Got a spare £750,000? Why not buy the Ocean Rooms

As far as clubs go in Brighton, Ben Gill and team have held on to their reign at the Ocean Rooms for a good run. Though no one thought it would crumble down the way it has. Following a death at the venue on New Year’s Day, the venue was shut by the council and put up for sale by the owners.

If you have a spare £750,000 and fancy being a club boss, get your fanciest chains on and whip out your cheque book. Let’s hope for Brighton that this doesn’t turn in to a wasted flat development. Even though the Ocean Room’s hasn’t been at the top of its game for a long time doesn’t mean the venue should be scrapped. Its demise is down to the management, which for a long time have run the venue without much regard for the punters. Reports of violence, imaginary bookings and poor promotion have all culminated in its downfall.

With all the negativity around the venue, and we knew this day would come, it is a shame for it to be gone. They delivered some great nights over the years, and it not being on Brighton’s club landscape is a sad fact. Even if you only went there once a year, which was probably part of its problem to compete at the same level as other clubs. The Ocean Room has never been the kind of club you would go to for a shot-in-the-dark good night out. It’s always been to see a particular DJ or band. This is unlike for example Audio, which is probably Brighton’s most popular venue when you put aside the shit places like the Honey Club and Oceana’s. It just doesn’t have the same pull.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-14466861.html?pageNumber=1&backToListURL=/property-for-sale/East-Sussex/auction.html

Let’s hope it can be replaced with something worthwhile.

With Kachings reminisent to the beginning of Pink Floyd’s 1973 hit Money, it’s time for another new years even in Brighton. This list is a work in progress and will be updated with any changes up till new years day.

Our backings with Life, Supercharged and the Slackers Convention.

£32 to go to Digital?? Two words… blow me.

Happy New Year

The choice’s for this year are…

Venue: Audio

Featuring: 1920’s Secret Speakeasy – Support from Minimal Kids, Riva Star, Cagedbaby

Sold As: Our NYE parties are the stuff of Brighton legend, and this year we’re going all out with a celebration of the most decadent and debauched of all decades – the 1920s. With THREE separate arenas decked out in full ’20s style, and of course a killer line-up, it promises to be the biggest and best Audio NYE yet.

Above Audio // Step back in time to a roaring 1920’s speakeasy bar at Above Audio this NYE, replete with all the glamour and excess that the decade was famed for. The venue will be completely transformed with full 20’s decor, including decadent private booths, luxury full length drapes, and the legendary Above Audio cocktail bar in full effect. Hosting the speakeasy’s turntables, we’re honoured to welcome veteran Audio DJ Mex (Black Grass), who’ll be spinning his peerless selection of deep soul, hip-hop, disco and quality party anthems.

Terrace // Heading outside, our terrace hosts a very special 1920’s Cigar & Liqour Bar, where a full live jazz band will be on hand to entertain guests while they sample premium spirits and enjoy fine cigars at our walk-in art deco humidor. Whatever the weather, our fully-heated marquee ensures that the Above Audio Liqour & Cigar Bar will be the classiest smoking area in town this NYE.

Audio // As you’d expect, we’ve put together a killer line-up for the downstairs club. Local hero Cagedbaby takes a break from touring, remixing and producing Fatboy Slim (among many others) to drop one of his killer electro-disco-house sets. He’s joined by Riva Starr, one of the most talked-about talents in house right now, whose releases for Jesse Rose’s Frontroom label and Fatboy Slim’s Southern Fried have catapulted him to club stardom. Support comes from Enzo Siffredi, whose cutting edge tech-house and signature minimal has made Audio clubnight Minimal Kids one of the biggest new parties of the year. Accompanying the sounds, we’ve commissioned some unique old-school video footage, including live real-time manipulation of video shot at the party itself.

Time: late etc…

Cost: £18 early bird tickets http://tinyurl.com/audionyetickets

Web: www.audiobrighton.com

Email: info@audiobrighton.com

Venue: Volks

Featuring: The Slackers Convention: Far Too Loud + Pav + LuQas + Dirtbomb + Pook + Mary Miss Fairy + Loop De Ville + Sidius + Stebo + Cut Loose DJs

Sold As: A dirty mix og breaks, beats and party nonsense.

