'Eclectic' clubs in London **apologies for London-centric thread**

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
So, I went to Reggaeton Jam in London last night, featuring DJ Nelson straight from San Juan. Good shit all round, but I was particularly taken by one of the DJs who played a golden hour featuring 'Nuthin but a G-Thang', '1-2 Step', 'Sweet to the Belly', 'Fwd Riddim' and Elephant Man amidst the reggaeton.

My question is simple: who/where else plays this kind of mix in London, or indeed any other kind of across-the-board selection? I'm so tired and bored of the niche-marketing that so many clubs have fallen into....

As an adjunct to the question, who knows what's going on in reggaetont hese days, cos there was some interesting stuff verging on rave I heard last night (kinda along the same lines as that Vybz Kartel/Barrington Levy track)?
 
C

captain easychord

Guest
i always thought the eclectic thing was becoming kind of dominant these days? (i guess by which i mean the 'ghetto 101' type shit, think flyers advertising 'crunk/grime/ghettotech/dancehall/baile funk/ etc....) gotta admit im not too clued up to london nightlife, that's just the impression i get.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

gabriel

The Heatwave
baboon2004 said:
My question is simple: who/where else plays this kind of mix in London, or indeed any other kind of across-the-board selection? I'm so tired and bored of the niche-marketing that so many clubs have fallen into....

flyer01small.jpg
flyer02small.jpg
 

mms

sometimes
captain easychord said:
i always thought the eclectic thing was becoming kind of dominant these days? (i guess by which i mean the 'ghetto 101' type shit, think flyers advertising 'crunk/grime/ghettotech/dancehall/baile funk/ etc....) gotta admit im not too clued up to london nightlife, that's just the impression i get.

i want a more niche thing - i'm fed up with the 'diplo effect'
 

mms

sometimes
gabriel said:
what is the diplo effect?

playing the shallowest of everything ever in an attempt to try and please everyone ever, so mixing the cure into grime into chicago acid and by doing that, removing any effect the music might actually have,any tension depth or resonance.
i think its an outcome of dance music having less confidence due to the rise in indie stuff, but i think that's defintiley changing now.
 

petergunn

plywood violin
mms said:
playing the shallowest of everything ever in an attempt to try and please everyone ever, so mixing the cure into grime into chicago acid and by doing that, removing any effect the music might actually have,any tension depth or resonance.
i think its an outcome of dance music having less confidence due to the rise in indie stuff, but i think that's defintiley changing now.


as someone who does a "grime/crunk/reggaeton/jungle/dancehall/etc etc etc" night, my reasons of doing it were as follows:

a) they are all similar musics, that is to say rowdy electonic based dance musics that have large followings in the communities they are from, but sound overly harsh or weird to outsiders... plus bpm wise, for example, grime mixes perfectly with crunk, and booty bass...

b) they are all musics that i would try to work into more mainstream club sets, but would get the gasface from the bartender/owner/promoter... they are all underground musics, tho obviously in the last couple of years, reggaeton and crunk have gotten overground sucess...

c) doing an all grime night on vinyl only on a weekly basis on my salary is impossible, so other records were needed that sounded good with grime, made sense with a grime, and could contextualize grime to an american audience

d) it reveals people's listening prejudices... i.e. some people just come for the grime and dubstep and hate on reggaeton...

sorry, if this comes accross as defensive, i just am a little touchy people would have a backlash to an idea i don't think has even been accepted yet!

(and for the record, no Cure ever played at pure fire... i think the only "white" music ever played is breakcore!)
 

Ned

Ruby Tuesday
mms said:
playing the shallowest of everything ever in an attempt to try and please everyone ever, so mixing the cure into grime into chicago acid and by doing that, removing any effect the music might actually have,any tension depth or resonance.
i think its an outcome of dance music having less confidence due to the rise in indie stuff, but i think that's defintiley changing now.

Personally I love eclectic sets (maybe the Dissensus community will tell me I'm wrong for doing so...) I think if Diplo was just trying to 'please everyone' he would just have become a party hip hop DJ rather than playing largely-unknown stuff like grime. I've done eclectic nights and (where I am) it's always harder to draw a crowd than if you stick to one genre: eclectic nights risk pleasing no one. And I think mixing disparate genres can really add something. Same reason that a well-placed sample from something unexpected in a hip hop track can be great: it surprises you, brings out connections, makes the familiar strange or vice versa. A lot of people assume that if you're playing a lot of genres, then you must only know the basics of each genre, but having broad tastes doesn't necessarily mean having shallow ones.
 

gabriel

The Heatwave
baboon2004 said:
I was particularly taken by one of the DJs who played a golden hour featuring 'Nuthin but a G-Thang', '1-2 Step', 'Sweet to the Belly', 'Fwd Riddim' and Elephant Man amidst the reggaeton.

re: the diplo effect, surely a set including the above tunes doesn't fall into that category anyway - it isn't particularly eclectic really, is it?

if it included baile funk, ghettotech, bootybass and dubstep then its mybe getting a bit silly, but having dancehall, reggaeton ('dancehall in spanish'), grime ('the uk's dancehall') and hip hop/r&b (which for the last 20 yrs has had a pretty symbiotic relationship with dancehall) all together makes lots of sense without calling for the term 'eclectic' in a negative sense
 

mms

sometimes
Ned said:
Personally I love eclectic sets (maybe the Dissensus community will tell me I'm wrong for doing so...) I think if Diplo was just trying to 'please everyone' he would just have become a party hip hop DJ rather than playing largely-unknown stuff like grime. I've done eclectic nights and (where I am) it's always harder to draw a crowd than if you stick to one genre: eclectic nights risk pleasing no one. And I think mixing disparate genres can really add something. Same reason that a well-placed sample from something unexpected in a hip hop track can be great: it surprises you, brings out connections, makes the familiar strange or vice versa. A lot of people assume that if you're playing a lot of genres, then you must only know the basics of each genre, but having broad tastes doesn't necessarily mean having shallow ones.

