Club recommendations

Sussed!

It's in Oxford though.

To expand slightly - concept of Sussed is indie and pop. DJ Carsmile plays indie and mostly avoids the well-trodden classics (no Oasis, no Roses, occasionally Blur) in favour of softer indie-pop sounds, with some older pop classics (eg Bowie!). DJ Cockfarmer meanwhile plays chat-pop and hip-hop and detours occasionally into 80s indie and punk. It's monthly in Oxford, and the next night is on the 10th.

As a matter of general curiosity.......How the hell do you guys go to Indie clubs? I think they're so so shite. Not because of the music, or at least not just because of the music but because I have a theory that anyone who is musically intolerant enough to have to have indie music at a club is not someone I want to share a dancefloor with. This is certainly the case with indie clubs for people of my age group anyway over here. They have become a refuge for people who want to keep their little indie clique together. I mean just because they're going out doesnt mean they have to like, "interact with people", ugh. So knowing you guys as I do, I trust that this club does not fit my description, it must be weird. The concept of a good indie club is alien to me.

I dont quite get it Ronan - why should you not play indie music at a club? It's not playing anything ELSE that pisses me off!

Trash @ The End is supposed to be good, although I have never been - also it is on Mondays.

I have seen some pictures in the past in Hot Tickets/Evening Standard and Time Out - and looks like it could be a good place for "pulling some top class skirt" as you mentioned.

Plus the mighty Killing Joke get a mention as being played.

Trash Club

Trash parties are now held every Monday @ The End, 16a West Central Street, WC1.

We also have a dress code which is really based on the effort people make and some people are turned away. Sorry, it isn't about being elitist but we appreciate the fact that we do have regulars and that they have made an effort and we acknowledge this by choosing to do this.

Musically, although we detest the word "eclectic", it does ring true in the sense that there really is no label to tie us to: as likely it is that'll we'll play the likes of Suede, Elastica, Daft Punk, Bowie, Strokes, Fall, MC5, Ramones, Peaches, The Clash, LRD, Belle & Sebastian, Smiths and Kraftwerk, we'll also drop some Cutty Ranks, DFI, Pet Shop Boys, White Stripes, Campag Velocet, Royal Trux, Phoenix, NWA, Armand Van Helden or some bizarre remix of something or other . Oh and probably some Prince, Blondie, Queen, Aphex Twin, Ladytron, Wire, Royk Sopp, Who and Killing Joke in there somewhere. See our charts for some kind of idea of where our minds are at the moment. We have a second room, hosted by Rory, which is focused on the more underground and experimental side of the alternative scene. This runs till midnight when the music from the main room is piped around all of the venue.

Trash has the benefit of being situated in the centre of London, if you have never been, and those who are not familiar with The End, then this map will prove useful.

The nearest tube station is Tottenham Court Road (Northern Line & Central Line) which is a mere 2 minutes walk to The End (walk towards Centrepoint, on New Oxford Street) and Holborn Tube (Central Line), which is also 2 minutes away. Every night bus runs from Trafalgar Square which is a 10 minute walk away and we'd recommend that you take licensed taxi's home instead of the mini cabs that hang around outside, we have the benefit of having a highly respected taxi rank situated right outside the club.

We open at 10pm and close at 3am. Entry is only £4 all night, unless stated otherwise. We also make sure that the bar prices are kept at a reasonable rate, a bottle of beer will only set you back £2 (cheaper than most pubs), spirits and mixers are also at £2.40. Bottles of beer are only £1.50 before 11pm do get in early. All drinks are quality brands

There is a cloakroom (£1) which will look after all your coats and bags, the second room has loads of couches to recline on if you just wanna relax and chat, water fountains for the thirsty and a large dancefloor with a big fuck-off digital PA system which has won various awards! All this with full air conditioning, incredible lighting and the most beautiful clientele anywhere in the world.

And finally, we hope you enjoy yourselves, which is why we are here.

It's the people it draws I guess I'm complaining about. As I said, in my experience it tends to be people who are so intolerant of anyone who doesnt dress like a fucking nutcase or something. All the indie clubs are marketed like that over here aswell, ads like "tired of mindless dance music", or "tired of hanging out with the crowd" and idiotic slogans like that. So you get all these faux-alternative Manics/Radiohead/whoever else obsessives there who don't really have much interest in anything other than their little indie kid gang. Needless to say I've no desire to talk to these sort of people.

