SUBSTANCE SECOND BIRTHDAY - ALTERN 8 | NEIL LANDSTRUMM | SUBHEAD | LORY D

Event information

ALTERN8 'Full On Mask Hysteria' from the Original Rave Legends
NEIL LANDSTRUMM LIVE PA! Hardware electronics from the UK Master (Scandinavia, Tresor, Planet Mu, Mosquito)
SUBHEAD LIVE PA! Nu-skool techno from Jason Leach (Tresor, Subhead, Sativae, Neue Heimat) (Fix UK, Mercurochrome, Death to Vinyl, Don't, Input-Output)
LORY D LIVE PA from Rome - 'The Prince of Italian Acid' (Rephlex, Sounds Never Seen, Wireblock)
+ resident GAVIN RICHARDSON (Substance)

www.myspace.com/edinburghsubstance
www.thecavesedinburgh.com
Visuals from the excellent Pointless Creations www.pointlesscreations.co.uk

It goes without saying that we are massively proud to present our second birthday lineup, which brings together four headliners who all have a wealth of experience, having contributed massively over a sustained period of time. Each is worthy of true 'legendary' status in their respective camps, from the old-school rave of Altern-8 and Aphex-endorsed Roman ambassador Lory D, to the unparalleled live techno genius of Subhead and the techno-dubstep-rave fusion that is Neil Landstrumm.

ALTERN-8 – Full on mask hysteria from the original rave legends!

In the early 1990s, Mark Archer and Chris Peat created one of the greatest legends in the history of dance music: Altern8.

A fundamental component of the hardcore rave scene, they mixed breakbeats, acid frequencies and powerful rhythms with now classic samples … think 'Top One, Nice One, Get Sorted', which simultaneously captured the mood of the happy rave scene and, in slipping by sensors, properly stuck two fingers up at the over-zealous authorities.

Alongside the unmistakable image based around RAF chemical warfare suits and gas masks, and riding the mass social movement that was Rave, they stormed the UK charts in 1991 with top-10 tracks such as 'Infiltrate 202', 'Activ-8' (unbelievably, a No.3 smash), 'Frequency' and 'Evapor-8'…unquestionably, these were among the biggest tunes around, and remain some of the most iconic and enduring of the era.

This huge success came hand in hand with their omnipresent Live PA performances at all the major events/clubs/raves of the day – hugely eye catching performances MC MkOne and a troupe of resident dancers (and on one occasion, an actual shamen), which defined and reflected the collective, chaotic spirit of the time.

Indeed, Altern8 were inseparable from the many myths and publicity stunts, which ranged from Vicks' Vapo-Rub and spiked audience-distributed pastries to alleged Master Tape burning, General Election candidacies and infamous impromptu car park raves/video shootings.

Always 'ave-in it, their music has taken on revitalised meaning in the context of rave's re-introduction into the UK underground. Favourites of the London club/festival sensation Bangface, and causing a fair stir at Sonar 2007, Altern-8 (Archer & MkOne)'s Substance appearance should not be missed...

NEIL LANDSTRUMM LIVE (Scandinavia, Tresor, Planet Mu, Mosquito)

A stalwart of the UK electronic music scene since 1994, Neil Landstrumm has released work on many of the most recognised labels in the industry. Starting with Peacefrog, shifting gears to Berlins' Tresor Records, he then upped the bass-game onto arguably the UKs' most important electronic label of the moment, Planet Mu.

Neil Landstrumm is an artist who always seems to be at the spearhead of experimental, dancehall low frequency electronics. After a lengthy sabbatical in New York, the native Scot is now settled back in Edinburgh where he continues to make music and operate his label project, Scandinavia.

Neil has toured relentlessly worldwide, supporting each year's releases with uncompromising live shows using a plethora of sound hardware. Never an artist to rest on his laurels and churn out the same old, he has built a career on being unpredictable and open to new perspectives from which to hone his sound. A pioneer of new styles within techno, often copied and imitated, Landstrumm has a strong pedigree within the scene. Unaligned to any one genre, upfront and heavy, he makes music for all-comers to the rave.

Landstrumm heads into 2008 with refreshing abandon after 2007's critically acclaimed LP released on Planet Mu records called "Restaurant of Assassins". With the heaviest subs this side of Chapeltown, Landstrumm seeks new lows with "Restaurant of Assasins" bringing together classic UK techno vibes and modern dubstep with a refreshed rave sensibility. Neil hijacks dubstep structure and its "on-the-three's" approach, but adapts it to his signature sound so identifiable from the decades previous productions.

