aaamusic | On 13, Mar 2011

Its reputation as one of greatest clubs on the planet is without question. Its music policy for over twenty years has consistently set the barometer against which exceptional good taste can be measured. Its atmosphere – best exemplified with the finest beats slamming a heaving sweaty dancefloor into glorious hedonistic euphoria – defies superlatives.  The SUB CLUB, in full throttle, is unrivalled.

It is therefore with feverish excitement, and following the inaugural sonic assault by this mighty Glasgow institution on the Arcadia Afterburner at last year’s festival, that we can today proudly announce a brand new arena for RockNess 2011 –  SUB CLUB SOUND SYSTEM.

For three days only, underground goes overground. SUB CLUB SOUND SYSTEM will see our friends bring their totally unique and much loved ‘Subbie’ vibe to its new home-from-home in Dores…along with a line up guaranteed to deliver 100% dancefloor devastation all weekend!

SUB CLUB SOUND SYSTEM starts day one with a big walloping chunk of techno on Friday courtesy of headliner MODESELEKTOR.  These East German producers excel in throbbing slabs of machine music and this rare set is sure to explode with energy. Joining MODESELEKTOR is a DJ credited with bringing forward-thinking, bass-heavy music into the public consciousness; JACKMASTER. Voted by DJ Magazine as the Best British Breakthrough DJ of 2010, this Glaswegian customarily obliterates festivities with his unrelenting panache and embraces guilty pleasures and forgotten classics in the same set as unreleased dubplate heaters. The world-renowned NUMBERS operative which he co-founded includes a packed out residency at the Sub Club, a highly prolific label and a recently curated CD for the legendary FabricLive mix series.
With a musical dexterity that belies their tender years, young techno upstarts CLOUDS are on fire. The Scottish duo are attracting massive support with Boys Noize, Tiga, Erol Alkan, Annie Mac, Proxy and Sinden all fans, and their incredible ‘Liquid/Mauful Sir’ was the debut release on Fake Blood’s Blood Music label. Indeed, upon first listen the recently-announced-for-RockNess FAKE BLOOD commented, “CLOUDS…this is all kinds of awesome”.  Armed with Serato, two quick hands and the most diverse crate of dance floor fillers you’re likely to hear, BOOM MONK BEN is a frenzied fanatic of all things bass. From hip hop, dancehall, funk and breakbeats to house, dubstep and drum and bass if it makes the BOOM BEN move you’ll be hearing it this summer at RockNess. His monthly HYP? night at the Sub Club welcomes the foremost exponents of all things electronic and his Mixed Bizness night at Glasgow Art School is much respected. Also on the Mixed Bizness roster and confirmed is HAHAHA…but there ain’t nothing funny about the skill deployed by this new Glasgow producer every time the snare hits. He’s one of the most exciting out there.

No compromise, no restrictions is the order of the day in Saturday’s SUB CLUB SOUND SYSTEM. It is a philosophy that flows through the music of MAGDA who headlines the arena. Encouraged into the early Detroit underground scene by Dan Bell and Claude Young, a co founder of the Run Stop Restore project along with Marc Houle and Troy Pierce, and past force of the all female DJ collective Women on Wax, MAGDA’s name is never far from the lips of discerning clubbers and fellow DJs alike. Signed to Richie Hawtin’s M_nus label, such is the respect MAGDA commands she is now Hawtin’s sole choice as opening DJ on his European and Stateside tours. Citing Chicago Jack, Acid and Techno as equal ingredients in her sound, MAGDA at RockNess will be BIG!

Exuberance, joy, intense grooves and the perfect mix of house, techno and minimal, Romanian-born RARESH is on a stratospheric trajectory. Garnering the acclaim of the great and the good including Ricardo Villalobos, Luciano and Richie Hawtin, and shaking dancefloors across the globe, RARESH is one of the hottest young names out there. Together with friends Rhadoo and Pedro he founded the label [a:rpia:r] with the purpose of conquering not the chart, but the pure feeling and sensation on the dancefloor, in the club.  His debut Scottish gig at the Sub Club and subsequent appearance at The Wee Chill – both splendidly curated by the SENSU and SUB team – demonstrated just what all the fuss was about. Now he’s Scotland-bound again and heading to ‘Ness. RARESH…prepare to be suitably impressed!

