I was invited to be resident DJ/music programmer the live music for this year’s inaugural Edinburgh International Fashion Festival.

It included DJing for the runway shows (a first for me) by Leith’s Bebaroque (sported by Jessie J at the closing ceremony of the Olympics), Glasgow’s Aimee McWilliams, Glasgow/London punk legend Pam Hogg (who used to design outfits for Siouxsie Sioux and Debbie Harry), plus up-and-coming Danish designer Mademoiselle (Christina) Borcher.

While the music for the Bebaroque runway was decided in close consultation with them, I didn’t record that set (but, for the record, it involved Smoke City’s Underwater Love, the intro from Madonna’s Nothing Really Matters, Portishead’s Glory Box, Desire’s enchanting Under Your Spell and William Orbit’s Water From A Vine Leaf).  McWilliams and Hogg provided their own audio for the shows, so I was little more than an audio technician for their runways, albeit still delivering my own sonic take on their style before and after (without hitting record).

In any case, while i enjoyed all the shows and loved the work being modelled throughout, the closing night’s runway by Borcher was definitely the highlight of this four-day festival for me and i did manage to record this set.  It includes a 40 min. warm-up, 20 mins of music for the runway and then another 45 mins from the after-party, with a few personal favourites from years past and few brand new/newly discovered ones.

Borcher’s style is dark with hints of French chic. So there’s a wee slice of Edith Piaf in the middle of all the darkness – mainly electronic music, including obscurities by legends such as Conrad Shnitzler (Tangerine Dream, Kluster), Fade To Black/Jay Denham (Transmat), Chris Carter (Throbbing Gristle, Chris & Cosey), Liars, Tones On Tail (Daniel Ash of Bauhaus), John Carpenter, The Cure, Fad Gadget, Dominatrix, 69 (Carl Craig) and Azoto, alongside legendary tracks by obscurities such as Zongamin, Rework, Colder, Light Asylum (my new favourite band) and The Fog (aka MURK). There are also some current hits by Metronomy, Todd Terje and Oliver $ at the end.

 

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged 69, Aimee McWilliams, Azoto, Bauhaus, Bebaroque, Blackstrobe, Borcher, Carl Craig, Chris Carter, Colder, Conrad Schnitzler, Daniel Ash, Dominatrix, Edinburgh International Fashion Festival, Edith Piaf, Fad Gadget, Fade To Black, Jay Denham, John Carpenter, Light Asylum, Metronomy, MURK, Oliver $, Pam Hogg, Rework, The Cure, The Fog, The Liars, Todd Terje, Tones On Tail, Transmat, Zongamin. Bookmark the permalink.