XOYO marks the spot - Aug 2011

On a fleeting return visit to London last week I managed to squeeze in a trip to XOYO, the 800-capacity club tucked into an alley behind Old Street station.

When nearby Herbal club closed in 2009 I was bereft, but this venue has filled that hole well. With a team including my ex Mixmag colleague and Bugged Out! founder John Burgess at the helm, you'd expect them to spot a good lineup from ten paces. Which they can.

Toddla T was playing - regular readers will know I'd never slate him. But the other DJs did a wicked job too, mixing up dubstep, garage, funky, jungle, and all other urban loveliness, into a bumpin' room with a great vibe. Rinse FM DJ Oneman took it a little too RnB but we forgive him for that because he also dropped LL Cool J's 'Doin It'. (Remember that one, kids? No?)

Anyway, the point of all this waffle is that XOYO is a fantastic club and you should all support it (and try to convince the council to let it open past 4am). So get your high tops on and jog down to Soundcrash on Saturday 20 August or the Urban Nerds Carnival Special the week after. Look!

Double Trouble

The last time Gravity Skank went down to Corsica Studios' long-running night Trouble Vision was for their excellent second birthday party last year, where Zinc completely tore it up with a set ranging from old school jungle, to garage, dubstep and his own brand of crack house.

This weekend looks even better with the club night taking over Corsica Studios on both Friday and Saturday for the first time ever with a massive line-up featuring artists from two of their favourite labels - Girls Music and AUS Music.

Instead of being tempted to cram David Rodigan, Roller Express (Toddla T and Redlight), Shy FX, Roska, Theo Parrish, Ramadanman and Motor City Drum Ensemble into one big night, they've split them across the weekend and stayed at home in South London, and for that, we are eternally grateful.

Advance tickets are now unsurprisingly sold out, but there will 100 on the door if you get there early. We'll see you there on the Saturday, raving at the front!

Free Toddla T party, Weds 20 October

Check this out yo - free Toddla T party in Kings Cross tomorrow!!! Free booze!!! Like, HULLO.

To celebrate its 4th birthday, the Big Chill House in Kings Cross is putting on a super megatronic party with a million DJs I've never heard of but who cares - Toddla T is headlining.

They're giving away a free drink if you sign up their mailing list first. (Too long-winded for me; I'll just smuggle in my own.)

Party starts at 7pm. Click here for more info. 

Ninja Tune celebrates 20 years

Ninja Tune, the most awesomely spectacular independant record label that brought us artists such as Roots Manuva, Toddla T, Mr Scruff and Hexstatic, is putting on an exhibition in its home city.

The label is celebrating 20 years of music output - titled Ninja Tune XX - with a showcase of plans and drawings, 3D models, LP and CD artwork, merchandise and posters.

The exhibition runs for a month from this Thursday 19 August.

On 11 September there will also be a one-day store selling discounted music and merchandise.

Ninja Tune XX exhibition
19 August - 16 September
Black Dog Publishing
10a Acton Street, London WC1X 9NG
12pm - 5pm

Lovebox 2010 review

Ignore the weather reports, folks - Lovebox has returned sunnier and more spectacular than before.

I headed to the Victoria Park festival on its opening day - the first time the event has been held on a Friday - for what was possibly the best one-dayer in the capital so far.

The Friday lineup was irresistible to a grimey bassline lover like myself. I could have spent three days dancing to all those DJs. Actually, my legs now feel like I have spent three days dancing, the music was so darn good.

I was gutted to miss my buddy Smurfie Syco's set on the main stage, but that's because I was delayed by a magical mystery tour of London to get cheap tickets off some dodgy African dudes. Thankfully though, the tickets themselves were not dodgy. An auspicious start.

I did, however, arrive in time to have a brockout in the sun to grime collective Newham Generals. On turntable honours was DJ Tubby, a dubstep and grime regular at nights such as FWD, as well as Dizzee Rascal's occasional tour DJ.

Waving goodbye to the sunshine for a bit, we headed into the NYC arena for the end of MJ Cole's set. As usual, it was off the hook; I've seen that man DJ about 50 times over the last ten years and not once has he failed to smash it. Whenohwhen will he release another album?

The delightful Joy Orbison took control next, playing a summery, funky, garagey set which, despite being awesome, couldn't contend with the sunshine outside, so I headed off to catch Toddla T at the Rizla stage.

Bestival heads will know what I'm on about here: the Rizla stage KICKS ASS. Totally. Always. Everywhere. The setup, the production, the lineup, the vibe - the dudes at Rizla know a thing or two about facilitating fun, don't they? So we were mighty pleased to see them set up camp at Lovebox and boy, did Toddla T do us all proud.

The slightly geeky-looking Sheffield producer (pictured above) - boyfriend of Radio One's Annie Mac, dontcha know - plays the most skankatronic sets, mashing up styles from dancehall to electro. And it was brilliant!

But Rizla, is that all the fun you're going to throw at us? NO?

Holy moly. Next up, a supremely chirpy Todd Edwards played classic garage, house and generally rather funky stuff. As a garage devotee who used to write in depth about the scene, I'm ashamed to admit I had never seen 'The God' DJ. Now I can die fulfilled. And hopefully as happy as him.

Dizzee Rascal closed the party with one of his best performances ever (trust me, I've seen a lot of them). It could have something to do with the streamers, the smoke effects, the lights - production levels were ramped up to the max for this show - or the amount of cider I'd consumed by this point. But in honesty, his oeuvre is so well suited to festivals, and he's such a charming  performer, that the crowd loves him. I'm not the biggest fan of his most recent tracks so it took me by surprise how well they worked live.

If you're umming and ahhing about whether to go to Lovebox over this weekend, there really is no question. Run to Victoria Park now!