DJ Skrillex will have a very loud Glasgow party
ALMOST anywhere else in the world, the arrival of one of dance music's biggest and most divisive figures would result in pages of coverage and scenes of feverish anticipation.
Here in Glasgow, it is just another weekend.
Skrillex, the 24-year-old Los Angeles dubstep DJ and producer, incites adoration and ire wherever he goes.
Everything about Sonny Moore, from his half-head of long, black hair to the pummeling intensity of his music, is ridiculous.
He cuts a cartoonish figure on stage, his wiry frame and large glasses at odds with the juddering cacophony being unleashed.
The criticism he attracts from the electro elite comes mostly from snobbery. For a start, he does not look like he should be making dance music.
More importantly, this is not the stuff of discerning musos. It is unashamedly populist, the electronic equivalent of Coldplay or something.
So it is no surprise he is riding an enormous wave of success.
His sound encompasses Justice and Daft Punk- style digital rock, extreme dubstep wobble bass and screeching digital metal.
Turbo-charged rave synths and chipmunk vocal samples are everywhere.
There is one certainty – it is going to be punishingly loud.
l Skrillex, tonight, O2 Academy, 7-11pm, Sold out.
Balkans spirit
On the stifling, sweaty dance floor of Berlin's SO36 I had my first delirious encounter with Balkan Beats.
I was the merriest Scotsman in Kreuzberg, having been introduced to the now ubiquitous Jaeger Bomb (this is going back a year or four) by the gracious and welcoming locals, and, on stage, a storming Balkan jazz trio had me mesmerised.
I never thought then that this riotous traditional gypsy party would translate to the clubs of Glasgow, but I have never been so happy to be wrong.
Balkanarama promises a "hot Balkan instrumental orgy", a prospect that is much better experienced in real life than read on paper.
Free shots of the customary old-country spirit rakija, exuberant belly dancers and one of the most unforgettable nights you will ever experience await you on Chambre 69's dark, dance floor.
Saturday sees the Numbers crew host the excellently named London dubstep producer Joy Orbison at the same venue.
He will be going back to back with Jackmaster, fresh from a storming set (by all accounts) at Basel's Das Lokal.
l Balkanarama, tomorrow, Chambre 69, 10.30pm-3am, £8.
l Numbers: Joy Orbison & Jackmaster, Saturday, Chambre 69, 11pm-3am, £10.
Record sales
Now in its fourth year, Record Store Day celebrates music culture and the fine independent establishments that specialise in vinyls and CDs for the discriminating music fan.
It is a shame we need a day to encourage people to visit such places but, hey, chain stores and one-click online retailers have a lot to answer for.
Indie venue Monorail has performances from Edwyn Collins, Malcolm Middleton in his Human Don't Be Angry form and Optimo-signed low-fi freakout merchants Organs Of Love.
JD Twitch, Mogwai's Stuart Braithewaite and Adele Bethel of Sons and Daughters will take to the decks at various stages during the day.
Meanwhile, at Nice 'N' Sleazy, there is an Insularis Records temporary shop upstairs, while downstairs after 8pm vested rockers Holy Mountain unleash their rather unholy racket, supported by The Phantom Band DJs.
l Record Store Day, Saturday, Nice 'N' Sleazy, Noon-11.30pm, free upstairs, £6 downstairs after 8pm. At Mono, 9am–late, free.