diplo is a party dj - known for electic sets which he plays to aware club people - for me they never build any depth or rhythmic flow or any real energy apart from the natural energy in the tracks - there are no peaks or troughs just the dissonance between well know and less known tracks and the nerve of mixing these things ..
i don't think ecletic sets risk the problem of pleasing no one as people go to clubs knowing that this is what they will get ..
i'd rather hear varied sets within a genre or over similar genres than this kind of stuff, (someone that does dancehall reggae and reggaeton doesn't really count within the diplo effect ) as i want to get into the specific feelings and flows of the music and check new shit out.
 
Last edited:

blunt

shot by both sides
mms said:
i'm fed up with the 'diplo effect'

Poor Diplo. This thread's associating his name with something I don't think he's guilty of. You might be right that his set's are lacking pace or structure on a macro-level, but I think it's unfair to say that he only plays populist, crowd-pleasing stuff. He always seems to include a lot of obscure gems.

Fucking Soulwax, on the other hand. Now there's a pair of deejays that fit the bill. I saw them play out at Sonar a couple of years ago, and it was fucking awful. It was pure pub disco (in a bad way).

baboon2004 said:
Who/where else plays this kind of mix in London, or indeed any other kind of across-the-board selection? I'm so tired and bored of the niche-marketing that so many clubs have fallen into...

I saw Radioclit play out at the Social on Little Marlborough St the other month. I'm really into them at the mo. Their podcasts are a bit hit and miss, but when they hit, they hit hard.

Disclaimer: I've given them props before, so just felt I should point out that I am not them, or affiliated with them in any way. I am but a fanboy :)
 
Peace to all...

Interesting thread that struck a chord and also alllows me to do a little pluggin' as well.
Agree with Pete Gunn NEd and MMS on this...

Eclectic for eclectics sake doesn't work. Diplo rinsed his thing - you can't take what he did away from him - bringing good time party vibes back into the mis when perhaps "club" land had become a bit stale?! OK so its been copied (often badly) but his general idea was fuckin' ace in my opinion. Bring the girls back to the dances. I love all the different music thats out there but there's still too many nights that hammer the same music all night long and frankly I get bored. Went to Forward & DMZ recently and I love the music and have respect for that nights but I want peeps to be dancing, not swaying on a night out. So after ages spent moaning about it I thought I'd try something and see what happens. So this Friday (14th April) we're kicking off what will hopefuly become a monhtly party..

Crunk electro broken beats disco raw hip hop dubstyles twatstep lesbian house etc...

PATCHWORK PIRATES pres. BASSMENT BOOGIE!

FREE LAUNCH NIGHT F
FRI 14.04.06
@ 6ft Anda (Below Anda de Bridge, E2)

with resident ruffians:
THE PATCHWORK PIRATES

TOM FOOLERY
DJ SKULLDIGGITY
THE BLEND

and first mates:
DJ KRIS JONES (SOUL JAZZ RECORDS)
DESERT EAGLES (LA, RABBITTUSK)

FREE ENTRY 8PM – 2AM
@ 6FT ANDA (BELOW ANDA DE BRIDGE)
42-44 Kingsland Rd, E2
Nearest Port: Old Street
www.andadebridge.com / 0207 739 3863

CHECK:
www.myspace.com/patchworkpirates
www.rabbittusk.com
patchworkpirates@gmail.com or call 07865 094 927

Come down, see what you think then hate if you like! We're throwing a load of styles into the mix and it might not work as well as we'd hoped but lets see eh?
 

mms

sometimes
TomFoolery said:
Peace to all...
. Went to Forward & DMZ recently and I love the music and have respect for that nights but I want peeps to be dancing, not swaying on a night out.

tha is dancing ie people wouldn't sway rhythmically in any other situation, it's not kids from fame but it's dancing alright ..
 

gek-opel

entered apprentice
As regards dancing at DMZ and FWD, whilst there are people propping up the bar at both, most are furiously skanking! I mean, Dubstep isn't music for ecstatic release is it? But that old skool rave ethos thing is exactly that, old skool, gone, dead. You can attempt to recapture it, but the less druggy more tension filled sounds make more sense, for are these the times for blissy release? Altho yes, some more steppy sounds would go down a treat, especially as it would as you say bring some feminine pressure back onto the dancefloor...
 
Last edited:

petergunn

plywood violin
gabriel said:
re: the diplo effect, surely a set including the above tunes doesn't fall into that category anyway - it isn't particularly eclectic really, is it?

if it included baile funk, ghettotech, bootybass and dubstep then its mybe getting a bit silly, but having dancehall, reggaeton ('dancehall in spanish'), grime ('the uk's dancehall') and hip hop/r&b (which for the last 20 yrs has had a pretty symbiotic relationship with dancehall) all together makes lots of sense without calling for the term 'eclectic' in a negative sense


a good point... that is to say, it's the dj's job to make you as a listener feel like hearing all those musics make sense together... i think the point is to break down any sort of cultural walls between the musics and just have people have fun w/ different musics... which of course does lead to certain amount of people spending all their time trainspotting (which is the opposite effect!) and/or grumbling... but, yes, when it's just a random "let's play a couple songs each from the "genre de jour", it's annoying, a cheap gimmick, sounds really shitty, and doesn't flow right...

i'll just say this, i was playing a wiley track once and a dude came up to me and asked if it was new Houston shit...
 
Top