OPTIMO LOVES YOUR EARS
‘Who that JD Twitch dude may be?’, I hear all you nitwits think. ‘What’s Optimo?’. ‘And isn’t Glasgow some kind of equivalent of a dull industrial belgian city?’ Yeah, maybe you’re right about the dull city, although I highly doubt it, since there’s very much going on, especially on the musical level (the city even won the most ridiculous competition, ever!):
Glasgow, the city that brought us Franz Ferdinand, Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai, Primal Scream, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Shitdisco, David Byrne, Wet Wet Wet, Aztec Camera, Teenage Fanclub, Arab Strap, Biffy Clyro, Glasvegas, El Presidente, Paulo Nutini, Stapleton, The Fratellis, Texas, Eddi Reader, Simple Minds, Hue & Cry, The Retrosexuals, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Del Amitri, Snow Patrol, Jimmy Somerville, The Supernaturals, The Trash Can Sinatras, Lloyd Cole, Amy MacDonald, Travis, Midge Ure, Darius Danesh, Gun, Uncle John & Whitelock, David Sneddon, The Twilight Sad, Strawberry Switchblade, Uresei Yatsura, The 1990s, Orange Juice, Lulu, AC Acoustics and many others, has been named the world centre of music by UN cultural organisation, Unesco.
Research carried out by the organisation has discovered that an average of 127 musical events take place in the city each week. The city's music industry employs 2,922 people and is worth £74.6 million. It also has a venue called King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, which is most likely what swung it.
Rad! Nonetheless, that’s something that can’t be said from Charleroi, or any other Belgian city (although some Gantois like to think so). Anyways.
What’s Optimo (Espacio)?
In november 1997, a certain JG Wilkes and a certain JD Twitch start a clubnight in Glasgow, and they name it after one of the most amazing dance tracks in musical history (the ‘Espacio’ part in the name apparently comes from a sketch in The Fast Show). The club got founded as a reaction to the belly button orientated techno scene that reigned the town at the time (hey brussels!), and went by the principle of a very diverse, open minded, musical policy, as long as things stay adventurous and interesting. After some initial struggling, the club suddenly started to BOOM big time at the end of the nineties, and the Optimo star hasn’t stopped rising ever since. Livebands, vinyl, samplers, laptops, everything (“from moldy old funk tracks to modern indie to hardcore acid to ragga dancehall”, thank you Pitchfork) gets thrown in the mix for a better outcome. You should make sure to check out optimodotcodotuk, as it has tons of interesting things for your reading & listening pleasure (after all, Optimo loves your ears!).
Twitch & Wilkes’ discography starts to look quite impressive, with excellent mix-cd’s on Tigersushi (including a blistering second disc), Eskimo (the excellent Psyche Out mix that alternates between acid house, sleazy funk & psychedelic rock... Oh hey, check the third song, it’s awesome!) and Endless Flight (the very experimental Walkabout mix).
Who’s JD Twitch?
JD Twitch (also known as Keith McIvor) is one half of the Optimo deejays, as you should’ve read by now. Back in thee days, Twitch started out as a house and techno deejay, but quite fast he figured out that he wanted to do more, musically, than what was going on everywhere else. That’s when he founded Optimo, asking Wilkes to join him for the ride. After some years, our dearest JD started using a sampler called Roland. Later on he changed Roland for a laptop. Lots of people do think this is cheating, and against the essence of deejaying, but hey: when sir Bawb Dylan started playing the electric guitar, people also called him a cheater. It’s not that I want to compare our guest with Bob, but using laptops is more than okay as long as the outcome is superior to what’s considered normal mixing. And after all: he’s doing everything live, it’s not about pressing the play button with ready-to-use edits. Besides his more than full-time Optimo job, Twitch also made numerous (fantastic) remixes and produces under the name of Betty Botox. We’ve asked Twitch to come over to Brussels, because we cannot recall all the good times we’ve had while dancing, because of him. Every single time, we had an amazing time. You can cheer, you can sweat, you can dance, you can singalong, anything. I guarantee you’ll lose your head, and party without dignity & inhibition!
Especially for you, here’s the Optimo Essential mix from a while back, because it represents quite well the kind of deejay-set you can expect for next friday (allthough this mix is a wee bit easier than an Optimo deejay set). Enjoy!
