Techno Nonsense: Night Slugs
Simon Hunter continues his tour of the electronic realm with London’s Night Slugs
In this, my second installment of Techno Nonsense, a feature dedicated to highlighting the big players in electronic dance music right now, I’m going to hit you with Night Slugs.
Traversing the entire length of the musical spectrum from last week’s Disco feature, Night Slugs is one of the hottest labels in the UK right now and I’m definitely not the first, nor will I be the last, person this year to sing their praises. It’s hard to tie Night Slugs down into a genre, as all of their releases so far have been fresh and hugely varied. In fact when asked about their ‘sound’, Night Slugs co-founder James Connolly, AKA L-Vis 1990, stated in no uncertain terms that “formulas are shit and we don’t want them, so that’s why we don’t do them.”
Formulas are shit and we don’t want them, so that’s why we don’t do them L-Vis 1990, co-founder
Connolly runs the label with South London based DJ, producer, graphic designer and all around media boss, Alex Sushon AKA Bok Bok. Like most exciting new movements in music, the Night Slugs idea developed from disenchantment with both the UK grime scene and the club scene in general. Initially contacting each other via MySpace, the two got together and started putting on parties in Camberwell in 2008.
The party later moved to Old Street but it wasn’t until this year that the label itself was christened with the release of Mosca’s, fittingly titled, “Square One” EP in January. Since then Night Slugs has released eight EPs, all of unfaltering quality – an impressive feat and the reason Connolly and Sushon are finding huge praise flungatthem from all directions.
As I have already alluded to, describing a typical Night Slugs release is pretty difficult, as there simply isn’t one. Staccato percussion, sparse 8-bit synthesisers and deconstructed R&B vocal samples all make appearances, creating beats as diverse as Girl Unit’s haunting masterpiece “Shade On” to Lil Silva’s ruthlessly funky “Night Skanker”. One feature common to all of the releases, however, is the use of sub-bass which transforms songs that sound pretty bare on normal speakers into a full-blown onslaught on the dance floor.
In addition to songs recommended in the previous paragraph, check out Kingdom’s “This Mystic” and Girl Unit’s “Wut”; both eerie and hard-hitting in equal measures. And to hear the best of what Night Slugs has to offer, how it should be heard – under a bridge in the early hours of Saturday morning – head down to Counter Culture this Friday night.
