Price: £8 adv
Door time: 10.30pm
Age: 18+
Summertime, and the living is easy. Or so they say, but round at UG towers we scoff, laugh, and if we're feeling really brave / drunk, spit at them (not really, that'd be nasty). Yes, while other clubs go off on their hols, or shift down into second gear, UG keeps coming on strong with the finest line-up of filthy house music to hit Sheffield in...oooh, erm...well, in ages anyway.
Ewan Pearson is little short of a phenomenon. A genuine scholar of music (seriously, he's had a book called "Discographies" published and everything) he's been making beautiful, dirty house music since 1996. During this time he's been snapped up and supported by many of the premiere pushers of this sound, include Slam's Soma and Michael Mayer's Kompakt, and has effortlessly and deservedly found his way to the very top of the international house music tree. Along the way his production skills have been co-opted by admiring fans from all corners, including Depeche Mode, Chemical Brothers, Goldfrapp, The Rapture, Tracy Thorn, M83 and Gwen Stefani.
As a DJ few can match him, as storming sets in the world's top clubs and brilliant mix albums for Soma and Fabric attest (along with a Resident Advisor podcast which was voted by listeners as the best of 2006). Not bad for a guy from Kidderminster, a town in the Midlands, which, having grown up there myself, I can tell you is hardly a breeding ground for brilliant maverick house music.
Unlike, for example, Leeds, which seems to be able to grow fabulous tech-house freaks as though they were some kind of fungus. Followers of UG will be more than familiar with this strange situation by now, having witnessed first hand the wonders of Ralph Lawson, Paul Woolford, Electric Press and more. And if you liked them (and frankly, why wouldn't you) you'll love Simon Baker, another genius from the Leeds production line.
First appearing under his alias The Lip Trick, on Lawson's uber-label 2020Vision, Baker, who now releases under his own name, has made a massive impact on the global club scene in a relatively short time. 2007's "Plastik" was one of the undisputed anthems of the year, and with more releases lined up for Cocoon, Leftroom and R&S, alongside his ongoing residency at DDD (formerly, and quite aptly, known as Deep Down Dirty) his star's just going to keep on rising.
I'm not sure which resident's playing at the moment, but for some reason the mention of tech-house freaks from Leeds made me think of Jonny Townsend. Wonder why?