Time: 11:00pm until 5:00am

Cost: £10.00 / £8.00 advance

Tickets: Advance tickets available from Flawless Clothing (Kensington Gardens, N Laines, Brighton) 01273 688484 / Rounder Records (S Laines, Brighton) 01273 325440 / Slackers Direct 07790030275.

Web: www.slackersconvention.com

Venue: Ocean Rooms

Featuring: Switch and Herve. Support from JAMES BRADY AND CASPER G’DAY, JAMES MOSS, CHRIS NATURAL (LUNARCY), JAMES D’LEY, FACEMAN, MATT POOK

Time: Doors 10 till 10

Cost: £17 early, £20 after

Sold As: NYE is the best night of the year and the biggest party not to be missed. Every year we have bought you something special including justice, hot chip, yoda, tiefschwarz and kenny dope some of these shows you don’t get to see again and this year is no different! We will completely decorate the club and this years theme is a white party! Transforming the venue with white 4 poster beds, a complete uv rave room with floods, strobes and extra sound. Wear white to join in the white carnival atmosphere. we will have the white hotel with the 4 poster beds, white performers, surgeons and nurses will keep you entertained!!!!!

Web: www.oceanrooms.co.uk

Tickets: ocean rooms 01273699069, Rounder Records Brighton Square, Resident Records Kensington Gardens, Dome Box Office 01273 709709. www.ticketweb.co.uk

Venue: Digital

Featuring: Pussycat Club New Years Eve – Fabulous Las Vegas: Nippa Downey + Audio Pimps + DJ Al Outram

Sold As: WANNA PARTY ALL NIGHT LONG? You can buy a combination ticket for a measly extra £7.50 which includes entry to the infamous DIGITAL NYE AFTERPARTY Once Pussycat draws to a close you will be whisked to the VIP ARCH whilst the venue is transformed for THE Afterparty with special guests BRODINSKI & Blah Blah Blah DJs – the after party runs till sun up least.

Time: 10:00pm

Cost: £32.50

Tickets: ents24

Web: www.yourfutureisdigital.com

Venue: Komedia

Featuring: Trailer Trash ! Presents: Pirates Of The Caribbean

Sold As: Cult movie-themed club extravaganza, featuring fire, aerial and burlesque live acts, plus rum-fuelled, raucous pirate bands and rock ‘n’ roll, neo-swing, dirty electro, soundtracks & classic hits from our resident DJs, to roll you giddy and uproarious into the unchartered waters of 2010. Dress shipshape – Win prizes!

From: 9:30pm until 2:00am

Cost: £14.00 / £16.50

Tickets: http://komediabrighton.ticketsolve.com/

Venue: The Funky Buddha

Featuring: Tru Thoughts New Years Eve Party: Robert Luis + Hint + Flevans

Sold As: For New Years Eve admission will be £12, Robert Luis and Hint will be joined by Flevans, but overall this night is about the music and having a regular quality party in Brighton, so from 21st January onwards this it will be FREE. Upcoming DJ guests include Quantic, Zed Bias, Nostalgia 77 and TM Juke.

Cost:Tickets available now for £11 exclusively at www.etchshop.co.uk or £15 on the night

Time: 10:00pm until 5:00am

Tickets: www.etchshop.co.uk

Venue: Jam

Featuring: Don’t stop Believing

Cost: £12 + Booking Fee

Sold As: We have brought together a line up of djs who are used to rockin’ parties around town into a collective playing a selection of their guiltiest pleasures for your NYE pleasure.

Venue: Concorde 2

Featuring: Supercharged: DJ Zinc + Loefah (DMZ) + DJ Nero + Brookes Brothers + The Qemists

Time: 9pm

Cost: £15.00 advance

Sold As: Supercharged presents a New Years Eve party like no other… the only place to see in 2010 @ Brightons legendary Concorde 2! With DJ Zinc, Loefah, Nero, Brookes Brothers, The Qemists, 2 Bit thugs and much more! Early bird tickets are only £15, on sale now!

Web: www.concorde2.co.uk

Web: www.againstthegrainrecords.com

Email: hello@concorde2.co.uk

Venue: The Old Market

Featuring: Holdup!

