The Work Them Festive Season

Seasons Greetings, from Work Them HQ...


First of all, a big, unreserved thanks to anyone who's made it to any of our parties and shows this year, and a special thanks to anyone who came and made Mister Saturday Night feel very welcome in Manchester last month. A properly inspiring evening. Beyond MSN, we've had Fort Romeau, Auntie Flo and James Booth all guest for us this year, and it's been brilliant hosting all of them. There's more to come in 2014, and we'll be doing a few things a little differently too.

However, before then, there's two rapid fire parties that you're cordially invited to attend.

First of all, our gift to you, the Work Them Xmas Party. John Loveless takes his usual Kosmonaut residency and faces the DJ’s nightmare of ‘Mad Friday’ (20th December: forewarning) head on with a no-dickheads, no-requests policy, plus, free Eggnog and mince pies. We’ve also arranged for some special guest DJ friends to drop in like Bowie knocking on Crosby, armed with the universal gifts of disco, house, pop, boogie and some sharp sounding seasonal surprises. We'll be starting from 8PM, finishing up at 1, and it's completely free.

Click our acidically festive poster for all the details on Facebook. Credit to Natalie Dunning, as per.

Then, on New Year's Eve, we're proper proud to be part of Islington Mill's 'Future Party', which promises to answer questions such as 'what does the future hold', 'will the banking system collapse and capitalism die?' and 'Will the Jetson's finally arrive and eradicate cars for hovercraft aeroplanes?', through the interprative medium of a big, banging party. 

We'll be taking over Room 3 with musical soul brothers and Common regulars Stop Making Sense, upstairs with an endless sunset. Expect NYE party records you love, some fresh shit and as the night wears on, an unapologetic house and techno strobe lit pummelling. If you get bored of us, local heroes Faktion, Ping Pong Club, Tranarchy and more will be on hand, accompanied by some sincerely out there visuals and other future-haul paraphernalia. If you're off anywhere NYE, make it t'Mill.

Earlybird tickets are still available at the time of writing, at just £15. Based on previous years, this will sell out. Get on it.

If you get a moment to duck out of the pure cheer of the season, then the latest Work Them mix might be for you. '4 After Club Use Only', mixed live by John Loveless is an hour of some of the best understated and emotional records of 2013, designed with a late bus home in mind. Features Bibio, Not Waving, Daniel Avery, Julia Holter and more on a free download, slow moving tip.

Otherwise, we don't see you, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Incoming Party Update - Mister Saturday Night!

This Friday at Soup Kitchen, it's time for Mister Saturday Night at Work Them. Straight out of Brooklyn, Justin Carter and Eamon Harkin (collectively known as 'This Mister'), have been hosting some of New York's finest parties, tailored perfectly and with some of the finest guests known to man. Playing an almost possibly broad range of dance music, uncovered classics and surprises, MSN hark back to an inclusive, golden age of clubbing whilst always looking forward. Just take a listen to this recent recording of the last ever 'Mister Sunday' party, outdoors at Gowanus Grove for a taste of what you might expect. And if we can conjure even a slice of the sheer joy and energy of this recording on Friday night, we're in for a good one...

You can also read an interview with The Mister right now over on Skiddle, if you want to get a better feel for the party. Alternatively, just come down and get moving. The doors open at 11PM, with Work Them's John Loveless on warm up duties and then The Mister getting settled into an extended set sometime after 12.

Tickets are online now at just £6 each at both Skiddle and Resident Advisor, depending on your inclination.

Tickets are also just £6 (plus minor booking fee) at both Piccadilly Records and Eastern Bloc in town, for those of you planning on perusing records, or sipping coffee or both. If you're visiting the former, we've left a handy reminder on the wall...

On the night, it will be £8 before 12 and £10 afterwards. Please get down early, for both musical and capacity purposes. See you on the floor!

Work Them with MISTER SATURDAY NIGHT + More

Hello, hope you're well, and welcome to the Autumn Work Them News Blog. Some stuff is going down, literally and on this page, so listen up, gather round, get involved, keep on scrollin'.

Work Them and Soup Kitchen are delighted to be able to team up to present a very special evening in the company of Justin Carter and Eamon Harkin, DJs and promoters of perhaps New York's finest party, Mister Saturday Night.

