Yearly archives: 2014

15 posts

Renaissance V

Renaissance is a once-a-year alternative all-day festival. This was my fourth time DJing the event, which has since relocated to Elektrowerkz, home of Slimelight. The new venue allowed for a second stage, resulting in the biggest line-up yet. 5 DJs were brought in to cover the gaps between the performances on mainstage (aka ‘Ram’ stage), and also on the second Archer (‘soloist’) stage in the bar area (Vade Retro, The Scott, Alan 69, Jester and myself). There was also a chance to DJ the Slimelight Goth/80s floor afterwards.

Archers Stage Sets 1-4

The Archers stage began live performance at 4pm, but I took the chance to play some more of the atmospheric tunes in my collection earlier in the day. This wasn’t continuous, leaving gaps when everyone was watching the bands in the other room, but at least it provided some contrast. This also saw my first real attempt at classical music DJing, following the Terminates Here rule that anything in my collection is viable setlist content!

Purcell – Music For the Funeral of Queen Mary: March
Handel – Sarabande from Suite No. 11
Bach – Bouree in B Minor
Beethoven – Adagio Canabile
Elgar – Enigma Variations (Nimrod)
Vivaldi – Winter – Allegro Non Molto

Stalingrad – The Road On Which You’ll Die
The Protagonist – Zoroaster
Hector Berlioz – Theme from The Shining
Ron Goodwin – March of the Children (From Village of the Damned)

Coil – Dark River
Ambre – Khan
Steve Roach – Infinite Shore

Death In June & Boyd Rice – Black Sun Rise
Current 93 – All The Pretty Little Horses
Jordan Reyne – Factory Nation
Strawbs – The Hangman and the Papist
Blood Axis – Reign I Forever

Ram Stage Sets

Now support DJing for the bands. Originally, Death Valley Scars were meant to do a PA immediately before Splendor, but as things transpired that wasn’t possible, so I ended up supported each band individually.

O.V.N.I. – Good For You
Soko Friedhof – Blutrünstiges Mädchen
OhGr – Shhh

<Death Valley Scars>

Foetus – Friend or Foe
Luxt – American Beast
Ministry – Lay Lady Lay

<Splendor>

Florence + The Machine – Kiss With A Fist
Apocalyptica – Quuatano
Diablo Swing Orchestra – Balrog Boogies
Vic Anselmo – Open Wide

<Maleficent>

Emigrate – Wake Up
Ost+Front – Mensch
Atrocity – Trial
Godflesh – Like Rats

<MaxDmyz>

Archers Stage Sets 5-6

At this point, I was brought in to support Howlin’ Anton from Bleak, whose full band I’ve support DJed for in the past. How to support Death Blues? Answer……

Nick Cave and the Bad Seed – Where The Wild Roses Grow
Johnny Cash – Hurt
Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath
Type O Negative – White Slavery
Rammstein – Seeman

And then back a little later. By this stage in the event, only real anthems fitted the bill on either stage. Cue anthems.

Sheep on Drugs – 15 Minutes of Fame
Lords of Acid – Out Comes The Evil
Prodigy – Everybody In The Place
Faithless – Salva Mea (Floating Mix)
Underworld – Born Slippy.NUXX
Robert Miles – Children
William Orbit – Barber’s Adagio For Strings (Ferry Corsten Mix)
VNV Nation – Joy
Front 242 – Headhunter (Apoptygma Berzerk Mix)
Project Pitchfork – Timekiller
Vangelis – Tears In The Rain (the lead out song….time for everyone to go and watch Die Kur)

Slimelight Goth/80s Floor

A little bonus set at the afterparty….performed off tablet for technical reasons, but only my second attempt at playing Slimelight (my first being 45 minutes on the Industek floor two years ago). Tonight’s set was somewhat more accessible!

OMD – Maid of Orleans
Depeche Mode – Ice Machine
The Human League – Empire State Human
Simple Minds – I Travel
Gary Numan – Metal
Killing Joke – Requiem
Gang Of Four – Damaged Goods
Magazine – Shot By Both Sides
Joy Division – Isolation
Chameleons – Don’t Fall
Sisters Of Mercy – Alice
Love and Rockets – Kundalini Express

DJ Terminates Here vs DJ The Scot – November 2014

It was a lot of fun last time, so DJ The Scott and myself decided to once again extend the social side of the Alt Bring’n’Buy by crossing the road, and continuing the DJing on an ‘Open Request List’ basis. We passed round sheets of paper, pencils and let the audience decide the direction the music took. Here’s (half) of what was played.

