VURBan Legends

Nexus Guess

Publication title: Vue Weekly
Publication date: April 12, 2001
Document type: Opinion
Article Author: Dave Johnston
Transcribed by: MW

Damn that Nick Delgado. With nearly a thousand advance tickets already sold, the line-up and location of this year's installment of Nexus Tribe's Viva Las Vegas party is still a secret.

"We want it to be a surprise," he laughs. "Believe me, a lot of people are going to be happy with what's coming up."

The advance tickets, which are selling around the city for $35 (plus a service charge), will probably be gone before the official announcement is made in two weeks' time. By then, the official flyer will be on the streets and the ticket price will increase to $45.

Delgado offers his assurances, though, that Nexus is not planning to raise the price again before the event. He also understands that the suspense is killing everyone. Rumours have been swirling around the local scene about who will play to the annual event for weeks, and while Nexus will not deny anything, they won't confirm anything either.

But the Nexus crew is trying to be a bunch of good sports about it all. Delgado says there will be three major headliners, one of whom is a top-ranked female DJ. All you have to do is guess.

So, here's the deal: Nexus Tribe has given us a list for each category, from which you have to pick the most likely candidate. Those who get all three correct will be entered into a draw, and the winner gets two free tickets to Viva Las Vegas on Saturday, June 9.

Here we go.

1. Progressive House/Trance: Anthony Papa, Christopher Lawrence, Danny Howells, Darren Emerson, Dave Seamen, Deep Dish, Jimmy Van M, John Digweed, Lee Burridge, Nick Warren, Parks & Wilson, Paul Van Dyk, Red Jerry, Saeed and Palash, Sander Klienenberg, Sasha, Steve Lawler, Tall Paul, Taylor, Tiesto, Timo Mass

2. House/Techno: Armand Van Heiden, Bad Boy Bill, Basement Jaxx, Boy George, Cajmere aka Green Velvet, Carl Cox, Dave Clarke, Derrick May, DJ Dan, Donald Glaude, Erick Morillo, Fat-boy Slim, Felix Da Housecat, Groove Armada, Jeff Mills, Junior Sanchez, Keoki, Ritchie Hawtin, Sneak, Sven Vath

3. Female DJ: Anne Savage, DJ Heather, DJ Heaven, Lady Miss Keir, Lisa Lashes, Lisa Loud, Lisa Pin Up, Lottie, Rachel Auburn, Sandra Collins, Sister Bliss, Sonique

Send your answers to vivalasvegas@vue.ab.ca before Tuesday, April 17. The winner will be announced in the next issue of Vue Weekly. If you need some hints, head over to www.nexus-tribe.com (which is presently going through an overhaul) and sign up for the e-mail list.



It's a wonderful toy

Remember Slinky? That wonderful toy that could walk downstairs, even in pairs, making that slinkity sound?

Leave it to the British to go and redefine everything. Now Slinky isn't a toy but a superclub, and a popular one at that. Like their U.K. counterparts such as Gatecrasher and Cream, the iconic establishment has launched a series of world tours, bringing its uplifting progressive house and deep tech sound to cities across the globe.

On Thursday, April 26, Slinky's North American tour lands at the Rev Cabaret, transforming the clubbing landmark into a little bit of Blighty for one night only. Best of all, it's a cheap night out, with advance tickets selling for $18, compared to the $5O ticket being hawked in Vancouver for the exact same show.

The Slinky tour will feature the U.K. club's noted residents Garry White and Dave Lee. White is best known as the mixer of Slinky's double-disc compilations Slinky the Album, Technique, Factor 3 and Intercontinental. He also records on the club's vanity label as Lowfields, as well as releasing material on other labels under the pseudonyms Yekuana and Northface. He's played at major annual events in Europe like the Berlin Love Parade and Homelands.

Dave Lee sometimes gets confused with that other Dave Lee, the fellow who makes house records under the names Joey Negro and Jakatta, Slinky's Lee, however, is about as close to a disco house DJ as water is to oil—Lee is like the twisted offspring of Timo Maas and BK, if such a thing is possible. His recent travelogue includes a gig in Yugoslavia for a crowd of 10,000 revellers, stints at U.K. clubs GodsKitchen and Trade, and a 20,000-capacity show in Melbourne, Australia. Lee has also released a couple of white labels on Alphamagic.


Pick a disc

Just to give you an idea of how hard my life is, my desk has been besieged with CDs for the past week, toppling over every time I get a box of vinyl dropped off. It gets hard to figure out when I will ever get the chance to go through it all.

No, really—this is a problem.

What's worse is that a lot of the mix compilations turning up in my morning mail are tremendously promising. The ones I've had a chance to listen to live up to every expectation.

First off, the new Jack Dangers disc, [♫] Hello Friends! (Shadow), is absolutely vital if you're into dark breakbeats. The menacing figure behind the seminal Meat Beat Manifesto has gathered together a collection of highly original instrumentals culled from his Tino Breaks series, which he created with partner Ben Stokes. The tracks are simultaneously haunting and witty, painstakingly constructed from a wealth of offbeat samples on just three turntables, a Dr. Sample, a Kaoss Pad, a CD player and a Handsonic.

Then there's DJ Trek-E's bone-crushing drum ‘n’ bass mix, Volume 3. (What’s with all these “volume” titles, man?) Anyway, Trek-E is a Toronto-based jock with excellent taste in jump-up beats, with some strong production credits, including remix work for hip hop groups Citizen Kane, Brassmunk and Assasini. If you can't find it anywhere, you might have to ask the man himself for one tonight (Thursday) over at Lush, where he'll be appearing live as the special guest at Foosh's Trademark residency. He's a swell guy, believe me.