Sold As: Holdup! will be holding its 6th New years eve party in the sumptious surroundings of the Old Market Hove this year. (our regular venue Life will be holding a dance/house music new years eve party). The night will begin at 9pm and roll on through midnight and our usual wild indie celebrations all the way through to 3am . All our favourite indie tunes will be banged out by our resident djs and a top night is guaranteed! If you have never been to the old market before you are in for a treat as its a beautiful venue, we will of course add our own touches with a balloon net and the like. ace .

Time: 9pm

Cost: £12

Tickets: www.ticketweb.co.uk or next week at rounder or the old market itself, plus there is a 24 hour telephone booking line on 08444771000

Venue: Life

Featuring: Maxxi Soundsystem / Kliks / Schtumm / She Likes Parties - IDJUT BOYS, MAXXI SOUNDSYSTEM, JOHNNY ROCKS, ALI BROADCAST, SENOR MICK, AFFY, PAN/TONE Live (Sender/Cereal Killers), LEE SMITH, ANWAR, TOM RIDSDALE, Little Miss Bicks, Dr Dreidal (Popstarz / Shibby Shabblers)

Sold As: This is LIFE’s first NYE party and we have been working hard to make sure it will be the best way to seen in the next decade. In brief we will have 4 seperate areas incorporating 3 programmed events with their own artist line up and decor. Some of the event will be in spaces adjacent to the LIFE club itself but all our guests will be fully protected from the elements as the entire front of the venue will be covered in a huge heated marquee!

Time: 10pm – 6am

Cost: Early Bird Tickets £17.50

Tickets: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/64946

Photo by Marek Richter

Luckily for us, Brighton has enough clubs and bars to give yourself serious liver problems for life. Well, maybe not so lucky for the liver, but great for your social life. You’d think in a financial crisis our venues would be doing all they can in these digital days to get in new business. From what we have seen online, this really isn’t the case.

With the days of print publicity a thing of the past, promoters and clubs can focus their marketing attentions online, pumping the savings back into what’s important – offering a greater experience for the punters.

Running a profile on a social networking, be it Facebook, Bebo or Twitter, etc… is free, and these days is an invaluable marketing resource. The problem is if promoters and club owners leave these avenues to run stagnant they are in some way shooting themselves in the foot. It doesn’t exactly grab your attention. You would think during a time when money is tight, more work would be put in to getting these free systems up and working positively.

The problem even sometimes stretches to the venues’ own websites. The Ocean Rooms, for example, rarely updates its own website. This is a clear example of complete incompetence on a marketing level. You have a website, a direct representation of what you do – you should be showing off your events and reeling people in, not sitting back and waiting. Clubs need to fight for business and not take such a lackadaisical approach and expect people to stroll through the door.

The internet is full of event directories and none of these are kept current by the majority of Brighton clubs. Take Ents24 or electronic music magazine Resident Advisor, to name just a few. These are sites with masses of hits – if kept up to date they could make a real difference to a venue’s financial books

The Concorde is a great example of a venue which is proactively marketing itself. The website is always current and various profiles are up to date. Audio has a good presence on sites such as Facebook, yet has in the past struggled with updates on its own website. On the other hand it seems the Ocean Rooms is trying to not market itself as a main player at all. What is the thought process here? “If you book them, they will come” doesn’t cut it. 

Brighton’s inhabitants are picky, and the competition between venues is tight. If venues cannot be bothered to keep listing resources up to date, then they are casting aside a large amount of potential paying customers.

Venues! Use the internet for your own benefit; implement some Search Engine Optimization tactics, monitor and respond to the results. Of course, many other factors come in to play when running a club but to overlook things that are free can’t be wise. 

Remember, it’s not 1994 anymore! Keeping your online presence current is not hard to do: Google your club or events, this is exactly what potential new customers would do.

Photo by Eliot Gill

Starting off with Mary’s Birthday, having a night off taking pictures and hitting the wrong side of 25.

14/03/09 Digital for ‘Fake Blood’ on Saturday. Hope to see you there.
15/03/09 Audio for Sundae Sundae for some gay house tunes and an afternoon party for that spring feeling thats in the air.
20/03/09 Audio: Local boy Bonobo from Tru Thoughts is on the decks doing that jazzy thang
20/03/09 Dubpressure at the Volks, the usual random mash up featuring Elemental.
21/03/09 Friends of ours, nutters and local soul legends Brown Star strut their funky stuff at the Green House effect.
22/03/09 A new kind of Salt ‘n’ Pepper Yo! Majesty at Audio… They do a great take on the minimal M.A.N.D.Y and sounds super fun and on par with Spank Rock for the quirky, comedy value. Despite it being on a Sunday… this will be well worth the effort.
23/03/09 Goldie Lookin Chain, the forgotten boys from the valley are preaching their words of wisdom at the Concorde 2.

