Jonny Tiernan and Andy Campbell are going to be DJing. Seeing as Jonny was actually a teenager/young adult for nearly the whole of the 90s, he’s pretty well qualified. We’re going to be doing tons of silly giveaways and bits of other randomness. The most important part is that it is going to be OFF THE CHART FUN.

If this poster by Tim Farrell doesn’t sell it to you, then there are deep rooted issues within your psyche that we can’t help with.

Look, I’ll be honest with you, promoting a club night on a Friday can be hard sometimes. There is just no real way to know how the night is going to end up, it could be really busy, it could be quiet – there is just no real way to call it. There are weeks when you feel it’s going to be really busy, and it turns out to be quiet, and there are nights when you think it is going to be dead, but instead the place is packed.

We’re really lucky at GIGANTIC, there is a super core of people who come down all the time. They have great taste in music, are always up for dancing, and are dead nice to boot. This means that the club is really steady, and this year has been class – we’ve had a good crowd pretty much every Friday, and there has maybe been one quiet night in the whole mix. It has felt like we’re on a total roll, and we feel pretty blessed that this is the case. I don’t take it for granted though, and you can’t rest on your laurels. Every week I still stress out and think ‘It could be quiet this week, you just never know’.

Last Friday was a perfect example of just how impossible it is to tell how a night is going to turn out. There was loads on all over Belfast – Pocket Billiards were having their 10 year anniversary party at the Mandela Hall, Stiff Kitten had a fairly new club night on, and to top it all off there were tons of good events happening as part of the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival. Overall, the signs weren’t looking too hot. Anyone who knows me and who has been chatting to me in the early part of Gigantic will know that I stress out non-stop. At 11.30pm it was still really quiet, and I was starting to dread the turnout. I thought it was going to be really dead and hard. In short, I thought it was going to BOMB. Then it all changed…

It was like a switch got flicked, and all of a sudden loads of people poured into the club. But not only did loads of people arrive, they were all really up for dancing and having a good time. The place developed a party atmosphere and it turned into a really fun night. I think a large part of the dancing and partying credit has to go to Eimear and Cheylene of the Wonder Villains. They danced around non-stop all night, like kids who had been injected with a mixture of sugar and methamphetamine. They also made really good requests, as did Kelly and Claire, and loads of other people who were down. I spun a ton of old soul and funk, plus some random old school hip hop. I don’t think I played a single dance music track. It was different, and fun.

The night went from being a bomb to being THE BOMB inside about 10 minutes. It was brilliant. Big big love to everyone who came down and danced like champs.

I had promised Wonder Villains earlier in the day that I would play this song if they came down, and they held me to my word. So many people knew all the words, plus some dance moves, and tons of guys got into it as well. Ha! It’s Spice Girls ‘Spice Up Your Life’.

Spice Girls – Spice Up Your Life (right click to download)

And to add a bit more credibility to this post, here is the song I enjoyed most in the set. I can’t stop listening to it, and I even ordered it on 12″ vinyl as I liked it so much. You can get the new Kwes. EP ‘Meantime.’ via Warp Records, and you should do that. Here is ‘Bashful‘ for now though. Total beaut.

Kwes. – Bashful (right click to download)

CSS – Music Is My Hot Hot Sex (right click to download)

BIg ups to Amanda, Nik, Cathy, Ian, Gary, Conor, Chris, Cat, Hannah, Lauren, Michael, Nadine, Brian, Stu, Carly, Lucy, Vanessa, Tommy, Jessica, Michelle, Gary, Amy, and tons more people that I’ve forgot.

Here is the full run down:

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GIGANTIC SET LIST: 04/05/12

Abc – The Look Of Love (Original 12 Inch mix)
Herbie Hancock – Rockit
Herbie Hancock – Axel Foley Theme
Kraftwerk – The Model
Aphex Twin – Flim
Kavinsky – Nightcall (feat. Lovefoxxx)
Not Squares – Fall Far
Kindness – Cyan
Hot Chip – The Beach Party
Alabama Shakes – Hold On
The Black Lips – Bad Kids
Bombay Bicycle Club – Shuffle
Two Door Cinema Club – Do You Want It All?
Grimes – Genesis
Jessie Ware – 110%
The Postal Service = Such Great Heights
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs – Garden
Kwes. – Bashful
M83 – Reunion
Miike Snow – Paddling Out
The Black Keys – Lonely Boy
Wu Tang Clan – Gravel Pit
Drake ft. Rihanna – Take Care (DJ Dav’s Funky Mix) (Clean)
Indeep – Last Night A DJ Saved My Life
Queen – Another one bites the dust
Phoenix – Lisztomania (Alex Metric Remix)
The Shoes – Time to dance
Outkast – Hey Ya
De La Soul – Me Myself and I
Sir Mix Alot – Baby Got Back
Gameboy/Gamegirl – Sweaty Wet/Dirty Damp
Peaches – Fuck The Pain Away
Chromeo – Fancy Footwork
Childish Gambino – Heartbeat
SBTRKT – Pharaohs (Featuring Roses Gabor)
Scissor Sisters Feat Krystal Pepsi – Shady Love (Extended Explicit)
Azealia Banks – 212
Talking Heads – Psycho Killer
Cansei De Ser Sexy – Music Is My Hot Hot Sex
Lauren Hill – Doo Wop (That Thing)
M.O.P. – Cold As Ice
Weezer – Buddy Holly
Jimmy Eat World – The Middle
Beastie Boys – Sabotage (Alex Metric Re-Edit)
Jeans Team – Keine Melodien…1,2,3,4
Andrew W.K. – Party Hard
The Distillers – Drain The Blood
DMX – Party Up In Here
Ludacris Feat. Mystikal – Move Bitch
M.O.P – Ante Up (Explicit Version)
Kanye West – Gold Digger (High Contrast Remix)
DJ Fresh – Golddust
N Trance – Set You Free
Phil Collins & Phillip Bailey – Easy lover
Prince – Kiss
Paul Simon – You Can Call Me Al
Isley Brothers – Shout (Parts 1 And 2)
Chuck Berry – You Never Can Tell
Tina & Ike Turner – Proud Mary
Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive
Beastie Boys – Fight For Your Right

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Jonny.

Here, we’ve went and added a ton of photos up on our Facebook page in a big gallery update. You should probably go and take a look at it, it’s full of lovely visages. Click this sentence and you’ll go straight to it.

Jonny.

First off we have the pick of Dom Brogan. It’s The 2 Bears remix of Wiley ‘Skankin’. Wiley is great, The 2 Bears are great, Wiley + 2 Bears = Double Great! You should also keep an ear out for when Wiley drops Cheesy Quavers into the track at 2.38.

Wiley – Skankin (The 2 Bears Remix) (right click to download)

Next is the choice of Cillian McDonnell. It’s ‘Onset (Escapism)’ by Kuedo, who apparently was absolutely amazing live in Dublin last week.

Kedo – Onset (Escapism) (right click to download)

Phily Taggart managed to find enough time, now that his campaign of votes has stopped, to pick out some beefy yet radio friendly drum n bass from Sub Focus feat. Alice Gold. The track is called ‘Out The Blue’.

Sub Focus feat. Alice Gold – Out The Blue (right click to download)

And finally, sticking with the drum n bass tip I’ve decided to post up the most recent single from Jessie Ware. It’s called ’110%’ and I can’t get enough of it.

Jessie Ware – 110% (right click to download)

Jonny.

Anyway, this Saturday was their 3rd Birthday, and to celebrate they threw a nautical themed party to take the piss out of the fact that Belfast has been saturated with Titanic madness for the past load of months, wittily titled ‘Shite-tanic‘. The venue was decked out amazingly, with blow-up animals suspended from the ceiling, an iceberg on the front of the stage, plus loads more stuff too. Tons of people got into the spirit of it and dressed up in a nautical theme. I don’t know what it is about fancy dress, but it just seems to make people go more mental than normal. The place was jumping in no time, and stayed that way right till close.

This was actually the first time I’d ever been to Palookaville, owing to the fact that I DJ near every Saturday. Luckily, being the lovely chaps that they are, Joe and Kenny booked me in to DJ, which was pure amazeballs.

Andrew Scott was DJing at the start of the night, and it was the first time he’d spun the decks in about 10 years apparently. Not that you would have noticed as his set was blinding. He played loads of hipster music, including stuff like Kindness and Sebastian, but the big highlight was when he finished his set with Desert Hearts ‘Sea Punk’. Total classic.

Desert Hearts – Sea Punk (right click to download)

My set was split into two bits, a half an hour after Andrew, then a half an hour later on. The first half hour was pre planned, and consisted mainly of random 80s hits mashed together, but the second half hour was totally winged. It turned out to be one of the most fun packed 30 minutes of DJing that I’ve experienced all year. The crowd at Palookaville are totally nuts, and I felt like they would give it rice to almost anything, as long as it was good. In a fit of madness I decided to drop Harry Belafonte ‘Jump In The Line’. Mentally, people went for it. Ha!

