Tuesday 27 December 2011

Soul Buggin' says goodbye to Moog...



With the imminent closure of Moog in a few weeks time I felt compelled to put down a memorandum, a few words, thoughts and feelings before we have our last Soul Buggin' party at the venue on New Years Eve as it gears up to close its doors in January. I guess I do it partly to shine a bit of a light on a place that needs putting on a pedestal for reasons I shall go into but also (and more importantly) so when future generations look back upon the blandness of Nottingham in years to come, no doubt viewed through a usb memory stick plugged into their central cortex, bored with the nonsense that a night out in the city centre on a Saturday night will no doubt involve, they may just ask the question "was Nottingham always this shite?"

The simple answer of course is no. We can all reminisce of the bygone days of classic clubs and weekenders till the cows come home that this city has been responsible for but that's not what this short tale is about. Lots of stories of good times have already been documented regarding the nightlife of Nottingham but few words have been put down on paper that particularly concern the madness of a certain little boozer in deepest Radford and the effect it had on many people who entered through those double doors.

I always found trying to explain Moog to people who had never been quite a comical endeavour, especially if the person in question was used to being dazzled by the more prominent glittering swanky bars of the city centre. In a nutshell I guess I best described it to new comers as a pub that was a bit bigger than your flat, had a bar in it, a few wonky taps, smelt very odd in places but more importantly felt safe, recognisable and a bit like a house party where even if you went on your own you'd leave with new friends, partners or as was the case on many occasions, a new carer. However to get straight to the point the best two words to describe this little adult youth club of unadulterated fun was quite simply 'rave pub'. While many late night sauce dens and boozers may attempt to label themselves as such due to their newly extended licenses they would be wholly and foolishly mistaken. The manager, the staff or djs do not decide if you are a rave pub. Your punters do and with Moog they most certainly did.

With it being situated on the outskirts of the city centre it tended to attract quite a few unique characters, the sort of people of all ages and from all walks of life that once upon a time you would of possibly met in the dark confines of back room way back when this city had a beating club pulse for more discerning sounds. You'd often have bugger all in common apart from the fact you both despised the rigmarole and rammell that a standard Saturday night in Nottingham involved. They'd of probably found their way to Moog much the same way you had on your first visit; namely being bundled into a taxi from town with friends, not having a clue where the journey was to lead but had been promised the pub was 'quite a laugh'. These very people who frequented Moog would never need much encouragement to let their hair down or chat nonsense until the sun came up despite hardly knowing you.

It was for these very reasons why we chose Moog for the home of our Soul Buggin' parties some 3 years ago. It just seemed to tick a lot of boxes, it had a dance floor for starters that could be as big or as small as you wanted, the staff and manager were sound as a pound and the punters would always come with an open mind and in most cases with an expectation of musically being served up something a bit different. When we decided to start inviting djs and producers from outside the city who had never been to Moog before we hoped they would understand the vibe, the crowd but more importantly why we chose to ask them to play to a room full of only 100 or so people when many of them were used to audiences several times that. Pretty much all of them got it instantly, often leaving buzzing with a smile from ear to ear (although a lot of that might of been the copious amounts of booze Moog had fed them as a warm welcome).

When I heard the news regarding its closure in January I was properly gutted, not just from the point of view as a promoter of a night that would have to find an alternative venue but more as a punter who over the years has had so many blinding nights under that roof. Unfortunately my brain cells have been subject to much mangling in that venue and I have been finding it hard to fully recall all of the episodes I've experienced but I think that's probably a good thing. Moog for myself and countless others was the very symbol of debauchery in Nottingham but luckily for us all walls haven't learned to talk just yet. Phew.

So Soul Buggin' will be packing up its bags and moving on in the new year and although we're looking forward to hosting our last party at the venue on 31st December I'll be surprised if there's not a tear or two come closing time. What time that will be will be anyone's guess as like everything in Moog, you never quite know what is going to happen but one thing will be certain, Nottingham will be a poorer place without it.

Thank you Moog for the memories, the silliness, the mentalism, the headaches, the stresses and the randomness but most importantly thank you for being different from everything else.

x

For full details of our New Years Eve party please read below. We look forward to having one last boogie with you.

Monday 5 December 2011

Party over here...

