UK

This Friday (5th of February) Selecta Bros and Nils Hess take over Work Bar in Angel, London.

Selecta Bros consists of A Guy Called Gerald and JB, a duo with well over 25 years of experience in dance music. 

A Guy Called Gerald was one of the many DJs who helped the UK dance music scene explode in the late 80s. He is the first UK acid house producer and the first producer to have two instrumental dance tracks in the UK charts at the same time. He also collabrated with many other muscians including the late David Bowie who he produced a remix for.

Making it as a successful DJ is a tough gig. It takes commitment, passion and most of all, persistence. No one knows this better than London-based DJ/producer Kiwi (aka Alex Warren), he's gone from booth sideliner to international selector in just two short years.

It's thanks to his dogged determination that he's managed to break away from the pack, coupled with a knack for crafting cuts that have usurped many of his more experienced contemporaries.

Duran Duran, The Chemical Brothers and Missy Elliot... Bestival's headline acts are always huge and this year is no different. The past has seen the likes of Stevie Wonder, Kraftwerk and Bjork rock the main stage, which is closer to the size of Glasto's third biggest one (West Holts).

Heading along the winding countryside roads of Abbots Ripton, after stocking up on Strongbow at the nearby Tesco, Gardeners like ourselves meet playful signs... 'Imagination Station, Actual Facts Not Welcome' and 'Mental Gym Next Left, Exercise Your Demons'.

And imagination is what Secret Garden Party encourages most. All it takes is one walk around the festival site and a few glances at the fancy dress choices — whoopee cushions, blow up bananas, Crayola crayons and a family of Smurfs, among countless others — to lose yourself in a world of childish silliness (this year's theme).

Having cranked open its doors back in 1991, this year Ministry of Sound is turning 24, and this Saturday 19th September the Elephant & Castle nightclub is putting on a very special night to celebrate.

LONDON
HIGH FIVE

When millions tuned into the BBC to watch Mary J Blige cry her eyes out on the Pyramid Stage on the BBC last month — “no more dramaaaa!” — little did they know (or care) that, just a few hundred yards either side of her, there was enough dance debauchery to fill Fabric, SW4 and Secret Garden Party three times over — at least. Or that this jaded dance hack was also in the crowd wearing a poncho, also in tears, blaming it on the rain.

Made up of recycled military hardware and founded in 2007, if you haven't experienced the mind-blowing spectacle of Arcadia's spider stage you simply haven't lived!