Memorex @ The Arch, Neath
Fri 5 Aug
We don’t often get to feature club nights outside Cardiff and Swansea (and sometimes Aberystwyth), so it’s pleasure to give some column inches to a Neath nightspot. Praise is due to the hardworking chaps at Cardiff’s Memorex outfit though, as they team up with Neath’s Solo after a successful gig last month featuring Lauren Lo Sung, and they’re spreading the love westwards again with not just any local DJ, but tech-house royalty Patrick Topping.
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Last year the Geordie became seriously hot property in clubland, with his fifth Beatport number one in his category, and touring some of the world’s biggest festivals – from South America’s Creamfields stop-off to Australia’s Stereosonic, not to mention Detroit’s legendary Movement festival and a residency at DC10 in Ibiza. In just a couple of years, his brain-fried, shuffling beats, creaking bass and head-frazzling sampling has travelled round the world, and is showcased at its best on tracks like Sussed and the Hot Creations smash Get Beasty.
He’s received the seal of approval from house royalty in Voicemail, a typically sassy collaboration with Chicago’s Green Velvet, where the latter’s penchant for spoken-word vocals get an injection of Topping’s rowdy, rolling beats and bass. This is a chance to catch a proper star of modern house music in a Welsh town that will surely provide a grateful, sweaty reception.
Tickets: £15/£12. Info: 01639 635377
words GWYN THOMAS DE CHROUSTCHOFF