T A P E is back - This Friday!

T A P E

Friday 23rd February
@ The Bank, John Street, Bristol
8pm - late Free Entry

Special Guests:
SEAN JOHNSTON (Flash Faction / Flashcomm / Sabres Of Paradise)
JOE HART (West Country Shakedown / Bloc Weekender)
CLARKSON (Payback Hi-Fi / Frosch)

and your faithful resident DJs:
PUFFIN JACK
RICHARD CARNAGE
MR SOFT

It's finally upon us... Excluding our debauched Xmas/birthday celebrations, TAPE's been on a little bit of a hiatus for a while, but that's all set to stop with our first TAPE party of 2007. We've found our new home at a little pub called The Bank which can be found tucked away on John St (just opposite the Arc Bar on Broad Street). It's a tiny little place with a great system and super staff, and we're really happy to have found a place that suits the vibe that we're trying to get at. As anyone that was at our December party will attest, it's definitely has its unique charm, and who doesn't like a party in a pub?

For our opening night proper, we've got three excellent acts for your raving delectation, all with different areas of musical expertise. First up is CLARKSON, Bristol's treasured disco expert who used to run the sadly defunct Frosch down at Mr Wolf's alongside our Puffin. He'll be treating us to a cherry picked selection of the great and the good of his extensive record collection, so expect slick Philly classics, New York dancefloor bangers, and plenty of Euro-disco nuggets.

Following him will be JOE HART, Bristol's finest proponent of italo disco and also member of the West Country Shakedown crew, who'll be taking you on a cosmic journey encompassing his favourite vintage gems alongside whatever else takes his fancy on the night. Anal bearded disco lovers beware... he's only ever a mix away from jacking things up Chicago style....

Finally, our headliner for the night is SEAN JOHNSTON. All you old heads may remember some of his techno releases from the mid-90's as part of FLASH FACTION for labels such as Third Mind, Andrew Weatherall's Sabres Of Paradise, and on their own Flashcomm imprint. He started off DJing at the Welly Club in 1985 in his hometown of Hull, before going on to play various illegal raves in the late 80s. He got his big break as tour DJ for the Happy Mondays in 1989, and since then has gone on to grace the decks at many of the seminal early 90s clubbing establishments such as Promised Land, Better Days, Independence, and Shakavara. The tail end of the 1990s saw him reside at the Final Frontier night, and also play multiple times at Sabresonic, Quirky, and The Vox along with various guest spots in the UK and Europe, with one as far afield as the bright lights of Las Vegas. Along the way he's had the honour of DJing alongside with Andrew Weatherall, Darren Emerson, Jon Digweed, Steve Proctor, Danille Davoli, Justin Robertson, Jon Dasilva, David Holmes, Bios, Rick Hopkins, Scott Hardkiss, Carl Cox and a supporting cast of unsung and unknown DJ's. Put simply, this is one guy who knows how to DJ properly! He's been out of action for a while, but TAPE has managed to coax him out of retirement for this special one off gig showcasing his current diverse tastes. Apparently he's planning a set of fairly recent techno, minimal and disco nouveau numbers, but he'll also be packing a smattering of quality old school jacking house for that authentic retro experience.

So come on down, get yer pints in, and prepare for a night to remember... or not as the case may be!

...and because I'm so overjoyed that TAPE is back on the rails again, here are a few mp3 treats for you. First up is a little edit of Carl Craig's X-Press 2 mix that I knocked up in 5 minutes (literally!). Finally we're rid of that horrible vocal, save the tolerable end phrase. Unfortunately that means that the melodic synth breakdown is cut out (which is a bit of a shame as it was probably the highlight of the original remix) but that means that it's more of a knarly rolling groove tool. Or something. Technically, it's not a great edit (maybe I'll spend more time on the next one!), but it'll definitely give those E-monkeys a good workout.

Download:
X-Press 2 - Kill 100 (Carl Craig Remix - Richard Carnage Dub Edit) // TAPE

What better to follow that up with than some good old... Stock, Aitken and Waterman? Yes, I'm afraid so, but download away and you'll see that it's a proper hi-nrg italo anthem with killer synth riffage, cracking snap-claps and great cowbell break (I can hear you groaning already, you fickle cowbell haters!). Could do with an edit, mind. Just don't ask me to do it!

Download:
Michael Prince - Dance Your Love Away (Disco Vocal Mix) // Bolts

This last one's fairly new so I'm going to whack it up as a yousendit. No reloads - when it's gone it's gone. I've been banging on about Shonky beforehand in these pages as one of bright lights of 2007's techno scene and I think there's still a lot more to come from the young Frenchman. As with 'Horizontal Moon' (featured on the Olympia EP along with this cut - an essential purchase in my eyes), the Shonkster locks you into his relentless bass groove and works those bleeps like a man possessed to create the perfect track to reinvigorate a tired early morning dancefloor. Now if only I had somewhere that I could play it at 5am....

Download:
Shonky - Phantomas // Freak'n'Chic