New York, NY. (Top40 Charts/ Cielo) - Cielo warms up the end of year festivities with another bumper packed month to get you in the holiday mood and give you plenty of reason for cheer, and more then enough excuses to sample the eggnog. You've heard of the 12 days of Christmas, well here's our alternative 10 essential Cielo nights out in December.
On Thursday 4th Dance.Here.Now returns with San Francisco's leading light Behrouz. After a 20 year career he still finds it hard to categorize his style, but we say if you take the best from deep, tribal and progressive house, add a touch of electro and a smidgen of progressiveness and minimal techno you'll be in the right ballpark. On this Nervous Records debut Pure Behrouz NYC, Behrouz offers a double CD with two different levels of energy containing tracks from the likes of Josh Wink, Danny Tenaglia, Taho, and many more. Also included is the worldwide smash from Behrouz himself, Behrouz Vs. The FPI Project - "Rich In Paradise".
Tedd Patterson's acclaimed Vibal night celebrates its fifth anniversary on Saturday 6th with what promises to be another night of edifying gospel enriched house and soul-satisfying garage grooves. His mouthwatering soundscapes can regularly be heard dazzling the haute couture catwalks, enticing the coolest cocktail lounges and blasting from big room systems the world over. Tedd's wickedly innovative sets combine driving percussive beats and deep techno textures with throbbing progressive house, soaring Afro-Latin grooves reflecting a diverse array of influences. It promises to be a very happy birthday indeed.
With a fan base of A-list spinners that include Deep Dish, Sasha, Laurent Garnier and Danny Howells it's worth paying attention to the oddly named Pig & Dan. Hear for yourself on Friday 12th as Made Event welcomes Dan Duncan from the Spanish-based duo Pig & Dan with Igor Tchkotoua, and savor Dan's shrewdly structured sets of percolating beats, synth-driven basslines and tripped-out vocals that tread a tightrope that spans from funky bass-bin shakers to the twisted and progressive. Pig & Dan are set to release some new acoustic bombs on Sven Vath's Cocoon Recordings, Datapunk and Pickadoll Records.
Carl Craig whipped up a frenzy when he last played Cielo back in May and September respectively, and looks set to do similar damage on Sunday 14th as Demon Days presents the DJ, producer and recently voted No 1 remixer of all time by DJ Mag. With a 20-year career spanning techno's birth, rise and evolution, the Detroit native is widely considered to be one of the most important figures to emerge from the city. His style embodying a wide and eclectic range of musical genres while the atmosphere he creates is truly electric. Not to be missed!
It keeps getting better and better as the following night on Monday 15th, Francois K's weekly soiree Deep Space, presents another leading light and founding father of techno, Juan Atkins. Back in the '80s his seminal electro group Cybotron released what many consider to be the ground-zero in techno's evolution, 'Clear' - a dark dystopias of the post-industrial steel city that fused tight Kraftwerk-inspired algorithms to create a new breed of music that we've never looked back from.
Roger Sanchez is the true definition of international DJ. Come the end of year if you tally up his itinerary for 2008 the S-Man would have played over 150 sets in almost 50 countries on 6 continents clocking up over a half million air miles in the process! But he doesn't have more then a few blocks to travel on Thursday 18th as Secret Soul Sessions welcomes back the Stealth Records mogul. His new album is set to drop in the new year and will combine his trademark house grooves with new tougher elements. "It's a little more electronic but still with a lot of vocals," says Sanchez. "I'm working with people like Seal, possibly Macy Gray and a couple of others. It's very dance floor driven."
It's been another great year for Cielo resident Willie Graff whose Playtime night has become a stable part of New Yorker's clubbing diary. Friday 19th finds him back in charge of the faders providing another uber cool soundtrack to match Cielo's surrounds. The night features the same style of deep and tech-etched house that earned him the title of Pacha Ibiza's youngest resident DJ.
A dance music legend, and according to many, the Godfather of House, Frankie Knuckles is special guest of Fresh Fruit on Sunday 21st. Reams could be written about the true quicksilver talent - the City of Chicago even celebrated the pioneering Warehouse DJ by devoting a day in his honor. But it was in Manhattan that FK learnt his trade in the '70s working with the great Larry Levan before migrating south to experiment with drum machines and reshape the face of dance music. Now into his fourth decade of playing, and having fought a crippling illness, we're so happy to welcome back the Godfather to Cielo.
After the stresses of Christmas and all that it entails, relax and unwind before New Years madness with the sublime soul-kissed house of Julius Papp, Paradizo's headliner on Saturday 27th. Although a native of Montreal, he's more than earned the right to call himself one of San Francisco's favorite DJs having played a starring role in forging alongside Miguel Migs and Jay-J the vibrant dance culture that exists in the Bay Area today. 'When I DJ, I like to go on a ride. I don't like to stay in one groove for too long,' says the acclaimed producer from San Jose. 'I like to be eclectic in my musical selection, incorporating various styles.'
And so to New Year's Eve and Cielo rounds off what's been another amazing and award winning year with Roots New Year's Eve party featuring two of house music's leading aficionados and inspirations, Louie Vega and Kevin Hedge. The Masters At Work and Blaze creators have been stalwarts of the clubbing scene in New York, and certainly know how to make a party come to life. You can bet that the night will featuring all of the key defining house sounds of '08, plus a plethora of classics to keep the dance floor rocking well into 2009. This also marks Louie's first NYE appearance in over a decade in New York! A limited supply of $50 advance tickets are available from www.ticketweb.com.
