CityLife

Year of the Mac hits Warehouse Project

Annie Mac

DESPITE Chris Moyles’ claims to the contrary, the rotund breakfast DJ is not the saviour of Radio 1. Sure, his arrival (about 25 years ago, or so it seems) may have added a bit of yoof edge much needed at the time, to prevent the station’s terminal decline into fromage-friendly smashy and niceness, but today the 68-year-old presenter speaks only to the upper reaches of the audience age range.

In his place, a new, true saviour has emerged, fully equipped not only to bring freshness to the airwaves but also to engage with the musical tastes and teen dreams of the core Radio 1 listenership. In her dual role as new electronic music ambassador and co-presenter of the station’s youth strand Switch (with Nick Grimshaw), Annie Mac has been a revelation during her tenure on the air.

Recently bumped up the Friday night schedules ahead of Mr Euphoria Pete Tong (who was less than ecstatic at playing his going-out warm-up show to “some islands in the Atlantic ocean where it will still be seven o’clock”), Mac is seen by many at the station as a rising star, having started her career there as a broadcast assistant to the likes of Colin Murray and Zane Lowe.

Clearly too good to sit around in the background pushing buttons, Mac has made a big name for herself since moving to the mic. Indeed, there are those who thought the recent shake-up might see her make a daytime debut, although that honour was inexplicably handed Fearne Cotton, who places far too much emphasis on sh- and ch- sounds to be on the radio five times a week.

The Mac has also released her debut mix CD, which she’s been busy touring.

The radio favourite brings a star-studded list of names to the Warehouse Project on Saturday night, headed up by Switch and Diplo’s collaborative tag team project Major Lazer, whose hook-up with Ricky Blaize and Nina Sky, Keep It Goin’ Louder, was awarded Hot Tune status on these very pages when the album dropped in June.

Also making an ultra rare UK appearance is Buraka Som Sistema, the kuduro collective whose work with MIA (including the DJ Znobia-backed Sound Ff Kuduro) brought them international recognition outside their native Portugal. Completing a trio of must-see appearances from artists who aren’t known for playing out much is Fake Blood, the ultra secretive remixer and producer whose identity was revealed this year as Theo Keating, of Black Ghosts and Wiseguys fame.

Dizzying

One of the trademarks that added to his legend was the habit of inserting the words ‘fake blood’ into all of his remixes, seemingly spoken by the artists involved but in actual fact composed by cutting up and splicing together syllables from the original vocal.

The practice was taken to dizzying, Chris Morris-esque extremes on Fake Blood’s planet-sized remix of Calvin Harris’ Ready For The Weekend, which, if you haven’t heard it, is chunkier than a bag of Yorkies and another previous recipient of this column’s much-coveted Hot Tune award.

Perhaps, with the exception of the epic Mars, best known for his remix work, it will be interesting to see what kind of set Fake Blood brings to Store Street. As long as he plays the aforementioned Harris dub and his ridiculously heavy reswizzle of South Rakkas Crew’s Mad Again, we’ll be happy.

Also joining the party tomorrow night are a clutch of less shy artists, including Skream (bass-happy remixer whose bowel-shaking take on La Roux’s In For The Kill gained national airplay initially courtesy of Mac), DJ Zinc (drum ‘n’ bass legend still going strong) and Toddla T (boom DJ from Sheffield and the best thing to come that way electronically since a certain Philip Oakey), along with Boy 8-Bit, Green Money and Andro.

The line-up is one of the strongest from this year’s or any other Warehouse Project and the one that we identified as pick of the bunch on CityLife.co.uk/clubs when the WHP programme was announced late on in summer.

Perhaps understandably the event is a complete sell out, meaning if you haven’t already got a ticket you’ll have to be extremely lucky to get your hands on one.

Either way, it is probably worth auctioning off a kidney or a grandparent in order to raise funds for a spare. Good luck.

Annie Mac Presents is at the Warehouse Project on November 28, 2009. Store Street. 9.30pm-5am.