Regarded as one of the most credible and forward thinking club nights in the world, the Sub Club’s weekly SUBCULTURE residency is an institution that reigns supreme. HARRI and DOMENIC are revered by the electronic music fraternity the world over and week in week out bodies are well and truly jacked at this two-decade-strong residency. Deeply rooted in the early Chicago and Detroit sounds responsible for today’s clubbing and electronic music culture SUBCULTURE is also a night which rarely looks back. Expect a storming set and a serious good time party.

Serving up lashings of deep, soulful house against a tech laced, percussion driven set, the brilliant SENSU comprises of Barry Price, Esa Williams and Chris ‘Junior’ Ingram. The trio are set to return to RockNess with a new incarnation of their LIVE performance and the guarantee of it being a highlight of the entire weekend. Laptops, 303s and 909s are employed as the weapons of choice to create a unique live sound that captivates as well as entertains. As co-promoters of The Wee Chill, an extravaganza that has earned a place in the heart of many a discerning clubber, good music, good people and good times is the SENSU motto. It is this philosophy that is carried through into their monthly SENSU club night at the Sub Club, which recently featured in Mixmag’s ‘Top Ten Club Nights of 2010’ . And quite rightly so, with bookings such as Loco Dice, Magda and Ricardo Villalobos making their events a highlight of every month.

Sunday’s proposition in the SUB CLUB SOUND SYSTEM is a stunner. For anyone yet to experience the essence of pure Sub Club magic this is THE place to be. Having taken a sabbatical from the Mercury Music Award-winning ensemble The xx, JAMIE XX has gone deep underground to indulge his love of bottom heavy beats. So far he’s DJ’d at FWD>> and on Rinse FM, released a mix for Parisian arbiters of taste Colette and a 12-inch on Numbers, warmed up mosh pits for OFWGKTA and remixed Gil Scott-Heron’s comeback masterpiece I’m New Here to widespread acclaim. Now he’s heading to Ness to drop an exemplary and effortlessly cool DJ set fitting of this year’s SUB CLUB SOJND SYSTEM finale. Get in early.

MATTHEW DEAR epitomises the sound of the Sub Club and the epic news that he and his band are confirmed for a LIVE set is seriously off the scale!  Straddling multiple musical worlds and belonging to none, MATTHEW DEAR inhabits a rarefied corner of the underground universe: respected by his peers and blessed with a bottomless well of creative energy, now is his moment and it sounds like nothing else. Miss this at your peril.

OPTIMO. The very word ignites a fanatical reaction such is their repute. As diverse as ever in their music selection, the first ever OPTIMO was at the Sub Club with club co owner Mike Grieve declaring “this is going to be a revolution”. How right he was. OPTIMO’s 13 year residency at the Sub Club was one of the most important musical contributions Scotland has made to this century. Sunday’s are alive and kicking though! JD Twitch and JG Wilkes recently took up where their old night left off with new Sub Club residency HUNG UP, this time with added input from some of Glasgow’s finest. How appropriate that come June the SUB CLUB SOUND SYSTEM and RockNess will be welcoming back OPTIMO for a blast of euphoric excess delivered in radical signature style.

Hailing from urban-experimental royalty, and with a vast array of vinyl at his disposal and an unbridled passion for every kind of music under the sun, PRO VINYLIST KARIM of Glasgow’s stellar Rub-A-Dub hits Ness with one message…expect the unexpected!  As a long standing champion of high quality music and technical mixing, KARIM knows a tune when he hears it.  And finally, but in no way least, we are over the proverbial moon, to reveal that Kilmarnock disco legend DAVID BARBAROSSA will be electrifying the SUB CLUB SOUND SYSTEM with his unique brand of record playing. Running his own nights including Curious Curious, Damaged Goods, Fun Size and Wild Combination, occasionally turning out as part of the Huntleys & Palmers gang and having played alongside James Murphy, Todd Terje, Black Devil, Optimo, Roedelius, expect serious levels of funky booty-shaking to be hitting up the arena.