You knows it!

25/03/09 Music quiz worth going to – win tickets to Beachdown at The Florist, the new place to be, great wines and smooth deco.. I had the pleasure of an after work Friday session there recently and is now on the list as my new local…. the roast test is yet to come but have only heard good things
28/03/09 Burnt Toast at The Black Lion: Only the best hip hop, breaks, soul and sleaze from Blackbeltjonez of the radio show from Radio Reverb. Its gaining a dedicated fan club from around the world… see it translated to the decks. Strictly no 50 Cent played. Featuring the nimble-wristed bespectacled beat beast Russ Rockwell.
28/03/09 The Hanover parental massive can get their old whistles out and rave with their babies at Baby loves Disco at the Coalition. 2pm onwards for family fun.
28/03/09 Devotion, a club night still going strong at the Concorde 2. Grooverider, Brockie and a bunch of wide eyes youts give it a warp till the early hours.
28/03/09 Get your frilly knickers out… its infamous night Torture Garden at the Ocean rooms. Nuff said.

Now here’s something you don’t see everyday – 24 DJs all in one evening. That’s the concept of “Together”, a charity event taking place on the 7th of February 2009. They are hoping to raise at least £1000 for Cancer Research.

The organisers say it’s the format which makes it different:

24 DJs playing, all doing back to back sets of 30 minutes each, and all playing music you normally wouldn’t associate with their particular nights.

Any event raising cash for charity has to be worth a mention.

The line-up is:

Ben Prok b2b James Fitch (Floorplay)
DJ Drkhrse b2b Dave Richtor (Inside Out / Throw Some Shapes)
Salerno b2b DJ Drummer (Harder / Hard South)
Ali Back b2b Affy Wajid (Go Bang / Broadcast Loft Party)
Subtone b2b Arkadiusz Koper (Fat!Beaches!)
Vince Frimpong b2b Liam Miller (De Puta Madre)
Coxy b2b Frantik Dan (Breathless / Funkagenda)
NeilG b2b RyanJ (Loveplug / Lets Get Analogue)
Michael Denney b2b Sam Vining (New Hero / Somewhere in the Universe)
Jamie Bawn b2b Alex Dempster (Mud club / Ocean Rooms)
Miss DL b2b Danny Williams (Contraband / Gorgeous)
Steve ‘On Tour’ b2b DJ 75 (Peach / Harder)

7th February 2009, 8pm – 2am at Oxygen Red on Preston St, with every pair of DJs playing a 30 minute party set. Entrance is £5, and all donations are going to Cancer Research.

Stuck for something to do after NYE?

DJs
Dave Mothersole (MOS/Swag)
Lee Smith (Kliks)
Makai (Product/Stealth/Nottingham)
Paul Church (High Society)
Magnus Asberg (On The House/Positive)
Cedric Maison (Hyper Colour)
Dudley Strangeways (BTTF/Wobble/Stealth Nottingham)
Adam Ryan (Lovestick)
Aaron Snapes (Asuca/Rapture Loughborough)

The other floors will be hosted by Suicide Saloon and The Fiesta, featuring DJs;

Senior Mick (Sctumm)
Jilted Jonnie (Suicide)
James Moss (Somewhere In The Universe)
Geometri (One Two)
Unomass (The Fiesta)
Kowboy K (The Fiesta)
Sharpxtylus (The Fiesta)

Entry: £5

£1 shots all night!

Tickets:
The Ocean Rooms 01273 699069
Rounder Records
Resident Records
Dome Box Office 01273 709709
www.ticketweb.co.uk

@ The Ocean Rooms, Brighton
1st January 2009, 3am – 12am

If you are looking for New Years eve 2009 then click here:
http://www.brightonfusion.co.uk/live/2009/12/10/new-years-eve-2009-in-brighton/

It’s that time of year again, the dreaded most hyped up night of the year, it’s New Years Eve. At Fusion we have for a long time been fans of not taking this too seriously, and this year is no different. When your whole life seems like a party, missing one when everything is more expensive and packed won’t hurt. Buy still the crowds flock in their thousands looking for that elusive “amazing night”. So here we bring you a shortlist of what our clubs are offering. We’ve purposely left off the Honey Club, Koo club, Oceana etc… the real Brighton dives. It’s not like they are going to offer up anything worth considering.

