House of Techno Highlights July 2007

As Donald Connor remarks in Singing in The Rain, "now I can stop suffering and write that symphony." As I've decided to quit my job at the beginning of August to fuck around and waste money over the summer instead of debasing myself by smiling at morons for cash, I hereby promise to like happy music, to kick back and enjoy the sounds of reggae, surf and sunny electronica. I may even to listen to house of a vaguely funky variety. First, however, I wish to wring the last darkness, doom and despair out of anything that will let me. I'm rejoicing, and you should be too, over Burial's Ghost Hardware 12", the release Hyperdub have been keeping secret for months now; the Rhythm and Sound-hitting-a-crack-pipe basslines, and empty-warehouse moroseness that permeate tracks like Shutta and Exit Woundz are sending me crazy with (a very pained form of) excitement. On a related note, Neil Landstrumm has been working in his Edinburgh studio with the bass-monster Milanese, a relationship which we're praying yields fruit.

I've also been re-listening to Glasgow artist David Shrigley's deliciously wrong spoken word CD full of murdered priests and people buried alive. To see what kind of music he likes, he and Konx-om-pax invite you to come along "to see music and hear films" at the CCA bar on July 13th. An artist with a darkly satirical view of the world, it'll be interesting to see if Shrigley's taste for Merzbow and Wolf Eyes is reflected in his DJ set. Konx-om-Pax also plays at Noise Pollution's show with Monolake on the 20th July (details tbc). Monolake, aka sound artist Robert Henke, started out on Chain Reaction with dubbed-out techno soundscapes, but his style's gradually evolved to a deeply melodic, breakbeat-influenced form of industrial techno, performed using his custom-made midi controller, the Monodeck. Who says dark can't be fun?

If you want both darkness and festivals, then seeing as the black-clad Download's already passed, check the Electric Eliminators Dubcamp festival out near Dumfries for some late night noise with Gravious, Jack Sparrow, and a few locals like Sleepless crew and Mungo's hi-fi (£26, 4 Aug). [Liam Arnold]