Scottish Clubbing Highlights – November 2015

Glasgow

Our first pick falls on the first Thursday of the month and sees the inimitable Auntie Flo take to the Sub Club to launch his new album, Theory of Flo. While many artists quickly stagnate and peddle the same formulas over and over, Auntie Flo seems to simply become more accomplished and more ambitious with each production. Comparing his most recent material with his 2011 debut single Oh My Days – itself a bold and inventive club track – it’s hard not to notice how an artist who once appeared to dabble in electronic music containing mere fragments of global influences has evolved an increasingly vibrant sound which is now fully immersive and crosses countless borders (both geographically and in genre terms). His more elaborate offerings are finely balanced with joyous club tracks so we expect everyone will be kept happy here (5 Nov, £5 adv, £7 on the door).

Next up, Glasgow punters – and anyone else wise enough to travel through to Paisley for the night – are in for a rare treat at The Club. None other than Mad Mike of seminal techno outfit Underground Resistance is in town, along with labelmate Mark Flash for a collaborative live set under the Depth Charge alias. Though the specifics of their set remain to be revealed, 'Mad' Mike Banks comes with a serious reputation. Founding UR, alongside fellow Detroit pioneer Jeff Mills, and later joined by Robert Hood, Banks has always been staunchly committed to the underground sound of his city’s darkest recesses. Whether producing glowering minimalist techno as in his early days, punchy electro, gloriously uplifting futurist jazz or more breaks-based hip hop tracks, Mike’s passion is always evident. It is also extremely rare that you get the opportunity to see him in Europe, let alone in a basement in Paisley. Easy tip of the month, this one! (7 Nov, £18-20).

La Cheetah take on the second part of their sixth birthday celebrations in style when they welcome Objekt to the basement of Max’s. At first pushing a sub-heavy form of techno, which owed as much to bass music, as it did to anything else, TJ Hertz has continued to evolve his sound – evident in his debut full length, Flatland, and also in the excellent warped electro he produced for a split EP with Dopplereffekt last year. Joining Hertz is ever-impressive local artist Alex Smoke, who has similarly developed his sound beyond his excellent early minimal techno forays and will perform live ahead of a new album dropping in the coming months (13 Nov, £10).

As if that wasn't enough, techno heads should certainly be eyeing up Truncate, who  plays for Code at La Cheetah on 21 Nov (£6-10).

Edinburgh

Across the M8, Truant host the peerless Levon Vincent at Cabaret Voltaire for what promises to be a cracker. A decade and a half into his career, the New Yorker has proven himself to be one of the most reliable names in house music and he shows no signs of letting up. First coming to the attention of many through his 2005 acid stormer Love Technique, Vincent has since shown many different sides to his game, with dark introspective offerings coming as naturally to him as dancefloor destroyers. His DJ sets are also pleasingly varied, though he excels most when dipping into deep, dub-infused cuts and vibrant synth excursions, of the type found on this year’s self-titled full length record (5 Nov, £5-10).

Another couple of Edinburgh nights worth catching are Borrowed Identity’s appearance for Lezure at The Mash House (13 Nov, £5/6) and Substance and Pulse’s night with Blawan at The Bongo Club (27 Nov, £10),

Dundee

Finally, we have another iconic figure in our sights on Sat 7 Nov, this time a legend of the UK’s electronic scene since its earliest days. The Reading Rooms plays host to one of the first acid house kings from these shores, a member of the mighty 808 State, and producer of the classic Voodoo Ray... not a bad legacy for A Guy Called Gerald. Known to play sets for hours on end, there is no doubt Gerald will be fully equipped to do the damage in Dundee (£12).