Our money is between the Komedia, Audio and The Ocean Rooms! It may not be the best deal in town but it’s probably the place to go for the best night. On the other hand the Water Margin is offering free entry if you sign their Don’t Stay In Wall. But then again if you have a DSI account you probably will be off to the Honey Club dressed as an illuminated builder on crack.

Happy New Year

The choice’s for this year are…

Venue: Audio

Featuring: Justin Robertson, Guy Williams, Bones, JFB (BattleJam), James Kendall, Restlesslist, Whole Lotta Rosie

Time: 9PM-3.30AM

Cost: £18 before 20th December, £20 after

Sold As: Audio’s NYE parties have become the stuff of legend, and for this year’s bash we’re bring the greatest show on earth to town. We’ll be decking the venue out in full circus style, so roll up, roll up, and join us for another spectacular NYE blow out… In the club downstairs, we’re hugely excited to announce the return of the mighty Black Rabbit, who’ve been tearing up clubs and festivals throughout the land with their peerless blend of disco, electro, funk and beyond. Headed up by the legendary Justin Robertson, the Rabbits are guaranteed to see the New Year in with a bang. Meanwhile at Above Audio, we welcome local institution Source Magazine to present some of the finest music known to man, with master turntablist JFB (Battlejam) throwing down his jaw-dropping deck skills alongside consummate Source selectors James Kendall, Restlesslist, Sam Watts and WholeLottaRosie.

Web: www.audiobrighton.com
Email: info@audiobrighton.com

Venue: Ocean Rooms

Featuring: DJ Yoda

Time: Doors at 10 til 3.30, Afterparty doors 3.30 till 10 am

Cost: £15 Early Bird Tix, £20 General Admission

Sold As: Think hip-hop. Think The Muppets. Think scratching. Think 80s pop. You can only be thinking about DJ Yoda. DJ Yoda (Duncan Beiny) is from London, England, and is probably the only guy out there playing the theme tune to “Cheers” in hip-hop clubs. And you can find him in the club (like 50 Cent) most nights per week – Yoda has travelled as far as Japan, USA, Canada, Sweden, Ireland and Australia to DJ with the likes of De La Soul, Gang Starr, Goldie, Roni Size, Pete Tong and the Scratch Perverts.

The Party Of the Year Is Coming To The Ocean Rooms. Complimentary Bubbles and Shots Throughout The Night and Free Entrance To The Afterparty.

Web: www.oceanrooms.co.uk

Ticket Outlets / The Ocean Rooms – 01273 699069 / Rounder Records / Resident Records / Dome Box Office / WWW.TICKETWEB.CO.UK

Venue: Digital

Featuring: Groovecutter, Audio Pimps, Nippa, Alex Outram, The Electrotonic All-stars: Jon Woodhouse, Steven Hill, Dan Ovett. Afterparty with KISSY SELL OUT (DJ set) De Puta Madre & BlahBlahBlah DJs.

Sold As: Swooning groupies, autograph hunters and paparazzi on entry. Flaming Rock God Aerialist High Wire Show, Stilt walking hotel bell girls. Guitar Smashing Girl Group Show. Rock Guitarist. Pole Dancers. Champagne Bathing Burlesque Beauties. Iconic rock and pop star movie projections. Hall of Fame pop art. Midnight pyrotechnics and sparkling decor transformation. Groupies 4 poster bed. Personal Stylists to the Stars – Fantasy Make-Up Artist, Massage & Pamper Area. Odeon Cinemas Prizes for the best dressed.

Web: www.yourfutureisdigital.com

Tickets available from website.
24 hour phone orders: 08444 771 000
Local Outlets: Rounder – Resident – Dome Box Office.
Call Jan for information on 07803 905038

Venue: Komedia

Featuring: The Tru Thoughts Family

Sold As: We are celebrating the 10th year of Tru Thoughts in 2009, so to start the year of events we have decided to hand the decks to label boss Robert Luis for a special New Years party where he mans the decks for 6 hours to play tunes from the last ten years, the tracks of the year in 08 and the new music and future tunes of 2009.

