April tings...

Well, have you recovered from the monstrous Soul Buggin' vs. Basement Boogaloo party yet? No we haven't properly either. A fantastic 11 hour party that started sensible and serene but then got all kinds of wobbly. Nick 'the sarge' Shaw sends his apologies for his no show as unfortunately his serious work commitments dictated he couldn't attend. A real shame but rest assured the disco sexual psychopath will return soon. Special thanks to our other guests on the day John "I am the law" Buckby and "Evil" Ed Challands who both played blinders.

So just around the corner here in Nottingham are the Bar and Club Awards at The Pitcher and Piano and would you adam and eve it our little Soul Buggin' soiree has been nominated in the "Best Independent Club Night" category. We think someones been on the wacky backy again but we ain't gonna argue as we think we're worth it. We may be small, a little wobbly on the feet and smell of booze occasionally but we have thrown some belting parties these last 12 months so if you've got a spare minute (and of course you like what we're doing) could you pop over to the site and drop us a vote in? Would be much appreciated! We'll also be in charge of the music at the awards themselves on Monday 10th May alongside The Cuban Brothers and local web radio godfather Alex Traska so it should a be a right old knees up. Here's the website to cast your votes: www.nottinghambarawards.co.uk

Right - what's up next then? Well Friday April 30th see's us back at Moog as we welcome special guest Ex-Friendly to the turntables. He's been been dabbling in all manner of leftfield beats now for 15 years or so and has recently been knocking out some damn fine soul re-edits that have caught the ears of many worldwide. As he gears up to release his new solo album expect to hear some exclusive little specials! Go have a listen on his sound cloud page for some heat: www.soundcloud.com/ex-friendly. We’ve also invited Sydney-based Ben Aylward over to spin some sun-drenched flavours as he returns back to the Notts bronx after causing havoc down under for the past 2 years. Lord knows what the sunshines done to him but one thing we can confirm is that he's pumped up for this one big time. Advance warning - this one could get saucy.

Keep your eyes peeled to this page over the next couple of weeks where we'll be giving you more info on our big summer bank holiday party in May. We'll tell you now, it's going to be a special one.

See ya'll soon

x

Beane

Christ it's another Derby invasion!!!

Springtime is upon us! So let's not muck about in March....

If you cast your mind back to last August you'll remember we hosted a little Nottingham launch party for the new DUCK album which had just been released upon the unsuspecting world courtesy of some of Derby's finest producers through the M8MC Music label. We were fortunate to have some of the albums contributors come over and play at Moog but one artist who unfortunately couldn't make that night was Atjazz. I've long been an admirer of Martin Iveson and if truth be told I was a little gutted he couldn't make it.

But all was not lost. A plan was hatched. Fast forward to March 2010 and we've been lucky enough to twist the arm of Clyde (M8MC Music boss) to return to Moog on the promise he kidnaps Atjazz and brings him along for the ride! Friday 26th March is the date we've locked down where we'll be welcoming those deep electronic Derby souls to Soul Buggin' and we'd love if it you could join us for what will be a rare opportunity to see both Atjazz and Clyde on the same night here in Nottingham and all for nowt too.

As a bit of a warm up for the main event on my radioshow this coming Sunday (21st March 2pm-4pm on www.myhouse-yourhouse.net) I'll be pulling out some of my favourite productions and remixes from the pair that I've been lucky enough to collect over the years. Some classics mixed in with some lesser known tracks you may or may not not have heard of before. The show will be available to listen again should you miss it over on my podcast page (www.beane.podomatic.com)

Don't forget doors open at 9pm on friday and as per usual we'll be going through till 3am.

See you down the front

x

Beane

Spring-flavoured Soul

Dunno about you lot but how nice are these lighter nights? As we stick two fingers up to winter I can't wait for some long overdue sun round these parts. With our first party of the year now under our belts all eyes begin to focus on the impending spring.

Dotted up and down the country we've heard of many nights like ours - small intimate affairs for the more discerning soul heads that are disillusioned with the musical tripe most places churn out - and one such night that caught our attention was Northern Comfort up in that big rainy city Manchester. Why? Well over the past few years they've been booking some top draw guests in the form of Mr Scruff, Al Kent and Trevor Whateva but have also been asking DJs to come and play who we've also put on at our own little shindig such as Colin Curtis and Domu. With a guest list like that we thought we had to have a word and were delighted that residents Rob D and Andy Vee accepted our humble invite to come and play at Soul Buggin'. Everyone knows it's the residents of these great little nights that are the true heroes of the scene and we're looking forward to them showing us how it's done Manchester stylee.

