clubmaster

Nightmares on Wax is an institution, albeit a delightfully different one. The man behind the moniker, George Evelyn, just keeps reinventing, not in a wilful Bowie way, but flowing along, going at whatever speed he fancies to wherever his ideas carry him. For the last seven years he’s lived in an Ibizan farmhouse and, while he’s Warp Records’ longest serving artist – “the granddaddy,†as he puts it – he overwhelmingly focuses on his current projects, letting them revitalize his music. Perhaps best known in Europe for his ground-breaking ‘90s albums ‘Smokers Delight’ and ‘Carboot Soul’ – although in America the cinematic lo-funk of 2006’s ‘In A Space Outta Sound’ is better known – Evelyn’s pride and joy these days is his four year old underground party on the white island. Wax Da Jam at Las Dalias, Ibiza’s oldest nightclub, 50 this summer, has become a go-to haunt for locals, for promoters and insiders, the place where George explains, “Everyone turns up as individuals but everybody leaves as one.†Here he soundtracks a night of groove, experimentation, percussion and improvisation, alongside guests such as DJ Shadow and Roots Manuva. It’s all fun, though, all for kicks. It’s all about ‘Feelin’ Good’, hence the name of his new album.

Cazzette is an Swedish DJ duo consisting of Sebastian Furrer & Alexander Björklund. The duo represent the second baby of Ash Pournouri from At Night Management (same manager behind the meteoric rise of Avicii) with the name launched from nothing on June 9, 2011.Within days, Cazzette released their first release, a remix for Avicii entitled Sweet Dreams (Cazzette meet At Night Mix) on Joia Records and it's been charting at the Top20 on Beatport Top100 General Charts for 6 weeks straight.Their bootleg of Swedish House Mafia's Save the World was accepted as an official remix by the boys and their highly appreciated bootleg of Adele's Set Fire to the Rain went straight to the number one spot on Hype Machine most popular after being uploaded on their Soundcloud page.Already supported by David Guetta, Tiësto, Swedish House Mafia, Avicii and Martin Solveig to name a few, these young Swedes are about to take over the world with their infectious take on electronic music - simply coined Dub House. With the first single due end of summer, they have already secured a 17-gig September tour in the Us as well as selected fashion event parties around Europe.

with: K.Flay, Sirah Doors 7:00pm Aino Jawo and Caroline Hjelt met on a Saturday night in February 2009. It was, Aino says quite reasonably, “the best thing that ever happened.â€So the day after the best thing that ever happened happened, these two girls from the Stockholm suburbs formed a electronic pop duo band, and on the Monday – when the hangovers had cleared and it still all seemed like the best thing that had ever happened – they booked their first gig – Icona Pop was born. This felt all very well, but then they realised they had four weeks until their gig, but no songs.Autumn of 2011, Icona Pop moved from Stockholm to London, and with an album ready to go the tunes are in no short supply. Icona Pop says: “We like galloping drums, and synthesisers, but we still like the classical pop melodies. And that’s ‘what we are’. We don’t have to decide, because there’s no decision to be made. We just have to do exactly what we want.â€In the intervening years they’ve working with The Knocks (voted one of NME’s hottest production outfits of the hour), Patrik Berger (Robyn), Elof Loelv (Niki & The Dove), Fredrik Berger (The Good Natured) and Style of Eye, as well as sessions with UK producers like Starsmith (Kylie, Ellie Goulding) and Burns. Their Neon Gold-released double a-side single ‘Manners’ / ‘Top Rated’ prompted journals like NME and The Guardian say things along the lines of “effortlessly cool†and “all the makings of a 24-carat pop hit,†and the duo have perfected their live show, too – that first performance back in 2009 went rather well, all things considered, while their first London gig was impressive enough to bag them a management deal with Artist Company TEN, the team behind Niki & The Dove and Erik Hassle.There’s plenty more of this evocative stuff right across Icona Pop’s as-yet-untitled debut album, due out in 2012. Effervescently romantic number ‘Sun Goes Down’ is a Knocks collaboration written on a trip to New York. “We both had a crush at home,†Caroline recalls, “and we were thinking about our lovely men on the other side of the ocean, singing, ‘I will be waiting for you until the sun goes down’.†The sound of it all is hard to pinpoint, but there are some unmistakeable Madonnaisms on spirited anthem ‘Beat The L.’So that original plan for Caroline to give Aino her best night ever? Well, that night they met in 2009 has since been immortalised in song, on the vivid and joyous ‘Nights Like This’ Caroline explains, “everything that night was like magic, and the lyric ‘nights like this, you will never be alone’, is what Icona Pop is all about. It’s about being together and having fun, and inviting as many people as possible because the best nights out are the ones you want to share with everyone.â€As nights out go, Icona Pop’s first must of one of pop’s most vital, and it’s still in full effect three years later. In fact, it feels like it’s just getting going. “We’re having so much fun all the time,†Aino smiles. “It’s kind of scary.â€

