Glad to be Glaude.
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Unlike last year, Bumberclub 2000's dance lineup is focused primarily on homegrown talent. That means no special guest stars from the UK like Swayzak or from San Francisco like Charlotte the Baroness, both of whom headlined in '99. Don't cry too hard, however: The local jocks, deck-meisters, and knob-twiddlers on display are nothing to sneeze at.
Junglists can get their fix three times at the Bumberclub, starting on Friday, when DJ Tamara supplements her regular Friday night gig at the Art Bar's Organic with an appearance for the early evening, all-ages crowd. She'll hit the decks accompanied by MC Sage Nomad and Sho Nuff from 7 to 8:15pm. Later that same night, DJs Nitsuj and Zacharia of local rave and club favorites 360 BPM will shower the crowd with beats and basslines from 9:30 until 11. Two nights later, on Sunday, DJ Eva and MC Brown Mug (9:30-11pm) will present their patented combination of Jamaican-bred roots and Matrix-style futurism: Techstep collides with ragga, throw their hands in the air, bump hips, and do it all over again, all on top of breaks that are both seductive and exhilarating.
But who can live on rollers and rewinds alone? Luckily, between Tamara and 360 on Friday night, house DJ and Dialect and Paramour resident Wesley Holmes (8:15-9:30) takes off some of the junglists' edge with his body-positive soul power. Few house jocks in town work their records with Holmes' flair and it should be interesting to hear what he does in this particular slot. Also working the house massive's pleasure center will be Donald Glaude, the Seattle dance scene's most ubiquitous presence and a righteous party-starter thanks to his block-rocking mix of breaks and hard house. Not to mention his behind-the-decks hyperactivity: dancing, yelling, shouting-out crowd members, shamelessly working the volume for maximum dramatic impact. He plays Monday from 9:30-11pm. Also on the crowd-pleasing tip is LSDJ, whose eclectic style (house, breaks, various mixtures thereof) should be spiced up something nice when he's joined on Sunday night (8:15-9:30pm) by local hip-hop troupe the High Children.
Speaking of eclectic (not to mention eccentric), Monday night's selections definitely fit that bill. First, from 7 to 8:15pm, Plastiq Phantom brings his off-kilter grooves, haunted melodies, and fun-trick noisemaking to the stage, utilizing a turntable, sampler, and mixing board to sometimes whimsical, sometimes spooky effect. Following him is Elemental, a sort of "local electronic supergroup" whose numbers include Skerik, Reggie Watts, Josh Warren, Davis Martin, DJ Diskyze, and Misskick. And speaking, as we were earlier, of behind-the-decks hyperactivity, Saturday night the Bumberclub will host the Battle of Bumbershoot (8-11pm), a DJ/turntablist competition, a hugely appealing idea if you find scratch-heavy sounds of science as by turns intriguing and party-rocking as I do. Could the next Mix Master Mike come from the Pacific Northwest? Only one way to find out, now isn't there?
