If you haven't been before and you want to find out where Optimo is, click here. You can see news updates from previous years here.
This Sunday September 6th - Optimo Is Free and Den Haan are playing
This Sunday we are throwing a free party at The Sub Club to try to make up for the disruption of last Sunday night's Optimo with Alter Ego, which was interrupted by the fire alarm going off on two occasions. So, whether you were at Optimo or not that night, you are welcome to come along on Sunday and it won't cost you a penny. We have asked our good friends Den Haan to come along and play too and we hope this goes some way towards making up for the problems experienced on Sunday.
Sunday August 30th - The Electric Frog Street Carnival / Alter Ego
Next Sunday (August 30th), we are delighted to be playing at the Electric Frog Street Carnival. We will be playing 6.30 - 8.45.
Afterwards, we have the return of Frankfurt's amazing Alter Ego at the club. Alter Ego will also be playing with us at Cabaret Voltaire in Edinburgh on Saturday 29th. It is very rare for us to bring an act to the club more than once but Alter Ego were so amazing when we had them last year that we couldn't wait to have them back. They are without a doubt one of the finest live electronic acts on the planet. If you have a ticket for Electric Frog, bring it along and get a discount on the door.
On Sunday 16th August we welcome the mighty Juan Maclean (DFA) to the Subclub -
Juan Maclean is the robotic persona of New Hampshire resident John Maclean. His Juan MacLean sound initially came to attention due to its dark NY underground groove, equal parts chilling electro-disco and sci-fi paranoia. The bleeping analogue rhythms of early dancefloor hits like "by the time i get to venus" and "every little thing" have since provided MacLean with a confidence, profile and success that has allowed him to step out of his earlier "robotic" persona into a more optimistic and collaborative phase.
Recent album "the Future Will Come" finds Maclean working with NY punk-funk scene luminaries Nancy Wang (of LCD Soundsystem), Gerry Fuchs (formerly of !!!) and members of Holy Ghost.
This promises to be a very special evening, so please get down early.
On Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th July - Optimo presents Gavin Russom (DFA) Live.
We are delighted to welcome Gavin Russom to the club, he will play two gigs, one at Optimo in Edinburgh on Saturday 25th and one at the Subclub on Sunday 26th. Gavin Russom is musician, performance artist and sculptor. He first came to prominence with the collaboration Gavin & Delia on DFA records in 2003. Since then Russom has distinguished himself with exceptional releases as both Gavin Russom, Black Leotard Front and Black Meteoric Star. He produces vast tracks that often reached the 15 minute mark, delving deeply into ritualistic electronic rhythms and synthetic trance-disco.
Please join us.
Sunday July 19th - We came in peace for all mankind...
This Sunday (well, Monday to be exact, but then three quarters of Optimo is on a Monday morning) it will be exactly 40 years since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to set foot on the Moon. It was one of humanity's greatest ever achievements and for one short moment brought all the people of Planet Earth together.
To mark this anniversary, the first hour of the night will be an audio tribute featuring recordings from July 20th 1969 interspersed with Moon songs.
HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH
FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON
JULY 1969 A.D.
WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND
Optimo June News pt 3 - Sunday June 28th - Optimo present BATTANT (live)
This Sunday (28th) we are delighted to welcome Battant from London to the club. Signed to our allies, Kill The DJ, their debut album "No Head" is produced by Ivan Smagghe and Tim Paris. Think Jesus and Mary Chain meets Underground Resistance.
Battant will also be joining us at Cabaret Voltaire in Edinburgh on Saturday June 27th.
http://www.myspace.com/battantbattant
Optimo June News pt 2 - Sunday June 21st - Optimo present MODERNAIRE (live)
Continuing our cunning ploy of putting loads of bands on in June when everybody is out of town, this Sunday we bring you Modernaire.
Modernaire are three eccentric characters from Manchester. Two female vocalists spin folky, choir-like melodies of dark tales over an electronic backing reminiscent of Delia Derbyshire in her more rock orientated moments. Imagine the soundtrack to The Wickerman, produced by the Hacker.
http://www.myspace.com/modernairetheband
Optimo June News - Casiokids / TG / In Order To Edit +++
This Sunday we are delighted to welcome Casiokids from Norway. Their live show has been described as "electro-theatre". We're not entirely sure what that means but it has got to be better than some dude on stage staring at a laptop. Here's how they describe themselves -
"Old analogue, trashy keyboards and pop melodies make up the Norwegian electro-troupe that is Casiokids. With tunes often sung in their native language and influenced by afro-beat, techno and out-and-out pop, the band draws similarities and takes inspiration from Paul Simon's "Graceland", Ivor Cutler, New Order, King Tubby, Bob Hund, Cornelius and Fela Kuti."
