While most are still taking it easy after New Year celebrations, canny Scots are gearing up for Burns Night. What’s that, you ask? It’s an annual celebration of Scots poet Robert Burns’ life and work. Held on his birthday each year, it’s a night of haggis, whisky and poetry. And it involves some rather strange traditions over supper involving a haggis. Everyone raises a toast to the haggis after it’s been ceremoniously carried in to the sound of the bagpipes. Weird lot, the Scots.
In a nutshell, Burns Night – on 25th January – is an excuse for a party dating back hundreds of years. Somewhere along the way, Scots – thankfully – became more enamoured with basslines than bagpipes. ‘Scotland the Brave’ became ‘Scotland the Rave’.
These days, a true Scot never leaves a club or festival early. Partying is in their blood, the evolution of the Scottish party animal fuelled by the great artists and promoters to emerge from the small nation. Here are 12 reasons why your Scottish friend prefers basslines to bagpipes…
1. Annie Lennox OBE
Scotswoman Annie Lennox and The Eurhythmics were one of the first success stories of the ’80s electronic music boom. Moving away from the tried and tested formula of ’70s rock, their inclusion of drum machines and synthesizers resulted in tracks such as Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This). It climbed to No.2 in the UK charts and hit the top spot on the US Billboard Hot 100. With a slew of remixes turned in over the years, the track is never too far from the dancefloor.
2. The Shamen
Scots band The Shamen – later joined by Mr C – were instrumental in dance music crossing over to pop mainstream in the ’90s. With chart-bothering releases such as Move Any Mountain (1991) and Ebeneezer Goode (1992), the band joined the dots between the acid house movement and the Top 40 charts.
3. Boards of Canada
Boards of Canada – aka Edinburgh brothers Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin – is often considered the benchmark in ambient and leftfield electronica. Signed to Autechre’s Skam imprint and later Warp, their output quickly rose to cult status thanks in large to their debut album Music Has The Right To Children, released in 1998.
4. The Sub Club
Opening in 1987, ‘The Subby’ is the longest-running underground club in the world. Founder Mike Grieve and his team have been at the forefront of the Scottish music scene ever since. Many top artists have descended those stairs at 22 Jamaica Street, Glasgow, but most noteworthy is perhaps Primal Scream who played their first gig there.
5. Mylo
In 2004, Isle of Skye native Myles Macinnes exploded on to the electronic music scene with his album Destroy Rock & Roll. Released on the Breastfed label, it propelled Mylo from house clubs into the UK charts. His biggest hit to date is his reworking of his Drop The Pressure track, which he fused with samples from Miami Sound Machine’s Dr Beat to produce Doctor Pressure.
6. Streetrave and Colours
Streetrave and Colours events have introduced electronic music to generations of Scottish clubbers. Launched in 1989, early Streetrave parties at Ayr Pavilion, Prestwick Airport and Ayr Ice Rink are the stuff of legend, while sister brand Colours chalked up its 25th anniversary last year. From intimate club events to huge raves, promoter Ricky Magowan and his crew have delivered the lot, adding Colours Classical, with the Scottish Festival Orchestra, to their arsenal of unmissable gigs in recent years. They’ve been keeping their party faithful sane in recent months with excellent DJ streams too.
7. Calvin Harris
Following first singles Acceptable in the ’80s and The Girls, Calvin Harris released his debut album, I Created Disco, in June 2007. Since then his success has traced a high arcing curve that has seen the Scotsman elevated to superstar status, becoming the first EDM posterboy along the way. Having worked with music’s biggest artists, like Kylie Minogue and Rihanna, in 2014 award-winning Harris became the first British solo artist to reach one billion streams on Spotify.
8. Terminal V
Terminal V festival is the brainchild of Derek Martin (Musika and Progression) and Simon McGrath (Xplicit). Launched in 2017, the twice-annual event has grown to become one of Scotland’s biggest electronic festivals, attracting 20,000 music fiends to hear dozens of cutting-edge DJs playing over five main stages. The festival’s unrivalled booking policy makes it a must for any Scottish raver, with Richie Hawtin claiming: “Terminal V reminded me why Edinburgh is a pure techno city. Incredible!” Terminal V’s first ever two-day festival is scheduled for 3rd & 4th April 2021.
9. Slam
Put simply, Slam DJs Stuart McMillan and Orde Meikle are national treasures in Scotland. Firstly, for their club nights Joy and Pressure, later for co-founding Soma Quality Recordings and, of course, the Slam Tent at T in the Park. The duo’s track Positive Education (1993) is a bona fide techno classic.
10. Optimo
The pairing of DJs Twitch and Jonnie Wilkes as Optimo has been instrumental in helping the Scottish club scene not take itself too seriously. Their club night of the same name is legendary in Glasgow and beyond where they mix up techno, electro, rock and any other genre they damn well please.
11. The Rhumba Club
It’s the crowd that makes the party and Rhumba club’s loyal fans – both in Perth and Dundee – sure know how to have it. The club credits the Rhumba faithful with holding the club together since its launch in 1991. It once described its crowd as “the intricate silk stitching that stopped the ar*e falling out of the sparkling dancing trousers”.
12. Soma Quality Recordings
Co-founded by Glenn Gibbons, Jim Muotune, Dave Clarke, Stuart McMillan and Orde Meikle, Soma Recordings is home to Slam, Deepchord, Clouds, Gary Beck, Rebekah and Ilario Alicante. The likes of Alex Smoke, Silicone Soul and Ewan Pearson have also released on the label. The Glasgow imprint is famously the first label to release Daft Punk’s hit Da Funk.
Main Photo: Terminal V