Tracklist:
Jesse Jackson: "Intro"
The Jellies: "Jive Baby on a Saturday Night" (Marathon)
Prinzhorn Dance School: "You Are the Space Invader" (DFA)
The Bar Kays: "Holy Ghost" (Stax)
The Staple Singers: "Slippery People" (Epic)
Chic: "Good Times" (Atlantic Records)
Troublefunk: "Drop the Bomb" (Sugarhill Records)
Prince: "Sign 'O' the Times" (WEA/Paisley Park)
LCD Soundsytem: "45.33 part 1" (DFA)
Altz: "Max Motion" (Zi-Koo)
UnknownmiX: "The Siren (Lo Soul's Hot Edit)" (Playhouse)
Dondolo: "Dragon (Shit Robot Firebreathing Remix)" (Tiny Sticks Records)
The Gossip: "Standing In The Way of Control (Playgroup Dub)" (Back Yard)
Depeche Mode: "The Sinner in Me (Ricardo Villalobos Conclace Remix)" (Mute)
Ricardo Villalobos: "Fizheuer Zieheuer" (Playhouse)
Hansepferd: "BismarkE" (Nobistor)
Saint Ibot: "White Night" (Tendenzen Freier Entfaltung)
Marc Houle: "Bay of Figs" (M-nus)
Paul Johnson: "Rubber Band" (Dust Traxx)
Sparks: "Beat the Clock" (12 Inch Stars)
Kenlou: "Sensational Beats" (MAW)
Bumblebee Unlimited: "Lady Bug" (Red Greg/Unidisc)
Lindstrom: "The Contemporary Fix" (Feedelity)
Hot Chip: "No Fit State" (DFA/EMI)
The Rapture: "Get Myself Into It" (Vertigo)
X Vectors: "Your Love"
Love Is All: "Busy Doing Nothing (An Optimo (Espacio) Remix)" (Parlophone)
Divine: "Shake It Up" (Break Records)
Bobby O: "She Has a Way (Glimmers Edit)" (O Records)
Yello: "Bostich (Reese Uptempo Mix)" (Mercury)
Mala: "Left Leg Out" (DMZ)
Neu!: "Hallogallo (Mary Hill Rework)" (Brain)
Grauzone: "Eisbar" (Welt-Rekord)
Crass: "Bloody Revolutions" (Crass Records)
The Celestial Choir: "Stand on the Word" (Larry)
Glasgow, the city that brought us Franz Ferdinand, Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai, Primal Scream, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Shitdisco, David Byrne, Wet Wet Wet, Aztec Camera, Teenage Fanclub, Arab Strap, Biffy Clyro, Glasvegas, El Presidente, Paulo Nutini, Stapleton, The Fratellis, Texas, Eddi Reader, Simple Minds, Hue & Cry, The Retrosexuals, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Del Amitri, Snow Patrol, Jimmy Somerville, The Supernaturals, The Trash Can Sinatras, Lloyd Cole, Amy MacDonald, Travis, Midge Ure, Darius Danesh, Gun, Uncle John & Whitelock, David Sneddon, The Twilight Sad, Strawberry Switchblade, Uresei Yatsura, The 1990s, Orange Juice, Lulu, AC Acoustics and many others, has been named the world centre of music by UN cultural organisation, Unesco.
Research carried out by the organisation has discovered that an average of 127 musical events take place in the city each week. The city's music industry employs 2,922 people and is worth £74.6 million. It also has a venue called King Tuts Wah Wah Hut, which is most likely what swung it.
Rad! Nonetheless, that’s something that can’t be said from Charleroi, or any other Belgian city (although some Gantois like to think so). Anyways.
What’s Optimo (Espacio)?In november 1997, a certain JG Wilkes and a certain JD Twitch start a clubnight in Glasgow, and they name it after one of the most amazing dance tracks in musical history (the ‘Espacio’ part in the name apparently comes from a sketch in The Fast Show). The club got founded as a reaction to the belly button orientated techno scene that reigned the town at the time (hey brussels!), and went by the principle of a very diverse, open minded, musical policy, as long as things stay adventurous and interesting. After some initial struggling, the club suddenly started to BOOM big time at the end of the nineties, and the Optimo star hasn’t stopped rising ever since. Livebands, vinyl, samplers, laptops, everything (“from moldy old funk tracks to modern indie to hardcore acid to ragga dancehall”, thank you Pitchfork) gets thrown in the mix for a better outcome. You should make sure to check out optimodotcodotuk, as it has tons of interesting things for your reading & listening pleasure (after all, Optimo loves your ears!).
