Spring is getting up to speed and Edinburgh’s weekends aren’t getting any easier, with three choice nights to fight your way through this week before Sunday lets you cool off. So give a warm welcome to the nation’s finest under-appreciated breakfast show presenter (not Chris Moyles, he’s appreciated just the right amount), East London grime legends on the comeback trail and one of British dance music’s most prolific figures.
Notsosilent Dimensions Festival Launch with Charlie Bones – Sneaky Pete’s, Fri Mar 27
Teaming up with London’s NTS Radio for the Edinburgh leg of the touring launch for Croatia’s mighty Dimensions festival, Sneaky’s regulars Notsosilent this week welcome NTS DJ Charlie Bones – host of the DO!! YOU!!! show, described once as “the breakfast show to end all breakfast shows” – to the city. A vinyl collector and record store owner himself, Charlie plays a brilliantly eclectic but club-focused mix which brings together classic house, funk and soul with the sense of weird humour his radio show regularly displays.
Electrikal with Newham Generals and Blackwax – Bongo Club, Fri Mar 27
First rate bass music soundsystem Elektrikal are back for their third night of 2015 with some very special guests in tow. Not seen at this night in four years, when crowds flocked to see them, East London crew Newham Generals (MCs D Double E and Footsie, plus DJ MS1) are under-the-radar icons of the same grime scene that spawned Dizzee Rascal. Named (sort of) after their local hospital and signed to Dizzee’s Dirtee Stank label, they returned with the rough-edged, dubstep-influenced new track ‘Levels’ last month. Support comes from Edinburgh newcomers Blackwax.
Hector’s House and Pushin’ On with Justin Robertson – The Annexe, Sat Mar 28
Coming out of Manchester’s original Hacienda scene, where he played when he was barely out of his teens, DJ, remixer, producer and recording artist Justin Robertson (pictured above) has enjoyed a varied career in the last two and a half decades. He started out remixing artists like Bjork, Happy Mondays and Manic Street Preachers under his own name and as The Merry Prankster; as Lionrock he recorded two albums and made it into the UK charts multiple times, most notably with 1998’s dub-flavoured hit ‘Rude Boy Rock’; in the 21st century he’s produced for Tim Burgess, written songs for Fatboy Slim and collaborated with Daniel Avery; and now, as The Deadstock 33s, he releases on labels as diverse as Gomma, Tiger Sushi and Glasgow’s own Optimo Music. Tonight, he’s yours for three whole hours.