Circa June 2009 Glasgow’s illustrious Disco Plane embarked on a cosmic journey from Virginia Place, unearthing the rough diamond that was the Lite Club. Laced with a sumptuous blend of delicious disco, alluring house and Hi Nrg Italo, Thunder Disco Club have provided a bimonthly aphrodisiac to Glasgow’s brimming clubbing calendar ever since. The collective has spun its own brand of audio-visual disco-xploitation as an ode to: Cult Cinema, Blue Movies, pastel tones, wayfarer classics, fast cars, faster women and the late great Gary Glitter.

The Lite Club’s closure saw TDC residents, Raul Pindi, Romero Heat, Sweets Edison and Ray Tropic jump between the sheets with a medley of esteemed Disc-jockeys; shipping their disco inferno to a series of the city’s favorite establishments and snapping up guest slots at RPZ, One more tune, Cotton Cake and The Wee Chill amongst others. Summer highlights saw them headlining packed events at both the Vic Bar for the infamous Art School degree show and a Friday Subclub.

Contrary to popular belief, domestic sex isn’t their only weapon. They have now penetrated the World Wide Web and according to Kim Jong-Il’s vibrant lovechild, they are taking no precautions. Come 13th November, TDC will launch an ever-evolving hamper goodies in the form of thunderdiscoclub.com. Amongst Pandora’s box of dishonorable treasures will be an ocean of new and old sexually charged symphony’s, mixes from residents and their favorite DJs, the worlds finest gallery of chics with guns and of course rudimentary doses of soft porn. The cherry on this intercontinental gateau of boogie will be a bi-weekly Thundercast, hosted by the one and only Heidi Ho.

Here is what she has to say for herself:

“Dang pussycats, this shit be hatt, I be Heidi Ho, cooking you up a rooftop storm with the finest licks from future and past, guaranteed to get your Thunder clappin’. We be about as current as a dried grape in an asbestos factory. Slap Booty, Slap Bass. Put your weight into it, put your weight into it! put your godamn weight into it.”

To celebrate the launch of such world wide wonders, the nomadic collective uncommonly known as ‘STREET THUNDER’ will be whipping out the smoothest grooves in their record collection and taking siege on the SWG3 (Studio Warehouse) on the 19th of November. This white hot night will erupt promptly with a 9pm Pre- club, super large screening of Walter Hill’s cult action/thriller “The Warriors”. Following this bone shattering warm up from Coney Island’s finest vigilantes, the Democratic Republic of Feel Good Thunder, backed into the dark shadow of a city on red alert, will unleash their only weapon – an audio assault of sweat curdling disco and Betamax inspired sleaze. What does it mean? Well, in the immortal words of the late great Gary Glitter “It means they are going to rip us apart. It means they are going to stop at nothing. It means … to the death.”

For the viewing pleasure of the bedridden, the motion picture as well as the nights music and gyrating will be streamed live, in its full might, for a guaranteed horizontal wiggle.

£6/£7 tickets. Where else would you rather be?

With the world in financial crisis, creativity is a non-essential. Apparently. It’s hard to look to the future and see it positively. So what you going to do about it?

Dress up. Dance. Look good. Let go.

Showcasing fashion, electronic music, visual art, performance art and photography, Nightwalk is a celebration of Glasgow’s night culture. Playing with what defines a club night, the Friday Night Takeaway team have assembled a myriad of up-and-coming Glasgow-based independent designers, performance artists and DJs and given them a platform.

With models working the runway down the centre of the dancefloor, DJs playing the latest in cutting edge electronic music from the stage, and photographers and videographers feeding a live stream of your unique fashion statements from the centre of the crowd, spectators, models and clubbers become one, united by one mission: to reinvigorate the forgotten art of hedonism.

DESIGNERS:
Torres
Emma Shannon
Frederick Morrison
Fi*Be
OLANIC
Betty Spoke
William Chambers
Jill Kennedy
Loula Creates
Shona Douglas
ten30

DJs:
Ursula
Chris Lamb
Mustang Sally
Neil Templar

PERFORMERS:
Stevie B
Lady Munter
Alessandro Guarino
Markus Makavallian

All proceeds go to St Margaret’s Hospice. Early bird tickets available from Arches Box Office – call 0141 565 1000 or ask at the counter.

What impresses me most about Vitamins, is the way they are totally bucking the trend for club nights in the city. Time and time again, the same nights come and go, playing the same selection of music in the same selection of venues. Vitamins were tired of that, and decided that after all, is there really anything stopping them pushing the boundaries? They launched 2 months ago with their own interpretation of what a club night should be – a massive party utilising two stripped out west end tenements, crammed full with the dance hungry and a host of top drawer DJs playing well past the bed time. The result, a baptism of gold granting them an enviable, highly impressive first impression, and a list of people craving for more.

Round two, and Vitamins are raising the game once more. This time to a secret location in a beautiful forrest in the Scottish countryside. Tickets are exclusive and extremely limited and the ONLY WAY you can get your merciless mitts on this gold dust, is by emailing vitaminsuk@gmail.com and pray for a call back…

So what’ll be there? They’ve invited some of their favourite Glasgow DJs and VJs to tear the field up. Fortunately, this isn’t some crusty free party with the tunes buzzing out of a selection of guitar amps and speakers from Victor Morris – We’ve got Cheesy and Zambo (soundsystem of choice for Subcity, Big Foots, Sunday Circus and Thunder Disco) in tow with a big rig, plenty of lights and a videowall to match.