We're not sure how many of them perfrom but there's a scarily large number of them in the photo below (not sure how they'll all fit on the Sub Club stage at the same time!)
http://www.myspace.com/casiokids
Next Wednesday (17th) we alongside, Industrial Records, are ecstatic to be presenting Throbbing Gristle's first ever Scottish performance.
Next Sunday (21st) we present Modernaire and on the following Sunday (28th), Battant at the club (also playing with us in Edinburgh on the 27th). Details to follow.
There is a new Optimo mix cd just out, "In Order To Edit". Put together by JD Twitch it is his pick of the R&S back catalogue. R&S was a seminal Belgian techno label in the early 1990s that has recently been reactivated. As a massive fan of their releases back then, Twitch was delighted and honoured to put this selection together that features many exclusive mixes and edits. Banging, intense, dark and lovely.
Optimo and Melting Pot present - The Waverley Riverboat Shuffle
We are delighted to hook up with our friends at Melting Pot to present a wee summer adventure. After two wonderful barn dances, we felt we wanted to do something a bit different this year and when the opportunity presented itself to be the first clubs ever to use the legendary Waverley steamer for a party, we jumped at the chance -
Optimo and Melting Pot present...
The Waverley River Boat Shuffle
Hosted by JD Twitch, JG Wilkes, Simon Cordiner and Bill Brewster
Friday 24th july 8pm 'til late. Passengers must be at the Glasgow Science Centre by 7.45. The boat will sail at 8PM!
3 hour sail on the Waverley followed by a secret location warehouse party 'til 3am. Transport provided between venues.
This Sunday we welcome Fan Death from Vancouver. Their "Veronica's Veil" single on Phantasy still gets played at the club. In a similar vein to the modern electronic disco of Chromatics or Glass Candy, they also do a cover of Optimo anthem "Goodbye Horses" by Q Lazarus which hopefully they will play on Sunday (they will be the third act to cover it at the club).
They describe themselves as "Anthemic, uplifting and melancholic like our inspirations Depeche Mode, New Order, Alphaville, Pet Shop Boys and Human League". Err, we'll let them off with the Alphaville just this once!
Here's the rather tasty video for Veronica's Veil -
Finally, after doing two (amazingly good fun) Barn Dances the last two summers, we decided to do something a bit different this year. Details to follow very soon.......
This Sunday we welcome Amazing Baby from Brooklyn. Allies of MGMT (some of you may have seen them when they supported them on their last tour), their music has been described as riff heavy stoner psychedelia. We're not stoners but they definitely appeal to our psychedelic side.
NEXT UP AT OPTIMO - Mi Ami (03/05/09 - Bank Holiday - doors at 10.30. Late license).
This Sunday we are delighted to welcome Mi Ami from San Francisco to Optimo. We love percussion so they're "all-out pulsating rhythmic throwdowns" should work a treat. Here's the lowdown from the band themselves -
"we were born in augus of 2006 as a duo of drums/guitar/junk/electronics/vocals reaching towards the distant lights of daniel wang, african disco and gamelan. it came out very different than we expected, as it should be with all things. in august of 2007, jacob joined us and the holy trinity was completed. it is what it is unless it's something else. mi ami lives".
This Sunday we are asking you to help save the bees. We're not asking you for any money. We just want to let you know (if you don't already) that the world's honey bees are disappearing at an alarming rate. Now, this might seem like it is a trivial matter but if the honey bee disappears completely, so might we. We rely on the honey bee to pollinate a vast amount of our crops - Albert Einstein once said that if the bees disappeared, "man would have only four years of life left".
From 2007 - 2008, they declined by 30%. Nobody really knows why and the Government hadn't seemed to be too interested until this very week when they allocated �10 million for further research. So, it is up to all of us to try to do something.
On Sunday night we will hand out some literature letting you know things you can do to help and we will play the odd bee related record to remind us all how marvelous these little insects are - they pollinate our plants, they make delicious, nutritious honey, they are furry and cute, they make a great buzz, buzz buzzing sound. Yes, they have a nasty sting but they only use that in extreme circumstances. So, join us in celebrating these amazing creatures and seeing if we can all help to make sure they (and we) don't become extinct.
All we ask is for a minute of your time to read a little bit about what can maybe done to help and then perhaps think about doing something and spreading the word.
