February 2014 picks: Techno and Electronica in the North

Image: Bonobo (Taken by Dan Medhurst)

A passing that is consistently colder than its preceding months, where you are ushered into opting for a higher-denier-than-usual level of hosiery, basted in a post-exam glow and all under the watchful eye of Cupid; it seems February was made for frolicking. Besides, there is nothing quite like a session on the dance floor to provide the perfect platform for you to showcase your come-to-bed eyes on the 14th, so get fluttering because thanks to another brilliant month of techno and electronica in the North, you’ll have more than enough chances to practice.

After Apparat’s Sasha Ring sustained a multiple leg fracture in an unfortunate motorcycle accident late last year, the now recovered ranger will be joining his Modeselektor associates over at Manchester’s newly re-opened Albert Hall, for Moderat to headline Trof’s preliminary Late Night Sessions on Friday the 7th.

With thought-provoking work in alliance with the also Berlin-based Pfadfinderei for single ‘Bad Kingdom’ (watch their efforts above), the design collective are also contributing to bringing the trio’s glitching, minimal techno to life, with their visual representations across the whole tour. And judging from what I’ve stalked, sorry unearthed, online, it all looks like a pretty spectacular return. 

Holding it down over at the Roadhouse’s basement den, So Flute are throwing their 2nd Birthday with Eglo’s Floating Points providing the upscale soundtrack of everything from the soulful, over to disco and tech. Oh and with MC Kwasi also hosting us into the anniversary spirit, you bring the cake and I’ll bring the balloons!

Turning the heat up for another special occasion, Bondax are set to turn Sound Control into a steaming habitat of all things heart-shaped on Valentine’s Day, with an appropriately directed three-hour ‘slow jamz’ set. It looks like Drop The Mustard have answered our February the 14th prayers; who needs just one handsome boy when you can have these two?

Then again, if there is no tearing you away from the Ben and Jerry’s and a stream of 500 Days Of Summer, save yourself for Saturday the 15th, when over in Leeds RA & Canal Mills present Hudson Mohawke making a welcome solo return from his TNGHT escapades, along with Numbers co-founder Jackmaster and Paul Woolford. Wait, what? One top trio just isn’t enough? Then Joy O, Hessle honcho Ben UFO and Trilogy Tapes head Will Bankhead at Wire, come the 7th, should definitely fill your lazer-lit void until then.

Liverpool, I miss you, with the final rub of salt in the wound forever being a constant surge of brilliant promoters establishing themselves even further into the clubbing community, excelling in line-up achievements and expansions all across the city. The Shipping Forecast is one of these venues accommodating such forward-moving events, notably bringing two esteemed individuals of their craft to Merseyside throughout February.

Skiddle Mix 004 - Gilles Peterson (Suncebeat/Southport Weekender) by Skiddle on Mixcloud

Up first on the 6th, Croydon’s finest Skream is set to rock TSF’s walls to the ground for an almost-criminally intimate affair, before the acclaimed Gilles Peterson fills Slater Street with an eclectic pic’n’mix of Afrobeat, fresh hip-hop and leftfield electronica, on the 28th. You can catch the latter's Skiddle Mix above, recorded live from the Southport Weekender last year.

Back in Manchester and those cheeky Bicep boys are the next duo nabbed by Drop The Mustard to assist in making sure their quadruple anniversary extravaganza continues on in relevantly rawkus style, manning the helm with five hours of funk, italo and cosmic jams that are guaranteed to get your muscles flexing over at Gorilla on the 21st. And they’re not the only all-night booking in the city worth taking note of…

Golden Ticket

Bonobo heads to the Albert Hall on his final North Borders (listen to the album here) lap of honour, the live performance including full string and brass sections and held in the Wesleyan Chapel of the building. The gig is now sold out but if you didn't manage to get a ticket fear not, because Green himself will be DJ’ing at Now Wave’s Roadhouse after party, a treat now regularly reinforcing itself as much into Green’s live schedule as his decade-spanning back catalogue performances. Watch him get busy fior the Boiler Room if you're in need of convincing.

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