Club Picks ft. Erol Alkan, Whities, Shanti Celeste & Bradley Zero

This week’s club night round up features a choice selection of the city’s best goings on, including an extended night-long set from Erol Alkan at Hidden and a Whities label showcase at, fittingly, The White Hotel. Drum and Bass pioneer LTJ Bukem makes an appearance at Band On The Wall, while CULT round up the brightest of the UK’s house scene stars for their third birthday bash.

CULT 3^rd Birthday with Pearson Sound, Shanti Celeste, Bradley Zero and Eclair Fifi at Hidden
CULT celebrate their 3^rd birthday at Hidden with four very special guests, including the head of Rhythm Section, Bradley Zero – the UK label has legions of fans, and Zero has earned himself a reputation as a DJ with impeccable taste. Second guest, Eclair Fifi, started out in Glasgow’s clubs and on the air waves of London’s first pirate radio stations. Soon recognised for her comprehensive musical knowledge, spanning Latin freestyle, techno, Italo and hip hop, she has since earned residencies on Radio 1 and hosts a monthly radio show on NTS. Pearson Sound aka David Kennedy has been running vinyl only night Acetate in Leeds for seven years, and is known for his meticulously mixed sets. The final name on the lineup is Shanti Celeste, the Chilean born DJ and co-founder of the Brstl label. After making a name for herself down South, Celeste has since performed raved about sets at the likes of Panorama Bar, Dekmantel and Corsica Studios.
Fri 23 Mar, Hidden, 17 DownTex Mill, Mary Street, Manchester, M3 1DZ. Tickets: £10-£18 ww.skiddle.com

LTJ Bukem at Band On The Wall
Drum and Bass cult name LTJ Bukem brings warm, soulful beats to Band On The Wall. Bukem first made a name for himself touring London’s clubs and gaining fame in 1990’s rave culture. Reincarnating himself in the post-acid house days, Bukem began producing drum and bass tracks that drew heavily from elements of jazz and ambient.
Fri 23 Mar, Band on the Wall, 25 Swan Street, Northern Quarter, Manchester, M4 5JZ, Tel: 0161 834 1786. Tickets: £10-£15, www.bandonthewall.org

Ordinary Friends present nd_baumecker at The White Hotel
The down-at-heel feel of The White Hotel is the perfect setting for Ordinary Friends’ all-out celebration of an exuberant, edgier sort of house. Making his Manchester debut, Frankfurt born DJ nd_baumecker is a regular at Berghain and Panorama Bar, and was selected as part of Black Madonna’s XOYO residency. Stylistically, ND’s sets glide effortlessly through a spectrum of genres and sounds, from disco, through techno and minimal. With a rumoured 20,000 records in his collection, expect some real rarities in the mix.
Fri 23 Mar, The White Hotel, Unit 3, Dickinson Street, Salford, M3 7LW. Tickets: £12, www.skiddle.com

Erol Alkan (all night long) at Hidden
Erol Alkan has always been a DJ who operates off the beaten track with boundary bridging mixes that merge techno, punk, indie and rock. One of the UK’s most influential and enduringly popular names, Alkan holds residencies at BBC 6 Music and Boiler Room. This Saturday Alkan takes to the decks at Hidden for an extended set that might lead you away from your comfort zone – surprising and delighting in equal measure.
Sat 24 Mar, Hidden, 17 DownTex Mill, Mary Street, Manchester, M3 1DZ. Tickets: £8-£15 ww.skiddle.com

CLUB Pelican with Whities at The White Hotel
Whities host a label showcase of the weird, and definitely wonderful, led by Vladimir Ivkovic. The more experimental electro off-shoot of the Young Turks label, Whities has been headed up by former boiler room programmer Nic Tasker since its inception. Known for backing emerging and existing artist who explore unfamiliar, intriguing and boundary pushing sounds, Whities is a label like no other in the field. Their White Hotel showcase features Des Amateurs resident, Vladimir Ivkovic, whose creative and sometimes challenging sets have drawn acclaim from the critics. Amelia Phillips’ skirts around the darker edges of an ambient, abstract techno, whilst Jules Venturini’s broad sound incorporates soft strings, and shivering electronica with sharp, uptempo beats.
Sat 24 Mar, The White Hotel, Unit 3, Dickinson Street, Salford, M3 7LW. Tickets: £6-£13. www.skiddle.com