Over $20,000 In Props And DecorExperience five nights of amazing Halloween events as Ruby Skye is transformed into the naughty. Mysterious world of Freak Circus!PendulumDJ Setpendulum.comfacebook.com/pendulumWithWhiiteTORQ Residents18 And OverSponsored By:TORQVIP booth and bottle service available

React and Live Nation present... :: Eric Prydz presents EPIC 2.0 :: [ www.ericprydz.com ] Buy Ticket>>>>>http://bit.ly/1fOnthZ 17+ w/ valid ID VIP experience includes: one ticket, separate VIP entrance, elevated balcony for optimal viewing, special drink servers. Connect with us online :: www.reactpresents.com www.facebook.com/reactpresents www.twitter.com/reactpresents www.youtube.com/reactpresents www.instagram.com/reactpresents Text "REACT" to 46786 to place yourself on our text list

Over $20,000 In Props And DecorExperience five nights of amazing Halloween events as Ruby Skye is transformed into the naughty. Mysterious world of Freak Circus!Trance Mission USA3x Grammy Nominated & Former DJ Mag #1Paul Oakenfoldpauloakenfold.comfacebook.com/oakenfoldwithKissySellOutSponsored By:Mixed ElementsDolce & AymanVIP booth and bottle service available

Bamboora is one of Boston's fastest rising stars. He's spent the last few years developing his sound and fanbase here in Boston, primarily through his residency at Ocean Club. He's performed opening duties for monsters like Steve Aoki, Calvin Harris, Dirty South, Hardwell, and many more. He is also a Mass EDMC resident DJ, and now regularly finds himself playing up and down the East Coast. He's earned his stripes and he knows how to lay it down right.

Dubstep and electro DJ/producer Bassnectar teams up with electronic/funk/jazz/hip-hop artist Pretty Lights for two nights of bass-heavy sonic bliss.

Friday, November 22nd 2013 React and the Mid present.... Mayhem at The Mid : NERVO :: [ www.nervomusic.com ] : ZEBO :: [ www.djzebo.com ]

THURSDAY | OCTOBER 31st 2013 | 10 PM | 18+ Red Rabbit + Grand Central present BOYS NOIZE http://facebook.com/boysnoize Alex Ridha (aka Boys Noize) was first known for his influential work as a producer and remixer for Daft Punk, Depeche Mode, Santigold, Scissor Sisters and Feist. Voted by Rolling Stone as one of the top 10 "DJs Who Rule The Earth," in 2012, Boys Noize has since toured the world and released three full-length albums.

Doors open at 9:00 PM, show begins at 10:30 PM.

The New England chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists presents their 10th annual Bloodfeast Halloween Party featuring DJs, live art, costume contest with prizes, plus goodies from Lemon Magazine, Karmaloop, Unreal Candy, Narragansett Beer, Hint Water, Polar Beverages, and Deep Eddy Vodka. Best Halloween costume wins $1,000 cash.