Big ups to all those that came down to see Mr Duckenfield last month at Soul Buggin'. After the usual party dramas it soon turned into a firing one in the end so we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did (that is apart from poor old Wrighty of course who was nursing a busted up foot but still managed to turn up, crutches in tow, until people started to use his broken digits as a dancefloor. Ouch!)

So is it December already? Ruddy nora that went quick. What happened to 2011 then? That's been one hell of a year. It's around this time that I like to take a good look back at the last 12 months, both musically and at some of the parties we've put on (if I've still got the brain cells left to remember them) and reflect a bit but sod that we ain't got time. We'll have to do that in a few weeks as we ain't done with you this year just yet cos we've got 3 more Buggin'-related sessions planned before we wave off the beast that was 2011. So, get some of these in yer diary and come and raise a glass with us in the party season.


We bomb down to the Broadway cinema on Friday 9th December for something a bit different. Wrighty and myself will be providing the sounds in the main bar area accompanied by some swish visuals from Nick Wright. We'll be rolling from 8pm till late.


Our last monthly knees up of the year down at Eleven in Hockley will be on Saturday 10th December so expect the usual 6 hours of Buggin' nonsense but with added mistle 'broken'toe and christmas edits galore. 9pm-3am.



And to bow out of 2011 with our hands in the air we've put together a line up of some of our favourite local djs and Soul Buggin' regulars for a bit of a big end of year knees up at Moog. Doors open from 9pm and we'll be going on till at least 4am. As an added bonus we don't believe in going silly with the door prices so it'll be the same entry as usual but we'll ALSO be chucking in a free buffet of nibbles and jazz snacks for those who come down early doors. Now hows about that then eh.

Come one come all. Party over here.

x

Friday 4 November 2011

Oh 'eck me duck, incoming duck!


Chris Duckenfield last played in Nottingham a few years back now and as Soul Buggin' has slowly grown quietly into one of Nottinghams best kept secret late night discos we thought it was about time to invite the Swag man to the little rave pub we call Moog on Saturday 26th November.

With over two decades of djing safely tucked under his belt that have seen him take in the underground warehouse parties of the late eighties, classic clubs like The Sub Club in Glasgow and The Electric Chair in Manchester as well as thundering cathedrals of rave in the form of London’s Fabric, Chris Duckenfield has done it all. He was one half of the mighty Swag outfit, ran record labels Odori, Primitive and the more recent filthy disco imprint Popular Peoples Front and that’s not even mentioning the ‘ssssssh’ records he puts out. With his new single “I really do believe” smashing up any dancefloors that dare to drop it we can’t wait to unleash the mighty Duckenfield on the Soul Buggin’ floorboards.

Check out Chris' website for loads of mixes to warm you up www.chrisduckenfield.com

As per usual, doors open at 9pm and we go on till 3am. Get down before 10.30pm and you can get in for a mere 300 nuggets. After it's the usual fiver.


Last Saturday the Kat Records crew came to town to lay it down and ruddy nora did they bring the party. Phat Phil Cooper and Ste Hodge hadn't been to Nottingham for a good few years so they were pumped up good and proper for this one - so much so Mr Cooper even brought his own mic to Moog to smash up the dance. Special edits, anthems, classics and party bombs were all thrown down and by the time "I am the black gold of the sun" dropped near the end I was nearly on my knees. Tops stuff from the boys. Massive thanks to all those that came down and of course to the boys who created a great party.

Tuesday 11 October 2011

Meeeeeeooow!


Right, it's about time we gave you some details of our next party on Saturday 29th October at the Moog bar here in Nottingham. For our next shindig we've decided to invite the guys behind the well respected KAT Record label - Phat Phil Cooper and Ste Hodge.

Over the years KAT Records has featured releases from superior cut and splice edit merchants such as leading players in the game Greg Wilson, Ashley Beedle, Rahaan, Al Kent, Danny Krivit and many more. With their releases supported by every man and his dog the duo themselves have played just about everywhere so we won’t bore you with a roll call of clubs although it’s a safe bet that you’ve probably been dancing on one of their blinding boat parties if you’ve been out to Croatia’s Garden Festival in recent years. Musically they love to chuck in everything from folk, psyched out funk rock, soul, jazz funk, disco, house and hip hop into their sets and their dancefloor ethos is exactly what Soul Buggin’ is all about - if its good, it gets played. High fives all round!

