DJ Mag

1. COCO DE MER 2ND BIRTHDAY

The Magnet, Hardman St, Liverpool, L1

THERE’S something brilliantly reassuring about nights like Coco De Mer. Little more than a gaggle of mates and a seedy little basement when it started in ’08, it has since grown to host acts like Luke Solomon, Funk D’Void, Konrad Black and Âme — without ever leaving its cosy, rough and ready home, The Magnet. Celebrating two years of quality house and underground resistance, tonight’s birthday recruits acid house original and former Junior Boys Own dude Pete Heller, Coco favourite Will Saul and Rekids golden boy Spencer Parker.

2. HYP!HYP!HYP!

Plan B, Brixton Rd, London, SW9

IF ever you needed any further proof that Plan B is putting Brixton back on London’s clubbing map, then surely the arrival of Dirtybird boss Claude Von Stroke is just that. A modern pioneer, Von Stroke’s dark, sleazy take on house makes him the perfect headliner in a line-up that joins the dots between post-dubstep, UK funky, mutant garage and house. Global bass joker Mumdance, Rinse FM’s Scratcha, Hemlock’s Untold and Mancunian duo Fantastic Mr Fox and Rich Reason are also on the bill.

3. HI-TEK-SOUL

Ministry Of Sound, Gaunt St, London, SE1

SOULFUL, futuristic music played by those that understand its roots, Hi-Tek-Soul does exactly what it says on the tin. Boasting a resident duo of Detroit originator Derrick May and Ultimate B.A.S.E. leg-end Jim Masters, Hi-Tek-Soul have previously brought over the likes of Carl Craig, Jeff Mills and Stacey Pullen. Tonight, they’re taking things down a deeper house path with Osunlade and another enduring Detroit teacher, Theo Parrish, joining Derrick May in The Box. Alexander Robotnik, Kirk Degiorgio, Tomoki Tamura and Jim Masters get the grooves going in the bar.

4. SAVED PRESENTS

Source Bar, Rose Yard, Maidstone, ME14

EVERYONE starts somewhere and for globe-trotting Nic Fanciulli that somewhere was Maidstone — or Club Class to be specific. Warming up for everyone from Deep Dish to John Digweed, Fanciulli’s legendary residency at Club Class served as the vital launchpad for his subsequent rise. Now a global DJ force, label owner and celebrated producer, the prodigal son returns to Maidstone with a night of his own tonight. Radio One’s Pete Tong and bro Mark join him.

5. ATOMIC JAM

Q Club, Corporation St, Birmingham, B4

BACK ‘int day, Atomic Jam at the Q Club was a monthly techno mecca of biblical proportions. Now only happening sporadically, it still blows all other parties away when it comes to classic, cranium-crushing techno debauchery. Fuck minimal, forget about electro-house and leave your designer scarfs and handbags at home (or at least in the cloakroom), because there’s little room for posturing when Luke Slater, Mark Broom, Ben Sims, Surgeon and Redshape are cranking the controls. Industrial drum & bass brutality in room two with tech-stepper Calyx.

6. THE PLUMP DJS PRES. GRAND HOTEL

Matter, Millennium Way, Greenwich, London, SE10

THE breaks scene might be suffering from an identity crisis, but there’s no doubt about where The Plump DJs, former breakbeat figureheads, are heading — headfirst into boisterous electro and rave techno. Booking into the biggest club in the capital for their latest promotion, they’ve gone all-out for tonight’s launch with live shows from The Japanese Popstars and Vitalic. Frenchman Feadz spins his French fashionista electro filth, while Joe Ransom invites Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard, Riva Starr and Duke Dumont to keep him company in the second room.

7. RETURN TO MONO

Sub Club, Jamaica St, Glasgow, G1

A FORUM for all things deep, dubby and disco-fried, Slam’s Return To Mono at the intimate Sub Club are always an essential reach for Glasgow’s discerning dance heads. Never a dud booking, tonight they pull two gems out the bag for the price of one with the eternally eclectic Andrew Weatherall and former Black Strobe producer Ivan Smagghe rekindling their Wrong Meeting alliance. Expect a trainspotter’s walk on the dark and dubby side of dance with more than the odd curveball chucked in for good measure.

8. FOUR TET LIVE

Fiddlers, Willway St, Bristol, BS3

A joyous marriage of Four Tet’s natural leftfield artistry and the instant dancefloor rushes of his increasingly potent DJ sets, ‘There Is Love In You’ is already a strong contender for album of the year. With Kieran ‘Four Tet’ Hebdan taking it on tour across March, there’s a welcome chance to get even closer to the LP’s intimate and engaging qualities. Taking place in a former 18th century prison full of rugged charm and alt.music history, tonight’s 450-capacity show at Fiddlers will be a stonecold classic.

9. JAMES ZABIELA

Orange Rooms, Old Christchurch Rd, Bournemouth, BH1

IN a town more synonymous with the blue rinse brigade than red-hot hedonism, Bournemouth’s Orange Rooms have added some much needed colour to this corner of the coastal club scene. Recent bookings like Laidback Luke, Hervé and Erol Alkan have brought some big name glamour to town, but it’s tonight’s arrival of James Zabiela that jumps off the calendar. Fresh from mixing down his forthcoming ‘Masters’ compilation for Renaissance, JZ will be locking in for an extended set of tech-house trickery with support from resident Michael Ashford.

10. GARUDA

Sankeys, Beehive Mill, Radium St, Manchester, M4

THERE were a few raised eyebrows amongst when Gareth Emery’s future trance night Garuda joined the Sankeys family, but it’s left the doubters choking since. With a focus on longer sets and DJs that ride the deeper trance waves rather than the pop-trance pish that has watered the sound down, Garuda has packed the rafters every time since and proved an invaluable haven for lost Northern trance heads with nowhere else to go. Tonight, Mr Emery invites South American prog hero Hernan Cattaneo and German’s prog trancer Jerome Isma-Ae to join him.