Scottish Clubbing Highlights – September 2015

We're getting excited about September, as Marcellus Pittman and Fatima Yamaha play Glasgow, while Hunee hits Edinburgh

Preview by Ronan Martin | 03 Sep 2015

Our month begins in Edinburgh where Sneaky Pete’s play host to One Night Stand, a bimonthly residency first popping up in May and until now running as a showcase for residents. For this instalment they welcome their first guest Dauwd, who has been gaining momentum at a steady pace since he emerged in 2011 with the impressive What’s There. That debut release gave a brief taste of the producer’s knack for creating sensuous house with a bass music edge, often incorporating elements of garage into his slick style. Since then he has brought a more hearty dancefloor focus to his music, while retaining the ethereal charm of his earliest efforts. Having also showcased a funkier side with this year’s Jupiter George on Kompakt, and with a cracking XLR8R mix dropping the same month, Dauwd appears to be on top of his game (4 Sep, £5).

The following evening, The Berkeley Suite in Glasgow is our destination of choice, as Bigfoot’s Tea Party bring Detroit’s Marcellus Pittman to town. Emerging as a production partner of the mighty Theo Parrish, with standout releases on Sound Signature and Track Mode, Pittman has shown tremendous pedigree across his career. Whether he’s producing deep and hypnotic slow-burners, funk-laced house jams or dark and pulsating techno tracks, the Unirhythm label head’s output is always raw and engaging.  He has rightly earned his place among Detroit’s most esteemed producers and forms part of the supergroup 3 Chairs, alongside Parrish, Kenny Dixon Jr and Rick Wilhite. As you might expect, his skills as a DJ also have him in high demand so this is an ideal opportunity to catch a contemporary house legend in an intimate setting – you won’t regret it (5 Sep, £7).

Next up, globetrotting local collective Numbers set up shop in La Cheetah for one-off party, Rhythm & Booze. For the occasion they’re joined by German duo Erik & Fiedel aka MMM, who will perform a live set in the sweatpit that is Max’s basement. Producing remarkably idiosyncratic tracks, with a penchant for playful sounds and simplistic compositions, MMM are hard to pin down to a particular style. Emerging with a punchy form of electro in 1996, their subsequent releases have showcased sample-heavy disco house, screeching techno oddities, and cosmic synth workouts of varying degrees of charm and silliness. The defining trait of their work, whatever the genre, is the energy and sense of fun they bring to their tracks, so we suspect their live set will go down a treat with the Numbers crowd. In support is resident and astute selector Spencer, who should warm things up nicely (11 Sep, £10).

Across the M8 on the same night, FLY host their very own Freshers Party, leaving Cabaret Voltaire in the charge of regular spinner Theo Kottis for the night. Based in Edinburgh, but beginning to make waves far beyond, Kottis has found a home for his airy house productions on the increasingly hyped Moda Black label. Having also secured remix work for big names such as Groove Armada, and with appearances at the likes of Fabric in London under his belt, Kottis is one of the most talked about producers and DJs around at the moment. With a slick sound and preference for vocal-driven club tracks, he should be perfectly placed to soundtrack this freshers' bash in the capital (11 Sep, £7).

To the dark underbelly of Glasgow’s Jamaica Street next, where Subculture have a cracker lined up, courtesy of Norwegian maestro Todd Terje. Something of a modern disco master, Terje has always had a particular knack for producing dancefloor killers of truly epic proportions. His 2004 debut release Eurodans was an early indication of this ability, all soaring synths and full-bodied basslines. Then of course, there’s Inspector Norse, his 2012 anthem which might as well have had 'Instant Classic' stamped all over the record sleeve. It still has the same impact on clubs as it had on its original release and regardless of how many times you hear it, it still hits the spot – a hallmark of a true classic. Terje performs live for this one and we suspect Norse will be one of the many highlights. Support comes from the ever-reliable resident pairing of Harri & Domenic (12 Sep, Sub Club, £12).

Next, Numbers pop up for the second time in as many weeks, this time bringing their party to The Art School. Teaming up with Amsterdam’s Dekmantel promoters for the night, the crew have lined up a rare appearance by an artist who has long inspired the Glaswegian collective, from their earliest parties through to the present day. Bas Bron aka Seymour Bits is a man of many monikers, working across a number of genres over the years. Yet, it’s his Fatima Yamaha guise which has slowly developed into one of his most recognisable projects, largely due to the exquisite 2004 track What’s A Girl To Do – a bittersweet, electronic lullaby which has experienced something of a rebirth in recent years. Yet Bron is no one track wonder. You need only dip into his funk escapades as Seymour Bits or, indeed, the bold electro present on Yamaha’s A Girl Between Two Worlds EP to experience his talent. This live show promises to be pretty special, while Yamaha fans Spencer and Jackmaster should be in buoyant form on the ones and twos, alongside Dekmantel Soundsystem and a soon-to-be-revealed special guest. This one is tip of the month, we reckon (18 Sep, £12).

The Berkeley Suite makes our schedule again on 19 Sep, with Pistols at Dawn taking care of proceedings this time round. To help them bring the party, they've secured the services of a bona fide UK pioneer. Mark Moore was one of the first people pushing the emerging house sounds of Chicago on these shores and would later bring some of these influences to a wider audience with his work with pop electronic group S’Express – 1988’s Theme From S’Express was a chart success across the globe and will have served as an introduction to electronic music for many. As a selector, Moore has over three decades of experience under his belt, and he is as likely to dip into dark Italo and new wave as he is to play acid house and more Balearic sounds (£8-10).

We’re Edinburgh-bound again the following weekend as Notsosilent take over Sneaky Pete’s, this time joined by Amsterdam-based artist Hun Choi aka Hunee. Fresh from the June release of his debut album – the wonderfully versatile Hunch Music – Choi comes with a growing reputation as a producer able to break from a house scene which is all too often formulaic and dull. From his debut release, 2009’s Tour De Force, Hunee’s tracks have always felt like free-form explorations, full of meandering jazz leads and playful changes in direction. The album has kept much of this vibrancy, maintaining a fine balance between spaced-out psychedelic offerings and more forthright house jams. Unsurprisingly, Choi’s range as a DJ is equally impressive and this one is well worth your attendance (25 Sep, £8-10).     

Finally, we’re headed in the direction of Stirling for our end of month blowout, as a seasoned local crew celebrate five years in the game. Many deep house heads from Glasgow will be familiar with the Jelly Roll Soul team, who first emerged in 2010 with a remit centred on bringing raw, soulful music to La Cheetah. In their time there they handed Scottish debuts to the likes of Kyle Hall, Funkineven and Space Dimension Controller – prescient bookings given the subsequent hype around those names. Yet, sensing a saturation of club nights in Glasgow in 2012, the JRS crew decided to set up shop in their hometown of Stirling and have since hosted some truly unique parties – Chicago don Specter playing in the basement of a tapas bar and the aforementioned Marcellus Pittman rocking a working men’s drinking den being just two examples. Basically, the Jelly Roll ethos is simply to book great guests and keep the music gritty and real. For the birthday session, they welcome exceedingly talented Firecracker label head Todd Lindsay aka House of Traps along, so they certainly shouldn't be in breach of their founding principles (26 Sep, Mediterranea, £tbc).

Other highlights this month include Glasgow events with Mother, who plays for The Kibosh at Nice 'n' Sleazy (18 Sep, £3) and Midland at I AM at Sub Club (15 Sep, £8-10), while Slam take over the Reading Rooms in Dundee (12 Sep, £10).