Expect classics from the original Tru Thoughts club nights phonic:hoop, Vibez Express, Shake Yer Wig and plenty of upfront exclusives for a proper New Years Eve knees up. Followed by late night sessions from Hint with his blend of squelchy beats and dancefloor treats.

Venue: The Funky Buddha

Featuring: DJ’s Mike Panteli, MIckey Cee & Lil Kris

Cost: Early bird tickets £15, £20 after

Sold As: The Funky Buddha in Brighton is going to be sendin off 2008 in real style, with a Masquerade ball. Mask optional, but vital for a night to remember!! The Funky Buddha Lounge coordilly invites you to an evening of mysterious excitement of a New Year’s Eve Masquerade Ball. You are expected to arrive masked and ready for an evening of drama, delight and decadence. The venue will be transformed into a dramatic opera-style drapped lounge. With a free champagne reception on arrival.

Tickets available from
Dome box office: 01273 709709
Rounder Records: 01273 325440
Resident: 01273 606312
Rprezent: 01273 230792
Neil 07883036643
Kris 07706143139

Venue: Water Margin

Featuring: Scot Martin, Miss DL, Verity Mayes, Adam Butterworth, Mike Gorgeous, Casper

Time: 9pm till 3am

Cost: FREE if your names on the wall £6 on the door

Sold As: FILTHY gorgeous is widely thought of as one of the most respected underground party brands in Ibiza. Demand for their fun loving events and trademark ‘underground deep / tech house & techno’ has also taken them as far a field as Australia, Asia, UAE, Mexico, The Middle East, Europe and everywhere in between. But it’s really Ibiza they call ‘home’. Having hosted parties in various locations including Privilege, Space, Eden, ex-Strip Clubs, an Old Zoo, Private Villa’s and other unusual locations, this is where they have made their reputation as serious party people!! FILTHY gorgeous is promoted by resident DJ’s Scott Martin (also a ‘We Love..’ @ Space / ex Mambo Resident) & Jamie Gittins (also Disco bomb Promoter/Resident), who have both been making their own waves in the scene too…This summer in Ibiza alone, between them they’ve played for other major promotions including Cream, Manumission, Wonderland, Tiesto/The Electrik Playground and Carl Cox & Friends. The pair were also nominated as ‘Best Up Coming DJs’ at the M8 Ibiza Dance awards in September 2006.

Web: www.iamfilthy.com
Web: www.gorgeous-events.com
Email: info@gorgeous-events.com

Venue: Concorde 2

Featuring: Ez Rollers + Ragga Twins + Chris Natural + Special Guest DJ + DJ Storm + Ellis Dee + Carbon DJs + Youngsta + Stimpy + Cut Loose DJs + Loop De Ville + Unity HiFi + DJ Redford + Riskotheque + James D’ley + Voytek

Time: 9pm till 9am

Cost: £15.00 advance

Sold As: This New Years Eve take a trip BACK TO THE FUTURE at Concorde 2. Three of Brighton’s biggest party crews : Lunarcy, Zapback and Kings of the Jungle see out 2008 and bring in 2009 in fine style with a 12 hour, 3 room bassline extravaganza. Featuring ‘all kindsa flavours for all kindsa ravers’, with the legendary Chris Natural and over 20 of Brightons best party players dropping the finest Drum and Bass, Jungle, Old Skool, Breaks, Dubstep, Reggae and all points in between.

Web: www.concorde2.co.uk/
Web: www.myspace.com/ezrollers
Email: hello@concorde2.co.uk

I left the country to see Jeff Mills once; he never turned up, now finally I got my chance.

“a complete mistake…like George Clinton and Kraftwerk caught in an elevator, with only a sequencer to keep them company.” Is how Derrick May once described Detroit techno. The fusion of genres, technology and experimentation gave birth to a genre that seems to never date. Tonight Brighton had a glimpse into the future.