Check out their soundcloud page for loads of sounds here



Usual rules apply for this one - £3 before 10.30pm / £5 after and we'll be going on till 3am. Come get some all over your face.

Wednesday 5 October 2011

Let's get this roof raised!


Soul Buggin' has been asked to come down and play at the Raise The Roof festival this Saturday (8th October) at the Nottingham Contemporary art gallery (next door to the Pitcher and Piano pub). We'll be playing 11pm-1am in the cafe bar and we're looking forward to joining a massive two day line up of artists, bands and djs that will be playing across the weekend. Looks like a great charity too.

Full details about the festival, the line ups and the charity itself can be found here here


Horse Meat Disco 7th Birthday Knees Up

At the end of September we saw that unruly little creature that is Soul Buggin' turn 7 and what a great birthday session we had. With the return of Filthy Luka from the Horse Meat Disco collective as our guest DJ for the evening we'd like to say a big thank you to all those that came down to shake a leg on the Moog floorboards with us. There were some fantastic dance floor scenes being unleashed in that little rave pub. Here's some pics from the night






Thursday 1 September 2011

You know what ol' Jack Burton always says at a time like this?




"Call the President!"

Well luckily we didn't have to last weekend as Soul Buggin' rolled back into Moog and showed Lo Pan how it goes down. So as the capitol put on extra nappies, worried that things were gonna kick off again at the Notting Hill Carnival, we had our own potential riot to worry about as we'd invited the Deep Space Orchestra, Andre Bonsor and Matt Rhythm to Soul Buggin' for our last bank holiday Sunday knees up. We had a great session with all DJs playing firing sets although unfortunately Matt Rhythm was unable to attend due to, erm, well we're not quite sure but we do know it involved a lot of booze and lack of sleep the night before. He sends his apologies that he couldn't make it and was properly gutted. What a silly sausage eh. Special thanks go to our guests that did play and all you lot who pilled down as well as Elmo and her 30th birthday fancy dress brigade that certainly livened up proceedings. For those who were too scared to approach me to ask about my fancy dress costume of choice I don't blame you although to be honest I think I looked less like Eddie Izzard and more like Vera Duckworth on crack.



So would you Adam and Eve it, It's only our birthday in September. Officially our seventh too if you have a count up and do the maths. Crikey. Have a search through this blog (Sept 2010) for the complete story of Soul Buggin' as last year I did a bit of a history lesson write up.

All you need to know now though is as it's a special occasion we thought what better way to celebrate than to invite back Horse Meat Disco's Filthy Luka to Soul Buggin' for a bloody big knees up. After the storming session we had with him last year we thought it only right.

The acclaimed Horse Meat Disco crew have put disco well and truly back on the map over the past few years. Whether it be their weekly Sunday night session at The Eagle in London, various powerhouse festival performances at Glastonbury, Bestival or Lovebox or even one of their parties in Lisbon or Berlin - the crew have garnered a unique reputation for amazing sessions and unmatchable sets.

We're very excited about this one, Raul (the Buggin' ambassador) is already frothing at the mouth and sorting out his hotpants and as usual when Horse Meat Disco come to town things get pretty crazy so we'd advise getting down nice and early to get your stomp on.

Doors open at 9pm and we roll till 3am. Entry £3 before 10.30pm, £5 after.

See you out on the floorboards

x

PS - Oh worth a cheeky mention. This weekend (Saturday September 4th) Soul Buggin' plays at the closing party (alongside a whole host of local djs) at Coconut Joe's Beach Bar on Market Square (10pm-11pm). We'll be sad to see Joe pack up it's coconuts as it's been a lovely replacement to the fried chicken eaating emos and goths that normally reside in the Nottingham's Market Square. Cheers for the Moijtos Joe!

PPS - And as usual for those that can't wait till our birthday party at the end of the month you can catch Soul Buggin' doing our usual 6 hour set at Bar Eleven in Hockley on Saturday 10th September 9pm-3am. It's a freemans and always a good session.

Wednesday 3 August 2011

Brewster's Millions!

