SPOOKY MOOQEE

It's Halloween which means that we'll have to endure local scamps doing their 'trick or treat' stuff. Or what's otherwise known as 'begging'.

Anyway, sticking with that theme here's a suitably haunting tune.

MP3: Mooqee - 'Drilla'

SO_HIM

Latest from Ed Banger's Art Director So_Me is this: the seven different sleeves to that re-edit of SebastiAn's 'Walkman' that's 'flipped' (it's a record, see) with his mash-up of Rage Against The Machine's 'Killing In The Name Of'. The latter often attributed to Mr Oizo.

Anyway, our friend at the label just emailed this rather reach-for-the-Ritalin animated gif. If you caught So_Me's Justice or Kanye West videos, then it's perhaps to be expected.

Meanwhile SebastiAn has a new EP out in January and also guests at Prostitutes & Policemen 30/11/07.

GETTIN' SIRIUS

Known for the odd collaboration/remix with/for Modeselektor/Jahcoozi, we though we had Berlin's Sirius Mo down as a maker of dancehall-influenced digital innovation. But there's a whole other side to this guise's output that takes in live-sounding instrumentation and some lush loveliness along the lines of 'Dunkelrot' and a smooth Ben Mono rework. There's also widescreen glitch-hop available - like 'Entzwei' which actually leans closer to Jackson and His Computer Band. Oh, and - if that isn't enough, you insatiable fool - some tracks with vocalist Dana. But not the Irish songbird. No, these are more like a Teutonic Girls Aloud and the songs have titles like 'Nirgendwo' and 'Liieeebemachn'.

We have NO idea what they're about.

Mind, we're just as nonplussed by 'Sexy No No No' or whatever else Cheryl Tweedy is miming along to this week.

Anyway, there's this other track too. It's called 'Discoding' and it's somewhere between a Ed Banger cut-up thing from, say, SebastiAn and the kind of leftfield Scandinavian disco record that might be issued by Feedelity. We had this really short MP3 of it and thought it was pretty amazing. We tried to find a real-life copy of it but to no avail. We cobbled together a quick re-edit from what little we had. We made it last longer. We slowed it down slightly. We applied a nasty filter. We pasted a crappily compressed version here:

MP3: Sirius Mo - 'Discoding (Northernights hasty re-edit)'

We would still like a proper version.

BRIGHT YOUNG TINGS

Friday night was as fun as it was freezing, as we went to see The Ting Tings launch their second single, the dizzyingly fizzy ‘Fruit Machine‘, at Salford‘s fashionable Islington Mill.


Things began with a trip to minimalist (ie. barely furnished) Northern Quarter ‘haunt’ Common for This Is The New, a mix of thrustworthy and very cool indie dance, spun by Ian from the legendary Keys Money Lipstick.

Then it was off to Islington Mill to see the other KML resident Justin Heaton warming up the crowd with yet more impeccably-chosen tunes. Surprisingly, being asked to support the hottest band of 2008 at the launch of their second single does not faze him. “I’m not really nervous”, he says, “I just hope it’s a friendly crowd. God knows what I‘ll play!”

A friendly and quite possibly artistically-inclined audience (as well as a ’club space’ - basically two tables and some fridges from which drinks are served - the Mill also houses over 50 artists studios and two art galleries) awaits and Heaton has no trouble applying some much-needed temperature to the room.

There then follows an incredibly artistic photo call during which The Ting Tings and a few other people gather to deface part of a wall using giant pencil crayons (pictured above). The resulting splurge of etchings and doodles is both visually stimulating and mentally confusing.

Beyond this point our memories of the night become a little blurred, due mainly to making a few too many trips to the fridge, but we do know that further support was provided by Hotpants Romance, who made a shouty but pop-infused racket, and were probably very good, but probably not as good as The Ting Tings probably were. Probably.

As a live venue, or indeed ‘club space’, Islington Mill is an odd one to call. What it lacks in lighting and basic furnishings it makes up in boho charm, filled as it is with a mix of forward-thinking types who love going there for a good time (one person we spoke to said it was his favourite venue in the world).

If you’re impressed by sofas and fancy lamps the place is not for you, but if swigging a few ciders in a place that is a bit like the Roadhouse (only less underground, cramped and full of children) sounds inviting, perhaps you should have a look at the Mill’s upcoming events.

