Thanks to everyone who came along and the great bands that played last night at Synthetic. First up was Death Disco Club, a dynamic duo from Leeds who drew just about everyone from the bar (including the staff!) to see and hear their set of edgey indie-inspired electro. Listen out for the Knightrider sample... I'm quite sure you'll be seeing them again very soon.

Next the stage was cleared to make way for the 'wall of synths' that is WeirdGear. With the stage almost bowing under weight of the banks of analogue synths including the 'Hernia Box', the visual spectacle of the four guys playing these classic synths live, changing places, referring to notes and having a blast all added to the experience of hearing them. They achieve a contemporary sound using the familiar sounds of their classic gear. A very enjoyable set.

The good atmosphere of the evening was taken up another level by Touch, the next act to play, having travelled all the way from Cardiff. With soulful vocals and harmonies, vocoder chanting, calls and guitar solos over their solid electro tracks, they perform an entertaining and upbeat set. To be honest they blew us away - and it was their first gig! If there was anyone not smiling and dancing by the end of their set, I didn't notice...!

So how do you follow that? With Relation, a duo from Essex. I can't review Relation without mentioning New Order - clearly a major influence on them and certainly no bad thing. Their well-crafted songs combine dance rhythms with live keyboards and guitar, topped with emotive vocals. They are also regular remixers of other people's tracks, including WeirdGear, who's Coffee Girl received the Relation treatment and has been on rotation on my iPod and on my DJ playlist too. Pete Tong has been championing these guys for a while and now so does Synthetic!

Talking of which, this is what we played...

Orange Blossom - Cheft El Khof
JonTeknik - Mute Liberation
Shena - Electrosexual
Punx Soundcheck - Neo Burlesque (Replicant Mix)
WeirdGear - Coffee Girl
Soft Cell - Insecure Me
Kraftwerk - Spacelab
Trio - Da Da Da
Komputer - Valentina
Robyn - Who's That Girl?
The Knife - Heartbeats
Yazoo - Bring You Love Down (Didn't I)
Rialto - Anyone Out There?
New Order - Sub Culture

DEATH DISCO CLUB - LIVE SET

Red Blooded Women - Colour Me Dirty
A Girl With A Gun - I Eat Dance
Matinée Club - Discotheque Francais
Motorbikes In Tokyo - Dance To The Record Machine
MIA - Paper Plane
Gary Numan - Are Friends Electric
Client - In It For The Money

WEIRDGEAR - LVE SET

Fluke - Atom Bomb (Chemical Brothers Remix)
Electrovamp - I Don't Like The Vibe In The VIP
Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - Thou Shalt Always Kill
Cassette Electrik - The Smatest Bomb

TOUCH - LIVE SET

MIA - Jimmy
Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You (Twelves Remix)
The Modern - Jane Falls Down
OMD - Enola Gay
A Girl With A Gun - Beep
Bronski Beat - Small Town Boy

RELATION - LIVE SET

The Cure - The Walk
Justice vs Simian - We Are Your Friends
New Order - Blue Monday
Nun - Hope (EMP Remix)
Human League - Love Action
Ladytron - Evil
The Alphabet Girls - Venus Avenue

Thanks to everyone who made our third ever Synthetic night a success. First act of the evening was The Vanity Clause, a great duo from Southend-on-Sea. They played a well-crafted set of true electro with many of the early pioneers clearly a major influence but still managing to sound bang up to date. A nice touch was the children's TV theme intros. Then true to their word, copies of their new EP were freely distributed to eager members of the audience. Although they've been on the Synthetic playlist since our launch, my copy was on repeat pretty much all weekend.

Next up was Motorbikes In Tokyo. They have a knack of writing catchy tunes that by the second listen feel almost like classics. Kev and Rob exchanged vocal duties for a couple of tracks which ensured a varied set, and by the end there was barely anyone who wasn't either dancing, foot-tapping or at least enthusiastically head-nodding! Their 'Music and Machines' EP was available from them after the set, and if you missed their set, you can be sure that 'Dance To The Record Machine' will become a Synthetic playlist favourite from now on.

If The Vanity Clause and MiT were tough acts to follow, Ecce certainly rose to the challenge. A change of pace for the evening ensued with their captivating set of guitar-led electronica. From the perfect pop opening of 'Control' to the more experimental IDM tracks, Ecce take you on a journey without ever being self-indulgent.

And then it was time to dance again... Throughout the evening, here's what we played:

Miss Kitten & The Hacker - Stock Exchange
Orange Blossom - Cheft El Khof
Soulwax - NY Lipps
Depeche Mode - Enjoy The Silence

THE VANITY CLAUSE - LIVE SET

Tiga - Hot In Herre
Robyn - Crash & Burn
Digitalis - Upside-Down Brain
Strawberry Switchblade - I Can Feel
Human League - Love Action
Matinée Club - Discotheque Francais
New Order - Subculture
Cassette Electrik - The Smartest Bomb

MOTORBIKES IN TOKYO - LIVE SET

Red Blooded Women - Colour Me Dirty
Soft Cell - Say Hello Wave Goodbye (Almighty Radio Edit)
Client - Drive
OMD - Genetic Engineering
Ladytron - Seventeen
New Order - Krafty