Sweaty arsed disco antics down at the Buggin' last month then or what!? Woooooah. We knew Bill Brewster was a legend and would not disappoint but nothing could of prepared us for that beast of a session. Arguably our busiest little knees up in Moog we were truly knocked for six the amount of people that showed up and we gotta say what a fantastic crowd you lot were. Big ups to everyone of you that got on those floorboards for the stomp and of course a very special thank you to Bill Brewster who turned in a fantastic 2 hour set consisting of bomb after bomb. It was getting silly at one point and very hot in there but when he played the Harvey Black Cock edit of The Dells "No way back" that was it for me I needed a sit down. Too much heat!


So where the bejesus do we go from there then!? Well before we even get to our big birthday bash next month we've got the small matter of our annual August bank holiday all dayer to get over first which takes place back at Moog on Sunday 28th August. You know the deal by now - we kick off at 4pm and go right through till 3am and this month we've asked some of our favourite djs to come and join us. Headlining the party we have the Deep Space Orchestra who are a fine DJ/production duo from Manchester who we were lucky to play with earlier this year at the Disconnected warehouse party and they blew our socks off. They both have serious skills behind the decks and with a whole host of their own productions released on labels such as Winding Road, Art, Five20East and their own Use of Weapons imprint they certainly know their onions.

Joining the duo will be two local guest DJs Matt Rhythm from the Bleep District / Rhythm Plate duo and local party fiend Andre Bonsor, best known for not only his marathon levels of party endurance but his stellar work as one half of Schmoov! and Master Man.

Musical back up will be supplied by the Soul Buggin' residents Wrighty, some monkey with a bag full of beans and Derby warlord Mark A.

As we kick off so early you'll be able to get in free if you come down before 7pm (worth it to grab some of Moog's lovely munch) or after it'll be £3 entry before 10.30pm and £5 after.

We look forward to having a boogie with yer!

x


PS - Also worth a mention for all those that can't wait for their Buggin' fix at the end of the month here are some other dates for August where you can catch us doing our thing

Saturday 6th August - Soul Buggin' @ Cocounut Joes, Market Square. 8pm-11pm
Saturday 13th August - Wrighty & Beane 6 hour set @ Eleven. 9pm-3am
Saturday 20th August - Soul Buggin' @ Coconut Joes, Market Square. 8pm-11pm
Saturday 27th August - Myhouseyourhouse Birthday Party @ Saltwater. All Dayer

Thursday 21 July 2011

Soul Buggin' goes to the beach...


Slashing down with rain while freezing your tits off - hurrah for the British summertime! You gotta love it. Well, not really but hold your horses all is not lost just yet. For those that can't afford to sod off abroad and are stuck here with us in blighty a slice of pure tropicana is coming right here to Nottingham this summer. A few years back the council realised that the majority of sausage roll munching folk in Nottingham were lazy gits who couldn't be bothered to go to the beach so in a stroke of genius they hatched a plan that was as bonkers as it was brilliant. Why go to the beach when the beach can be brought to you? Cue a shed load of sand, a real fun fair, ice cream shop and fully licensed beach bar dumped in our very own market square for the summer.

Coconut Joe's is the beach bar situated slap bang by the Council building and over the next few months they are hosting some great little nights. Below are a few dates when us Soul Buggers will be playing outside in the bar (including Saturday 30th July where we'll be using it as our pre-party with Mark Rayner from Wild Honey before our main session with Bill Brewster at Moog). Check out some of the other dates too where many of our friends will be playing.

We hope to see you down by the beach for some disco flavoured sandcastle nonsense over the next few weeks.

Evenings in July


Friday 22th July - Opening night with Soul Buggin'
Saturday 23rd July - Master Man
Thursday 28 July - Siesta Project DJs
Friday 29 July - Audiophile
Saturday 30th July - Soul Buggin' pre-party with Mark Rayner (Wild Honey)

Evenings in August

Saturday 6th - Soul Buggin' / Balearic Assassins of Love
Thursday 11th - Siesta Project DJs
Friday 12th - Purple Radio
Thursday 18th - Rick Donohue
Saturday 20th - Soul Buggin'
Thursday 25th - Siesta Project DJs
Friday 26th - Myhouseyourhouse 6th Birthday Party

Wednesday 29 June 2011

Summer heaters in yer speakers!

