Scottish Clubbing Highlights – October 2015

We kick off our selection with a pair of great nights on Friday 9 Oct, including the first part of La Cheetah’s 6^th Birthday celebrations. For this instalment they look to that veritable electronic Mecca of Detroit and the formidable character of Omar S. Pushing a boldly introspective breed of house music since 2003, this should go down a treat in the basement of Max’s (£13/16).

Across the city on the same night, it’s a man from New York who takes centre stage as the Crimes of the Future night returns to The Berkeley Suite. Releasing on a number of esteemed labels such as L.I.E.S, Crème Organization and The Trilogy Tapes, Willie Burns dabbles in everything from acid and murky techno to overdriven house bangers (9 Oct, £8).

Next up, we’re headed to The Flying Duck for Nitric Acid VI: Aciderection. Headlined by Andy Jenkinson AKA Ceephax Acid Crew, this one should have all the energy and exuberance of a rave... within the comfortable confines of a city centre boozer. Also on the line-up is veteran Invernessian Egebamyasi (16 Oct, £6-9).

There are numerous reasons why you should attend The Art School’s Unity Centre Fundraiser. First and foremost, as the name would suggest, the event has been set up to help raise money for a vital service supporting asylum seekers. Of course, it helps that the line-up boasts the multi-faceted talents of Hyperdub signing Cooly G, local legend JD Twitch as well as the likes of Eclair Fifi of LuckyMe and Rinse regular Bake of All Caps (23 Oct, £7).

Over in Edinburgh, you’re in for a treat as Clone head honcho Serge takes to The Mash House for Lezure. If you're in any doubt about the selection prowess of the man from Rotterdam, simply look at the glowing back catalogue of his Clone label and its various stellar offshoots... then get yourself down to this one pronto (9 Oct, £5-7).

The following evening sees Nightvision welcome a British institution to The Liquid Room in the shape of David Rodigan MBE. Turning people on to the sounds of reggae for over three decades, Rodigan and his Ram Jam imprint have become synonymous with the dancehall styles of the Caribbean for many. Few DJs can boast having their own radio station in Grand Theft Auto as well as an MBE, but such accolades perfectly sum up the widespread respect the selector has gained over the years. He is joined by drum'n'bass head DJ Hype, as well as Preditah and Richie Rufftone (10 Oct, £15).

Body in Edinburgh team up with Newcastle-based promoters Backdrop to host Amir Alexander at Henry’s Cellar. Emerging from the ever-rich Chicago scene as a gifted DJ and increasingly hyped producer, the Vanguard Sound boss should bring a deep and soulful air to proceedings (16 Oct, £7).

One week later, it’s off to Cabaret Voltaire for a long overdue return to Scotland from Sound Stream. Berlin’s Frank Timm has slowly developed his Sound Stream series of records over a number of years to achieve buy-on-sight status for many listeners. Incorporating elements of disco, funk, house and techno, these releases are underpinned by simplicity and an ability to make dancefloors erupt. Safe to say, the man delivers the goods in person too! He’s joined for FLY by Glaswegian spinner, Jasper James (23 Oct, £12/14).

Finally, our Halloween shout for Edinburgh takes us to Sneaky Pete’s for In Deep with Jon K of Manchester’s Hoya:Hoya (30 Oct, £5), while Saturday belongs to Glasgow and the mighty Move D’s return to Notsosilent – a fourth invite for the German artist in recent years must bode well for expectations (31 Oct, £12/14).

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