The lineup, in true Vitamins style is a multi-genred beast of DJ sets, one off collabs and live performances to last from arrival to departure. Who’s that you cry? This is who:

Bigfoots Tea Party // Point to C // Bones & Money // All Caps // HaHaHa (live) // Shaun fae Solar // Chungo Bungo // Dommm (pest control) // Tarantism // Troutfish // Simon Bryan // Marco // Cheesy & Zambo // Visual AIDS … & other friends

£25 a ticket and that also covers your transport there and back. 21st – 22nd August, bus leaving at 4pm. You may want to bring a tent and sleeping bag (if you’re thinking of sleeping). There are strictly only a handful left and if you need more information, check out their Facebook event page.

To whet your appetite, here’s a lil mix from Bones & Money for Vitamins. Seriously, what are you waiting on?

BONES & MONEY present – IT’S A LOT! by vitaminsuk

Soooo, it’s that time again – second Saturday of the month IS One More Tune up the Art School. Tonight is the third birthday of this great night and to get y’all amped for the big night we have a tasty little mix prepared by OMT’s Matthew Craig.

Glasgow School of Art, 11pm-3am, £5 (free before 11:30 for all). With Jackmaster (Numbers) and residents Define Define . Patchwork rocking visuals + mad crazy
bday shit and Joe Crogan video documentation…

Be there.

Delinquent ft. Kcat – I Got U – [Spoilt Rotten]
Helixir – Convultions – [7even]
Gold Panda – Peaky Caps – [Ghostly]
Debruit – Soles Sweat (Reso Remix) – [White Label]
Mount Kimbie – Maybes (James Blake Remix) – [White Label)
Big Boi - General Patton - [Def Jam]
Mono/Poly – Beatles Bitch – [Faces]
Megadeth – Set The World Afire – [Capitol]
DJ P.O.L. Style – Vampire Killah – [Nightshifters]
Clockwork – Airflow (Valerna Remix) – [White Label]
Brackles – Blo – [White Label]
The Dream – Love Vs Money – [Island Def Jam]
Minilogue – The Girl From Botany Bay – [Wir]
Marc Houle – Bay Of Figs – [M_nus]
French Fries – Senta (Emynd’s Mighty Quinn Piano Blend) – [White Label]
ESG – Dance – [99]
Retro/Grade – Pulsar (12″ Mix) – [Deconstruction]
!!! – The Hammer – [Warp]
Battant – The Butcher – [Kill The DJ]
Cubiq – Bor-Dom – [White Label]
Bent – Always (Mighty Mouse Remix) – [Godlike and Electric]
Warp 9 – Light Years Away – [Prism]
Naum Gabo – Black Lab – [Endless Flight]
6th Borough Project – Do It To The Max – [Instruments Of Rapture]
Local Natives – Airplanes – [Infectious]
These New Puritans – Hologram (Salem Remix)

OMT = 3 Mix

This very night, thursday 24th June, RPZ present their final night in the Vic Bar and bid farewell to the Art School for EVER.

It has been just over 8 years since RPZ (formerly Record Playerz until 2007) started their night in the Vic Bar in the Glasgow School Of Art. Since that time, the night has grown to be one of the largest and most successfully weekly club nights in Scotland. There have been a great many fantastic nights in that time, many firm friends have been met and been made over the years and the club has been, and continues to be, the blue-print for many many other nights that have come in its wake.

But really its not the end, it is just the end of RPZ’s residency in the legendary Vic Bar.   We’ll move on and change the dynamic and the destination, we love the music too much for it to be over.   But lets say a set of final thank yous and farewells, to those delirious times, those fantastic guests that we brought to glasgow almost always for the first time, and those f**ked up crazy dancing girls and boys who REALLY made our night the success it was.

Cum and danse in the Vic Bar under those neon projections and spinning lights one more time…

An especially disco-fied affair at Death Disco this month. The Arches was paired down to two rooms, with italomatic warm ups from myself and Josh Jones, a live performance from Australian trio The Swiss, while one half of current nu-disco darlings Aeroplane headlined with a formidible dj set.

The Swiss and their laconic but energised live show was however the highpoint of the night.   Tremendously satisfying and irresistibly danceable, The Swiss members executed a faultless, muscular hybrid of jazz, disco and late 70′s funk streaked with fantasic euro-diso synth stabs and more neon pow-pow-pows than Patrick Cowley’s entire back catalogue.  This might all sound like rather unpalatable Swiss cheese, but these guys come down heavy on the the right side ‘disco’ and with actual instruments (played with impressive skill).  It is a sound that harks back to classic era disco acts like Musique,  Kano and Cerrone, with a knowing and impressive nod to the inspirational jazz funk of late-era Passport and Herbie Hancock.

