Soundkings Underground, SKUG, were playing at the Catwalk last night to a near packed club. They were playing before Ricketic with the Skug line up of Wouter S., Guevara and Arthur Meenks, and Po Marcus with Berry Straw. The beats were definitely bumping in Rotterdam tonight. I was recomended to check out this video of Ricketic playing 4 decks, pretty awesome stuff.

The DJ's definetly pulled out some tricks playing off each others choices and often taking control of the deck together. Everybody apprechiated some good music to end the week and start the weekend with a little groove.

The SKUG sound is a mix between quality lounge and deep techno mixed with funky uptone and long bassey drones, exactly the way I like my music. It sounded fresh and I heard that these guys are currently working on some remixes which should be released on June 22nd of this year.

Recently SKUG has been seen at the DJ Bootleg for their weekly party on a Saturday which they've now traded in to play at the Catwalk on a Thursday night, student night. We saw them last week for their first small event, but last night was SKUG's official residency party for the Catwalk.

Skug's other project Klankarbeit is really dropping some very nice remixes like the remix of Paul Schulleri - Koenig Vom Affenland released on the Underphunk Digital label (UD0048) May 31st 2010.

You can hear it here:

Paul Schulleri - Koenig Vom Affenland (Klankarbeit Remix) by Klankarbeit

JSPR, also from SKUG, dropped by to say hello but went on to play in the DJ Bootleg Cafe that night.

The place was nice and packed by the time Ricketic started playing and he played some really sweet techno tunes. The sound had a great deep minimal flow that kept everybody dancing deep into the night.

This evening the Catwalk will be hosting Phunk Division with German techno DJ Gregor Tresher as well as Dimzen, Joost van Santen, and Nick de Morsain. Presale is 12 euros and can be bought online.

We'll see you there!

The Video from last night will be upload shortly. For now here's some Tresher:

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The WATT Rotterdam is being threatend with closure because of a decision made by the Rotterdam municipality to stop providing financial support for the club. WATT opened it's doors on 4 September 2008, replacing the Rotterdam icon Nighttown, which itself had to close its doors due to bankruptcy.

WATT is the first sustainable club to be built in the Netherlands with a dance floor that actually provides the club with energy when people dance on it, waterless urinals which are cleaned with specially developed organic products, and toilets that use rain water instead of tap water.

The idea was to create a club that provides one of the best night club experiences in Holland while at the same time working towards a balance between sustainability and fun. The dance floor also can track the people dancing by the amount of energy they produce and will interact with dancers through a dynamic light display.

In January 2009 WATT received a large cash injection of 2,5 million euros from Rotterdam municipality and was taken over by the national 'Kernpodium' Waterfront.

A 'kernpodium' is a cultural center that gets special subsidization from the government based on their music program. This status is given out by the Nationaal Pop Instituut (National Pop Institue) and there are over 40 kernpodium's in the Netherlands, including the two in Rotterdam, Rotown and Waterfront. Kernpodium's have the right to ask for subsidization when they have a Dutch act and the costs for the act are higher then the entrance fee revenue. The difference is paid by the pop instituut until a certain level and allows clubs with this status to have a smaller financial risk when they have a Dutch performer on stage.

Club WATT is important for the image of Rotterdam, and different institutions including Rotterdam Marketing and Rotterdam Media Commission have called on the municipality to reconsider their decision.

Under it's new cooperation with Waterfront, WATT has been turning a profit since the beginning of this year and has hosted many big names in music from Kasabian and Venetian Snares to the likes of Mr Oizo and Hernan Cattaneo. Later this year they will be showcasing legendary turntablist DJ Shadow, reggae artist Burning Spear, and the alternative rock/hip hop band The Fun Lovin' Criminals.

So join us in our fight and HELP US SAVE THE WATT!!!!

Alissa van den Kolk has created a Facebook group called 'WATT moet blijven!' translated as 'WATT must stay!' where people can become a member and show their support.

Join us on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=128296687188826 5,428 members and counting!

Don't forget to sign the petition here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/wattmoetblijven/

And here is a list of the Rotterdam politicians Twitter accounts: http://www.politwiek.nl/plaats/rotterdam/0/ Let them know what you think!

Here is an interview done with the two directors of the WATT Rotterdam, Aryan Tieleman and Ted Langenbach, just before it opened in September 2008.

Very interesting, especially the intelligent dance floor, check it out:

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It's June 3rd, a Thursday night, all the students who don't have class (or do) go out and enjoy a night of drinking and dancing. We were invited by JSPR to come and see the music collective Skug and their first show at the underground (literally) club called Catwalk.

First started Kadir Pelit who played a great opening set, which was soothing and funky with a bit of bump. The crowd was small to start with only about 20 people but soon it swelled to around 50 when JSPR started playing at 1.00 am.

JSPR continued to play an infectious 3 hour set enticing people to slowly move their way towards the DJ down the narrow dance floor at Catwalk. At first the dancing crowd was a bit sparse but then there were points when the beats broke and everybody has up front dancing in unison. It was fun to know that these people were here to party and everybody was on their feet.

Hitting mix after mix, JSPR did one amazing transition of Mr G's 2002 track My Father's Farda which he mixed in on top of some deep funky stuff.

The evening was filled with strong melodies, dynamic baselines and tribal beats, while later the music took on more of a synthy vibe with popping sounds and descending tones. Vocals were sparse but engaging, with JSPR throwing in a few of his own here and there for good measure.

The atmosphere was great, Catwalk is the only club in Rotterdam where a small crowd can have a great time. Their narrow dance floor is perfect to pack with people and the club has great acoustics throwing the sound up and down the club. Lighting was good with a red, blue, purple motif and had a good varied program.

All in all, it was a grand night with great music and good people (even though there weren't very many)!

Here's a little mix of what the night was like:

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