SOME ‘NOUVEAU' RAVE

There are many reasons to love Klaxons:

* The fact that their deserved Mercury Music Prize win disgusted Terrahawks-puppet Jo Whiley, who wanted it to go to Amy Winehouse (aka Keith Moon for Grazia readers)

*That James Righton resembles a Nicholas Hoult that it would be morally acceptable to sleep with

*Oh, and their music

French remix-sluts Justice have tampered with album track 'As Above, So Below' making it about 150 % more ‘danceable’. It now sounds like an electro version of the Cagney & Lacey theme tune. Result! Rumours that Digitalism will fight back with a cover of the music from Dempsey & Makepeace are, alas, unfounded.

MP3: Klaxons - 'As Above, So Below (Justice remix)'

LA MUSIQUE

On Northernights’ 'Club Index', we’ve asked various nights to provide a ‘Five Records’. It’s meant as a way of us avoiding resorting to genre specifics when trying to convey what kind of music is played there. It’s not intended to be a definitive guide – just what records came to mind at one particular moment in time.

Anyway, here’s a mix of 35 Records that, again, isn’t anything like a full assessment of our own music passions. It’s just ‘35 Records’ (albeit with some solely represented by a looped beat, vocal sample or outro). We might have easily found the same number of tracks that you could describe as techno, drum & bass, soul or heavy metal. Okay… maybe not heavy metal. No offence.

1. Klaxons – ‘Atlantis To Interzone (Yuksek & Brodinski remix)’
2. The Shoes – ‘America (Brodinski remix)’
3. Samim – ‘Heater (Vandalism Re-Rub)’
4. Claude VonStroke – ‘The Whistler (Jesse Rose remix)’
5. Serge Santiago – ‘R2D2’
6. Justice – ‘D.A.N.C.E. (Eli & Diplo remix)’
7. Claude VonStroke – ‘Peanut Butter Jelly Time (Claude VonStroke & Julio Ingles Miami Doodoo bootleg)’
8. DJ Blaqstarr – ‘Shake It To The Ground (Switch & Santogold remix)’
9. Voodoo Chilli – ‘Look What You’ve Done To Me (Trevor Loveys remix)’
10. Jesse Rose – ‘You’re All Over My Head’
11. Armand Van Helden – ‘Playmate (Jesse Rose remix)’
12. Justice feat. Uffie – ‘The Party (Luvtek SMBU remix)’
13. Josh Wink – ‘Higher State of Consciousness (TV Rock & Dirty South remix)’
14. Nine Inch Nails – ‘Capital G (Switch remix)’
15. The Black Ghosts – ‘Face (Switch remix)’
16. Klaxons – ‘Golden Skans (Switch remix)’
17. Trevor Loveys & Sinden – ‘Organ Grinder’
18. Roisin Murphy – ‘Overpowered (Herve and Roisin in the Secret Garden mix)’
19. Herve – ‘See Me’
20. The Dusty Kid – ‘The Cat (Crookers Eurocrunk mix)’
21. Bjork – ‘Innocence (Simian Mobile Disco remix)’
22. Kleerup feat. Robyn – ‘With Every Heartbeat (Hugg & Pepp remix)’
23. Mr Oizo – ‘Transsexual (Lorn remix)’
24. Riot In Belgium – ‘La Musique (Sinden remix)’
25. Simian Mobile Disco – ‘I Believe (Switch remix)’
26. Chromeo – ‘Bonafied Lovin (Tronik Youth remix)’
27. Rihanna – ‘Umbrella (VNDLSM remix)’
28. Snoop Dogg – ‘Make It Clap (Hostage Rave mix)’
29. The Whip – ‘Muzzle No.1 (Shadow Dancer remix)’
30. CSS – ‘Let’s Make Love… (Simian Mobile Disco remix)’
31. Simian Mobile Disco – ‘It’s The Beat (The Teenagers remix)’
32. Foals – ‘Astronauts And All’
33. Foals – ‘Hummer’
34. The Ting Tings – ‘That’s Not My Name’
35. M.I.A. – ‘Paper Planes’

MP3: 35 Records

SHOCK HORROR

Speaking of DJs, we doubt you'll be finding Andy Votel troubling Paul Van Dyk and Armin Van Buuren for their top ten placings.

In any case, we doubt he cares as he's been too busy following-up his early goth-hop outings and creaking b-movie interests with Songs From Dracula's Dulcimer - a special release which ties in nicely with B-Music's latest residency and is a special free gift for anyone spending £20 in the Finders Keepers online shop.