Friday October 18th, 9pm - Mighty is proud to present an intimate DJ set with Boy George and Marc Vedo. Opening set by San Francisco's, Nikita. Boy George is universally recognised as one of the music industry’s most iconic artists and for the past 30 years has maintained a strong position at the forefront of this ever-changing, multi- faceted industry, and one of the top100 DJ's in the world for nearly 25 years. Working alongside Boy George is Marc Vedo, his touring partner and highly acclaimed producer, with a head spinning number of air miles during his 15 years in the music industry. From DJ sets at underground clubs in countries such as Russia, Portugal, Germany, Italy and France to performing at illustrious festivals and venues that include Ultra Music Festival South Korea, MAD Club, Ministry of Sound and Zouk, Boy George and Marc Vedo have generated a hyper-buzz with their DJ sets everywhere from arena stacking stages to cool shows. Their scorching new collaboration ‘These Gods Will Fall’ with Federico Scavo is now out on Italian imprint Hotfingers recordings. Individually George and Marc music have been working on a slew of new and exciting releases that include George’s studio sessions with Hot Since 82 and Marc’s current release on Roger Sanchez’s iconic Stealth Records. With busy tour schedules throughout the summer and their studio commitments looking stronger than ever we are very proud to welcome Boy George and Marc Vedo as our guest DJs for a night of cool, underground house music.

Eye Heart HALLOWEEN with Tommie SUNSHINE Friday October 25th at The Factory SF Official Video Trailer: Featuring Capital Cities - "Safe & Sound" Remix by Tommie Sunshine & Live City *ABOUT The Venue: The Factory is one of San Francisco’s largest special events venues. Conveniently located on top of Rincon Hill in San Francisco’s Soma district. • 25,000 square feet • multiple rooms • three dance floors • four bars • state-of-the-art sound & lighting • VIP mezzanine overlooking both rooms • venues stays open until 4am Music by: Tommie Sunshine FULL DJ Lineup (2 Rooms of Music) TOMMIE Sunshine Tasty Treat Traviswild The Schmidt DJ Zaq El Cool J Jay Ev Justin MILLA TRUTHLIVE For Table Inquiries email: info@eyeheartsf.com See Video from Eye Heart Halloween See Photos from Eye Heart Halloween Eye Heart SF Twitter Eye Heart SF Facebook NEXT Eye Heart SF Events: 10/4 - Future Fridays at Mezzanine with Fehrplay, Jermey Olander, Traviswild, Kid Alien : Rufuture.com 12/31 - Streets Of SF Nye with Moby [DJ Set] : StreetsOfSFNYE.com

The members of Adelaide, Australia’s Atlas Genius do things a little differently….They set about building a studio where they could write and record music for their newly formed band 3 years before they even played their first live show as Atlas Genius. For two years, they devoted their days to constructing their dream studio and spent their nights performing songs by The Police, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones at local pubs to pay the bills. “We really got down and dirty with dry walling and literally laying the floorboards, and at the same time we were taking a couple of days a week to focus on writing songs,†recalls Keith Jeffery, Atlas Genius’s vocalist/guitarist. “We had a lot of song ideas and it was important to us to have our own studio where we could experiment and hone in on our sound,†adds brother and drummer, Michael Jeffery. The studio was designed and outfitted by the brothers with the help of their father (who comes from a music and engineering background). Once the studio was complete, the first song that Atlas Genius finished was a song called “Trojans,†which they wrote, recorded and produced in collaboration with their friend, keyboardist Darren Sell. After many weeks tweaking the song, Michael insisted that the song was ready to be heard outside of the studio walls. Within an hour, “Trojans†was on the Triple J Unearthed Website, SoundCloud, and for sale via TuneCore on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify worldwide.