Set 1

To prove how unexpected things happen at such events, I open up with a 90s guitar rocker that would be unlikely to offend many eardrums, only for the early requests to immediately throw me back a decade to 80s new wave!

Manic Street Preachers – From Despair to Where
Depeche Mode – Shake The Disease
New Order – True Faith
Eurythmics – Missionary Man
Soft Cell – Sex Dwarf
The Damned – Eloise
Peter Murphy – Cuts You Up

Set 2

A surprising number of requests for German-language songs. This set was (mostly) for them.

Clan Of Xymox – This World
Goethes Erben – Leben Um Zu Leben
E Nomine – Mitternacht
Mantus – Keine Liebe
Rammstein – Dalai Lama
Fleischmann – Frei
Eisbrecher – This Is Deutsch ([:SITD:] Remix) – two band requests in one!
Oomph! – Der Neue Gott
The Creatures – Exterminating Angel

Set 3

Post-punk and classic rock, plenty of demand for both!

Siouxsie and the Banshees – Love In A Void
The Cure – Killing an Arab
Specimen – Hex
Talking Heads – Psycho Killer
Xmal Deutschland – Begrab Meinen Herz
The Birthday Party – Release The Bats
Generation X – Wild Youth
Patti Smith – Because The Night
Iggy Pop – Lust For Life
Guns’n’Roses – Live and Let Die
Warrant – Cherry Pie
Whitesnake – Ain’t No Love In The Heart Of The City
Blue Oyster Cult – (Don’t Fear) The Reaper

Closing Tag-Team Set

A bewildering final run of requests led to our closing tag-team consisting (unusually) of some quite long songs. S: indicates Scott’s selections, TH: are mine!

The Sisterhood – Giving Ground
Partly Faithful – Stop
Das Ich – Keimzeit
How To Destroy Angels – The Space In Between
Pink Floyd – Comfortably Numb
Radiohead – Paranoid Android
Metallica – One
Johnny Cash – When The Man Comes Around
Wendy Carlos – Beethoviana (from ‘A Clockwork Orange’)

Alternative Bring’n’Buy Sale – November 2014

Back to where it all began, six years ago to the day, and still my only regular DJ set. Today myself and regular co-DJ ‘The Scot’ were joined by Simon Landmine (or was is ‘Claymore’?) for this particular daytime DJ set. Due to difficulties finding a key, we were late starting, explaining the curtailed early sets.

We later made up for the late start across the road at Aces and Eights, of course…..

12pm-12:40pm – Minimal Synth and Darkwave

Cevin Key – Aphasia
Chris & Cosey – Just Like You
Linear Movement – Due To You
Oppenheimer Analysis – Don’t Be See With Me
Sixth June – Everytime
Torul – Glow
Spacebuoy – Intoxicated
Regenerator – Shores of Forever (EU Version)
Agonised by Love – Silent War
Xymox – Blind Hearts
Love Is Colder Than Death – In Silence and Tears

2pm-3pm – Electro-Industrial and Futurepop

Skinny Puppy – Smothered Hope
Dive – Sidewalk Sinner
No Sleep By The Machine – Mammonth
Bio-Tek – Communion
Dead When I Found Her – Rain Machine
The .invalid – Breaksequence
Accessory – Deadline
Destroid – Judgement Throne
Epsilon Minus – Future Pop Musik
Cryo – The Portal
VNV Nation – The Great Divide
Frozen Plasma – Irony
Ficitonal – Blue Lights
Fiction 8 – Hegemony

5pm-5:20pm – 3 Way Tag Team

I’ll let regulars work out whose are whose – I’m guilty-as-charged for the London punk (no surprise) and US funk-metal (slightly more of a surprise?).

Red Hot Chilli Peppers – Give It Away
Q Lazarus – Goodbye Horses
Wax Audio – Thunder Busters
The Clash – Should I Stay Or Should I Go?
Babymetal – Gimme Choko
The Ruts – Babylons Burning

Goth Jam & Open Mic

A new concept for live performance in London – get a venue, PA and a few instruments, and let anyone have a go at whatever form of performance seems to fit the mood of the moment. A mixture of original music, covers and performance poetry were the hallmarks of this event. My own musical project Deja Vu 2 had it’s ‘zeroth’ even performance (as in it was a 3-song PA with no other live members), though I also did an improvisational jam of a fourth lyric (music as yet unwritten) and did vocals on a cover of some-old-goth-tune. Oh, and I also did some DJing.

