Scottish Clubbing Highlights – February 2016

Edinburgh

We focus on the capital first, with the Nightvision series returning for 2016 with a bass-heavy soiree at The Liquid Room. First teaming up in 2004, Calyx & Teebee began pushing a frenetic brand of drum and bass for labels such as Moving Shadow and Subtitles, the culmination of a friendship that dates back to the late 90s, when both were ploughing their own furrow with increasing flare. Their sound has continued to evolve and they regrouped in 2012 with a string of records incorporating more vocal elements and deeper sounds. Also on the bill is veteran DJ Zinc, who brings a welcome dose of jungle to proceedings, while the ever-versatile Paul Woolford also appears under his Special Request guise. Not content with dropping house and techno anthems on the likes of Hotflush, Woolford uses this more recent moniker to focus on bass-driven party tracks with an old school junglist feel underpinning much of the output (6 Feb, £15/17.50).

Next up, the Substance lads come up trumps once again, this time inviting Hamburg’s Helena Hauff along to the Bongo Club. Resident at the celebrated Golden Pudel club in her hometown, and increasingly hailed as a gifted producer, Hauff’s sound will appeal for those with a penchant for gritty techno, dark synth-driven EBM and electro. Although now firmly involved in the production game, with releases on the likes of Werk Discs and Solar One to her name, it’s reassuring to know that Hauff made her mark as a DJ first – normally a pretty safe guarantee that the party is well covered. As she demonstrated in her DJ chart for us last September, Hauff has impeccable taste so expect pulsing acid lines, stark techno and plenty of vintage analogue fuzz (12 Feb, £10 adv).

Fast forward a couple of weeks and it’s time for seasoned party starters Karnival to celebrate 10 years in the game with the visit of Detroit veteran Carl Craig. A prominent figure in the second wave of techno to emerge from the Motor City, the Planet E founder is perhaps one of the most diverse artists to grace the scene. Operating a dizzying array of aliases over the years – most effectively as Paperclip People and 69 – his work has covered jazz-inflected techno and disco-inspired house, though his entire output defies any attempts at simple classification. Equally revered for his skills as a remixer, he has put his magic touch to records by everyone from fellow Detroit heads Theo Parrish and Kevin Saunderson, to X-Press 2, Caribou and the Chemical Brothers. Needless to say, he knows how to move a crowd too, so this birthday bash should be in safe hands (27 Feb, La Belle Angele, £12.50/15).

Glasgow

Moving on to Glasgow, our first shout is Missing Persons Club, who this month welcome techno siblings the Zenker Brothers to work the booth at La Cheetah for the entire night. Ilian Tape founders Marco and Dario Zenker have been operating since around the mid-2000s, at first producing independently of each other – both tending towards a slick and minimal brand of dub techno, elements of which still seep into their sound. Recent years have found them producing darker and more robust dancefloor cuts, earning a glowing reputation through releases for the likes of Tresor and 50 Weapons. This time last year, the brothers’ increasingly fruitful partnership produced the debut album Immersion and their stock has continued to rise, with their DJ sets helping to earn them a reputation as one of the most exciting acts in techno at the moment. It’s also rare, given those pesky Scottish licensing laws, to get to experience the kind of long, immersive sets enjoyed by those on the continent, so get down early and make the most of it (5 Feb, £8/10).

We’re straight back out the next night as Something Wicked have outdone themselves with an unmissable one at Stereo. Heading up the bill is electro whizz Ed Upton aka DMX Krew, a prolific and frequent contributor to Aphex Twin’s celebrated Rephlex label, who has spent years transmitting a heady blend of shimmering synth pop, acid party tracks and choice electro cuts. DMX performs a live set, as does fellow Rephlex signing Monolith, whose 2011 debut album Welcome brought to mind the work of Aphex Twin under his The Tuss alias, but had more than enough ingenuity and raw funk to establish Monolith as an exceptional talent operating in his own realm. In support are two longstanding amabassadors of Glasgow’s clubbing scene – Intergalactic Funk Smugglers’ Twonko Tftv and Dave Shades, whose energetic and rapid brand of mixing should set the tone nicely for this one (6 Feb £7/9 adv, £10 door).

It’s off to the Subbie next, as Bigfoot’s Tea Party host increasingly in-demand selector Marea Stamper aka The Black Madonna. Resident and Creative Director of Chicago’s legendary Smart Bar, Stamper is the kind of DJ we could be doing with seeing more of. Untroubled by genre barriers, and with a bullshit-free approach to her craft, the artist from Kentucky simply knows good music – and how to keep a party ticking over nicely. Though long involved in music, it was her adoption of The Black Madonna guise, unveiled in 2012, which has seen Stamper come to prominence globally. Her output spans rich house grooves, acid plodders and deep disco workouts but, behind the decks, her scope broadens even further and we expect the Sub Club will be just the place to bring out her best. She is joined by Berghain/Panorama Bar resident and Ostgut Ton artist, nd_baumecker (19 Feb, adv sold out, limited tickets on door, £10).

Aberdeen

Our Aberdeen pick this month takes us to the trusty confines of The Tunnels where Minival kick off their year in the company of Daniel Ansorge, better known as Barnt. As well as being responsible for 2014’s club-destroying Chappell, a thundering percussive offering with the kind of teasing start/stop approach that leaves dancefloors sodden in sweat, Ansorge has built a reputation as a fine DJ. We highly recommend his well-crafted mix for Resident Advisor’s celebrated podcast series if you’re looking for an introduction to his style. He is joined for this one by Cristof, Gangs of Seaton and Dimbee (6 Feb, £6-12).

Dundee

Our final pick for February takes us Tayside, where The Reading Rooms host the Autodisco 9th birthday. For the occasion they welcome an old favourite in the shape of The Revenge. Making his name with a series of impeccable disco edits – many released on the much-loved Instruments of Rapture label he co-helmed until 2012 – Graeme Clark remains one of Scotland’s most esteemed, yet reassuringly modest producers. Now bringing a much more personal feel to his productions, and with his new Roar Groove label off to a flyer – his debut album A Love That Will Not Die was among DJ Mag's top albums of 2015 – Clark has the reputation of a skilled all-rounder. Joining him are residents Dicky Trisco and Dave Autodisco (6 Feb, £10).