Halloween Clubbing!

Halloween is fast approaching, and this year it falls on a Saturday night. There are, it must be said, a stink load of massive parties smeared rottonly across the capital on the fated Friday and Saturday. Here are a few of the biggest, shiniest, most mind-bending clubbing extravaganzas:

On Friday, disco extroverts Hustle throw their Halloween Howler at the Horse and Groom. Residents Guille Bones and Neil Thornton welcome Italian disco suspect Bottin and Comadisco’s Fumio and Marco to do their worst at this Hoxton fixture.

Ministry’s Friday night Gallery throw a Halloween special with Sister Bliss and the brilliant Francesco Poggi (Insomnia).

For something a little more funkified, head to Ginglik, where The Sizzle Suite are serving a Halloween Zombie Stomp Special.

If it’s breakcore you’re after, then Bangface 6th Birthday and Halloween Special will shake you to your rotten foundations: they’ve got Ebola, Luke Vibert, the Ragga Twins and Scotch Egg.

If Saturday’s the night you’re dressing up to get down, then look no further than Egg for the chance to dress up as a dead movie star at their Hollywood Forever Halloween Bash. Sancho Panza will be knocking out the carnival house as ever and our very own Popcox is hosting the loft.

The Canal Party looks like an excellent bet this Halloween, with Dave Harvis, Mr Shiver and East Village’s Stuart Patterson providing the tunes for their outdoor Hammer House Of Horrors.

Down at simply brilliant Dex Club Slide presents a Halloween Spook-tacular with the excellent Rex The Dog.

Enjoy.

Halloween is just on the horizon, and this year it falls on a Saturday night which means there are plenty of brilliant parties and DJ nights on offer.

In fact, there are a stink load of massive parties smeared rottonly across the capital on the fated Friday and Saturday. So check out the biggest, scariest, and most mind-bending clubbing extravaganzas of this spooky season:

Friday

Disco extroverts Hustle throw their Halloween Howler

Ministry of Sound have their own special Fright Night at Gallery with  a Halloween special featuring Sister Bliss and the brilliant Francesco Poggi (Insomnia).

In West London, you can head over to Ginglik, where The Sizzle Suite are serving a Halloween Zombie Stomp Special.

For breakcore fan you’ll want to head to Bangface’s 6th Birthday and Halloween Special which is sure to be rammed full of big beat hunters!

Saturday

If  you like dressing up to get down, then look no further than Egg for the chance to dress up as a dead movie star at their Hollywood Forever Halloween Bash.

It looks like The Canal Party is by far the best party this Halloween, with Dave Harvis, Mr Shiver and East Village’s Stuart Patterson providing the tunes for their outdoor Hammer House Of Horrors.

If  that doesn’t satisfy your  then – check out more Halloween Clubbing.

Pioneer launches the CDJ-2000

The Pioneer CDJ-2000 has just been made official in the US, and with a Pioneer event taking place in London tonight, it’s just about to set British beatmatchers’ hearts aflutter.

The CDJ-2000 is a DJ controller with a difference. Two differences, actually. First there’s a whopping great 6.1 inch screen up front, and a touchpad to skip straight to the desired part of a song.

Pioneer’s newest baby is a CD deck, but can also be used as a MIDI controller, making it ideal for MP3 DJs who can program its 35 buttons to do anything they like. Samples, loops, effects: they can all be triggered by the control keys.

You can see the CDJ-2000 in action below. In the US it’s set to cost $2,150, or around £1,300, but stay tuned for official UK pricing.

The new CDJ-2000 from Pioneer

Pioneer have launched a brilliant new DJ controller in the US! The CDJ-2000, Pioneer’s latest CD deck can also be used as a MIDI controller, making it ideal for MP3 DJs who can program its 35 buttons to do anything they like – loops, effects, samples – whatever!

Pioneer held a huge launch event at Ministry of Sound last night to celebrate the new product and it had all us DJs salivating at the thought of what we could do if only we had our hands on one!

Sadly its current US price is $2,150, that’s around £1,300!  Here’s hoping the official UK pricing comes in at a little lower than that.

Halloween Parties!

I love a huge Halloween rave-up. A bit of ‘Monster Mash’ mixed with the Munsters theme tune is enough to get me hitting the dance floor – and if they break out Thriller – watch out!

One thing I’m always lacking though is a good Halloween costume and we all know that it’s the clothes that makes the (wo)man! However, I’ve stumbled across a great guide to dressing up on the spookiest of nights so that no matter what kind of Halloween party you’re heading, you can sort out the costume to match.

The Best Home Made Halloween Costumes

Home-made Halloween costume

And best of all these this is a guide to the best DiY and home-made Halloween costumes that your creative fingers can muster. Perfect for the cash strapped like myself.