Coming out of Glasgow’s experimental party scene where wonky acid hip-hop and slaughtered rap edits are regular cellar rave fodder, Rustie (a.k.a. Russell Whyte) has shattered his sound above labels such as Hyperdub, Stuff Records, and Wireblock and is resolutely driving the tumultuous storm that’s shaking up electronic music on both sides of the Atlantic. Born Russell Whyte, he initially garnered acclaim in 2007 with Jagz the Smack, a limited-edition five-track EP on Stuff Records. Cafe de Phresh (2008), a follow-up EP on Stuff Records, was similarly well regarded. Rustie subsequently collaborated withJoker on Play Doe (2008), an EP on the Kapsize label, and released a couple EPs on Wireblock Records, Zig-Zag (2008) and Bad Science (2009). Meanwhile, he did high-profile remix work for the labels BPitch Control (Modeselektor's "Happy Birthday!"), Warp Records (Pivot's "In the Blood"), and Hyperdub (Zomby's "Spliff Dub"), and he also made a name for himself as a DJ. In late 2009 he was featured on the Warp Records various-artists compilation 2010, a showcase for the label's latest signees. October 2010's Sunburst EP led to October 2011's Glass Swords, the producer's first album. with - UPSTAIRS - BODY HIGH FALL TOUR 2013 SHAKE SHAKIR SAMO SOUND BOY JEROME LOL MATRIXXMAN support from NIGHTWAVE BLEEP BLOOP FRIENDZONE MOTION POTION DJ DIALS

Steve Porter has accomplished quite a bit in his day. The Western Mass-born DJ/producer first made a name for himself during progressive house's hay-day, producing some of the biggest tracks canned by the likes of John Digweed, Nick Warren, Dave Seaman, and practically every other notable name. Then came Slap Chop, the video-remix spoof Steve made that went viral on YouTube (currently over 14 million views), introducing a revolutionary approach to marketing & branding all his own.

Quality music is born from the soul but gifted life through the gathering of like-minded people on the dance floor, giving wings to friendship and feelings to thought. Every Saturday*at Exchange LA, good music and good memories bloom. This is the Inception of something beautiful. Saturday, October 12th, 2013, Inception presents Victor Calderone with special guest, QUIVVER.* For bottle service information, birthday specials and more, please call*(213) 444-3388*or email*vip@exchangela.com

“What does it sound like? What does it smell like? What does it look like? How does it feel? I always ask myself these questions when I’m writing,†says singer and producer Nanna Øland Fabricius. “I think that Oh Land has a unique landscape all on its own. I strive to make the possibilities endless and to have all the senses collide in to a language on their own.†Her multi-sensory approach to songwriting has been present from the beginning. Before Oh Land had a name, or even songs, she was a restless child on the outskirts of Copenhagen, where she wove together imaginary languages, characters, and magazines. Though she didn’t know it then, this sense of play would develop naturally into the skewed and rich aesthetic of Oh Land’s music and performance style. She is the product of extremes. A disciplined ballet dancer who was educated with the Royal Danish and Royal Swedish Ballet schools coupled with a “circus-like†upbringing courtesy of a family of creative souls. Their unique and individual talents have left deep imprints on how Oh Land experiences and interprets the world around her. Performance has always been a part of her personal expression as nurtured by the performances of those closest to her. Whether she was learning to see from a sister who designs clothing, to hear from her opera singer mother, or to touch from her church organist father; the mixture of this unique upbringing has contributed to the multi-faceted layers of an ever evolving Oh Land. Oh Land’s music bears the fruit of this incredibly stimulating childhood. She has created a soundscape that dreams as hard as it dances. Her performance style confronts the audience with elements as sonically and visually diverse as drum pads, an omnichord, and a front projector system that broadcasts homemade visuals across balloons. “I want my music to feel like 2050 meets something really classic, like meeting a stranger that feels as familiar as an old friend.†says Oh Land.

with Robert DeLong The duo that is twenty one pilots - Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun - has earned widespread applause for their energetic live sets and distinctive fusion of piano-driven schizoid pop and lyrical uplift. No strangers to the road, Twenty One Pilots has built a fervent national following via their electrifying live performances at innumerable headline shows and tours. The band made its Fueled By Ramen debut with a new EP titled Three Songs released Summer 2012 and was followed by a full-length album titled Vessel available now.

Big Gigantic is the brainchild of Boulder, Colorado’s saxophonist/producer Dominic Lalli, and drummer Jeremy Salken. Conceived in 2008 the two-man sound machine found their niche in the electronic music scene by combining vibrant jazz melodies over pulsating dance beats. As a testament to their timeliness and unique sound, Big Gigantic has made a profound impact on the jamtronica landscape.

