What is it about scottish dance music that makes it
so different? So appealing?
by Alan Bryden
November 2002



I really wanted to write a perfect, concise essay that encapsulates everything there is to know about clubs and dance music in Scotland but it¹s just so massive a topic that it would be impossible to mention even a fraction of everything. When you think about how wide a range of musical styles are represented by deejay culture alone in Scotland, it¹s just vast. House and techno, drum and bass, garage, speed garage, UK Garage, or whatever garage is called this week, hip hop, soul, rare groove, disco, latin, jazz and so on and so on. And although it¹s not all good, the bits that are fantastic, are FANTASTIC. And that¹s why I will never tire of the idea of going out to a club and hearing music that is so ridiculously amazing that it makes you want to jump up and down and cry and be in love and dance. Regardless of whether that record is an intense, spiritual, 10-minute long New York house record, or a 3 minute hip hop jam, or a wild, latin-jazz descarga. So I thought I¹d write a bit about my experiences of going to clubs and how it affected me as a musician.

When I moved to Scotland in 1991, the madness of acid house was in full swing. From gigantic all night raves like Resurrection to hardcore clubs like Metropolis and Hanger 13 in Ayrshire, from the classy house sounds of Slam and Atlantis in Glasgow, to the epic debauchery of Pure in Edinburgh, and the underground techno of Club 69 in Paisley. The acid house revolution of the late eighties had exploded out of London and the Home Counties and impacted all around the country. Run by the eccentrically named Twitch and Brainstorm and driven by the most cutting edge dance music, Edinburgh¹s Pure was acid house hedonism at it¹s wildest. Rumors abound that Irvine Welsh frequented the club whilst writing his debut novel, Trainspotting. Along with Glasgow¹s Sub Club, Slam & Pussy Power crews, they were one of the first clubs to bring over the new techno sound from the US, and booked Derek May, Carl Craig, Juan Atkins, Jeff Mills and many others who are now household names on the dance scene. Like a lot of new black-American music, these deejays and musicians became hugely successful in the UK, whilst remaining relatively unknown at home. The likes of Derek May had never seen jam packed clubs going absolutely bananas to the techno music they had created, and were apparently quite terrified the first time they witnessed the intense mania of hundreds of sweaty, goggle-eyed, Scottish rave kids, dancing like there was no tomorrow. I was there when Carl Craig played once and it was a pretty full on affair. Pure was always a very techno club, but Carl was able to push the boundaries a bit further and deftly blended the likes of Yello and The Human League alongside contemporary electronica. As the house lights came up at about 4 a.m. to the strains of Gorgio Moroder¹s throbbing bassline from Donna Summer¹S I Feel Love, nobody was remotely interested in going home. I¹d like to say that even the doormen were dancing but that would be totally made up.
But it wasn¹t all the same everywhere. Lesser-known clubs like Flow in Glasgow had a more experimental take on house, techno and electronic music and created unique, visually and aurally stimulating events. Paisley¹s Rub-A-Dub records put on things like Black Dog in Glasgow¹s Winter Gardens , a huge council-owned, tropical glasshouse. There was dancing in the flowerbeds, and a week or two later Black Dog split up, although I¹m not suggesting the two things are related. Jazz DJ Nick Peacock¹s mid week session Horizontal brought acid-jazz flavours to the west of Scotland and he was the first person to get a very young James OEholy goof¹ Lavelle and the likes of The Roots from Philadelphia, and DJ Shadow from San Francisco to play here. Paul Cawley took things a step further with Phar Out, a club with no particular playlist that took in hip hop, jungle, soul, funk and leftfield house. Blackalicious, Kemistry & Storm, Ross Allen, DJ Food and many more all guested with their own unique style, and to a rapturous reception. On a similar tip, there¹s a long running club in Dundee called Homeless. The name was a pun on the residents policy of not playing any house music although, really it just meant that you can expect to hear any style of music. And back in Edinburgh, there¹s a thriving underground black music scene that I¹m embarrassed to say I know all too little about (this is the town that spawned the quirky easy sound of Lemon Jelly, Dmc Dj competition winner Plus One and where FinleyQuaye grew up don¹t forget). But it takes in everything from G-Mac¹s tough as you like drum and bass club Manga, to DJ and singer Joseph Malik and the hip hop and ragga of Yush 2Kand Scratch and the jazzy jam sessions of Café Graffiti (now long gone), the Bongo Club and the Blue Note and more.

I had first heard house music on the John Peel show on Radio 1 at the tail-end of the 80s and early 90s, and hearing this funky, electronic music from A Guy Called Gerald and 808 State, and labels like Nu Groove in Italy and Warp records in the midlands was a total revelation. I didn¹t grow up on a diet of Kraftwerk, P-Funk, nu wave and disco like everyone tells you that they did, so hearing this radical new music had a big effect on me. Rather like punk rock enabled anybody with a vision to make a record in their bedroom and distribute it out the back of a van, house music made me realise that I didn¹t need to persuade three of my mates to learn to play an instrument and follow my instructions. All I need was a sampler, a pile of records and some ideas and I could make my music, and make it sound exactly how I wanted it to. Clubbing and dance music probably get a bad name because they have become so big, so mainstream and so homogenous and as a fussy and
opinionated musician, there¹s probably more about it that I hate than I like. But who cares about the rubbish bits, there¹s stuff out there that will move you and that¹s why it matters.