ECCE - LIVE SET

The Orb feat. Alan Parker - Grey Clouds
Visage - Fade To Grey
Bodyrox feat. Luciana - Yeah Yeah
Bronski Beat - Small Town Boy
Goldfrapp - Strict Machine
The Modern - Industry
Underworld - Crocodile (Album Version)
Christopher Just - I'm A Disco Dancer
Beats Per Minute - What You Got
The Cure - The Upstairs Room
New Order - Blue Monday
Depeche Mode - Just Can't Get Enough
Grace - Not Over Yet ('99 Perfecto Remix)
Human League - Sound Of The Crowd
Yazoo - Goodbye 70s
OMD - Enola Gay
Client - Rock 'n' Roll Machine (Album Version)
Soft Cell - Sex Dwarf
Blancmange - Living On The Ceiling
Red Blooded Women - Au Revoir Goodbye
Katsen - Where Nobody Can Find Us
Duran Duran - Planet Earth

Thanks to everyone who turned up to make our second ever Synthetic night a success! We had four great acts: first up was Underwire, an entertaining duo with great tunes and a fine performance from Millena complete with top hat, feather boa and sparkly chair!

Next up was Northern Kind from Leicester providing a solid set of electro finery ahead of their appearance at the Electronically Yours launch next week.

Then came Red Blooded Women - three gorgeous young ladies with infectious tunes and slick routines that were intent on getting just about the whole audience up and dancing.

The fourth set of the evening was from Beats Per Minute, a duo from North Wales (with a guitarist joining them on stage for some songs) giving a great performance of well-crafted songs that varied from emotional electro-ballads to up-tempo floor fillers.

In all a fantastic night with four acts you will definitely be hearing more from!

Before, between and after, here's what we played...

Shena - Electrosexual
Robyn - Crash & Burn
Hannah Sanders - Go Electro
Punx Soundcheck - Neo Burlesque

UNDERWIRE - LIVE SET

Matinée Club - Sometimes
Tiga - Louder Than a Bomb
Marc Almond - Keys To The City
Eurythmics - Here Comes The Rain Again
The Vanity Clause - Let's Pretend
Vitalic - My Friend Dario

NORTHERN KIND - LIVE SET

Fischerspooner - You're My Disco
Yazoo - Goodbye 70s
Human League - Sound Of The Crowd

RED BLOODED WOMEN - LIVE SET

Bodyrox feat. Luciana - Yeah Yeah
Erasure - A Little Respect
Strawberry Switchblade - Since Yesterday
The Imbeciles and The Poison Umbrella - Virus
Client - In It For The Money
Soft Cell - So
IIO - Rapture
Fixmer/McCarthy - Freefall
Robyn - Konichiwa Bitches
Soulwax - NY Lipps

BEATS PER MINUTE - LIVE SET

Depeche Mode - Just Can't Get Enough
Matinée Club - Discotheque Francais
Chemical Brothers - Hey Boy Hey Girl
Red Blooded Women - Colour Me Dirty
Monaco - Junk
Grace - Not Over Yet ('99 Perfecto Remix)
Underworld - King Of Snake

We’ve uploaded a few photos from our launch party at last! If any of the bands want high res versions let me know and I’ll send them on.

What a night! Thanks so much to all the bands that played and made the night a success, and thanks to everyone who came along and had a good time!

Looptron, Jon Baz, Cassette Electrik and Toxic Funk Berry all played fantastic sets with several encores called for! Cassette Electrik have posted their own review of the evening here.

If anyone’s got any good photos of the night please get in touch. We’ll be uploading a few of our own shortly.

Before, between and after the bands we played:

Robyn - Konichiwa Bitches
Vitalic - My Friend Dario
The Alphabet Girls - Venus Avenue
Soft Cell - Chips On My Shoulder
Saint Etienne - Like A Motorway
Human League - Sound Of The Crowd

LOOPTRON - LIVE SET

Dubstar - Not So Manic Now
Matinée Club - Sometimes
Tiga - Pleasure From The Bass
Beats Per Minute - What You Got
Marc Almond - Beautiful Brutal Thing

JON BAZ - LIVE SET

Client - In It For The Money
Fischerspooner - You’re My Disco (New Romantic Mix)
Kylie Minogue - Come Into My World (Fischerspooner Remix)

CASSETTE ELECTRIK - LIVE SET

Alex Gold feat. Phil Oakey - LA Today (Radio Edit)
The Modern - Jane Falls Down (Single Version)
Fluke - Switch/Twitch
Kraftwerk - Pocket Calculator (Remix)
The Imbeciles and The Poison Umbrella - Virus

TOXIC FUNK BERRY - LIVE SET

Yazoo - Don’t Go
New Order - Sub Culture
Cassette Electrik - The Smartest Bomb
Depeche Mode - Just Can’t Get Enough
Client - Rock ’n’ Roll Machine (Album Version)
Ladytron - Seventeen
Matinée Club - Discotheque Francais
Rialto - Anyone Out There
Robyn feat. Kleerup - With Every Heartbeat
Blancmange - Living On The Ceiling
Grace - Not Over Yet (Perfecto Remix)
Soft Cell - Insecure Me

Here’s your opportunity to help spread the word! We’re looking for keen Synthesists to give out some flyers in central and south London. If you can genuinely help out, please send us your postal address and we’ll pop a good handful of flyers in the post to you.

We are currently booking bands and performers to play our new night on the last Thursday of every month in Stockwell, South London. Please contact us if you play any kind of electronic music, to be considered.


Or if you've heard a good band you think we should know about, don't keep it a secret - we want to create the best Thursday night out in South London!


After every night, we'll post our playlists here on this blog so you can check out what that great track was. And if you've got any suggestions of what you'd like to hear at future nights, we're all ears!


See you on the 27th!