Voyage – Taco & The Sharpies by 17thLetter

Which is when Seb Roachford’s post-jazz outfit will return with a new direction and album in tow.  Post-jazz.  I know, right?  What the hell does that mean? However, I’m as guilty as anyone when it comes to the-unashamed-non-existent-genre-creation-to-enable-slightly-clunky-but-convenient-pigeonholing-game, so can do nothing but keep schtum and roll with it.

Anyway, he’s been working with MC Jyager on the album (entitled ‘Common Ground‘) which cuts-up previous Polar Bear release ‘Peepers’ and twists it into something very different indeed.  You can listen to Seb and Jyager talking about it on the Polar Bear site, and it does indeed sound pretty damn exciting. There’s also an interview and mixtape over on the excellent Quietus site. There you go then, you can now turn up to the show armed to the teeth with knowledge and background information. Sweet.

Support comes from twisted jazz/R&B weirdos Tut Vu Vu, a band formed from the ashes of the much-missed Uncle John and Whitelock, and just as dark and challenging.  Do not, under any circumstances, turn up late and miss them.

Polar Bear
Photo: Tim Jenkinson

*and copy and paste*

‘Sonic altercations of the braw variant’

*

Good line, and it sums up Do It! pretty well, which is why I nicked it from them. Sure, we’ve featured their parties before, but they’re consistently good and this one in particular has ‘belter’ scrawled all over it:

Bringing his full live show to Aberdeen for the first time is Edinburgh’s Lamplighter whose superb blend of experimental hip-hop, electronica, and sparse, glitchy beats will be augmented by live backing vocals and various other bellage and whistleage.  Should be quite special.  He’s got an album out on Antimatter too which you can get your mitts on here.

The usual Do It! residents will be in attendance as well of course; Uraki Riddim, Kid Bell and White Chocolate and there’ll be visuals, live illustration and various other arty goodness courtesy of the MOC/Uber AV crew too.  Super.

Genre-hopping Manchester DJ/producer Mr Scruff is back in town touring his Keep It Unreal night and anyone who’s caught one of his marathon sets in the past will know what to expect, this time around we’ve got a whole five hours to look forward to as well…

We caught up with him to talk tunes, gig preparation (there’s lots of it in his case) and how he ended up running a tea company…

Hi Mr Scruff, I’ve just had a look at your schedule for May, four gigs in four days in Scotland! Looking forward to it?

Yes indeed, it’s a while since we’ve been on the tour bus, and we’re gigging for most of May.  I’ll be doing a total of 20 hours of DJing in Scotland over those four days, so I’ll be on top form & really focussed.

Next month is the 11th birthday of Keep It Unreal in Manchester, that’s quite an achievement for a clubnight these days, tell us a little bit about how it all began…

In 1999 I was asked by a Manchester venue if I’d like to do a regular club night.  Up until then, I’d had many residencies & guest spots around Manchester, but this was the first opportunity that I had to do my own night.  The first night in June 1999 was the launch party for my Keep It Unreal album, and we’ve done one every month since then!

…and do the sets you play at the Manchester night differ at all from what we can expect when you’re up this way?

Every set I play is different, but the attitude & approach is always the same…I play all night, and cover loads of styles of music.  Expect the unexpected!

Right, three records (old or new) you’ve picked up of late that truly excite you:

Soul Jazz Orchestra ‘Rising Sun’ (Strut LP)

Flying Lotus ‘Cosmogramma’ (Warp LP)

Ramadanman ‘Glut’ (Hemlock 12″)

You’re well-known for arriving early and making sure everything’s up to scratch before your gigs, what’s happening during this time?

We spend about 3 or 4 hours setting up. I bring all my own DJ kit, much of which is custom-made, and we set that up on a heavy table weighed down with concrete slabs to prevent jumping, feedback & to tighten up the low-end frequencies.  We then set up all the visuals kit on stage as well, test the in-house PA, do a soundcheck, program the lights, hang up drapes if necessary, set up the teashop & do any final tweaks to get the mood just right.  All this extra work is worth it, as I know that it’ll sound great, and nothing will go wrong during the night, which means I can play all my favourite tunes & they’ll hit the spot!