WCNS caught the guys back stage afterwards, interrupting a post-show critique of their own performance (despite a brilliant show they were being pretty hard on themselves) and grabbed this cheeky shot of the band before we knocked back a few iced beverages and talked fusion jazz albums and Doobie Brothers tracks.

I urge you to check out the current Ep Bubble Bath out on Modular and pump up the volume on the tracks nesting on their Soundcloud.

The Swiss DJ mix for Studio Brussels by The Swiss

Dam Mantle is pretty spot on right now in terms of that off-kilter wonk/glitch/dubstep scene which has taken over the city in the past year. He’s a normal, unassuming-looking Glasgow-based art student called Tom Marshallsay, but probably one of the most exciting producers about at the moment. He released his EP ‘Grey‘ at the beginning of April (on boutique label Halleluwah Hits), featuring the luscious tracks; Grey and Rebong (see below). His remix of Kele Okereke’s Tenderoni (also below) not only makes the tune sound good – a feat in itself – but makes it into something mind-spangling.

Following the success of the Sailor Jerry Presents… series, Sailor Jerry bring their free live music, film and art event to Glasgow with California dance punk act !!! (Chk Chk Ck) and Dam Mantle will be supporting.

There will also be an exclusive screening of the short film Hori Smoku which documents the life and works of Norman Adams aka Sailor Jerry. Did you know, due to an IRS dispute, he stopped tattooing from his 20s to his late 50s? He only tattooed for 12 years in total.

You can pick up tickets here but hurry as space is limited!

Dam Mantle – Grey

Dam Mantle – Rebong

Kele Okereke – Tenderoni (Dam Mantle remix)

Photos by Gabriel Green

It’s that time of year again where The Halt Bar hold their infamous Halt Bar Hijack 3 day gig event. Some excellent local bands and DJs are involved (check full line up here) and it’s completely free, from 11th June to 13th. Who needs Rockness anyway?

Here’s two (very different) sampled delights, of the festivities fine produce:

Holy Mountain – Gunner
Grnr – Kanda, Go Kanda

If you were fortunate enough to grab a ticket for this years The Wee Chill, then you would have undoubtedly enjoyed the roisterous and simply cracking night laid on by the organisers. Local faithfuls Optimo, Billy Woods, Thunder Disco Club and more were playing alongside top performers Tensnake, Âme, Dixon and a host of other big time plate spinners.

The rain held off for most of the evening therefore a lot of time could be enjoyed in the picturesque winter gardens of Queens Park. More local talent in the form of Ray Harris & The Fusion Experience, The Ray Summers, Vigo Thieves and a host of others entertained those maxing the relaxing on the grass.

The Flyin Jalapenos (pictured) amped the crowed with an impressive display of their B-Boy skills. They broke it doon while JD Twitch played some foot tapping breaks. They’re a talented crew of dancers from Glasgow and if you haven’t seem them perform before, check out this video from the 2009 T In The Park festival.

All in all, it was a cracking evening and if you missed out be sure to head over next year. You won’t be dissapointed!

Sundays at the Sub Club will now be the home of HUNG UP! a new weekly event curated by Optimo – deejays JD Twitch and JG Wilkes.

HUNG UP! has been born out of the extraordinary explosion of affection that greeted the final ever Optimo (E!spacio). An evening where Twitch and Wilkes experienced the admiration and sheer, sweat-blinking euphoria of the Glasgow clubbing community for 12 years of dedicated, genre-defying clubbing. Inspired with that energy, filled with fresh ideas and a renewed excitement, this brand new night launched on Sunday the 16th of May.

Keen to inject their new energy and ideas into a fresh Sunday venture, Twitch and Wilkes intend to hand over the deejay duties and the direction of the party groove to a series of their contemporaries. Hung Up! will be an event based primarily on a rolling billing of guest djs drawn from Optimo’s djs friends and peers in the Glasgow clubbing community and augmented by live performances from bands selected by the Optimo team.

The intention is for Twitch and Wilkes to curate and cultivate a new event, one which will rarely include the two of them djing together. HUNG UP! will evolve through a looser, varied and rotating line up of guest djs and live performers where Optimo drop in individually to play with – or indeed hand over the night entirely to – these guests.

↑ Chrome Hoof

This will include not only regular invitations to well known faces of the club scene:- including in the opening month Jackmaster (Numbers/Dress to Sweat), David Barbarossa (Fun Size/Night Dreams) and Hushpuppy (RPZ). The “no guest djs” policy of the previous Optimo (E!spacio) years gives way to a desire to invite some of the friends they have met all over the world back to Scotland to host a sunday night Glasgow party, so expect a line-up of exception British and international guests in the coming months.

The music, the decoration, the image, the sounds and the ethos will be changing on Sundays as Optimo explore the possibilities and opportunities that creating a fresh start brings. But the one thing that won’t change is the quailty of what will be on offer. The party lives on.

“Fuck shit up!”

Sunday May 23rd – JG Wilkes & Hushpuppy (RPZ)

Sunday May 30th – Chrome Hoof (LIVE) & JD Twitch.

***PLEASE NOTE – prices will vary from week to week for live shows and guest dj promotions.

Coming soon – KXP, Peter Digital Orchestra, MMM and many more…