Doors open at the usual time of 9pm and we'll be going through till 3am. This ones a freemasons so those feeling the pinch you ain't gotta worry about nowt. Oh and don't forget, bung 4 of you in a taxi from town and Moog will refund your fare (upto £4).

So we look forward to seeing you on the Friday 26th February but before then have a listen to Rob D's mix he did for us. It's a cracker

Download here >> http://soulbuggin.podomatic.com/

New year, new decade

Blimey where did it all go eh? So much seems to have happened over the last 10 years since I moved to Nottingham at the turn of the century that sometimes I have to pinch myself that it's been so long. Club nights seemed to have come and gone, new venues have opened while old ones have imploded, many record shops have shut up shop, DJs have started to play things called MP3's and kids are now into new genres called 'Donk' and 'Dubstep'. Makes you ponder on just what the next 10 are going to throw up don't it?

So where do we go from here I guess should be the next question as we enter the next decade. As musical trends, styles and fashions pop up and disappear almost as quickly as they start these days I guess you've got to just do your best to focus on the things you love within this crazy scene we label 'dance music'.

Here at Soul Buggin' it's business as usual this weekend as we open up the new year with our first party of 2010, inviting Paul "Mudd" Murphy and Mark Rayner to that beloved late night den of filth that is Moog. For those not aware, Mr Murphy is guy behind the rather splendid Claremont 56 label that for years has been putting out some fantastic left-of-centre-disco-not-disco balearic-style sounds. With each release normally super limited many have escaped my clutches which is mainly down to the fact that (a) I'm too bloody lazy to get my arse in gear to purchase them quick enough and (b) the disco beards are on them these days quicker than Janine Butcher on Archie Mitchell's last will and testament. Joining Paul will be Mark Rayner who gears up to release his new label Perfect 10 on the unsuspecting world. I was fortunate to be given some exclusives and dropped one of these tasty morsels on my weekly sunday radioshow last week. You can listen again here: www.beane.podomatic.com

We kick things off from 9pm and go on through till 3am. It's a freebie so get down and shake off the excesses of the christmas period. Oh and grow a beard and bring a notebook. That goes for you too ladies. It might be one of those sessions.

Until next time

x

Beane

Well that was one hell of a year folks....

So as 2009 draws to a close I thought what better time to maybe take a look back at the past 12 months and try to fathom out just what the hell happened. It's been a pretty crazy year all round with it's fair share of ups and downs but overall it's been a good one. Here at the Soul Buggin' camp we've seen a new birth, redundancies a plenty, the planning of our new kebab shop and a whole plethora of ridiculously good parties down at the Moog bar.

It seems a long time ago now when Red Rack 'em and Matt Shelton opened up the year with our first party of 2009 in January but since then it's all been a bit of a blur to be honest. This was the first year where we decided it was about time to up our lazy ass game and start inviting special guests to our humble soul soiree. In February we put on the first Fun Your Ear Midlands party after the London branch seemed to be stumbling around in the wilderness. It was a gamble but we'd witnessed some firing parties the year before up in Leeds and thought to ourselves hell let's do this in the Midlands. It was a resounding success and saw people travel from a far to come and DJ. When the bouncer starts dancing and a woman begins to take off all her clothes you know it's been worth it. We continued the momentum and hosted one more before the year was out which resulted in equal messiness and hilarity and hopefully we can make it a yearly session at the very least.

As the year progressed we welcomed some superb local DJs in the form of Fran Green, Andre Bosnor and The Love Unlimited Soundsystem to the decks as well as hosting an all day easter party with the likes of Alex Traska, Osbourne, Daddio and Nick Shaw but come the summer we decided to get all big for our boots and look to booking some DJs from outside the city that we'd long admired. Where to start we thought? We're only a small night with a right old wonky tap in the gents but we threw caution to the wind and asked Domu to come and spin and were delighted when he agreed (even more so now learning it was to be one of his last gigs although we're confident we didn't destory his career, only brain cells through copious amounts of booze). Where to next? Well with the imminent release of the DUCK album project by some of the leading electronic producers in the area we thought we'd open the doors to a Derby invasion and have a Nottingham album launch party. We drank, they Djed and I fell over lots.