An all-encompassing, genre free party focused on music and community in the classic New York mould, Mister don't bring their style just anywhere, which is why it's a privilege to host them in the basement of Soup Kitchen. Their stateside parties, whether in the early hours at a Brooklyn loft or the summer sunshine of their weekly Mister Sunday block parties, have attracted a devoted, eclectic following of locals and dance pilgrims.

Meanwhile, the Mister Saturday Night label is just seven releases deep, but has impacted sound systems and record collections internationally, showcasing the likes of Dark Sky, Alex Burkat, and of course, Anthony Naples, whose 'Mad Disrespect' has been a deck rushing Work Them fixture throughout 2013.

Guests at Mister Saturday Night have included Caribou, Todd Terje, Greg Wilson, Optimo, Joy Orbison and Four Tet, but with a firm focus on the resident DJs. Justin and Eamon are simply two of the best around, as this recording from Mister Sunday back in June does more than enough to prove...

Mister Saturday Night will be performing an extended set until close with support from our own John Loveless early doors.

Tickets are £8 in advance and £10 on the door. We realise/feel vaguely uncomfortable about this being a little more than usual at Work Them, but this is something we really wanted to make (and nearly didn't) happen, not to mention, MSN will be playing for between three and four hours, so you'll really be able to lock in to what will no doubt be a fucking stellar selection of records that have crossed the Atlantic ocean. They're even bringing their own mixer, if not their own outdoor dance grove.

What's more, we do have some limited £6 only tickets available here on Skiddle, or if you like, also here on RA. These will not be around too long, then it's £8/10, so surrender to the possibility of discount whilst there's still time!

 MEANWHILE...

Once you're all done with 2 hours of MSN at their best, you can download and catch up with the John Loveless Work Them Autumn 2013 Mix, described (by John, obviously) as "deviating from the usual warm up with an hour of some frenetic, fucked up club material with the occasional poignant moment." Mixed live and drunk on a dying controller for express rawness. 

John will be representing Work Them at an upcoming event next month, the rather directly titled Love Boobs, Hate Cancer in aid of Breast Cancer Care, and featuring a line up of disco fiends and pals including Ste Spandex and Metrodome, who incidentally, go back to back on the latest, stonking Wet Play release. Details can be found here. You're bound to here some mad records for a top cause, and the sound system upstairs at Odder is surprisingly strong to boot.

So that' us. Direct any queries towards the Facebook event and otherwise, see you on the floor. 

Soup Kitchen and Night Fantasy

A quick, unusually waffle free bulletin from your friends at Work Them. After our supremely satisfying party with Huntleys & Palmers last month, we're back, kicking it midweek from next Thursday 26th September at 10:30PM, at our usual spot below Soup Kitchen. It's just £4 in advance or before Midnight, or £5 after and it'll be business as usual, A no bullshit discotheque drawing on discoveries both fresh and classic, expect forward thinking dancefloor noise on a bed of out there pop, funk and disco, plus plenty of surprises. No foam machines, no photographers, no awkward live PAs. Full Disclosure; No Disclosure. 

Before that, we're partnering with our pals at Melodic Records for another intimate party in the basement of Kosmonaut, now officially titled 'Night Fantasy', and as well as John Loveless, Andy and Alex of Melodic and Chris Egan of Tusk, our special guest with be James Booth. Back in the days when James was better known as Kiosque (July), he played live for us and since has released his fantastic debut LP for 100% Silk. He'll be digging into his ample wax collection for Night Fantasy, which you can revisit in his previous Work Them mix below.. It's free in and "the fun starts at 8." Credit to Natalie Dunning as usual for both amazing posters, we have a couple spare to give away at each night so just tap the door hound and ask nicely.

And as a reward for your willing absorption of details, here are some current recorded favourites you might well expect to hear at both...

See you on the floor!

Huntleys & Palmers present... Auntie Fl

Work Them are very pleased to be pairing up with our friends down the Mersey, Deep Hedonia, to a present an evening in the company of one of our favourite producers since our inception, Auntie Flo. A true original from the way of Glasgow by Goa, he'll be dropping by with one of the most out-there and eclectic record collections currently circulating clubs and festivals worldwide, as well as a selection of his own one-of-a-kind productions, in less than one week time as you read these very words... If you're reading them after 6/9 it's too late, and I'm sorry that you have to keep hearing about what an awesome party we had.