WE MADE THIS: SOME ESSENTIAL GLASGOW RELATED LISTENING
So what is it about ´dance music` from Scotland? I don¹t think there is a particular style, or sound that makes something a Glasgow record or a Scottish record, but there are a wealth of people here who make their own music in their own way. I think it¹s much healthier when people make their
own music, as opposed to making something that is part of a scene or genre. There is a handful of records that were made here or have a strong Glasgow or something connection, that I think in some way are unique or significant. It¹s not an absolute list and there are loads of other things I could mention and no doubt loads more that I just don¹t know about yet.

BLUE BOY REMEMBER ME GUIDANCE GDR04
After rapping on The Shamen¹s Oeen Tact LP, Lex Blackmore moved to Glasgow and recorded this in a flat in Partick. It was the B-side of a deep house EP for what was then a new label from Chicago, and he was the first of many Glasgow DJ/musicians to record for them. Featuring a hefty Marlene Shaw sample over a funky hip hop drum break, Remember Me was licensed to a UK
major label and went top 10. Ironically, Lex now lives in ChicagoS

VARIOUS RED HOOK EP RED HOOK RECORDS RH01
The debut release from Paul and Michael Hunter¹s label, and recorded in their parent's basement in Bearsden. Features the unlikely dancefloor reggae anthem Brothers And Sisters by Butch Cassidy and the soulful hip hop jam The Answer by Paul Hunter. The label has done 4 extraordinary releases, but they still have no distribution so if you want to buy this you had better mail them: redhookrecordings@hotmail.com

DANIEL IBBOTSON STUMBLE/IMITATION and UPSCALE ADULT/COMPUTER LOVER EP
FENETIK TIK 9 and TIK 12
Derbyshire born, but resident in Glasgow for many years, Daniel has recorded 2 albums for Glasgow Underground and 1 for Clear but these tracks for FENETIK really do it, especially the Neptunes inspired Upscale Adult. A compilation of new and old material for FENETIK is in the pipeline for next year.

UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES LATIN STROLL SOMA RECORDS SOMA LP19
UP is SOMA A&R chief Glenn Gibbons, legendary DJ Nick Peacock and one half of SLAM, Stuart McMillan. If you had told me they would go into a studio and record a gorgeous bossa nova record I would not believe you but here it is and still sounding fabulous more than 2 years on. Glenn really deserves all the credit for this record as he was the one who actually arranged, mixed and edited it. He also sings on it!

DEEP SENSATION SOMEHOW, SOMEWHERE (There¹s A Soul Heaven) GUIDANCE GDR
40
Disco meets northern soul and results in a divine and uplifting slice of house music. Paul Hunter and Colin Gate have recorded a string of exceptional 12s as Deep Sensation for Guidance and Cajual yet they remain relatively unknown in spite of some high profile interest. All their releases are worth checking and I found it hard to pick just one. Check also the dubby funk disco of Don¹T Stop also on Guidance, and a brand new and extremely limited 7 inch on their own DEEP JAZZ label with 2 awesome soul-jazz cut ups.

EWAN PEARSON (MAAS) SUTURE SELF EP SOMA
Ewan is actually from Birmingham and lives in London but he is by far the most talented and original artist to be found on the SOMA roster so I must mention him. This is one of those records that¹s a few years old but I dug it out and played it recently and was blown away by how amazing it sounds. Deep, lush techno but just so funky. An appalling and unworthy description, I know, but hear this over a sound system and understand! Also check his high quality remix compilation Small Change.

JIMI TENOR TAKE ME BABY T&B
Jimi Tenor is from Finland but when SAHKO came to the UK for the first time he remixed and re-recorded this track for Twitch and Brainstorms T&B label in Edinburgh. It¹s a dirty, sleazy, sexy, disco record years before anybody thought an 80¹s revival was a good idea. I saw him play in Glasgow once and nobody had any idea who he was or why the hell there was a guy looking like
Joe 90 playing spaced out, lounge music in the bar. The last song was Take Me Baby and the place just erupted with shouts of. 'fucking hell -it¹s HIM that does that`!

SLAM POSITIVE EDUCATION SOMA
Remixed and reissued too many times for my liking, but love it or hate it, this is a track that made Scottish dance music credible, and made a success of a small Scottish record label and that has to be a good thing. Sure it sounds a bit like Ron Trent¹s Altered States, but it made one hell of an impact and lasted. Andy Weatherall apparently described it as being the record that all techno deejays should take with them, in a glass box labelled 'smash glass if all else fails¹.