Twitch & Wilkes’ discography starts to look quite impressive, with excellent mix-cd’s on Tigersushi (including a blistering second disc), Eskimo (the excellent Psyche Out mix that alternates between acid house, sleazy funk & psychedelic rock... Oh hey, check the third song, it’s awesome!) and Endless Flight (the very experimental Walkabout mix).
Who’s JD Twitch?
JD Twitch (also known as Keith McIvor) is one half of the Optimo deejays, as you should’ve read by now. Back in thee days, Twitch started out as a house and techno deejay, but quite fast he figured out that he wanted to do more, musically, than what was going on everywhere else. That’s when he founded Optimo, asking Wilkes to join him for the ride. After some years, our dearest JD started using a sampler called Roland. Later on he changed Roland for a laptop. Lots of people do think this is cheating, and against the essence of deejaying, but hey: when sir Bawb Dylan started playing the electric guitar, people also called him a cheater. It’s not that I want to compare our guest with Bob, but using laptops is more than okay as long as the outcome is superior to what’s considered normal mixing. And after all: he’s doing everything live, it’s not about pressing the play button with ready-to-use edits. Besides his more than full-time Optimo job, Twitch also made numerous (fantastic) remixes and produces under the name of Betty Botox. We’ve asked Twitch to come over to Brussels, because we cannot recall all the good times we’ve had while dancing, because of him. Every single time, we had an amazing time. You can cheer, you can sweat, you can dance, you can singalong, anything. I guarantee you’ll lose your head, and party without dignity & inhibition!
Especially for you, here’s the Optimo Essential mix from a while back, because it represents quite well the kind of deejay-set you can expect for next friday (allthough this mix is a wee bit easier than an Optimo deejay set). Enjoy!
Tracklist:
Jesse Jackson: "Intro"
The Jellies: "Jive Baby on a Saturday Night" (Marathon)
Prinzhorn Dance School: "You Are the Space Invader" (DFA)
The Bar Kays: "Holy Ghost" (Stax)
The Staple Singers: "Slippery People" (Epic)
Chic: "Good Times" (Atlantic Records)
Troublefunk: "Drop the Bomb" (Sugarhill Records)
Prince: "Sign 'O' the Times" (WEA/Paisley Park)
LCD Soundsytem: "45.33 part 1" (DFA)
Altz: "Max Motion" (Zi-Koo)
UnknownmiX: "The Siren (Lo Soul's Hot Edit)" (Playhouse)
Dondolo: "Dragon (Shit Robot Firebreathing Remix)" (Tiny Sticks Records)
The Gossip: "Standing In The Way of Control (Playgroup Dub)" (Back Yard)
Depeche Mode: "The Sinner in Me (Ricardo Villalobos Conclace Remix)" (Mute)
Ricardo Villalobos: "Fizheuer Zieheuer" (Playhouse)
Hansepferd: "BismarkE" (Nobistor)
Saint Ibot: "White Night" (Tendenzen Freier Entfaltung)
Marc Houle: "Bay of Figs" (M-nus)
Paul Johnson: "Rubber Band" (Dust Traxx)
Sparks: "Beat the Clock" (12 Inch Stars)
Kenlou: "Sensational Beats" (MAW)
Bumblebee Unlimited: "Lady Bug" (Red Greg/Unidisc)
Lindstrom: "The Contemporary Fix" (Feedelity)
Hot Chip: "No Fit State" (DFA/EMI)
The Rapture: "Get Myself Into It" (Vertigo)
X Vectors: "Your Love"
Love Is All: "Busy Doing Nothing (An Optimo (Espacio) Remix)" (Parlophone)
Divine: "Shake It Up" (Break Records)
Bobby O: "She Has a Way (Glimmers Edit)" (O Records)
Yello: "Bostich (Reese Uptempo Mix)" (Mercury)
Mala: "Left Leg Out" (DMZ)
Neu!: "Hallogallo (Mary Hill Rework)" (Brain)
Grauzone: "Eisbar" (Welt-Rekord)
Crass: "Bloody Revolutions" (Crass Records)
The Celestial Choir: "Stand on the Word" (Larry)
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