Taking cues from Afrobeat, Kwaito and outsider music, Auntie Flo's music respectfully and seamlessly mixes in elements of house, disco and psych to create proper vital rythyms. Exisiting as a project for around a decade, Auntie Flo has in the past few years seen appearances on Boiler Room both live and DJing, remixes by the likes of Pearson Sound, and fans found in the likes of Micheal Mayer, Dixon and fellow Glaswegians Optimo, all of whom are releasing his productions through their own  esteemed labels such as Kompakt and Innervisions.

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The first label to release his material, and currently prepping a new series of 12 inch edits by the man himself, London based Huntleys & Palmers are synonymous with Auntie Flo and label head Andrew J Thomson will also be spinning a series of finds that form the aesthetic of the label, who have also released fantastic records from Work Them favourites Alejandro Paz and SOPHIE.

Joining the pair will be Work Them's resident John Loveless, as well as a special live A/V set from Liverpool's Acrobat. Tickets are available now priced at just £5 in advance from both Skiddle and Resident Advisor, and more on the door on the night. For more details and to let us know you're coming, see Facebook.

You can still hear John Loveless' Work Them August Selection mix as a free download below. Featuring Thundercat, Beautiful Swimmers, Lone, In Flagranti and more...

We hope to see you on the floor.

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Work Them with Howes, plus August Selections - New Mixtape

This Saturday, Work Them and one of Manchester's finest record labels, Melodic, present a one-off free live show from Howes, a prodigal local talent whose recent, inaugural release on Melodic has been met with much acclaim. Playing live, he'll be joined by Work Them's own John Loveless, as well as Chris Egan of Tusk and the Melodic crew themselves. It's our first event in the recently refurbished basement at Kosmonaut, begins at 8PM, finishes at 1AM and comes at the cost of entirely nothing. Before you check out Howes, and our new mixtape, check out the poster below, courtesy of the brilliant Natalie Dunning.

Creating restrained, detailed music (especially for a self-confessed 'non-musician'), Howes debut EP still comes with in built groove and sonic textures bound to sound brilliant below the streets of the Northern Quarter. You can grab centrepiece track Leazes here, from XLR8R, or read more about the EP over at Boomkat, who describe it quite simply as, "Really good stuff." And those cats listen to a lot of records.

For more details, and to kindly let us know you plan on dropping by, you can find the Facebook page here. Otherwise, 8PM, Kosmonaut, Tariff Street, 10/8, 8PM. 

You can also hear a touch more of Howes in the new Work Them August Selections Mixtape, linked below. From the malleable hard drive of our own John Loveless, you can expect new alternative and electronic music, and a couple of unearthed discoveries from  Disco and Acid, to art rock, even a little Gospel, all furtively mixed for an hour and a bit of your audio pleasure.

The mix also features friends, associates and former Work Them guests Ste Spandex and James Booth (formerly Kiosque), the former of whom recently created a typical mind bender of a video for the latter, linked below. James' outstanding new LP, Reunion is out now on 100% Silk, from Junodownload (digital) or on limited edition cassette from Piccadilly Records. Act fast, dance well!

See you on the floor.

Work Them w/ Kiosque - THIS SATURDAY

Work Them returns this Saturday evening/Sunday morning, into the basement of a newly refurbished Soup Kitchen where the bar is longer, the sound is crisper and the urinals are still hidden behind a mysterious door.

Joining us will be mysterious local analogue merchant Kiosque, whose full length release lands soon on 100% Silk. You can find his exclusive Soundcloud mix right here below, featuring some his noted influences and his own material. It's a proper fun listen, and a free download.


Having seen his all gear set in action rehearsal, we can safely say this is going to be a bit of a trip, expertly flitting between irresistible jackin' and melancholy dub disco, with some blink and you'll miss them samples all along the way. You can take a gander at his gear below, via. of the moment snap app Vine (please feel free to follow our Vine if inclined.)

We'll be opening the doors at 11, so get down early. Not only might we fill up, but we've tonnes of brilliant records to play before Kiosque takes the stage after Midnight. After he's done, anything goes. With no current mix from ourselves (but an archive here, of course), find this month's Five Records You're Probably Likely To Hear Given The Circumstances below.

You can pick up an advance ticket from Skiddle for just £4. We'll keep your name on the door. We're nice like that, just make sure you're with us by 12. It's going to be a scorching Saturday. Nonetheless, deep necks at a minimum please. See you on the floor!

Facebook details.