Phew. It's all got a bit hot and sticky ain't it!? While some chose to roll around in the dried mud at last weekends Glastonbury, here in Nottingham things got pretty dirty too as we invited Electric Chair legend Luke Unabomber to our monthly soiree for a bit of a disco. Turning in a firing 3.5 hour set the Unabomber smashed up Moog good and proper culminating in some fantastic end of night scenes ('Baker Street' caused some serious air saxaphone blowage on the dancefloor - shout to all the dads!) Hats off to all those that made it down and a special mention must go to Alex's mate Dean who after dancing for hours, drenched through with sweat and ravenous, attempted to buy a kebab afterwards in our local take away round the corner with half a fiver claiming it was legal tender and worth at least £2.50. Skills.


So a few things to look forward to over the next few weeks here at the Buggin' HQ that need a mention. First off Wrighty and myself are hitting the road this Friday (1st July) and heading over to The Bulls Head in Birmingham (Moseley) to lay down our usual disco-inspired nonsense. We'll be playing from 12.30am till 2am and if your at the massive Mostly Jazz Festival over the road pop in afterwards and get on the good foot.

Full details are over on the Freestyle website. Oh and they also interviewed us. Have a read > http://www.bullsheadmoseley.co.uk/soul-buggin


For all those Nottingham way Soul Buggin' will be back on Saturday 30th July at Moog where we'll be welcoming Bill Brewster to the decks. It’s been said that what Bill Brewster doesn’t know about disc jockeying is probably not worth knowing and we’re not going to argue with that. Since starting his DJ career in the late 80’s cutting his teeth playing in New York he’s played all over the shop and currently is one of the heads behind the superb Low Life parties in London. Whether it be writing columns for almost every dance rag out there, penning bible-like books on the art of the DJ (‘Last Night A DJ Saved My Life’) or creating hugely popular websites such as DJ History.com if it’s eclecticism, surprises, amazing unique music or sheer long-haul dedication to the dancefloor, Bill’s your man. We're looking forward to this one mightly. Usual rules apply get down before 10.30pm and get cheap entry (£3) otherwise it'll be a fiver. Keep yer eyes on this blog over the next few weeks for news of a very special pre-party too.

Taa daa for now kids!

;-)

PS - For those social networkers out there hunt down the crazy motherfucker that goes by the name of Raul Soul-Buggin. He's fashionably exotic and bloody loves a good disco. More importantly he'll keep you bang up to date with all Buggin' movements and might even give you a massage if he likes the look of you.

Tuesday 7 June 2011

Bank holiday summer madness








So you recovered from all that bank holiday silliness then? Here in Nottingham it all got a bit crazy but with the Buggin' Boogaloo party at The Canal House at the start of the month setting the tone it kind of was to be expected! Last weekend we waved goodbye to May with another storming session down at the Moog bar with guests Kev Beadle, Atjazz and Mouse. Due to the weather being a bit hit and miss we did the whole shebang inside and come early evening we got things rolling nicely with warm up sets from Mouse, Mark, myself and Wrighty (who had packed loads of Gil Scott Heron's music in tribute to his very sad passing on the previous Friday). There seemed to be so much going on that Sunday in Nottingham with various festivals and other all dayers throughout the day but we ended up having a top crowd bomb down. Thanks so much to all those that reached and of course to our guests. Special doff of the hat to the guitarist who plugged himself in and started jamming with Atjazz. Ace.


I'd never thought I'd say this but I'm kinda glad that there isn't a bank holiday for a bit as I don't think my liver could take another one. Unfortunately all plans for a quiet month will be put on the back burner as we welcome Manchester party legend Luke Unabomber to Soul Buggin' on Saturday 25th June at Moog. Luke is one half of that powerhouse DJ / production duo The Unabombers who are best known for creating one of the greatest disco dens in the UK in the form of The Electric Chair. With guest DJs including the likes of Carl Craig, Jazzanova, Francois K, Harvey, Derrick May, Osunlade, Laurent Garnier, Danny Krivit and Moodymann the club was one of the most respected in the country. When it closed it’s doors the ‘Chair’ philosophy was exported to Croatia and the annual Electric Elephant festival has become the ‘must do’ weekender of the summer with its infamous boat parties and stellar line ups. We can’t promise Luke will be sailing a boat through Moog but we can guarantee some pretty sweaty party vibes so we urge you to book your place on the hallowed floorboards early as this one could get pretty crazy.

Entry for this one will be the usual £3 before 10.30pm and £5 after and we'll be going on till 3am.