Being partly responsible for the foundations of techno, Jeff demonstrates his talent not only as a DJ but as a producer, not many can use a TR-909 and seamlessly integrate with vinyl and CD. Of course many DJs combine technology such as midi keyboards, midi controls, samplers, effect units and the like, but throwing in a 909 with such finesse speaks for itself. The sounds of the 909 sound as fresh as they did 20 years ago, the crisp synthetic drum patterns even now make you feel like you are engulfed in a distant futuristic dimension. His set perfectly blended atmospheric ambient tones with his unmistakable pulsating drum patterns, everything flowing together with such ease. Sure some mixes fluffed, but this is Jeff Mills, anyone who is said to go through 70 records an hour is bound to slip up. In some way you expect it, and with Jeff it doesn’t detract from the quality.

Techno has always been about rebellion and looking forwards. Back in the 80’s while Public Enemy ran around turning Hip Hop on its head, Jeff and Underground Resistance did the same with techno. You can still feel the militantesque power of the music and the anti-establishment message still prevails today.

The guy is an originator for a reason; unlike your modern producer/DJ he learnt the skills of the trade using the hardware. He didn’t download software, fuck the software didn’t exist. Anyone can pick up a cracked copy of logic, reason or Ableton, download some samples and be a “producer” but that’s a completely different game. This is why you should go see Jeff play! The man is a real connoisseur of all things techno, miles apart from your modern “artists”. This leads me on to another sell out event which was on tonight, Deadmau5.

Deadmau5 is the pseudonym of Canadian born Joel Zimmerman. From the hype, I think it’s safe to assume he is probably 1 of the top 10 most influential Canadians, slotted in somewhere after Brian Adams, Celine Dion, oh and probably Hawtin. Tonight Brighton’s Digital was set to see Deadmau5 take to the decks. The guy got his name when a mouse died in his computer, we can only assume the “5” was added to add some coolness factor – those crazy Canadians. Nothing wrong with assumptions in journalism yeah?

The first paragraph of his MySpace reads: “In this world of ever evolving genres, sounds and trends, the word phenomenon is rarely if ever used, unless of course you are the hottest talent in the world of electronic music and your name is deadmau5.“ It’s not unusual for DJs to big themselves up, but that line is reminiscent of a small penised business man driving a Ferrari. It’s a Thursday, you’re in Brighton, you want to go out – Jeff Mills or Deadmau5, oh fuck that’s a hard one (does sarcasm convey well in writing?). Deadmau5 has been the most downloaded artist on Beatport this year, and they even went as far as to name him the “Most influential, forward-thinking and relevant person” of the year. Now let’s make another assumption, from Beatport’s “current top downloads”, I think it’s safe to say the majority of users once in their life purchased “Fragma – Toca’s miracle”. As I said it’s just an assumption.

I had a free ticket for Deadmau5, it didn’t get used. I am yet to feel the force of this mou5, fuck sake I can’t do it anymore, it’s spelt MOUSE! Then again what do I know, the place was supposedly packed, it’s good for Brighton to attract the “hottest talent in the world of electronic music”

As of recently Fusion favourite Audio has not been delivering in terms of quality. Maybe the Ocean Rooms could push forward and lead the pack? If that’s the way forward then I think I need to buy a new wardrobe, the sweat patches won’t get me far.

12►

In direct competition with long running Audio based breaks night Supercharged, the Ocean Rooms offers up the Plump DJs. It’s gonna be a tough one tonight for all the breaks fans out there. Devotion to Supercharged or bass heavy craziness with the Plumps?

Tut Tut Tut… Naughty Ocean Rooms. Should make tonight rather interesting.

It’s back after a successful kick off last year! The Brighton City Festival is a creation of Ocean Room’s head man Ben Gill, boasting three days of events across various Brighton venues.

It’s a varied event with international artists, not so much promoting Brighton talent, but showing off the pull of the town itself.

Featured artists: Underworld, Jeff Mills, James Murphy, Brand New Heavies, Kissy Sell Out, Nightmares on Wax, DJ Krush, Brodinski, Duke Dumont, Plump DJs, FutureHeads, The Count and Sinden, Phil Hartnoll, Jim Masters, A Skillz, Goloka, Photonz, Ben Phonica, Ingo Boss, Cocoon, Bloggers Delight, Randal & Eksman, MC Dynamite, Cyantific, MC Fearless, Billy Nasty!

Get your tickets now.

http://www.brightoncityfestival.com/tickets/index.php