Punters in the club on Saturday will notice your famous tea stall, how did things jump from that to the full-on business which is now Make Us A Brew?

We started the tea stall about 10 years ago as a daft thing to do in the back room of my regular Manchester venue. When we started to tour the Keep It Unreal night around the UK from 2002, we took the tea shop as well, and people responded really well to it. Fast-forward a few years & we were selling thousands of cups of tea at festivals, so we thought ‘why not do our own teabags?’, and so, four years ago, the ‘Make Us A Brew‘ tea company was formed.

Any new records/studio stuff on the horizon from yourself? I’ve noticed it’s the 20th anniversary of Ninja Tune (christ!) this year too, anything special planned for that?

I’ve just released a new single on Ninja Tune…Mr. Scruff Vs Kirsty Almeida ‘Pickled Spider’ (video below), plus Ninja are planning some very special surprises for their 20th anniversary which I’ll have a hand in (possibly a Ninja Tune zimmer frame!)

……

So there you go, I’d quite like one of those zimmers myself actually (aye, only if it was a limited edition) anyway, hopefully that’s whetted a few appetites (and whistles) for what should be a fantastic night,  as always there are plenty of mixes etc to check out on Scruff’s excellent website to get you further in the mood…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z8p7sHkz3I]

We always seem to end up covering the Do It! nights, probably ‘cos they’re invariably ace parties.  It’s not just us though, they’ve recently been featured in the excellent Juxtapoz mag for example…

Anyway, this is going to be a stormer as expat Aberdonian (and recent singing to Big Dada records) Offshore joins the regulars.  Big things are expected from him this year, very big things indeed, check out this mix from Bonafide zine for a few eclectic, beat-laden pointers as to why…

‘Twas a genuinely eclectic bill, and it worked:  Haho ruled, Moon Unit assaulted and AZI flowed.  Good times.

All photos by Neil Henderson, expect more of his work on the site very soon indeed…

Copy Haho

Copy Haho

Moon Unit

Moon Unit

AZI Cool

If you’ve been paying any attention at all to this site, you’ll know about Stonehaven’s Copy Haho; and you’ll know they’re rather good indeed.  This is likely to be their last Aberdeen show for a wee while, so it’d be rude not to check it out.  Support comes from psychedelic Glasgow types Moon Unit (formerly Nackt Insecten Trio) and excellent local hip-hop MC Kuda.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz4vAFLfMXU]

Tonight (Thursday)!  Great cause.  Nice bar.  Excellent line-up of DJs.  What’s not to like?

The Do It! crew have been putting on great little parties down at Cellar 35 for over a year now, and there’s no reason why this night with a distinct Norwegian flavour to it will be any different.

Said flavour comes, not from a taste of that weird sweet brown cheese they have over there (which is, quite frankly, minging) but rather in the shape of guests Put Your Hand Up For Neo-Tokyo, a duo who’ve been making waves in Bergen’s burgeoning scene of late.  Influences? Aphex Twin, Dimlite, Jeru the Damaja, Gary Numan and Devo. Not bad. Not bad at all. There’s a bit of early Madchester stuff in there too for good measure…

Glasgow deep house/disco don DJ Clinical (Cosmic Microwave) and Do It’s own funk/80′s selecter White Chocolate provide ample extra tuneage alongside all the extra visuals and artwork we’ve come to expect from this lot.  Getting down early gives you the chance to pick up a free exclusive mix from Bergen’s Nabovarsel collective too.  Done.  Forget the oil,  this is one Scando-Scottish exchange we heartily endorse.  Skål!

It’s not even the weekend yet and here’s the third show featuring some superb Scottish acts we’ve featured in the space of four days…

This time it’s the turn of glorious, shouty, bouncy, ‘fight-pop’ (their phrase) Glasgow outfit Dananananaykroyd.  Now pretty firmly established on these shores and beyond, the word ‘energetic’ doesn’t do them justice.  Let’s just say they know how to put on a show.

In an inspired piece of booking, support comes from local hip-hop type Kuda and post-punks Carson Wells while the Teenage Lust/Copy Haho DJs provide some recorded musical interludes.  We thought the scary poster was worth including too, so without further ado…

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