We look forward to seeing you on the 25th June

;-)

PS: Don't forget to check the cracking Soul Buggin' podcast over at www.soulbuggin.podomatic.com for plenty of fine mixes from us residents and the occasional guest.

PPS: Over the next few weeks on my weekly sunday radioshow 'The Noodle Hotpot' I'll be playing lots of Unabombers bits and pieces including some of those firing edits they've been behind on their Electric Souls imprint. Show goes out every Sunday at 2pm over on http://www.myhouseyourhouse.net and available for download here >> http://www.beane.podomatic.com

Friday 6 May 2011

Buggin' in the sun










Jazz legend Roy Ayers once sung about hummin' in the sun but on the bank holiday just gone we decided to honour his sentiments but go one better and do some buggin' in the sun with fellow disco warriors Basement Boogaloo down at the Canal House here in Nottingham. On the back of a crazy weekend filled with royal wedding garden parties some of us were feeling pretty frazzled but as the sun shinned down bright by the canal and the tunes started pumping our disco spirits soon began to lift. With a great crowd getting their stomp on outside on the wood decking some pretty crazy scenes ensued. Over the course of the day all three of us Soul Buggin' residents played alongside local heads Alex Traska, Fran Green and ex-nottingham boogaloo bandit Olly Hewitt to a great floor that danced away to the likes of the Black Science Orchestra, Candi Staton, Stevie Wonder, Fela Kuti, Ashford and Simpson, Mr Scruff, Talk Talk, Terrence Parker, Talking Heads, Deetron and a lot lot more. Maybe it's because here in England our weather is so rubbishly unpredictable that people give it that little bit extra when it comes to getting involved in some alfresco disco action or maybe just the fact that everyone has been on the pop for 10 hours and off their tits but eitherway there was some bloody silly dancefloor scenes out there!

After the madness of the of the early evening / sunset session we all bombed upstairs to The Loft space above the Canal House where Boogaloo's Ed Cotton and special guest Mark E let rip to round off the night. Many thanks to those that came down and for those that missed it, well, you'll need a sick note from your mum or your going straight in detention for being such a loser.


So with two bank holidays in quick succession the last thing your poor wrecked body needs to read about is another big bank holiday party but don't worry, this one is a few weeks off yet but read this you must as it's pretty damn special. Last year we had both Kev Beadle from the legendary Southport Weekender and deep Derby super producer Atjazz come and play at Soul Buggin' on separate occasions and almost immediately after each party we said to ourselves they simply must return after playing firing sets way back when we used to do our old friday night sessions. Well, come Bank Holiday Sunday 29th May they are both coming back to play on the same bill as we're putting on a huge 11 hour party at the Moog bar. We'll be starting from 4pm in the afternoon with a BBQ (weather permitting) up on the roof top complete with dj sets from the Soul Buggin' residents and local dj/promoter Mouse from the ever excellent Cult club night who promises us one of his special eclectic beats-style sets. Then as the sun sets we'll all be pilling downstairs to kick off our evening session where we'll be welcoming Kev Beadle and Atjazz to the decks. Entry for this one is free before 9pm, £3 before 10.30pm and only £5 afterwards so for 11 hours of bank holiday raving it's a bargain.

We look forward to shaking a leg with you at the end of the month!

x

Some other dates where you can catch some Soul Buggin' flavours throughout May

Saturday 7th May @ Sounddhism @ The Bodega Social, Nottingham alongside Simbad, Beane and Wrighty, Natalie Duncan and The Junkyard Scientists. 8.30pm-3am. Tickets £6

Saturday 14th May @ Eleven, Hockley, Nottingham 9pm-3am. Wrighty & Beane all night long 9pm-3am. Free Entry

Tuesday 29 March 2011

Attack of the Phlash













Since the last post on here in February things have all gone a bit crazy in the world and we were truly shocked to see the horrific footage of the recent tsunami that swept over the eastern coastline of Japan few weeks ago. A scary reminder that mother nature still has us held firmly by the goolies and despite Japan being one of the most technologically prepared countries in the world it suffered terrible destruction to it's coastal towns and villages with the death toll in the thousands. While we may be helpless to stop such natural disasters from occurring one thing we can do is to do is to our bit towards helping the Japanese people recover from this devastating disaster over the coming months and years.

