The festival season is well into its stride and here are two events you definitely don’t want to miss. First up is South West Four which gets down to business between August 29-30 in the picturesque setting of Clapham Common - where better to host house-inspired mash-up? Sasha & Digweed will once again top the bill, while Armin Van Buuren and Danny Howells make up the additional headliners across four other stages that take on an altogether more mainstream vibe. Day tickets are sold out but you can still get some weekend action for just £75 by clicking here…
Also coming up is Freerotation, now in its third year and running from August 14-16 at the stately Baskerville Hall, a 19th century hotel near the village of Hay-on-Wye, Wales. This year’s line-up includes artists such as Move D, Shackleton, Bodycode, Jackmate and Lakuti. Efdemin, Marcel Dettmann, Rndm, Sven Weisemann and Freund der Familie represent a sizeable German contingent. The home-grown talent is decidedly dubstep, with Narcossist, 2562, Ramadanman, Pangaea, Ben UFO and Peverelist. The three-dayer is dirt-cheap at just £65 - for more, click here.
Not quite a festival but the mere fact that it takes place on grass allows us to mention that Tiesto will be gracing us with his presence on Friday July 31 in Victoria Park with special guests Sneaky Sound System, Hadouken! and Calvin Harris. But if it’s a clubbier vibe you’re after then get yourself down to the Official Tiesto Afterparty at London’s Ministry of Sound. John 00 Fleming leads the charge, while Giuseppe Ottiviani brings his Live show to the Ministry alongside US trancer Christopher Lawrence, Rank 1 and Simon Patterson.
From live extravaganzas we cast an eye over some cracking new compilations coming your way in the coming weeks. Bugz In The Attic are preparing to release the second edition of their Got The Bug series. It’s now five years since the London collective’s last instalment of remixes and during that time the group have continued to hold down regular appearances at Fabric as well as running their own night over at Shoreditch’s Plastic People. Got The Bug 2 will be released on September 30th and features ten cutting-edge versions of tracks culled from acts including Amy Winehouse, Basement Jaxx, Roisin Murphy and Willie Colon.
Finally Norman Cook’s imprint, Southern Fried Records has announced details of their second retrospective compilation, entitled Southern Fried And Tested 2. The man responsible for stringing the hits together will be The Chemical Brothers’ warm-up DJ of choice Nathan Detroit. He’s gone about the task in an ‘extended mini mix’ manner, cutting and splicing 67 tracks from the back catalogue including Armand Van Helden, Ashley Beedle, Dusty Kid, Riva Starr and Laidback Luke. Southern Fried will release Southern Fried And Tested 2 on September 7.
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(Andrew John)
