Clubbing Highlights – October 2012

The air is getting colder, the nights are drawing in, and winter is on its way. Not that you'd notice, as Scotland's poor excuse for a summer has barely registered, the weather a tumult of rain, claustrophobic sub-tropical heat and thunderstorms. Still, now that so-called summer is over, what better excuse is there to hide yourself away in a dark, dingy nightclub, and get off your mash to the finest of electronic beats? 

There's certainly a lot on offer in October. First up, a shout-out to a long-running Edinburgh mid-week classic, Split. Now situated at the Bongo Club, and featuring a rotating cast of residents spinning drum 'n' bass, dubstep, electro and techno, it's the capital's original and best midweek free session. Get thee down on 3 Oct (or indeed any Wednesday that takes your fancy).

Moving back across the M8 to Glasgow, there's dark, witch-y electronica on offer at Nice N' Sleazy's on 3 Oct, with a headline set from Pe† Ceme†ery, the mastermind behind innovative boutique netlabel Aural Sects, with support from a cast of local drone, noise and electronic acts (£3). Friday 5 Oct sees Fortified take on Electric Eliminators at La Cheetah, although the resulting soundclash may be not quite what you were expecting from two of the west coast's finest purveyors of bass music. They're cooking up a night of “80s boogie and funk” to make your toes curl (£5). On 6 Oct, you can catch one of Manchester's most innovative electronic producers, Floating Points, playing a live set at Melting Pot (The Admiral, £10). You can also catch 'Scandinavian conflict R&B' maestro Ben Butler & Mousepad, supported by Cry Parrot's Fielding Hope, on 6 Oct at Stereo, for the recession-busting price of a mere quid.

Edinburgh's techno scene is undergoing a renaissance period at the moment, and two of the scene leaders in intelligent four-to-the-floor antics are putting on particularly special nights this month. On 4 Oct there's the Hobson's choice between the 6th birthday party of Substance, who welcome guests Jackmaster (Numbers) and Blawan (£10 advance tickets, more on the door), and Unseen, run by the same mob who used to bring you the classic Edinburgh techno night Dogma. They welcome Manchester's Casual Violence for a set of brutal, dark techno (£8 before midnight, £10 after).

A little later in the month, Henry's Cellar Bar welcomes back kings of the underground, ETC (Edinburgh Tekno Cartel), who've especially booked guest Filthy Rich to head up their '80s Excess and Success'-themed party on 12 Oct. It's fancy dress as usual – wear your shoulder pads and bring your giant phone (£5 / £3 in fancy dress). More birthdays: notorious hard techno noiseniks JakN celebrate their 9th at The Annexe on 12 Oct (£4 before midnight, £6 after).

Fans of the more commercial end of techno, electro and house are in for a treat this month: Musika welcomes Seth Troxler on 6 Oct, a rescheduled date (The Liquid Rooms, £15). Pumping electro fiends Boys Noize visit the HMV Picture House in Edinburgh on 8 Oct (£8) and Glasgow's O2 ABC on 9 Oct (£12.50). We've heard that B-More disco-rap sensation Spank Rock will be supporting the duo in Glasgow, which makes this one pretty much unmissable. There's an afterparty at Killer Kitsch straight after the gig, with Boys Noize labelmate Shadow Dancer in attendance (Buff Club, £5).

Back in Edinburgh, mashup-wranglers 2manydjs return to the Liquid Room on 12 Oct (£5) – so if you reckon you can handle dancing round a handbag to Dolly Parton one minute and then slamdancing to electro the next later, take a gander. Later in the month, Glasgow's best-loved enormo-club Pressure welcomes a stellar lineup, with Vitalic and Dave Clarke bringing the electro-techno goodness (The Arches, 26 Oct, £18 advance tickets). If that's a bit out of your price range, head down to The Brunswick Hotel to catch Spatial (Infrasonics), who trades in intricate, bass-heavy dance music, with support from Black Lantern's Asthmatic Astronaut (£6 adv / £7 on the door).

Wrong Island is pretty much the best fun you can have on two legs in Glasgow. Legendary scenesters and resident Teamy and Dirty Larry welcome LCD Soundsystem's Al Doyle for a wee shot on the decks on 12 Oct (The Berkeley Suite, £5 before midnight, £7 after). On 19 Oct, there are two choices – either check out the talent-packed lineup at Flash Mob Glasgow, who welcome Mia Dora and Sam Vitamins (to name but two) on 19 Oct (Chambre 69, £3 before midnight, £5 after). Alternatively, go and get some dub all over your step with Flux Pavillion (O2 ABC, £12.50). In fact, Flux Pavillion's an early show, so if you're that keen, do both.

Back in Edinburgh, Wasabi Disco invite Brooklyn's neo-rave champion Octo Octa, of the über-hip 100% Silk label to headline their bash on 20 Oct (Sneaky Pete's, £3 / members free). Cut-and-paste innovator DJ Yoda plays Sic on 26 Oct (The Liquid Rooms, £5), while regular knees-up Animal Hospital, who put a lot more effort into their nights than just decks and a dancefloor, are back at Studio 24 on the same night (price TBC).

That pretty much does it for October's clubbing highlights, which is kind of disappointing given that we haven't mentioned anything to do with Halloween. It's a fair bet that some club promoter somewhere is doing some kind of spooky themed night on 31 Oct, but you'll have to fend for yourselves on that score. Our final recommendation is that you catch electronic dream-pop duo Beach House at The Arches in Glasgow on 29 Oct – mainly so you can get another chance to catch the slo-mo, emotional, bass-led sonic sculptures of support act Holy Other (£16). That should fill your need for spectral electronic beats.