Here at Soul Buggin' HQ we decided to turn our March party into a bit of a fund raiser and despite being only a small night (we're the first to admit we might not be able to raise Comic Relief style millions!) we still wanted to do our bit so chose to donate all our profits made on the night to the British Red Cross relief fund. As well as our guest Phil Asher who came up from London we added Matt Rhythm from super group Rhythm Plate to the line up. With a great crowd come down both djs played superb sets and with you lot getting right on it we suddenly had a fantastic party on our hands. I guess it must get quite boring to read me constantly banging on about 'the vibe' but after all these years I still buzz my tits off when a small room of about 100 enthusiastic like-minded people create a magical atmosphere on a dancefloor. It is sometimes overlooked just how special this particular quality is in a party and all the promoting, flyering, spamming or shouting cannot guarantee those moments but when they do happen they are indeed special. Not all nights can pull this off and we love the fact that you lot make the effort to leave the mentalism of town on a Saturday night and come and get on the good foot at Soul Buggin' in a small pub in rough old Radford. Anyway, I'll stop rambling like I'm rushing in Ibiza circa 1988, just check out some of the great pictures that Nick Clague shot on the night. A massive thank you to Phil and Matt for coming down to play - you both rocked it - and all the cheering at the end had us beaming from ear to ear. Japan - we partied hard for you!


For our next party we've got something pretty special lined up with a change of venue for a one-off all dayer as we team up with fellow disco cohorts Basement Boogaloo at The Canal House on Bank Holiday Sunday 1st May. We love our bank holiday all dayers like Willy Wonka likes chocolate and we had toyed with the idea of doing a bigger event down there last year but now with the Boogaloo crew by our sides we can't wait for this one. As well as both sets of residents from the two nights we've also asked local web radio extodinare Alex Traska who runs the popular myhouseyourhouse station as well as Fran Green from the glorious Wild Honey Soundsystem. Heading up this gang of reprobates will be be Merc Recordings main man Mark E. Limited early bird online tickets are now available for this outdoor session from http://www.residentadvisor.net and are priced at £6 (and then £8 for standard tickets) so make sure you pick one up as they've already started selling fast (otherwise it'll be a tenner on the door). Getting a ticket also guarantees you entry to the limited capacity after party upstairs in the loft that rocks on till 4am. Things all kick off at 3pm in the afternoon outside on the decking so get down early as we'll be doing a BBQ too.

Right - that's all for now folks. Fancy some sounds? Well to coincide with last Sundays Japan fundraiser I did a 2 hour Japan mix of some of my favourite producers and records labels on my weekly Noodle Hopot radioshow. You can listen again here >> http://www.beane.podomatic.com

Sunday 27th March 2011 Tracklisting - A Japan Special

01. Jazztronik - Now or never | Counterpoint
02. Grooveman Spot feat. MC Invisible - Who's this? | Planet Groove
03. Breakthrough feat. Bembe Segue - Green like the sun | Pantone
04. UFO - Labyrinth (Enter at own risk) | Talkin' Loud
05. Similou feat. Yukimi Nagano - Supernova | White
06. Martin Gang feat. Insight & Dagha - Got skills galore (Grooveman Spot remix) | Jazzy Sport
09. Bakura - Thinking about (DJ Mitsu The Beats remix) | Especial
10. UFO - The planet plan | Talkin' Loud
11. Yoshinori Sunahara - Love beat (Nicole Conte remix) | Bungalow
12. Jazztronik - Pathways | Especial
13. Soil & Pimp Sessions - AIE | Brownswood
14. Yukihiro Fukutomi feat. Ellen Mcillwaine - Born under a bad sign | Routine Jazz
15. Hajime Yoshizawa feat. Face - Keep it moving | Especial
16. Shuya Okino feat. Navasha Daya - Thank you (Replayed by Sleepwalker) | Especial
17. Mondo Grosso - MG2SS | Virgin Japan
18. Makoto & Kez YM feat. Takumi Kaneto - Chameleon | Mukatsuku
19. Shuya Okino feat. Navasha Daya - Still in love | Especial
20. Calm feat. Spiritual African Nova - Unfortunately unknown | React
21. Kyoto Jazz Massive - Eclipse | Compost
22. Yukihiro Fukutomi feat. Liane Carrol - Play back | King Street
23. A Hundred Birds - Blackwater | Wave