COUNTDOWN CONUNDRUM

The latest DJ Magazine's annual Top 100 DJ poll is unveiled 24/10/07. This time it's broadcast via www.selfcast.com/DJMag_Top100 making the London-based extravaganza (featuring sets from David Guetta, Fedde Le Grand, Danny Howells, Sander van Doorn, James Zabiela & Nic Fanciulli, Martin Solveig and more) available worldwide - especially useful given how the votes come in from all over the globe. So if you're on your laptop in Beijing or Stoke, you can still countdown until Tiesto is again confirmed to be the most popular and supposedly 'best' DJ on the planet.

TAKE NO PRISONERS

We had a chat with Edinburgh's Hostage ahead of his date at Prostitutes & Policemen this week. He was a lot of fun. Anyway, we thought we'd provide a link to what he's called his 'Thursday Mix' (recorded back in July). We imagine that some people were feeling rough on that particular Friday if this was the soundtrack.

1. L.E.O. - 'How Do You Like It (Hostage remix)'
2. Switch - 'Brick & Lace'
3. Hostage - 'Ruthless'
4. Chromeo - 'Tenderoni (MSTRKRFT remix)'
5. Hostage - 'Mental Dental'
6. Trevor Loveys & Sinden - 'Organ Grinder'
7. The White Stripes - 'Icky Thump (Hostage remix)'
8. South Central - 'Machine'
9. Hostage - 'Sloth'
10. Klaxons - 'Gravity's Rainbow (Kavinsky remix)'
11. Pharoahe Monch - 'Simon Says (Hostage remix)'
12. Proxy - 'Decoy'

MP3: Hostage - 'Thursday Mix'

BURAKA SOM SISTEMA

Club Kuduro stylee. Catch it at Tramp 31/10/07.
Also, check this:

MP3: Shy Child - 'Noise Won't Stop (Buraka Som Sistema remix)'

PARADISE REVISITED

Known to one group of Mancunians as ‘Paradise Factory’ and to another as ‘Fac 251’, the building located at number one Charles Street will re-open at the end of January 2008 while under the watchful eye of the team currently found behind The Warehouse Project.

Gaining notoriety as the new headquarters for Factory Records with a costly revamp of the Victorian shell by Hacienda/Dry Bar maverick Ben Kelly, the debt-ridden label handed ownership to the Manto Group’s Peter Dalton and Carol Ainscow - who were estimated at the time to have paid £500,000 (just two thirds of the cost of Kelly’s industrial makeover).

Initially popular with gay/mixed crowds who abandoned venues like The Number One, Paradise Factory played host to key parties with everyone from Tim Lennox to Justin Robertson at the helm. Sometime stints from Bugged Out followed in addition to re-launches with similarly underground projects like Dirty City Disco. Yet anyone who ventured to the club prior to its last closure can tell you how it was looking a tad tired. Numbers dwindled and it wasn’t uncommon to encounter problems with either the air conditioning or the sound system. A shame really: it was always one of those clubs that you could lose yourself in for hours on end – perhaps stumbling on a selection of dubby downtempo in the attic before again braving some hi-octane anthems playing downstairs from its only marginally less heaving balcony.

Maybe its latest incarnation will be its most notable yet.

"IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS JACK..."

Well, in the beginning there was jack shit on this blog and Northernights' activities were to be found here

The thing is, without wanting to over-complicate the site [the clean, anti-design look is actually there on purpose], there are a number of other things that we could be doing as we cast our eye over Manchester clubland. Relaying news stories, for example. The odd competition. We might have a cat that we want you to help us name. Maybe some music reviews. Or some cheeky MP3s that we've been allowed to put your way. Or some rubbish that we just thought up in the bath.
Shall we just see what happens? Okay. Let's.

Meantime, here's some links to some interviews currently on the main site:

* Jeff Mills

* Kelis

* Uffie

* Modeselektor

* Carl Cox

* Kissy Sell Out

* Andy C

* Danny Tenaglia

* Claude VonStroke

* Paul Epworth

* XX Teens

* Armand Van Helden

* The Teenagers

* Groove Armada

* Ewan Pearson

* DJ Spinna

* Tronik Youth

* Utah Saints

* Evil Eddie Richards

* Shit Robot

* Daniele Baldelli

* WhoMadeWho

* Duke Dumont

* Elektrons

* Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip

* The Tigerpicks

* The Bloody Beetroots

* Skull Juice

* Shadow Dancer

* Miss Odd Kidd

* Charlie Fanclub

* Tom Neville

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