For September Mark mentioned the prospect of getting the legend that is Colin Curtis (and I don't use that word lightly) to play and come the autumn the wheels were in motion for the mother of all guests to headline our birthday party. We witnessed an incredible turn out that blew us all away and proved to us that there are people in this city that don't think 'soul' is a dirty word.

Come the winter our balls were as big as watermelons and we thought we could put on Larry Levan. With the small problem of him being deceased since 1992 not detering us we opted for a selector whom I'd been in awe of for many years - Benji B from BBC 1xtra. It felt like a gamble of Las Vegas-style proportions as this was Moog we were talking about here - a small out of town late night sauce den with a capacity of just over a hundred - but we threw caution to the wind and did it. And what a night it turned out to be indeed! One of the best DJ sets I've ever seen in Moog and a truly magical atmosphere with basslines so heavy by the end of the night the toilet door in the gents was off it's hinges (seriously!).

So as we round up what really has been a fantastic year for us we bow out of 2009 with a christmas party at Moog on Friday 18th December. Bringing in the yuletide soul flavour will be disco queen Lucy Locket from the super Manchester night 'The Magnificent Dance'. With a free buffet put on by those jolly types at Moog we'd love you to come and raise a glass of soul sherry with us before we all bugger off for christmas.

On behalf of Wrighty, Mark and myself I'd just like to say a HUGE thank you to not only all our guests but also to those that came and danced, drank, jived and joked around with us. You are the party and the reason why we do it.

Merry christmas, eat drink and be merry and we look forward to seeing you in 2010

x

Beane

Benji B takeover @ Moog 27.11.09

Rough and tumble...

It's been a strange old week here in the Noodle HQ with feelings of great excitement and dispair in equal measure to go with this crazy weather with been having lately. Let's get the sad news out of the way first shall we? At the weekend, along with the rest of the world, I learned that one of my favourite producers was retiring from the scene. You won't really need many clues as to who as the news soon spread like wildfire across various messageboard forums, the bonkers world of twatter and that crazy networking site faceache within minutes but for the benefit for those that have just come out of a coma this week it was of course Domu. It's no secret I've been a long admirer of his productions and musical talents (I even did a 2 hour tribute mix to him earlier this year) and my collection would certainly be a lot less colourful without his records but to read his intentions of finally calling time on his career filled me with sadness. His letter of farewell posted up on his blog page made for emotional reading and I for one will definitely miss his work. Will it be the last we hear of him? Maybe but I hope not. As cheesy and clichéd as it sounds, I'm a strong believer that genuine creative people can never simply cease to be, despite the outside forces that we all sometimes struggle against. A break away sounds like exactly what Dom needs right now and I wish him the very best with his future endeavours.

Here in Nottingham we were very fortunate to have Domu come and play at our Soul Buggin' night in the summer and he blew it up proper – yet again cementing his place well and truly in my personal top 5 favourite DJ chart of selectors I love to hear. To be honest, looking back over the year it's been a pretty big one for us down at the Moog bar and we're certainly not done yet as Friday 27th November sees another of my 'Big 5' grace the decks. Benji B certainly doesn't need hyping to the readers of this blog (that would be like trying to explain to Greg Wallace what chocolate tastes like) as his musical CV speaks for itself. I've long been an avid listen of his radioshows and have witnessed 3 of his fantastic DJ club sets which have left me speechless everytime and it is a total honour that he is coming to our small but perfectly formed night here in Nottingham. Of course that doesn't mean I'm not nervous. Having a selector you admire so much play for you brings with it a whole pirate ship of butterflies but with some serious levels of excitement thrown into that crazy mix in my belly this is one night we think could be quite special. We're keeping the door price to a reasonable credit-crunching £4 (shout to the dole crew out there) and we hope you can join us for what will be a rare performance from Benji B in Nottingham.

Don't forget - chuck 4 of you in a cab and keep the reciept and that lovely caring mother we know as Moog will refund your journey from town (upto £4 - we don't want people traveling from Glasgow with a £400 cab fare).

Have a great week and I'll look forward to seeing some of you on the 27th.

Love and hugs

Beane