AEPi's Splash Bash is* Echostage's first paint party and one of BroBible's top 20 college parties in the country. Headlined by George Acosta, supported by DJ Enferno it is sure to be one of the craziest nights of the year!

with Robert DeLong The duo that is twenty one pilots - Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun - has earned widespread applause for their energetic live sets and distinctive fusion of piano-driven schizoid pop and lyrical uplift. No strangers to the road, Twenty One Pilots has built a fervent national following via their electrifying live performances at innumerable headline shows and tours. The band made its Fueled By Ramen debut with a new EP titled Three Songs released Summer 2012 and was followed by a full-length album titled Vessel available now.

Thomas Dolby was an indelible part of the electronic music landscape on both sides of the Atlantic in the '80s. The Zelig of synthpop, he was seemingly there or thereabouts at all points of that crucial decade. He enjoyed huge solo success with the singles "She Blinded Me With Science" and "Hyperactive!", composed and performed on hits for everyone from AOR giants Foreigner to none-more-quirky new wave girl Lene Lovich, produced three superlative albums for Prefab Sprout, and even co-wrote the much-sampled early rap classic "Magic's Wand" by Whodini. With his "mad professor" image of specs and lab-coat, the Oxford-educated boy (he went to Abingdon, the school later attended by Radiohead) was a sort of Brit version of Kraftwerk's men-machines, a techno wiz whose music and productions proved influential on the development of homegrown electro-pop. And, like so many of the Class of '81-2, he was encouraged to make his mark by punk, although in truth he was less moved by the three-chord garage-band thrash of the Clash et al. than he was by the DIY proto-electronica of the Normal, David Bowie and Brian Eno's collaborations in Berlin, and the experiments of certain Germans. "Punk hit big in '77-8, but there was also a counter-culture of krautrock, Kraftwerk and Bowie-Eno's albums (Low and Heroes(," he recalls. "That had a big effect on me." Seeing Gary Numan perform "Are 'Friends' Electric?" on Top of the Pops in 1979 was empowering to say the least.* "There was the sense that anyone could do it," he says. "That with a few synths and a drum machine you could make a record on your own in your back room. I was one of those people." In 1981, Thomas was a songwriter-for-hire and session keyboard player - notably, adding those famous synth textures to Foreigner's "Waiting For a Girl Like You" - when he realized he could apply all of his new skills to create his own music. "It became apparent that you could do complete records at home," he says. "It was very exciting." It also dawned that, without a band to fund, it was more economically viable to operate as a one-man unit. "You could sell a few thousand records and make a bit of a profit without racking up huge debts to a record company." The Abingdon boy then impacted on the Brooklyn hip-hop scene when he co-wrote Magic's Wand for pioneering hip-hop trio Whodini; it became the first platinum-selling rap 12-inch. "It was like a game of Monopoly," he says of this period, when he was seizing every opportunity he could. "Every square you landed on, you bought into. It was exciting to be put into all these different situations." Perhaps most exciting of all was to find himself at No. 5 in the States in 1982 with "She Blinded Me With Science," which, with its video featuring celebrity zany scientist Dr. Magnus Pike, propelled Thomas to international stardom and fixed him in the public imagination as an exponent of eccentric electro-pop. "I'm naturally a fairly introverted person with a thin but virulent exhibitionist streak that comes out every so often," he laughs. "Actually, in that video (for "Science"( I assumed the persona of the underdog because I was a big fan of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. I wasn't a pin-up like Sting, Adam Ant or Simon Le Bon, I couldn't compete on that level. So I created this contrarian image and it caught on in a big way. I headed to the States and made hay while the sun shone." By the time of the elastic electro-funk of 1984's "Hyperactive!," Thomas was mixing in pretty stellar circles: that single was originally intended for Michael Jackson. In fact, he had some memorable encounters with the late King of Pop. "He was making the video for Billie Jean next door to me when I was editing "She Blinded Me With Science" and we became quite good friends for a while," he explains. "I spent one particularly extraordinary evening at his mansion in Encino surrounded by 12 small boys in pajamas peering through the banisters at me as Michael blasted out "She Blinded Me With Science" at 120 decibels! Meanwhile, he was sat on a medieval throne, perched up high as he directed the children with their Tonka toys like some king of the castle. It was all very innocent, I might add." "Anyway, Michael asked me to write some stuff for what would become the Jacksons' Victory album (1984), so I sent him some demos, including the one for "Hyperactive!" I asked if he liked the song, and he paused and said, 'I like the drums.' Then he asked if I could get him some ragwort from the mountains of Snowdonia in Wales for his llamas." In the '80s, Thomas released three solo albums - The Golden Age of Wireless (1982), The Flat Earth (1984) and Aliens Ate My Buick (1988) - and throughout he dodged attempts to pigeonhole him by record companies and public alike. "I was resistant to categorization because there was more to me than '...Science' and 'Hyperactive!'" he contends, perhaps thinking of tracks