Usually when I do between-bands work, I have some idea of what style to aim for. On this occasion, this was only occasionally possible. Also, I needed a very long song to cover either side of my own performance! One thing I did manage to do was get in a trio of vocoder-heavy tunes at the end of the night, have got one of the things to work myself when playing live! Anyway, for the sake of keeping a record, here’s setlist and running order from the night.

Absurd Minds – Essence
Psyche – Unveiling The Secret

<Live Jam – Temple of Love>

Suspiria – Now, We See The Swine
Seven Trees – Going Down
ClockDVA – The Act

<Improvisational Set – Non-Bio>

Jean Michel Jarre – Ethnicolor 1 (first half)

 song PA – Deja Vu 2>

Jean Michel Jarre – Ethnicolor 1 (second half)
Scapa Flow – Crucial Impact

<Acoustic Covers – Rachel Bullimore>

Death In June – Hullo Angel

<Live Jam – Boadecia Unique>

The KVB – Captives
Thomas Dolby – Leipzig
The Cars – Just What I Needed

<A Capella – Boadecia Unique>
<Live Jam – Timewarp>

Poison – Every Rose Has It’s Thorn

<Acoustic Cover – Graham Richards ‘Hurt’>

Current 93 – Oh Coal Black Smith

<Live Jam – Deja Vu 2 ‘Meat Is Dinner’>

Spetsnaz – Apathy

<Coleridge Recital>

Strawbs – The Hangman And The Papist
Styx – Mr.Roboto
Telex – Moskow Disko
Kraftwerk – Computer World
OMD – Maid of Orleans
VNV Nation – Nova

Deadcell, Machine Rox + Cortex Defect

A three-band lineup at Elektrowerkz, with the Netherlands-based industrial metal band Deadcell headlining. I was filling in the gaps between the bands, and this is how it went.

Trial – Blut Aus Eisen
Cut.rate.box – Brittle
Ghost & Writer – Man On A Wire
Mind.in.a.box – 8 Bits

<Cortex Defect>

Krystal System – I Love My Chains
Cyanotic – Sensory Deprivation
Decree – Fateless

<Machine Rox>

Blue Eyed Christ – Drown
Penal Colony – Product
Static-X – Love Dump
Sepultura – Refuse Resist
Killing Joke – Asteroid
MaxDmyz – Smells Like Victory
Fear Factory – Cars
Rammstein – Sehnsucht
Nine Inch Nails – March Of The Pigs

<Deadcell>

DJ Terminates Here vs DJ The Scot – September 2014

It’s customary after the Alt Bring’n’Buy to cross the road to Aces and Eights for a post-event pizza and pint. This time we took it further, and continued the DJing here, too.

This event worked on an ‘open request list’ principle – the audience decided the music policy, so all but the very first and last tracks played tonight were requests.

Set 1 – 6pm-6:45pm

Borghesia – We Don’t Believe You
Tear Garden – Sheila Liked The Rodeo
Hawkwind – Silver Machine
Pink Floyd – See Emily Play
Nightwish – High Hopes (3 requests for the ‘Floyd, 2 for Nightwish, what else could I do?)
The Eternal Afflict – Kinski Is Dead
Sisters Of Mercy – Black Planet
The Velvet Underground – Venus In Purs
Inkubus Sukkubus – Pagan Born
Omnia – Wytches Brew

Set 2 – 7:30pm-8:15pm

Switchblade Symphony – Bad Trash
Diary Of Dreams – The Wedding
Velvet Acid Christ – Evoked
Deviant UK – Timekiller
Spetsnaz – Apathy
Nitzer Ebb – Let Your Body Learn
OhGr – Shhh
Aesthetic Perfection – Spit It Out
Eisenfunk – Pong
OMD – Enola Gay
Depeche Mode – Stripped

Set 3 – 9pm-9:15pm

Jimi Hendrix – Purple Haze
AC/DC – Back In Black
REO Speedwagon – Back On The Road Again (hell, yeah!)
Cinderella – Don’t Know What You’ve Got Til It’s Gone

Tag-Team Wind Down – 9:15pm-10pm

One final Jonny vs Scott to see the day out.

