Dancing in the Dark (2008 - 2024)

******NORWAY special******** For one year we have been scouring the coasts of the UK for new unheralded talents while promoting local acts who we feel deserve a part in the future music/retro mash up and visual spectacle that is DO IT! While residents M.O.C., SIO, BEN and dj WHITE CHOCOLATE have held down the monthly cellar bar sessions, dj URAKI RIDDIM has been spreading his granite wings to the familiar yet relatively unknown land that is Norway. Reports have come back that our Norsk brothers really diggit - none more so than the current wave of talented indie/electronica/house producers and djs coming out of Bergen on the west coast of the country.  So please raise your glasses and put your hands up for one of this years most exciting Norwegian acts... PUT YOUR HANDS UP FOR NEO-TOKYO live (Nabovarsel, Bergen)From one of Europe's coldest countries comes a warm fluoro duo who live to make sweet, society-saving electronic pop. Within the space of just a few months of airpla...

I'm sure many are feeling the exhausting and utter nauseating effects of the Covid 19 lock down as we wait to see what the next hurdle will be. With a Government almost taking pride in how badly they've mismanaged the situation, initial fears of the pandemic being dragged out appear to be coming to fruition. Other countries are quick to return to a good level of normality while the UK media look for any excuse to avoid covering the UK death toll which is almost the worst in the World, despite us only accounting for a small part of the world population. But as is often the way, just like social media where you can scroll through videos of people being murdred by police followed by cute cat videos, I'm going to jump from berating the Tory party and focus on some creative adventures from the lock down. The majority of this post was written a few days after heading out with V2k for an evening of street art with me helping to document his process. As I've often said, I f...

So I finally made the trip out to Woodend Barn in Banchory, a newish arts venue with rather a lot going on! From gigs to dance performances, exhibitions to work shops there seems to be an abundance of activities taking place at the barn and a screening of Henry Ponting's "The Great White Silence" is the reason I finally ventured out! The film follows Captain Scott's final polar expedition, a trip which would eventually end with Scott's death and that of his 4 man expedition team. Meticulous hand drawn titles open up to incredible black and white footage of the good ship ' Terra Nova ' docked and being loaded with supplies for the journey to the Pole. Ponting was sure to capture every detail of the crew and the journey from the on board entertainment (dancing and playing fiddles) to the daily working of the ship. As they near the Polar cap the pack ice begins to appear and some incredible footage reveals how the steel plated hull smashed through the bl...