as varied as the jazzy "I Scare Myself" and ambient/reggae hybrid "My Brain Is Like a Sieve." "There was far more intimate and atmospheric stuff on my albums, and I didn't want to fall into a rut. So I tried to parlay my success into an acceptance of the quieter and more personal side of my music." His involvement in Live Aid - as a member of David Bowie's band - and in Roger Waters' performance of Pink Floyd's The Wall in Berlin in 1990 were, respectively, "a dream come true" and "an astonishing event to be involved in." And then, following the Astronauts & Heretics album, a U.S. Top 40 entry in 1992, Thomas made a 180-degree turn, career-wise, as he headed off to Silicon Valley. There, the technology ace pursued a separate career as a consultant with one foot in the music industry and the other in software development. Eventually, he formed his own company, Beatnik, which didn't just ride the dotcom boom, it flourished, coming up with the polyphonic ringtone synthesizer for the world's biggest mobile phone manufacturer, Nokia. "Two-thirds of the world's phones have Beatnik software embedded in them," he says, justly proud. He is also proud of A Map of the Floating City, his first solo album in almost two decades. A "travelog across three imaginary continents", A Map ...comprises Amerikana, Oceanea and Urbanoia, available as three separate EPs as well as an album consisting of those same constituent parts. Designed to express Thomas' physical journey these past 30 years from England to America and finally back to his childhood home of East Anglia, he says of the tripartite album: "In Amerikana I'm reflecting with affection on the years I spent living in the USA, and my fascination with its roots music. Urbanoia is a dark place, a little unsettling ...I'm not a city person. And in Oceanea I return to my natural home on the windswept coastline." The album includes contributions from Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, Regina Spektor, Eddi Reader and Imogen Heap and reflects Thomas' eclectic approach to music-making. "The songs really matter to me," he admits. "I've written the lyrics from a first-person perspective. And I hope I've used my breadth of musical and production experience as a way of expressing those things. It's a varied album, and atmospherically each of the three sections has its own distinct flavor." The album opens with the acerbic tunefulness of "Nothing New Under the Sun," about writers' block, followed by the world music funk of "Spice Train," originally mooted as a team-up with Talking Heads' David Byrne. "Evil Twin Brother" concerns Michael Jackson and features a Jacko impersonator on vocals who Thomas found online. "Jealous Thing Called Love" is a bittersweet love song with a '60s Swinging London feel, the sort "that Mark Ronson does so well." "Road to Reno" is a cinematic adventure that follows two star-crossed lovers across America. "Toadlickers" is bluegrass meets techno while "17 Hills" is a "quintessential American story" of a good boy turned bad. "Love Is a Loaded Pistol" came to Thomas in a dream in which he was visited by the ghost of Billie Holiday, hence the allusions to the late, legendary diva's song titles in the lyric. "Oceanea" is a gorgeous Prefab Sprout-ish spectral ballad that he describes as "a homecoming anthem." Like "Screen Kiss" and "I Love You Goodbye," it is, he says, one of his songs that has "struck the most powerful chord" with his fans. It addresses his return to Britain and his mother's birthplace, only it's tinged with sadness since the area, though beautiful, is, ecologically speaking, doomed. * "I left San Francisco with my family and moved to a village in East Anglia where the sea levels are rising and it's only a matter of time," he explains. "We live very close to the water, and I have a lifeboat in the garden so hopefully when the floods come I'll rise up like Noah and sail off into the sunset!" The album closes with a pair of powerful songs. "Simone" is about a character "who used to be Simon."* It is, explains Thomas, inspired by "my 20-year-old son Harper, a biological female who, following surgery and hormone treatment, changed genders last year and now lives full-time as a male." "We have," he adds, aware of the sensitivity of the subject, "no social stigma attached to this, and in fact we would like to help other families or individuals in the same situation." Finally, there is "To the Lifeboats," an acoustic ballad with a "raging punk-grunge" middle-eight that expresses some of Thomas' frustration and fury at the inevitable ecological apocalypse that awaits. "There's some anger in it," he says of the album as a whole, "but really, I'm just delighted to be back making music. I was interested to see if I could get my chops, and my desire, back, and I have. I could have gone on the '80s comeback trail and done one of those Rewind package tours that I've tended to avoid like the plague, because more than anything I'd like to be one of those hard-to-pigeonhole songwriters that I grew up adoring - the likes of Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell and Tom Waits, who make record company marketing men tear their heart out because they won't conform to any known genre. If you'd asked me at 15, would I rather be like one of those guys selling just a few thousand albums each time, or an international pop star, then I'd choose the former any day." Luckily, Thomas Dolby has been both - pop star and now esoteric and experimental but highly accessible albums artist. "I'm happy," he says, "to settle into Chapter 2 of my career and make a bunch of albums that are challenging, adventurous and eye-opening." As maps go, this one's fairly easy to read. ~AXS