Strange Fruit! Monthly upstairs at the Garage. Paul Strange, myself and a cast of thousands (well, OK, ten or so others) put on a couple of bands and play a mixture of off-kilter indie, pop and random other crap. There's a definite policy of steering away from mainstream nineties indie and I don't think any Stone Roses or Oasis has ever got played. All of us play different stuff, but as an example, my 11- 11:30 set last month went like this:
Go Betweens - Cattle And Cane
Tompaulin - My Life At The Movies
Broadcast - Come On Let's Go
Gonzales - Let's Groove Again
Avalanches - Electricity
Basement Jaxx - Romeo
New Order - Crystal
Belle And Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap.

I forgot to say: next month's is on the 13th, featuring The French Kicks and British Sea Power and it's £5 or £3 w/flyer. More details here

If your looking for something radical and different a new club night opening next month - Club Distortion - guaranteed NO trad indie rock/ indie pop/ chart pop / rap and RNB etc

Club Distortion

floor 3 "the core room" Hardcore / Punk (oldschool vs nu school) floor 2 "the terrorizer room" Black Metal / Death Metal / Thrash Metal / Grind / Industrial floor 1 "the chill out room" Ambient Noise / Post Rock / Darkwave / Techno

[Which floor for Pinefox anyone?]

Tonight I shall be going to 'Happy Thursdays' at the Opium Lounge in Romford, which I went to last week and boy oh boy is it an Indie Night. Not an indie night, an Indie Night. 'Kinky Afro'? Yes. 'The Only One I Know'? Yes. Smug playing of the full 12 minutes of 'I Am The Ressurection'? Yes. That uber-student disco James song that I don't know the name of but has the line 'and she only comes-ah when she's on top'? Yes. Tonight they have a Pearl Jam tribute band playing! Why in the name of all that is Holy am I going you may ask? Well, a)cheap beer, b)the amusement in seeing fat Oasis-bloke/beer- boys try to dance, and c)I have a minor cult following that seem to enjoy me being rude about music.

Re: Pearl Jam tribute band playing

[DG I feel sorry for you. I use to call them Porridge Jam in the early/ mid 90s as their music is thick, stodgy, lumpen - like horrid porridge with a dollop of sickly jam.]

That's the fun, Mr Martian - with a band as earnest as Pearl Jam, taking the piss is the only way to react, as it'll sure as hell wind up them fans.

yeah trash is alright actually....played eve +gwen stefani + loads of punk/eighties no wave or something/synth pop/electro. even played the dreaded TORTOISE!!!!!!!

as indie clubs go (although i've been to no other) i shouldnt imagine its like any other. or at least not like sheffield union indie nights. very glammed up/funky indie chic...

actually the best club is non*sense. everyone else has been plugging their nites so i feel no shame now. we play techno, hiphop, garage, eurythymics (i do) hardkore, electronica and some other shit. its free to get in, and theres free choclae brownies.

the grapes, trippet lane (heres the catch), SHEFFIELD. cos sheffield is the BEST.

we're doing one 4th october.

Cheers! I'll be checking some of this out. I only just noticed "The End" the other day when I "had to" go to a do at the AKA bar next door. Unofrtunately it seemed to be full of Nathan Barley types so I pissed off early.

I think I'll stay here, the view's nice.

Well I'm def sold on Trash. I particularly liked DJ Errol's chart: the Ronettes, Donna Summer, Nu Order, but most importantly "I can't wait" by Nu Shooz: fan- (and if you will) -tastic.

i still haven't been to Trash yet, but i will soon

I know exactly of what you speak in terms of trendy/overplayed tunes or the whole "scene" based thing which actively pisses me off. It seems it's either hours of crowd-pleasers or the whole "too-cool for school" approach. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground clubwise in my experience, and so I hope some of these suggestions prove me wrong.

Thanky kindly, R.

While we're in a "plugging" mood, I should mention a special night on Friday 12th of October called London Indie NYC, a kinda benefit thing prompted by events in America, with all proceeds going to the International Red Cross to help victims of terrorism (of all descriptions) around the world. It's at the Betsey Trotwood opposite the Guardian building, 8pm - 1am, only a fiver but with lots of other opportunities to contribute!

Best of all you get the creme de la creme of London's indie DJs, including people from Sussed, Strange Fruit and Track & Field. I've no idea how the music policy will pan out, but I'd almost guarantee it'll be a laugh. Seriously.

Check out http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LondonIndieNYC for more details, or if you want to help out.

Ronan, haven't we had this discussion before? You have the strangest definition of indie music I've ever come across.

What is chat pop?