Colin McKean

Fortified presents: Scientist vs The Upsetters

‘Let me tell you man, reggae is the hardest music to engineer'

19 Nov 2010

Capturing the sounds of the studio and helping to commit them to wax while preserving and, if possible, enhancing the essence of the performance, the studio engineer is a conduit between the art and physics of recording. In many respects the process is…

Bok Bok, Night Slugs and Lil Silva set for Numbers 7th birthday

16 Jun 2010

Who? I’m not even going to dignify that with a response. No really, who? OK, you must have been in a coma. Numbers are a group of Glaswegian promoters, label bosses, DJs and producers who have been largely responsible for positioning Scotland…

Small Wonder - The Wee Chill

28 May 2009

So, what’s The Wee Chill then? The Wee Chill is a small, relaxed festival that takes place in the atmospheric environs of the Glasshouse in Glasgow’s Queens Park. This one-day party is an official precursor to The Big Chill, which is, as the name…

Claude Von Stroke

14 May 2009

Like many teenagers in Detroit during the 1980s, Barclay Crenshaw (aka Claude Von Stroke) grew up listening to The Electrifying Mojo’s seminal Midnight Funk Association radio broadcasts, which exposed a generation of young producers to the music of…

RPZ: Tru playerz

16 Apr 2009

While gifted resident DJs form the backbone of all of Glasgow’s most successful clubs, the majority of the city’s club nights operate as a platform for talent from elsewhere. Although there are other notable exceptions to this rule, few clubs have been…

Monox_100

5 Mar 2009

TECHNO In order to celebrate the 100th Monox party, Rubadub’s Dan Lurinsky has invited Monolake and T++, two of Berlin’s most inventive electronic musicians to perform at the Sub Club. As one of the key contributors to the development of Ableton…

Profile - Benga

19 Feb 2009

Name Benga Occupation DJ and producer who, alongside Tempa labelmate and childhood friend Skream, has been operating at the forefront of dubstep since the genre emerged. Where’s he from? Croydon, Greater London, where Benga started making a name…

Martyn

22 Jan 2009

DUBSTEP While Dutch producer Martyn Deykers does not strictly consider himself a dubstep artist, his innovative combination of the throbbing, soulful chord progressions of early Detroit techno and the percussive intricacy of 90s drum & bass have…

Substance

16 Oct 2008

TECHNO Inspired by Glasgow’s notorious Test, and galvanised by the closure of The Venue and the final Dogma parties, Adam Richardson saw an opportunity to start a new night that would fill a gap in Edinburgh’s depleted clubbing diary. Over the past…

Bon Iver - Lone justice

4 Sep 2008

The breathtaking debut album from Bon Iver is evidence that isolation can produce something truly special. Colin McKean revels in this most singular of musical visions Disillusioned and frustrated by the disintegration of DeYarmond Edison, the band…

Dopplereffekt

5 Jun 2008

TECHNO/ELECTRO Numbers at the Sub Club, Glasgow, Fri 6 Jun It seems curiously prophetic that a track named ‘Alleys of Your Mind’ would inspire the young James Stinson and Gerald Donald to form Drexciya, who would eventually become recognised as one…

Supermayer

22 May 2008

TECHNO The Black Rabbit Whorehouse, The Sub Club, Glasgow, Fri 23 May Michael Mayer and Aksel Schaufler have both achieved more over the past decade than most producers and DJs will in their entire career. Mayer’s Kompakt Records has become one of the…

Various - Sub Club: 20 Years Underground

22 May 2008

ELECTRONICA (Soma) To continue the Sub Club’s 20th birthday celebrations, Subculture’s Harri and Domenic and Optimo’s Twitch and Wilkes (the Subbie’s longest-serving residents) have been invited to compile an album which reflects the music policy that…

Cadence Weapon and J-Live

8 May 2008

HIP HOP Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Mon 19 May; The Ivy, Glasgow, Tue 20 May In the space of two albums, Rollie Pemberton (aka Cadence Weapon) has cut a compellingly maverick path across the hip hop landscape. His first record, Breaking Kayfabe, set…

Triptych - Model 500

10 Apr 2008

Model 500 There are few living artists in the pantheon of contemporary music who can claim to be as influential as Juan Atkins. Growing up in 1970s Detroit, the young musician was inspired by the cosmic funk of George Clinton’s Funkadelic and…

Fortified Sessions

13 Mar 2008

DUBSTEP Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, Fri 21 Mar Gradually emerging from the soundsystems of London and Bristol and combining elements of dub, UK garage, jungle and rave, dubstep is sinuous and slow, juxtaposing intricate, syncopated hi-hat and…

Chris Clark at Ctrl. with Ballers Social

31 Jan 2008

Since the release of his debut album Clarence Park on Warp Records in 2001 Chris Clark has occupied a position at the darker end of the electronica spectrum and subsequent releases Ceramics is the Bomb and Empty the Bones of You consolidated his…

Introducing . . . Ballers Social Club

4 Jan 2008

The best new nights in town. This month: Ballers Social Club Residents Hudson Mohawke (Warp) and Rustie (Stuff Records, Wireblock, Dress 2 Sweat). Guests Pavan (pictured) and Rigas D (Flogsta Danshall) guest for this Art School debut. Music…

DJ Funk

13 Dec 2007

Following his riotous performance at the Sub Club in June, Numbers, Monox and Kaput! have invited booty bass bampot DJ Funk back to Glasgow to headline their Hogmanay party. For the uninitiated, Numbers has been operating since 2003 under the mantra…