DJ Q-Bert Interview in Clash Magazine

There was a really interesting interview in Clash Magazine with DJ Q-Bert just before The DMC World DJ Championships that happened on the 11th and 12th September at London’s O2 Indigo.

For those who missed it first time around you can read his interview with Clash Magazine here.

Orbital join Pendulum DJs and Friendly Fires at London Freeze Festival

London Freeze at Battersea Power Station

The line up for this year’s London Freeze has expanded to include Calvin Harris and Orbital alonsgide rock legends Eagles Of Death Metal and Mercury Prize nominees Friendly Fires.

London Freeze is a music and winter sports festival which provides the best live performances across two stages with a ski and snowboard comepetition. Taking place at Battersea Power Station between October 31st – November 1st the festival is only in it’s third year and is sure to be packed out. Last year was brilliant and you can be sure they’ll be a banging after party going on somewhere.

Raindance’s 20th birthday

It’s Happy 20th Birthday to Raindance, the massive East London rave event that helped launch the careers of The Prodigy and DJ Carl Cox.

This weekend sees a massive party at SeOne in London Bridge which shows how far Raindance has come from it’s humble beginnings as an illegal rave somewhere in Barking in 1989. After refashioning the event as a fundraiser for Children in Need, Raindance promoters were soon given an official lincense and a legendary club night was born.

Raindance has been safely housed in SeOne’s giant vaults for the past 10 years. This year, original Raindance jocks Ellis Dee, Ratpack and Slipmatt are back and a mix of drum and bass, hardcore, trance, acid house, breakbeat, electro and hard house will be nestled in the other arches, with over 80 Djs in attendance.

Did somebody say unmissable?

How To DJ Live With Your Laptop

It’s not all about the old skool scratch and fade y’know! Here’s how to get started with digital DJ-ing.

Also, a nice little tip about promoting your DJ mixes when you’re out and about.

Calvin Harris hates the London club scene

Well, according to The Sun newspaper anyway. This erstwhile beacon of journalistic integrity claims that Calvin Harris (dubbed Mr Grumpy) has been complaining about the London club scene. However, on closer inspection of his interview with dance music magazine Tilllate it seems that what he was really griping on about was the celebrity lifestyle surrounding many London clubs which he describes as a “fucking hellhole”

Although this is not a fate that many of us have to suffer since most celebs are tucked away in the private VIP areas, Harris claims that “working is my partying; I have a party in my own little room…with me. On my own.”

Whatever makes you happy Calvin!

2manydjs/Soulwax set for London Christmas gig

Good times are going to roll. It looks like Belgium duo Stephen and David Dewaele (who spin the decks as the legendary Soulwax and 2manydjs) will be storming the Brixton Academy on December 21st to bring a bit of the Christmas spirit to South London beat hunters.

Tickets go on sale Friday, so get yours quick!

More info at NME.com

Love Box

Ooooh yes! It’s the Lovebox festival this weekend and I’m very excited!

Here’s the line-up in FULL:

Saturday
acts listed in alphabetical order

Andy Butler (Hercules & Love Affair) DJ SET Au Revoir Simone Ben Howard – Red Stripe Music Award winner Bill Brewster (Lowlife/DJ History) Chipmunk Dan Black David Shrigley Disco Bloodbath DJ Sneak Duran Duran

Filthy Luka AKA Luke Howard Florence and The Machine Frank Broughton (Lowlife/DJ History) Frankmusik Friendly Fires Gang Of Four Giles Smith Horse Meat Disco Idjut Boys James Priestley Joey Negro

Johnny D MPHO Mr Hudson N*E*R*D secretsundaze Severino Temper Trap The Jive Aces The Rumble Strips Tommy Reilly Toy Selectah VV Brown

Sunday
acts listed in alphabetical order

Alan Pownall Annie Nightingale Bombay Bicycle Club Bowa Ka Chika Chairlift Chew Lips Dananananakroyd Datarock Diplo Doves Drums Of Death Fenech-Soler Fontan Gary Numan Groove Armada

Gruff Rhys Hip-Hop Karaoke Jazzie B Joakim Ladyhawke Magistrates Matt Berry New York Dolls Nisennenmondai Noah and The Whale Norman Jay Ou Est Le swimming Pool Rodrigo Y Gabriela Rokio Traore Shantel & Bucovina Club Orkestar

Simian Mobile Disco Swimming The Death Set The Emperor Machine The Jive Aces The RGB’s The Twelves Tom Maddicott Wave Machines Young Fathe

This has got to be a festival to please everybody. Sure, Gladto was great this year but when you have this sort of fantastic line-up right on your doorstep, trekking all the way to Somerset seems like a bit of a waste. I’m expecting this year’s festival to be one of the best yet.

For anyone who can’t make it down, you can follow all the action on Twitter with the hashtag #sflb09