London

Gig Venues for Bluffers
The Fly Hugely popular New Oxford Street indie outpost of Camden’s Barfly. DJs and up-and-coming bands jostle every night of the week. 34-36 New Oxford St, WC1A 1EP (020 7691 4244)

The Macbeth Well-worn old men’s boozer that’s home to Sean McLusky’s The Secret Door every Friday, attracting fresh young bands and boys emulating Corey Haim’s frosted tips and stonewashed jeans. 70 Hoxton St, N1 6LP (020 7739 5095) Feature continues

Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club Very much an active WMC: the old-timers head down the stairs, while young folk in strings of pearls and dapper caps take the main room for burlesque, cabaret and dress-up parties. 42 Pollard Row, E2 6NB (020 7739 2727).

Too2Much A supper club in the West End that’s home to vintage club night Lady Luck and has a rolling mix of cabaret, tranny-talent and burlesque shows. 11 Walkers Court, W1F 0ED (020 7437 4400).

Vauxhall Gay Village Where boys with their tops off and wide-eyed rave kids party from Thursday through till Tuesday, home to old-timer the Royal Vauxhall Tavern and new clubs Crash, Orange and South Central.

Music genres for bluffers
Minimal Extremely pared-down electronica closely associated with Berlin, not to mention ketamine and Monday morning carry-on raves in Whitechapel. Go to: Secretsundaze.

Grime Dark, raw, bass-heavy urban music. Grime gestated within the UK garage scene – taking on elements of rave-styled hardcore, reggae riddims and hip hop’s knack of sampling from a wide range of records – and shot into the spotlight a couple of years ago. It usually features double-speed rapping (known as ‘spitting’) or vocal samples in the production. Go to: FWD @ The End.

Neo-rave Huge with 19-year-old indie kids. DJs who can’t really mix (usually band members) playing the occasional 1991-96 rave track. ‘Rave’ is a very loose term with this crowd. Seek out: the Teens of Thailand DJs.
Glitch Minimal electronica where the samples come from mechanised sounds (as opposed to natural voices or noises) and the tracks consist of clicks, cuts and scratches. Go to: the ICA.

Folktronica Pastoral or ambient electronica that takes in folk and jazz. Think Four Tet and Boards of Canada. Go to: Cargo.
Breakcore Where IDM (intelligent dance music), hardcore, industrial and jungle meet, you find breakcore (once referred to as ‘drill ’n’ bass’); all about a full and fast mentalist noisy electronic sound. Go to: Electrowerkz.