There are a few theories flying round at the moment as to why.  Whatever the reason, it’s obviously a huge blow to the music scene in the city.

We’ll keep you up to date with ticket refund details/rescheduled dates/venue changes etc. when and where we can…

Update: First change already in:  The Errors/Twilight Sad double-header on 29 September will now take place at The Lemon Tree. Same date, original tickets valid etc.

(I’d expect a few more of these over the next few days)

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]

So, Gil Scott-Heron will now play The Warehouse on Tuesday 27th April, which is very soon indeed.  Original tickets valid.

Take A Worm…seemed to win a few folk over with their new material which shifts away from their full-on hardcore past while The Twilight Sad, despite a couple of sound issues, were great when they hit their stride.  There’s a whole lot going on in their music behind all that distortion and reverb and needless to say, they were Louder Than Bombs too…

Stay tuned for some shots of the Gerry Loves Records launch night which went down later that night at Snafu…

[slideshow]

]]> http://thekiosque.com/2010/04/05/music-in-photos-the-twilight-sad-take-a-worm-for-a-walk-week/feed/ 0 http://thekiosque.com/2010/03/31/music-the-twilight-sad-take-a-worm-for-a-walk-week-indian-red-lopez/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=music-the-twilight-sad-take-a-worm-for-a-walk-week-indian-red-lopez http://thekiosque.com/2010/03/31/music-the-twilight-sad-take-a-worm-for-a-walk-week-indian-red-lopez/#comments Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:19:46 +0000 admin http://thekiosque.com/?p=1375 Thursday 1 April | The Warehouse | 7pm | £8adv/£10 door

There really should have been a bigger preview of this but for various reasons, erm, there’s not.  We were never going to let it slip past without sticking something up though, so, in brief:

Epic FatCat Records-signed Lanarkshire band The Twilight Sad. Released second album last year. Loud.

Glasgow oddballs Take A Worm For A Walk Week. Intense.

Electronics-infused locals Indian Red Lopez (read more here). Yas.

You should go.

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

Upcoming shows at The Warehouse include (you may well know of some of these already, but a wee reminder’s always nice):  Serge Santaigo/FC Kahuna, The Bluetones, Candi Staton, Gil Scott Heron, The Fall, The Godfathers, Deez Nuts, Mr Scruff, Lostboy AKA (Jim Kerr), The Damned & Teenage Fanclub.  Some good stuff in there, tickets available here or from One Up Records…

We’ve featured IRL on the site a few times now, but for the slower ones up the back, tell us a bit about yourselves:

We’re just 5 lads from Aberdeenshire and one from the arse end of nowhere (!!), who’ve come together to make music and art,  put it all together and present it as (hopefully) an all-round audio/visual experience.  It’s what we’ve wanted to do from the very beginning,  it’s just taken us a while to get where we are musically, and into our frame of mind (whatever that may be).  Incorporating the visual relevance of it all can take time too, we’re always trying to figure out better/more effective, interesting ways of presenting our visual ideas.

Photo: Neil Henderson

You’re demoing some new stuff at the moment, right? How’s that going?

It’s going well.  The tracks are slowly coming together, but we’re a thorough bunch so we’re taking our time with it all.  We’re lucky to have such good people around us whose situations reflect those we need in order to sustain the momentum we had from last year.  We want to be as productive in the studio as we can, but at the same time play some really good shows.

I’m really happy with the way the new stuff is sounding, and just itching to get it out.  Our cohorts Craig (Union Of Knives/Song Of Return) and Sam (45-A-Side records) are involved in the sessions in Glasgow and our good friend Ian (Bedford Records) has been helping us out with things closer to home, so a few different perspectives (from a production point of view) help mould the ideas into solid pieces of music.

It’s great news that you’re playing Homegame this year, how did the hook-up with Fence come about?

Well to be honest, that had nothing to do with me.  Our drummer Scott kind of sorted all that out.  We were lucky enough to be asked to play at One Up Records’ 30th Birthday, where the big man himself (King Creosote) and his band were playing too, and it all just happened from there, Scott kind of initiated the whole thing.  They began talking back and forth and he managed to persuade them to let us to play the Sunday.  He bullied them basically!  Gav(OnTheFly), who also drums live for KC, did the remix on the EP last year, so it seemed like the next thing to do!  We’re feeling the vibe and are all pretty excited to play, if not just for the opportunity to go see a whole heap of amazing music!

…and finally, tell us what this video we’re about to watch is all about:

Well, it’s just a bit of fun and games really, all the while letting those who give a shit know that we’re busy and in the midst of putting together the new tracks, one of which we hope to release as a single (wink wink, nudge nudge).  The others will be part of a new EP we’re working on for later this year.  It basically tracks our progress with these recordings so far and everything else in between.  Mainly, my shit banter I have with a kitten. You’ll see….and cringe.

… and here it is (warning: includes the odd sweary word alongside the aforementioned shit kitten banter)

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/9692487]

Indian Red Lopez play Aberdeen Warehouse on Sat 27 Feb (with Fenech Soler & Cast of the Capital) and the Fence Homegame festival on Sun 13 Mar (Sold Out)

Snafu welcomes Brighton techno/disco bod Cagedbaby (11pm/£6), who’s also been confirmed as a new monthly resident at the club, so you’ll be seeing rather a lot of him in 2010.  Best get acquainted then and check out a new mix from him here

Down at The Tunnels, there’s a one-off return for Jazz/Funk/Soul/Hip-Hop/Afro night The Goodfoot (11pm/£3) featuring exiled DJ Ben Boyde while Funky House night Trash Disco host their First Birthday party in Tunnel 1 (also 11pm/£5). Origin has a Hush Hush Boxing Day Special with Djamba doing his dubstep/bassline thing (10pm/£5), Korova goes electro with Giles Walker (11pm/£3) while the usual indie-leaning shenanigans are on offer in Room 2 at The Warehouse with Steven Milne’s Adventures in Stereo (11pm/£3).  Plenty to choose from there then, and not a cold turkey joke in sight. Go me.

When you look up ‘eclecticism’ in the dictionary there may well be a picture of Manchester DJ/producer Mr Scruff.  Actually, there won’t. Dictionaries don’t have pictures. Unless it’s some sort of special picture dictionary. Or one for kids or something. Always hated that phrase. Ridiculous.

Anyway, said tea-obsessed DJ brings a four-hour set with all the trimmings to The Warehouse tonight.  Expect everything from original blues to house, tea stalls, incredibly cool merchandise, a venue festooned with his famed funky artwork…the whole shebang.  If you’ve been anywhere near the club scene over the last ten years, you’ll know about this man, probably have at least one of his albums/mixes kicking around somewhere and will be looking forward to this immensely.  If you haven’t, his superb website is as good a place to start as any. Recommended.