Iggy Pop – No Fun
Talking Heads – Psycho Killer
Suicide – Rocket USA
B-Movie – Remembrance Day
Ultravox – Quiet Man
Moby – New Dawn Fades
NIN – Dead Souls
Killing Joke – Requiem
PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love
Johnny Cash – Hurt

Alternative Bring’n’Buy Sale – September 2014

After two months off DJing, I returned back to the Alternative Bring’n’Buy sale, once again joined by Scott McMahon (now working under the name ‘DJ The Scott’), for our longest day of DJing yet. Today’s set included a number of bands that had made a mark on the UK live scene during August, plus at least one that should have but didn’t (come back Pitchies, all is forgiven!).

Set 1 – 10:20am-11:45am

Neo-folk for set up, some downtempo electronics to cure any hangovers, and then onto the minimal melodic synth thing that I’ve discovered works particularly well at this time of morning.

:Wumpscut: – Angel
Coph Nia – The New Oath
Blood Axis & Les Joyeaux De La Princesse – Foile Verte
Sieben – Love’s Promise
Dernière Volonté – Le Poison
Rome – To Die Among Strangers
Jordan Reyne – The Shadow Line
Portishead – Numb
Xingu Hill – Core Illness
Scorn – Weakener
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Pieces From The Whole
Echo West – In Pop We Trust
Iioioioii – Stardust
No Comment – Back In The 80s (Maxi Version)
Carpe Diem – Dream On
Eleven Pond – Watching Trees
Martial Canterel – You Today
Sturm Café – Koka Kola Freiheit
Welle:Erdball – Der Flipperkönig
Mr.Kitty – Insects
Auto-Auto – Toadboy
The Faint – Agenda Suicide

Set 2 – 1pm-2pm

Despite focusing on older EBM and dark electro in club sets these days, this event is about variety, so I dug out some of the lesser-played (by me) ‘oontz’ material, too.

Front 242 – Flag
Die Krupps – Robo Sapien
Eco – Hass Und Liebe
Project Pitchfork – Alpha Omega
Velvet Acid Christ – We Have To See We Have To Know
Juno Reactor – God Is God
Mentallo + The Fixer – Tachyon
Enter + Fall – Push Enter + Fall Down
X-Fusion – The Dungeon Of Reality
Tamtrum – Abort The Pope
XP8 – Das Licht
Seabound – Hooked
Covenant – The Men
Informatik – Something To Believe In

Set 3 – 3pm-4pm

Scott handled the post-punky side of goth, thus leaving me with various 90s and 00s rockier material, with a metallic twist at the end.

Suspiria – Allegedy, Dancefloor Tragedy
Squid – Endgame
Midnight Configuration – Sinister, Sinister
Bella Morte – Find Forever Gone
Breath Of Life – Bad Race
Still Patient? – Chameleon
Cancer Barrack – Cancer Barrack
The Beauty Of Gemina – Haddon Hall
Lacrimosa – Durch Nacht Und Flut (Club Version)
ASP – Ich Will Brennen
Staubkind – Dein Engel Schweight
In Extremo – Küss mich
Eluveitie – A Rose For Epona
Tyr – Hold The Heathen Hammer High
Die Kur – The Order Of Things To Be

5pm-5:30pm – Jonny vs Scott Tag Team

Actually, this ended up as more of a ‘England vs USA’ Tag Team (not being sufficient amounts of Scottish punk to hand for Scott to show his background)……

Cock Sparrer – Take ‘em All
Blondie – X-Offender
Cockney Rejects – Oi Oi Oi
Dead Kennedys – California Uber Alles
Ian Dury – Sex and Drugs and Rock’n’Roll
Lou Reed – Vicious

With that done, it was over the road to Aces and Eights to continue with our Open Request List event…..

(Un)Common People – Terminates Here IrrEv #02b

After last November’s abortive attempt at running this event, we finally saw through (Un)Common People as IrrEv #02b, Thanks to Scott McMahon and Ross Liddle for their sets, here’s what I played.

Set 1

Note that the two songs in this set with the same title share only that – they aren’t covers of each other!