Harry Belafonte – Jump In The Line (right click to download)

Joe and Kenny finished the night off in superb style. Kenny is a ridiculously good DJ, and in between dropping bombs, he turned the headphones into a microphone, turned the music off and broadcast ‘Nelson McCausland is a fucking creationist’ to the whole room. Priceless! He also played this classic track that I totally forgot existed. Win!

Jeans Team – Keine Melodien (right click to download)

I would post up a song that Joe played as well, but I’l be completely honest and say that apart from Prince ‘Kiss’ and Mark Ronson ‘Ooh Wee’ I can’t remember what tracks Joe dropped. This was largely due to the fact that I had decided to leave the car behind and have a ‘few’ drinks instead. Judging by the amount of time I spent dancing (including a fair portion of time on stage with Ryan and Dave), it was the right choice.

Big ups to everyone involved in the club for putting it on, certifiable good times!

Jonny.

(Photos taken by Ronan O’Donnell)

Some of the best music to come out of the UK in the last few years has come out of Glasgow. The Lucky Me collective has produced musical prodigies like Hudson Mohawke and Rustie (both releasing on the mighty Warp records) who seem to be inventing new genres and splicing old ones together within seconds of each other on the same song. They are slinging out hyper-active, addictive, saccharine-pop influenced ADHD-tronica that’s pushing the boundaries of club music. It’s not all jacking beats though, there’s dubstep influences, Aphex Twin-like psychedelic noodling and soundtrack style mood music. The fun in listening is not knowing what’s going to come next, whether it’s a sample of a bassline to a Commodore 64 game or a monumental guitar solo you can trust that when it’s filtered through the multi-coloured Lucky Me kaleidoscope it’s going to sound unreal.

Lucky Me has also produced one of the best DJs of recent years in Jackmaster. De Facto leader of the collective and the boss behind NMBRS records (Jamie xx, Mosca, Deadboy) produces sets in which Techno Bangers sit effortlessly beside R’n'B screamers then through Hip-Hop, Dancehall, Talking Heads, Deep House etc etc. Basically if he thinks of something amazing it’s going on no matter how off the wall the selection might be. His back 2 back sets with Oneman are the stuff of legends. The thing that marks these lads out from the rest is consistently moving forward and constantly changing their sound in inventive & innovative ways to keep ahead of the pack.

Rustie – Neko (right click to download)

So Atmospheric and schmooove. Then we stumble into some sort of space circus before finally, triumphantly dissolving into glistening guitar savagery.

Sibian & Faun – I’m Sorry (right click to download)

One of the more recent releases on NMBRS. If you think you don’t like dubstep, try this. Emotive, laconic electronica similar to SBTRKT in style.

Weapons grade minimal Hip-Hop banger from Rustie’s recent essential mix. I suspect he’s had a hand in it somewhere.

No Release date for this yet but I could have knocked out an entire post about unreleased Hudmo gear. Somewhere in the galaxy a king is being crowned to this music on top of a giant mountain with rainbows in the sky and massive crowd cheering (the crowd is a mix of humans and anthropomorphized animals, Narnia tings).

For mixes news etc: nmbrs.net & thisisluckyme.com

It really was one of the best nights at the club, and there was a fair amount of scandal happening too. Gonna be nice and not name names though! Anyway, less of my gushing and more of the tunes. This was my standout tune from the early part of the night – Peaches ‘Lay With Me’. I still like a bit of Peaches, she’s possibly the coolest school teacher ever. Totally trumps Sting.

Peaches – Lay With Me (right click to download)

This next tune was suggested by the wonderful Tamara, the all round Queen Of Lavery’s. I have to admit, it is kind of weird seeing loads of girls mouth the words ‘Move bitch, get out the way!’ with such enthusiasm. It went off rightly though.

Ludacris – Move Bitch (right click to download)

I really don’t know how this last song ended up getting played, and in fact it is the first time I’ve ever dropped a Blink 182 track in a DJ set, but hey, it turned out to be a hell of a lot of fun.

Blink 182 – All The Small Things (right click to download)

There was also a really high standard of requests made throughout the night as well, which was dead good. A special mention should go to Niall Lawler, who persisted in getting Jay Z ‘Empire State Of Mind’ played, and which ended up being the last song of the night too.

Big shout outs to Nik, Hollie, Gillian, Conor, Kathie, Cassy, Lauren, Aaron, Judith, Melanie, Suzanne, Dermot, Gary, Bronagh, Michael, Lauren, Cat, Hannah, Cheylene, Ryan, Nadine, Michael, Sarah, Carly, Tracey, Phily, Andrea, Anne, Niall and everyone who else who graced the dancefloor. Maximum good times.