Can you Rigg it?

Oi oi! It's time to start gearing up for next month's Mutant Pop madness! November will see us celebrate Tape's second birthday with style, and joining us will be the ever reliable Simon Rigg and blogging compadres Skull Juice. Here's the full info for all you west country mentalists...

UPSTAIRS
Techno, Electro-house, Minimal
SIMON RIGG (Phonica Records / Bugged Out!)
GARETH WATKINS
MIKE BULL

DOWNSTAIRS
Electro-house, Disco,Tech-house
SKULL JUICE (www.skulljuice.com)
RICHARD CARNAGE
PUFFIN JACK

His is the number that all self-respecting superstar DJs have on speed dial. And his is the name that underground house and techno producers aim to impress. And yet you probably haven’t heard of Simon Rigg….

Simon runs London’s Phonica Records – and for that reason alone is possibly THE most influential person in modern 4x4 music. In an era of closing record stores and the rise of digital music, Phonica has managed to go from strength to strength since its 2003 opening, developing into Europe’s pre-eminent vinyl destination with an unrivalled and diverse selection of cutting edge sounds and a customer base garnered from all corners of the globe – thanks largely to Simon’s ear for a good tune. He started off his employment working in Oxford Street’s Virgin Megastore (the world’s biggest record store, fact fans!), before he was approached by a wealthy backer who asked him to manage his new record store in Berwick Street, Soho. In 2001, Koobla Records was born, and only lasted two years before Simon jumped ship to start Phonica with his Koobla cohorts Heidi Van Den Amstel (who recently released her debut 12” and mix CD on Get Physical) and electronica giant Tom Relleen. It didnt take long for the record shop wars to end with an outright winner – Phonica, of course - as Koobla closed and Phonica went from strength to strength, launching its hugely successful website a year later.

Simon is more than just a trendsetter, however – he’s a spectacularly good DJ as well. His box is always packed with the most upfront tunes around (he gets everything first, you see), and he can effortlessly destroy a party – evidenced by his regular appearances at Bugged Out!, Fabric and residency at Berlin’s Weekend. You’ll often catch him playing with the likes of Tiefschwarz, DJ T, Locodice, and Andrew Weatherall smongst others. Anyone who caught him blowing the roof of TAPE’s birthday party last year, which saw the Elbow Room’s upstairs packed to bursting-point and a queue outside snaking up Park St, will know that his devastating and diverse sets of acidic electro-house and minimal techno are the stuff of clubbing legend.

As the TAPE crew celebrate two years of preaching the leftfield dancefloor gospel in Bristol, and Mutant Pop toasts its first year’s residency at the Arc Bar, this promises to be a night to remember as one of the true kings of electro-house returns to the wild West to finish what he started.

If you can't wait til then for some damn dirty TAPE action, then Puffin Jack will be taking his turn to have a busy DJing weekend with DJ performances at Zoo on Saturday (Dojo lounge), and at the sublime Sunday shakedown that is Normalise (at Hush Hush - just by the Arches on Gloucester Road). If you haven't been to the latter yet, then I recommend that you get your worn out, sorry arse down there to soothe your hangover with a deep disco and techno soundtrack that'll cure all ills. Well... maybe not all, but hair of the dog and all that, eh?