Undeniably proud of the UK's heritage in electronic music and clearly passionate about the influences in his musical ouput, Landstrumm has a talent for bringing it all together in unusual and creative packages. Chasing the Great Northern Raves from the Happy Mondays and Yorkshire Bass N Bleep scene, to contemporary dubstep you can follow Landstrumms' vision of the ravestep sound in 2007 with "Restaurant of Assassins". An unsettling cartel of badman and plain wrong-uns….. It's live hardware electronics at it's very best.

SUBHEAD LIVE! (Jason Leach) (Tresor, Subhead, Sativae, Fix UK, Death to Vinyl, Neue Heimat, Mercurochrome, Don't, Input-Output)

As a solo artist, Jason Leach has released on his own Death to Vinyl, Fix UK and Subhead imprints, alongside his work for Mercurochrome, Input Output Inc. and Don't. In total, Leach stands on a discography of well over 100 records (yes, vinyl records), having also been involved in several notable collaborations. Indeed, he founded the revered techno group Subhead with Phil Wells (aka DJ Sueme), who sadly passed away in December 2007.

"Shrugging off self-promotion and magazine coverage adds to their (Subhead's) anonymity while intense live-performances have built devoted followings worldwide for anyone seeking Art on the right angle: Punk rock while pure Techno." (Tresor Berlin) "Originally meeting in Shoreditch East London as dispatch riders, their melding of minds cranked up the Subhead warehouse party circuit in 1995 while giving birth to the Subhead label (appropriately aboard a Russian nuclear submarine). That year also brought in third-Subhead Jamie Lidell (Super_Collider) where notorious studio sessions quickly hammered out a raccous catalog of the first Subhead releases ("Punchy but weird...like us" - Phil Wells).

Subhead's embrace and strangulation of hard-edged technology falls into no category or school, dropping only hints at Hip-Hop, Breakbeat, Freestyle and Electro backgrounds besides the obvious Techno functions. For spotters of Vogel, Landstrumm, Si Begg and Captain Beefheart, Subhead deeply delivers scalding but quirky and pumping raw funk-powered Hip-Hop hi-hat battles for the speaker phreaks. The music is as abstract as the people behind it with do-it-yourself indie-know-how letting the tracks speak for themselves (as tough and loud as they want it). Gigging and putting out the latest Subhead sessions themselves have kept hardcore followers intrigued with Jason and Phil's uncomprimising art of invisibility.

Underground and as tough and loud as Leach and Wells are known, Subhead's art attack breaks the dancefloor standards with everything between sampladelic freestyle and raucous bottomline Techno. Unbelieveable while totally understandable." Tresor Berlin

Performing solo, Jason will carry on the Subhead torch at Substance, fittingly closing off proceedings with that trademark techno sound.

LORY D LIVE! (Rome / Rephlex, Sounds Never Seen, Wireblock)

Lory D is one of the true unsung heroes of Techno.

The Italian producer and label owner of Sounds Never Seen, Lory D is a much bigger figure in his homeland than abroad. Indeed, Lory D is a name you will find missing from the list of celebrated dark techno producers, e.g. Jeff Mills, The Mover, Lenny Dee and the Aphex Twin, although his music is just as essential. He's an ex Italian D.M.C champion who was an active participant in Rome's clubbing scene since the late '80s, playing to crowds of 10,000+ at the birth of the acid house explosion in Italy and in the process, achieving full legendary status in his homeland.

Rephlex snapped up Lory D for 2003's Sounds Never Seen, with the first in a barrage of releases intended as a didactic return to the dancefloor. SNS collected the highlights from the impossible-to-find early releases of Lory's back catalog –and made them widely available. Indeed, the 'Prince of Italian Acid' has been admired by everyone from Richard D James to the Skam possee for some time, his dark blend of electroid tweaking and old skool percussion providing some killer dancefloor moves in the darkest possible way. From the opening "Deep From Colosseum" right through to the closing "Fludoiscki," the music scalds both ears and soul through an unrelenting barrage of thumping kick drums and squigglingly acidic lead lines which launch heated attacks on dirty electro rhythms before turning on themselves in an explosion of computer-generated chaos". (Kingsley Marshall, All Music Guide)

Together with Rephlex label-mates, Leo Anibaldi, Bochum Welt and the D'Arcangelo brothers, Lory D best represents the sound of Italy, or even the 'sound of Rome', since 1991. Having just built his 6th studio, Lory's 17 years of experience can be heard in the depth of his new productions on Glasgow's Wireblock label. Analogue synth squelches and rattling drum boxes combine with razor sharp edits and twisted computer madness - creating fearless music aimed at the dancefloor.