The first sound on Immunity is that of a key turning, unlocking the door into Jon Hopkins’ East London studio. It’s followed by the noise of the door slamming, then footsteps, and then finally the crisp, clipping rhythms and pulsating bass of ‘We Disappear’ emerge, signposting the most club-friendly music Hopkins’ has made to date. So begins a confident, dramatic record defined by this acute sense of physicality and place; a bold statement after the quiet, intimate Diamond Mine, his Mercury-nominated 2011 collaboration with King Creosote. Until now, Jon Hopkins has been an elusive character, known to most as an expert producer, Ivor Novello-nominated composer of film scores, remixer and long term collaborator of Brian Eno and Coldplay. Yet as Hopkins freely admits, the fact that his solo albums to date (Opalescent, 2001; Contact Note, 2004; Insides, 2009) have been rather overshadowed by his work with others has meant that he’s been able to quietly develop his own identity, style and sound. Some of the ideas for Immunity have been in his mind for a long time, but there’s never been a rush to get them out there. It’s part of his mission to make music that feels as natural and unforced as possible. Yet from the moment you hear that key turn in the lock, Immunity announces itself as a powerful, multi-faceted beast, packed with the most aggressively dancefloor-focussed music Hopkins has ever made. Initial indications suggest his first foray into riffs and grooves is paying off. See first single from the album, ‘Open Eye Signal’, where a high pressure hiss gives way to burbling, insistent rhythm – a chrome express train accelerating through a sunlit landscape. The track got its first outing courtesy of Apparat at a DJ set in Japan on New Year’s Eve – an email from the German musician informing Hopkins that the room had erupted made for a great late Christmas present. Or ‘Breathe This Air’ with its graceful build and huge contrasts in mood via uppity rhythms, mournful piano notes, and stirring choral drones. And then there’s ‘Collider’, the album’s peak and the track that Hopkins says is the best he’s ever written. A ten minute techno monster, ‘Collider’ is underpinned by a constant, pounding bass pulse and a sinister texture that could be a harshly taken breath inside a gas mask. The towering central riff makes for a mournful, dystopian aesthetic, cinematic like black rain over neon. Yet the bleak euphoria that suggests a knees-up at the end of the world is only half the story – the compelling 4/4 rhythm and hint of a human vocal give this a massive twist halfway through. Hopkins deliberately structured Immunity with this colossal banger in the middle. The whole album, therefore, works as an idealised soundtrack to a massive night out, peaking with a huge, lost-in-the-moment climax that feels like more than mere hedonism, warm endorphins swilling around the mind. This desire to create dancefloor-focussed music that was a step up from the slower tempo ambience of his previous solo albums was largely inspired by months spent in clubs and at festivals touring Insides. This gradual absorption of anything from the futuristic oddness found at LA’s Low End Theory club night (at which he has made several live appearances) to sterner European techno seeped out in the studio, shaping his mission to find new melodic routes through what were for him uncharted rhythmic territories. What makes Immunity so intriguing, however, is the methods Hopkins used to do this. A curse of contemporary clubbing is the audible strain of laptop-DJd and computer-made MP3s through powerful PA systems. Hopkins, on the other hand, went out of his way to make music that sounded like physically built things with layer upon layer of depth, a long way from the cold CGI artifice of much