deep house l)Js l.ena and Jamie Buchanan man the box.
I Together at Bam Bou. 8pm lam. Free. Weekly. Bass buggin‘. dirty discoid funk with your hosts (irant MacDonald and Alan Patil (Mu/.iki/um).
I UrbannHangSuite at Bann‘s.
l lpm 3am. Free. Weekly. See Thu.
I Workers Wednesdays at the ()uthouse. 8pm 1am. Free. Weekly. An opportunity for the grafters who work weekends in pubs and clubs to pump the party at this sneaky session. Proyide proof of pesky employment and you'll get drinks promos a plenty.
Club
I 0.0. Blooms at (‘.(‘. Blooms. l().3()pm 3am (bar from opm). Free. Weekly. A spot of midweek house action at this consistently busy gay club.
I Kero-Scene-K2 at Studio 24.
l lpm late. £l.5(). Weekly. Increasingly popular alternatiye night which sees I.eaf. Wally. lqy and Li/ play death. doom. heayy metal and extreme tunes.
I Low Gravity at the Liquid Room. l().3()pm 3am. £3 (£2): free with Sublime membership. Weekly. A night geared towards turning the mid-week messy with nu-skool breaks and cheap home. It's a heady combo and it comes courtesy of Felix. Beany and (iary Mac. the back room boys from Sublime. Please note that l.ayo tk Bushwacka will guest on S May. I M2K at (iaia. ltlpm 3am. £4 (£2). Weekly. linjoy the Mtidd (’lub. an allernatiye indie night on the main floor and Disco 2000. a self-explanatory night of dancelloor disco in the upstairs lounge. I Party For Peace at (iaia.
9pm 3am. £5 (£3). 24 .-\pr only. For one night only. Scotland takes a stand against war and all its associated nastiness with concurrent club nights in (ilasgow and lidinburgh. Both eyents kick off with pre- booked speakers working tip reyolutionary zeal on behalf on the ‘World Youth for Peace Moyement'. Then it's a club night showcasing progressiye house with just a soupeon of drtnn & bass.
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',‘ ;’:'> Apr .X‘tli' THE LIST 91