Defected isn’t just hitting Ibiza’s most exciting new club once this summer, but twice. Tuesday nights at Booom are already rocking to Defected In The House’s contemporary club beat. Saturdays, however, are all about Glitterbox and the heady rush of classic and contemporary house music. But Glitterbox is actually more than that, taking an assured step back from the day-to-day trending of the global dance scene and sharing a bigger, more exhilarating picture with swathes of thrill-seeking revellers.
Glitterbox’s raison d’etre is, most importantly, fun – feel-good expression without the usual short-term stylistic boundaries and restrictive opinions that clubland usually imposes upon the dancefloor. The party is open to all, delivering pure energy and emotion through its epic, wide-ranging soundtrack of roof-raising grooves. And steering the good ship is a succession of DJ masters, whose ability to generate unique and powerful atmosphere is without question.
Engaged residents Joey Negro, Aussie sensation Late Nite Tuff Guy and Dimitri From Paris compliment a heavyweight and extra-special line-up of guests including peerless veterans David Morales, Arthur Baker, Mousse T and DJ Pippi, the inimitable Hercules And Love Affair and Horse Meat Disco, and dynamic Belgian duo FCL – currently storming 2014. Glitterbox began on 7 June and has already built an impressive head of steam as it swings its way to 27 September’s grand closing party.
And you, the reveller, are going to be able to lose yourself in an incredible party unlike anything else on the island. Blending soul and creativity, mixing elder statesmen with exuberant young bucks, injecting the important lessons of dance music’s past with 21st century sass (and a little glamour,) Glitterbox is very much a box of delights.
To prepare you for the delights that Glitterbox has to offer, here’s Part 1 of our roll-call of Glitterbox’s major movers ‘n’ shakers .
Hercules And Love Affair
Edgy jack-house and deep, soul-searching song-craft combine in your typical Hercules And Love Affair live show. Andy Butler’s switched-on New York collective is renowned for working with a wide variety of vocalists, its regularly changing line-up reflecting an ever evolving but always striking sound. The kaleidoscopic vision of most recent albums Blue Songs and Feast Of The Broken Heart has translated well on stage, pumping rhythms and soulful vocals a match made in heaven.
Kenny Dope
A ‘Master At Work’, renowned for his long-term double act with Louie Vega in both studio and DJ booth. Dope, a beat geek as comfortable with gritty Bronx hip-hop as he is fluid samba-house, is one of house music’s biggest pioneers and most impactful ambassadors. Killer productions as Bucketheads, Nu Yorican Soul and MAW (to name but a few aliases) mirror the soul and intensity of his regular international gigs. Dope indeed....
Joey Negro
AKA London house don Dave Lee. DJ sets from Negro keenly reflect Lee’s extensive love of up-tempo music, sweeping animatedly between vocal soul-house and deep tech via rare, jazz-funk and even hip-hop. It’s no surprise that he tours the globe regularly but very much a surprise that he finds the time to lengthen his acclaimed discography under so many aliases. Lee was one of the first artists to weave disco samples into house music and has released a string of superior productions over the past three decades including Make A Move On Me, Can’t Get High Without You and (with Horse Meat Disco) Candidate For Love.
Dimitri From Paris
The super-chic DJ-producer rode the new wave of French house music in the early Nineties and never looked back. His colourful club sets, rooted in the finest dance music are the stuff of modern-day legend, a swaggering mix of high-quality groove and charming personality. Albums (most notably 1996’s Sacrebleu), and countless remixes (think D-Train, Stetsasonic, Ron Hall & MuthaFunkaz) have added to the incredible Dimitri phenomenon.
Late Nite Tuff Guy
Aussie edit maverick Cam Bianchetti made his early career running as ‘godfather of Australian techno’ HMC but today’s dominant alias, Late Nite Tuff Guy, is anything but. Bianchetti has rediscovered his passionate teenage love of classic house and soul, channelling it into increasingly revelatory house-tempo DJ sets across Europe and Asia. Expect the Glitterbox resident to drop plenty of his cult re-edits, superior re-awakenings of everyone from Roland Clark to Michael McDonald recorded specially for the road. One to watch and ruthlessly shake your behind to....
FCL
Belgian duo San Soda and Red D’s exciting house project FCL is something to behold. Riding the momentum of hit singles It’s You and Holding Our Nick (not to mention upcoming track We Can Try), FCL has refined its special commitment to discerning house music for the masses – expect the same beautifully-considered splice of underground bite and crossover gloss for the duo’s appearances at Booom.
David Morales
Brooklyn boy Morales has been in the club game for over 25 years now, firmly positioned at house music’s top table. DJ legend Larry Levan first spotted his potential, Morales eventually establishing himself as a regular at iconic clubs Paradise Garage, The Loft and Sound Factory. Epic, superstar sets, balancing soulful smoothness with percussive edge, compliment an extensive discography incorporating global chart hits, award-winning remixes and a timeless Def Mix partnership with the late Frankie Knuckles.
DJ Pippi
One of Ibiza’s true originals, Italian-born Pippi played Pacha and Ku (pre-Privilege) during the Eighties and helped establish the island as clubland’s pumping epicentre – a position it still holds to this day. Pippi has lived in Ibiza for nearly 30 years now, as close as anyone can be to the unique summer spirit that makes partying there so magical. Expect the unexpected – the very essence of Glitterbox.
Horse Meat Disco
London’s crack disco squad – James Hillard, Jim Stanton, Luke Howard and Severino – has quickly established itself as a global funk force to be reckoned with, its raw fusion of recent and aged disco and disco nuggets, and other deep dance treasures, a potent weapon of seduction. That Horse Meat Disco’s selections are usually crate-dug exclusives hardly matters; it is the quartet’s uncanny knack for feel-good bump ‘n’ hustle that means everything to those sweaty hordes out on the floor.
Mousse T
Mousse T is officially back in the frame after the late Nineties and early Noughties’ highs of Horny and Sex Bomb. Recent boss remixes of FCL and gigs with close friend Loco Dice have re-captured both his and clubland’s imagination and now there is the prospect of an exclusive Glitterbox appearance on 5 July, as well as a new house-focused album at the start of 2015. T, whose knack for funk-fuelled dancefloor shizzle has never really gone away, promises so, so much in Ibiza. Be excited....
Arthur Baker
Producer of Planet Rock (Afrika Bambaataa and The Soulsonic Force) and IOU (Freez), mainstream remixer of Cyndi Lauper and Bruce Springsteen, collaborator with Bob Dylan, New Order (remember Blue Monday?) and the Rolling Stones... Baker, with his pioneering use of music tech and sampling, literally made dance music history during the Eighties. His profile has continued to motor since then and whilst famously admitting to a lack of patience for DJing in his early career he now finds his long-held mixing skills more in demand than ever.
CJ Mackintosh
DJing is in CJ’s blood. He was running south London soundsystems with his brother at the age of 15, playing a mix of soulful, uptempo sounds, before progressing to DMC Mix titles, input on M/A/R/R/S’ global crossover smash Pump Up The Volume (check the scratching), a string of major remixes during the mid-Nineties and a stellar residency at Ministry Of Sound. CJ has continued to dazzle international crowds with his stylish yet forthright DJ style, pushing the widest possible spectrum of soulful house goodness to a consistently high, and totally infectious standard.
Glitterbox is at Booom Ibiza every Saturday throughout the season - click for full event listings
For more info on Glitterbox at Booom Ibiza visit www.glitterboxibiza.com
