My First DJ gig to combat medicrity - ANAM Bar, Chapel Market, Islington N1 - Tuesday 9th of November

So, ever since my last post, I've been furiously in the studio, messing up, trying again, finding the best tracks on the planet and shplicing them all together to create a mix that I hope you agree will be amazing.

And tomorrow I shall be undertaking the ultimate challenge, my first public gig. It will be the ANAM Bar in Islington, the drinks will be 2 for 1 (and they make a mean cocktail anyway) and I'll be playing between some bands. You can find the facebook event by going to this link

And you can listen to a preview mix in top right of the page in the neato Podomatic box.

Good Electro House in London? Might as well make some.

You may have been able to detect from my rambing post slagging off London's house music that I had become frustrated. I drag my girlfriend to a club, wait to get in like an asshole only to hear the characteristic pops and bumps of minimal house or tech house. These are both excellent if you didn't come to dance. You can carry on a conversation, get a drink or shop for designer jeans - all to the velvety unobtrusiveness of either.

But I got tired of whinging about it and took some DJ lessons in East London. So, shameless in my self-promotion, and also to make an important point about the London club scene, here's MY electro house mix AND I'll be posting more of them - to drown out mediocrity.

If there's a place that plays stuff like this please let me know in the comments!

Electro Aggregator - London Electro and Dance Survival Guide

I'm really snooty about my music. Make it crunchy, clever, mashupy electro or stay home. I've pretty much had enough of Lady Gaga radio mixes and certainly more than enough old, shrill Beyonce (had to look up how to spell that).

Some clubs claim cutting edge music: T Bar and Dalston Superstore, come to mind, but they only do boring, uninspired funky house.

Others are in a great position to improve our musical worlds: Loop Bar or Walkabout, but

You'll never, for example, hear Kid Cudi's Persuit of Happiness remixed by Benny Benassi - even though everyone should!

I'm on the constant, obsessive search for genuinely good electro and dance music and, I have to say, for the most part, I'm pretty dissappointed most of the time when going out in London. I trawl bittorrent, iTunes Podcasts and YouTube constantly looking for stuff that sounds good.

Last Friday I discovered InSpiral's DJ night - which, at the time, was featuring the exuberant Simon Iridium . Simon was busting out some noteworthily sick dubstep while people were lazily munching on vegan lasagna and my girlfriend and I proceeded to explore the depths of organic vodka debauchery.

We shall also be in attendance at Don't Let the Electro Drown You - Boat Party hosted by Decks on Decks and featuring my favourite London DJ who almost never does live sets: Iax.

But generally, listening to dubstep in a vegetarian (and overpriced) cafe is an exception that proves the rule. There's almost no good electro in London that I've been able to find - and I've looked hard.

If you're like me, do get in touch - for the moment, here's some links for amazing electro music that you won't hear at any London club - and that's a shame.

London Electro and Dance Survival Guide
(for when you can't find decent music around LDN)

• Iax Podcast - Electro House ,Filthy House, Dirty Electro, ohh....and Funky house - free on iTunes - always fantastic episodes of clever mashups and generally pulsating havoc.

• Dj Ellis / Where Da Beats At? mix - an amazing crunchy, mashup mix. 

• Video2mp3.net - give it a YouTube address and it gives you an mp3 to download. The easiest way to get what you want where you want it.

• Zombie Discosquad - one of the only dj duos in London that restore my faith in the town's dance scene. 

So where's the stuff that sounds like that? Is it at Egg? Is it at KoKo?
If you like what I like, get in touch in the comments or @londonslumlord

I leave you on this: Lady Gaga vs. Metallica 

Ortega Spanish Tapas Restaurant,55 Charterhouse Street, Farringdon,

I randomly picked this restaurant after searching for restaurants compatible with the Taste of London card in the Clarkenwell area. WE decided on Ortega due to its proximity close to our work. The picture of the exterior used on teh Taste of london website did not give it justice. We entered to find a trendy, rustic, authentic decorated, 2 storey, dark wood Spanish restaurant very welcoming and with a smart looking waiter ready to serve us. We ordered 2 of the ham and cives potato corquettes, which we both loved, i had the small prwans (they were out of king prawns)- which where tasty and nicely chewy but small and then we ordered seconds of chicken in mushroom sauce which was deliscious even though i was pretty full by now and my partner ordered the meat balls which were nice and substantial and very tasty. we had 2 pints of san miguel (only beer served there) and 2 espresso's and they gave us a complimentary shot of "spanish baileys" which was custardy yet delightful. Total bill price was 42 pounds discounted to 21pounds with T.O.L. A very very recommended place to eat!!

Ladbroke Grove, you dunnit again - Trailer Happiness, Notting Hill, W11 2DY

Basement or 'dive' bars in London come in many shapes and sizes. There's 151 on King's Road - a Walkabout for posh people where very bad things happen into the wee hours. Go there on a Wednesday and I promise you'll make a horrible mistake. There's that South African place on Bedford Street, in Covent Garden, where you can get nicely, cheaply drink surrounded by Safos and their crazy shots.

OR, there's Trailer Happiness, a place where going down the dive stairs rewards you with a laid back and very Cali lounge, with bamboo and warm paintings, especially when empty, Trailer Happiness is more comfortable than your house with much better drinks! A lot of the Google Reviews are super negative. Saying the staff's rude. The night I visited the staff couldn't have been lovelier, though it's worth saying that this was a couple days before Christmas and there were only the dedicated locals behind the bar.

Anyway, if you're looking for truly loungy place to chill in West London, bean bag chairs, amazing cocktails (order the Jack Fashion and you get an Easter Island Head chocolate candy floating in it - what's not to love?) and good vibes - do check out Trailer Happiness.

Pros:

• Unrivalled, original cocktails in all sorts of vaguely Pacific Islanderish themes
• Great interior design, though the unisex bathroom is confusing
• Out of the way enough to feel somewhat exclusive

Cons:

• Not cheap, one of the freaky, foamy, flaming volcano drinks is like 14 quid!
• Pro: it'll easily F up two people
  
• Lots of people (not me) have said the staff are rude

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