Buttoned Down Disco was a large and long-running indie and electro clubnight that was established in London in 2002 by Christian Laing and Rachel Laing. While Christian served as the resident DJ and promoter, Rachel was responsible for the clubnight's branding, marketing, and technology. Following Rachel's resignation in 2019, Christian took over the management of the event until 2022 when it closed, having run for exactly 20 years. Buttoned Down Disco has hosted parties in more than 50 different London venues and received extensive coverage from leading publications such as The Guardian, The Independent and The Times. [1]
The first night was in October 2002. The location of the club was revealed after an electronic invitation was requested. A pioneering concept [2] at the time. In 2006, Buttoned Down Disco became a resident at KOKO. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] Buttoned Down Disco has also taken place in major festivals including Glastonbury, [9] Lovebox, Reading [10] and Latitude. [11]
Buttoned Down Disco took its name from the third track from Cornershop's disco inspired album Disco and the Halfway to Discontent as part of their side-project, Clinton. The club then influenced the song "M.R.S.T." by The Electric Riot where "Buttoned Down Discos" were mentioned in the lyrics. [12]
House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120-130 beats per minute as a re-emergence of 1970s disco. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground club culture and evolved slowly in the early/mid 1980s as DJs began altering disco songs to give them a more mechanical beat. By early 1988, House became mainstream and supplanted the typical 80s music beat.
Popular music of the United Kingdom in the 1980s built on the post-punk and new wave movements, incorporating different sources of inspiration from subgenres and what is now classed as world music in the shape of Jamaican and Indian music. It also explored the consequences of new technology and social change in the electronic music of synthpop. In the early years of the decade, while subgenres like heavy metal music continued to develop separately, there was a considerable crossover between rock and more commercial popular music, with a large number of more "serious" bands, like The Police and UB40, enjoying considerable single chart success.
Cornershop are an English indie rock band best known for their single "Brimful of Asha", originally released in 1997 and, in a remixed version, topping the UK chart in 1998. The band was formed in 1991 by Wolverhampton-born Tjinder Singh, his brother Avtar Singh, David Chambers (drums) and Ben Ayres, the first three having previously been members of Preston-based band General Havoc, who released one single in 1991. The band name originated from a stereotype referring to British Asians often owning corner shops. Their music is a fusion of Indian music, indie rock, alternative and electronic dance music.
Koko is a concert venue and former theatre in Camden Town, London.
Electronic dance music (EDM) is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and festivals. It is generally produced for playback by DJs who create seamless selections of tracks, called a DJ mix, by segueing from one recording to another. EDM producers also perform their music live in a concert or festival setting in what is sometimes called a live PA. Since its inception EDM has expanded to include a wide range of subgenres.
An independent music scene is a localized independent music-oriented community of bands and their audiences. Local scenes can play a key role in musical history and lead to the development of influential genres; for example, no wave from New York City, Madchester from Manchester, and grunge from Seattle.
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded dance music. While there exist attestations of the combination of dance and music in ancient history, the earliest Western dance music that we can still reproduce with a degree of certainty are old-fashioned dances. In the Baroque period, the major dance styles were noble court dances. In the classical music era, the minuet was frequently used as a third movement, although in this context it would not accompany any dancing. The waltz also arose later in the classical era. Both remained part of the romantic music period, which also saw the rise of various other nationalistic dance forms like the barcarolle, mazurka, ecossaise, ballade and polonaise.
New rave is a genre of music described by The Guardian as "an in-yer-face, DIY disco riposte to the sensitive indie rock touted by bands like Bloc Party." It is most commonly applied to a British-based music scene between 2005 and late 2008 of fast-paced electronica-influenced indie music that celebrated the late 1980s Madchester and rave scenes through the use of neon colours and using the term 'raving' to refer to going nightclubbing.
Nu-disco is a 21st-century dance music genre associated with a renewed interest in the late 1970s disco, synthesizer-heavy 1980s European dance music styles, and early 1990s electronic dance music. The genre was popular in the early 2000s, and experienced a mild resurgence in the 2010s.
Post-disco is a term to describe an aftermath in popular music history circa 1979–1986, imprecisely beginning with an unprecedented backlash against disco music in the United States, leading to civil unrest and a riot in Chicago known as the Disco Demolition Night on July 12, 1979, and indistinctly ending with the mainstream appearance of new wave in 1980. During its dying stage, disco displayed an increasingly electronic character that soon served as a stepping stone to new wave, old-school hip hop, Euro disco, and was succeeded by an underground club music called hi-NRG, which was its direct continuation.
KAV is a British musician from Leicester, England, now based in Los Angeles. Sandhu played guitar with British band Happy Mondays for four years after helping reform the band with frontman Shaun Ryder in 2004. He launched his solo project under moniker "KAV" in 2008 with long-time friend and drummer Jim (James) Portas. His solo material has been compared by the media to Iggy & The Stooges, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Primal Scream, Kasabian, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. He uses a full band for live performances, which sometimes features guest musicians from various bands.
A nightclub is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a bar and discothèque with a dance floor, laser lighting displays, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who mixes recorded music. Nightclubs tend to be smaller than live music venues like theatres and stadiums, with few or no seats for customers.
Chew Lips was an English dance-pop trio, formed in spring of 2008. It consisted of singer 'Tigs' and multi-instrumentalists James Watkins and Will Sanderson
Boogie is a rhythm and blues genre of electronic dance music with close ties to the post-disco style, that first emerged in the United States during the late 1970s to mid-1980s. The sound of boogie is defined by bridging acoustic and electronic musical instruments with emphasis on vocals and miscellaneous effects. It later evolved into electro and house music.
The Violet May are an English 6-piece rock act from Sheffield, England. Formed in early 2009, The Violet May quickly earned a reputation for their wild live shows and were named by Alan McGee in The Guardian as one of his "Top 15 Tips for 2010".
Propaganda is an Independent music club night spanning across 22 different areas in the UK, Ireland, Australia and Brazil. It is known to be the biggest club night of its kind in the UK in reference to the number of people who attend each week. Propaganda was created by DJ Dan while at Bristol university, claiming there was no alternative club night in the area at that time. The night first started at The Cooler on Park Street in Bristol before it out grew the capacity and had to move to Level Nightclub on Park Row. Propaganda has previously had DJs such as Lily Allen, The Vaccines, The Libertines, Ellie Golding, Rizzle Kicks and Zane Lowe at their events.
Camden Crawl was a music festival in Camden, London, which first appeared in 1995 and then was held annually from 2005 to 2014.
Parcels are an Australian electropop five-piece formed in Byron Bay, Australia, in 2014. Today they are based in Berlin, Germany. The band's line-up is composed of keyboardist Louie Swain, keyboardist/guitarist Patrick Hetherington, bassist Noah Hill, drummer Anatole "Toto" Serret, and guitarist Jules Crommelin.