Massive Attack – Teardrop
Air – Sexy Boy
The Orb – Toxygene
BT – Love, Peace and Grease
Sash! – It’s My Life
DJ Quicksilver – I Have A Dream
Republica – Out Of The Darkness
Happy Mondays – 24 Hour Party People
Carter USM – Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere
No Doubt – It’s My Life
Radiohead – Just

Set 2

Terrorvision – Perseverence
KLF – 3am Eternal
Utah Saints – Something Good
Faithless – Insomnia
Josh Wink – Higher State Of Conciousness
Underworld – Cowgirl
Leftfield – Phat Planet
Prodigy – Everybody In The Place (Fairground Mix)
Aphex Twin – Come To Jonny
Chemical Brothers – Block Rockin’ Beats
Bomb The Bass – Megablast
Blur – Song 2
Placebo – Pure Morning
Lightning Seeds – The Life Of Riley
Supergrass – Alright
Pulp – Common People

Alternative Bring’n’Buy Sale – June 2014

The Alternative Bring & Buy Sale – my last remaining regular DJ slot, yet one where we have to fight technical demons on every occasion. Still, once it was all working, we got a decent set out through the PA. Joining me today was Alt B&B regular Scott McMahon, plus Shadowchaser (Ravi), who covered what I normally cover. All this amounted to a first set played in highly unusual circumstances, and a second set containing hardly any of the bands you all know me for.

11am-12 noon – Neo-Somethingorother

Erich Kunzel – Handel’s Sarabande From Suite No.11
Sophia – Herbstwerk
Karjalan Sissit – Requiem
Nico – No One Is There
Ordo Equitum Solis – Through The Fog
Unto Ashes – Young Men Leave For Battle
Tony Wakeford – A Small Town In Germany
Death In June – Hail The White Grain
Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio – [Mercury Rising] Seduced By the Hisses Of Cinnabar Sweet
Evelyn Evelyn – Elephant Elephant
Andi Sex Gang – Psychic Sarah
ThouShaltNot – The Haunted Phonograph
Einstürzende Neubauten – Sabrina
Monte Cazazza – Sex Is No Emergency
Throbbing Gristle – Hot On The Heels Of Love
Download – Possession
300,000VK – Also Sprach Johann Paul II

2pm-3pm – Gothic Rock and Various Forms of Metal

Bauhaus – Dark Entries
Shadow Project – Holy Hell
Sisters Of Mercy – Lucretia My Reflection
Last Rites – The Many Forms
My Dying Bride – Like Gods Of The Sun
Mono Inc. – Admiration Hill
The Gathering – Adrenaline
Mina Harker – Lolita
Samsas Traum – Endstation: Eden
Nightwish – Wishmaster
Therion – To Mega Therion
Amon Amarth – Gods Of War Arise
Korpiklaani – Vodka
In Extremo – Vollmond

5pm – 5:30pm – Jonny vs Ravi – Venue Closing Tag Team

The DJs change, but the tradition continues!

Green Day – Basket Case
Electric Six – Gay Bar
PUSA – Dune Buggy
Faith No More – Easy
Pulp – Common People
Pet Shop Boys – Go West
Corky and the Juice Pigs – Eskimo
Monty Python – Bruces Philosophers Song

X-KiN Video Launch – Terminates Here IrrEv #04

The 4th Terminates Here Irregular Event saw a return to both the venue (Dirty Dicks) and music style (alternative electronic) heard at IrrEv #01 (Byte Back), as well as reprising an earlier theme, namely the launch of the latest X-KiN video (I was DJing at an earlier such event in September 2012). Captain Howard also returned to the event, both of us playing tunes from our own projects as well as X-KiN, whilst the later sets were handled by Jester and Matt C. My own set was on before the video, and went something like this.

Suicide Commando – See You In Hell!
Pulse Legion – One Thing
A Split-Second – Flesh (33+8 Version)
Snowy Red – Euroshima
Public Relation – Eighty Eight
101 – Rock To The Beat
Front 242 – U-Men
The Neon Judgement – Chinese Black
a;GRUMH – Drama In The Subway
The Klinik – Moving Hands
Kant Kino – LRSBSS
Kommand + Kontrol – Secret Police
Prager Handgriff – Schindluder
Second Voice – Celebrate Our Death
X-KiN – Entranced
Tristesse De La Lune – Queen Of The Damned
Grandchaos – Refuge
Deja Vu 2 – World Alert
Tyske Ludder – March
Covenant – Figurehead (Plain)