entirely computer-derived electronica. This desire to use physical, real-world sounds (anything from tapping a piano and drumming on the desk to a two quid tambourine and salt and pepper shakers) as the basis for many of Immunity’s rhythms also comes from Hopkins’ frustration with the ubiquity of certain synthetic drum machine samples in much contemporary dance music. In the corner of his studio sits the piano that he has had since he was eight-years-old, and the instrument features throughout the more nostalgic second half of Immunity… but not always as you’d expect – Hopkins also uses it to explore new methods of sound generation. On ‘Form By Firelight’, for example, the pedals provide the beat, and the strings are struck for chiming tones. Hopkins’ intent throughout was to be open to the world around him finding its way into the music, wherever he was. These happy moments of unintended creation included the reverse alarm of a lorry outside his Bow studio hitting a certain note during a recording session, serendipitously leading the chord sequence down a different path. The whistle and pop of fireworks emanating from the nearby Olympic Stadium were captured and slowed down, to sound like the echoes of a distant battle. Life and grit came from actively boosting things that aren’t supposed to be there, such as the rattle of window frame at every kick drum hit. This method of looking inside the music for interesting details to pull out and tricking the brain with technically incorrect recording methods might have most studio engineers tutting, but here helped to create a mangled reality. In Hopkins’ studio everything can be melodic, and nothing is wasted. With this sense of place, Immunity is also a sketch of real experiences and memories absorbed by Hopkins over his thirty-three years. These he now tries to reflect and respond to in his music. This might be the quest to recapture the sound of a perfect chord made by water running through pipes in a New York hotel room, or the light reflecting off the surface of the Thames at certain times of the year, the random patterns of nature. This not only makes the album deeply personal to Hopkins, but is key to one of his main inspirations in recording it – the desire to slow down or alter the brainwaves to help us reach different states of mind, whether via hypnosis, music, or drugs. Self-hypnosis is a longstanding personal fascination that Hopkins wanted to bring into his music, yet it was only on Immunity that he felt he had the technical ability to actually try and make it happen. The quality control that decided whether or not tracks were finished was to come into the studio in the morning, and if the track started sending him off into another world, it was done. Similarly, when it seemed that Immunity might be ready for mastering, Hopkins tested it by lying on the studio floor, hitting play, and seeing where his mind ended up. With a stated aim to see if this music might have a similar effect on those who encounter it, Immunity feels like the accompaniment to a journey of creativity, a trip inside Hopkins’ mind. That keys-in-the-lock recording that begins the album might usher the listener into the studio to be present at the moment of the music’s creation, but it has a counterpoint in the thrilling album closer, and the song that gives the album its name. ‘Immunity’ is built around rhythms that creak and mutter like the workings of an old watermill joined by a simple, elegiac piano part and indecipherable vocals by King Creosote, as if to paint an inverse to the techno tumult that dominates the album’s first half. The very natural-sounding rattle and dying piano notes at the record’s end show just how far we and Hopkins have come on one of the most human electronic albums you’ll hear this year.