More information here -
http://www.saveourbees.org.uk/
NEXT UP AT OPTIMO - EASTER SUNDAY SPECIAL WITH ELECTRONICAT and more... (12/04/09) >>>>>>>
This Sunday is Easter! We will have a couple of bunnies handing out eggs for all those who didn't get an Easter egg this year. We will have an Optimo special lighting system for the night and we also welcome back Electronicat who last played for us when we were temporarily in the now long gone Mas club on Royal Exchange Square way back in the year 2001! From Paris but currently resident in Munich, Mr. Electronicat makes loud, hypnotic music that is 50% electro and 50% rockabilly. He's great!
Doors on Sunday will be at 10.30. See you there.
http://www.electronicat.com/
Next up on April 26th - SAVE THE BEES!
NEXT UP AT OPTIMO - BIG NED (05/04/09) >>>>>>>
To coincide with the launch of their debut album on Optimo MusicBig Ned bring their finely honed sleaze-rock to the Sub Club stage this Sunday. I know we are biased but they really ARE great live. Advanced copies of the album will be available at a specially reduced price on the night.
NEXT UP AT OPTIMO - Optimo on Radio 1 / Konx-Om-Pax at the club >>>>>>>
Hear the shambolic sound of Twitch n' Wilkes filling in for Vic Galloway on Radio 1 tonight (18/03). 12 - 2am. If you miss it, you can listen again here
then -
Sunday 22nd March 2009 - "LIVE INSTAL - DISPLAY COPY"
A Live Audio & Video Installation by KONX-OM-PAX.
Konx-om-Pax is 24 year old Glasgow based director/sound designer Tom
Scholefield. Since graduating from the Glasgow School of Art he has
worked for labels such as Warp, Planet Mu, Underground Resistance and
most recently DFA Records. Scholefield creates everything from album
artwork to animated promo videos. His work has been screened at various
international locations including Tokyo and Hollywood.
For this special performance at Optimo, Scholefield will be installing
a series of video monitors to screen new works in conjunction with live
audio experiments.
The main inspirations for the performance come
from the works of music concrete legend Bernard Parmegiani, video
artist Nam June Paik and the surrealist animator Piotr Kamler. Not for
the fainthearted, this piece promises to be a full on audio-visual
assault.
NEXT UP AT OPTIMO - Sunday March 1st - LITTLE BOOTS >>>>>>>
This Sunday (March 1st), we are delighted to welcome Little Boots to Optimo. As big synth pop fans, we were excited to discover someone who was pushing that sound into new realms. Since we booked her several months ago, the hype machine has gone super nova. Forget that and come and enjoy her super entertaining live show.
Friday 13th march - Optimo presents - A New Kind of Kick.
The recent passing of The Cramp's Lux Interior totally devastated us and we felt compelled to do something to mark the occasion.
So, on Friday March 13th we will host a musical celebration of the life of Lux. This will be a night of music The Cramps taught us - filthy, fucked up rock n' roll, rockabilly, strip music & swamp sleaze, and of course a healthy dose of music from the mighty cramps themselves who showed us that the ROLL is as important as the ROCK.
Venue - stereo
Doors 11 - 3. Full twang-o-rama sound.
Entry - �5
Let's get fucked up!
Lastly - for those who use Twitter, very irregular Optimo news including details of upcoming podcasts can be got here - http://twitter.com/JDTwitch
NEXT UP AT OPTIMO >>>>>>>
There has been a distinct lack of news updates on here recently. Apologies for that - normal service shall now be resumed and a big thank you to Pollyester, The Niallist and Bum Clocks who have recently graced the Optimo stage.
On Sunday February 15th Twitch and Wilkes will both be away in Australia. It is very, very rare for both of them to miss the club so to make up for that we have a whole host of things going on at the club. It is the start of the Glasgow Film Festival and to mark that, the GFF will be screening a series of short David Lynch films in a Lynchian Red Room at the back of the club. In the main part of the club, there will be screenings of early abstract filmworks.
Playing live will be Desmond & The Tutus from Johannesburg. Anyone who has been to the club in recent times will know (the remix of) their song "Kiss You On The Cheek", which incidentally was the most asked about song at the club in 2008. Live they are a punky funk sexplosion. This is their first time playing outside their native South Africa, so please show them some good old Scottish hospitality.
Warming up for Desmond & The Tutus will be David Barbarosa and to rock the dancefloor afterwards, we have invited a dj who we think is the best Glasgow has produced in many years - Jackmaster!
Abnormal service will be resumed the following week.
In other exciting news, Optimo is delighted to announce the birth of a new record label - Optimo Music (website imminent). The first release, a fantastic 7" single (and taster for their upcoming album) by Big Ned is in all good music shops now.
Upcoming - Big Ned album, Den Haan 12", Dollskabeat 10", Older Lover 10" and more.
