One fascinating seam of discoveries within the blog has a decidedly African flavour, which may have as much to do with the fact that Todd grew up in Kenya and Tanzania as it does with with the fact that the occasional African mixtape found its way into the Dalston second-hand shop. But there’s no doubt that Todd Hart has pioneered the current crossover between world or African-influenced sounds blended with bands or dance music, with his Manifesto party pushing forward the boundaries every Tuesday night at the Burlington Club. Todd has agreed to play an all-African set at White Mischief and will be playing from the peak of the night in the main room.

Todd Hart spent 15 years of his childhood in Tanzania and Kenya listening to the sounds of shirati jazz and congo pop mixed with his parent’ Mantovani Lounge.  Then he went through the obligatory process of learning the American pop landscape, from disco to new wave, hip hop to electroclash by way of New York and legendary Body & Soul and Twilo parties.

He moved to London in 2003 to make his home here and started djing at Catch bar in East London and launched the Dalston Oxfam Shop blog (http://dalstonoxfamshop.blogspot.com) to resurrect old rave and
other odd cassette tapes from the bin and give them digital life.  As his blog caught on in the popular press (Dazed & Confused, the Guardian, The Times, Timeout, German ZDF rundfunk, etc.) and he started djing more
and more at Trash, DURRR and other parties, he saw a mix of sounds from all over coming together in pop music, from Banghra in hip hop and dance, Baile Funk from Brazil, the growth of artists like MIA, Vampire Weekend,Buraka Som Sistema, Radioclit and trends in fashion like Cassetteplaya and others.

Then Alberto Tavares invited him to help launch the Manifesto party in 2007 based on sounds from africa to try to bring this music more and more into the mainstream nightlife and because so much new dance music from Africa such as Kuduro, Funana, Coupe Decale is super hot!

Since she last played at White Mischief, Lady Kamikaze has featured in a glamorous fashion shoot in the newspapers while the Black Cotton / Lady Luck empire of clubs has gone from strength to strength. Not forgetting, of course, the amazing Black Cotton vintage retailer at the Stables market in Camden, which should be a staple for any buyer of vintage clothers. We a’re delighted to welcome her back… check within for photos.

http://www.myspace.com/lady_kamikaze

http://www.myspace.com/blackcottonvintage

http://www.ladyluckclub.co.uk

Since 1997 Dickon has kept a celebrated Internet Diary, making it one of the UK’s longest running ‘blogs’. This dubious qualification means he now appears on TV documentaries about blogging, like BBC1′s ‘Imagine’. One side-effect of Being Dickon Edwards is DJ-ing at stylish club nights like The Beautiful & Damned, which Time Out called ‘unmissable’. He’s also played to a huge tent of happy dancing people at the 2007 Latitude Festival.

Another side-effect is being in bands such as Fosca, who have been featured on the late John Peel’s show and have toured the UK, France, Greece and Sweden; and Orlando, whose album, “Passive Soul” scored 8/10 in NME and made it into the Melody Maker Critics’ Top 20 Albums for that year.

He’s written the Afterword for a new edition of Jerome K Jerome’s 1886 work, The Idle Thoughts Of An Idle Fellow (Snowbooks, Autumn 2004), and has also graced the pages of The Decadent Handbook (Dedalus Books). His short stories have started to pop up in odd places, such as the liner notes for an album by Sweden’s This Year’s Model.

He maintains his appearance so his friends can spot him in a crowd and his enemies can see him coming. Mr Edwards lives alone in one rented furnished room in Highgate, London N6, UK. He enjoys drinking sake, reading Saki and being sarky.

“One of London’s favourite characters” – Le Cool London magazine.

“Think Andy Warhol meets Oscar Wilde meets Quentin Crisp. One of those genuinely extraordinary individuals.”- Emily Dean, Boyz Magazine

“A national treasure trove, he should be listed both on the Stock Exchange and by English Heritage.” – John Howard, singer-songwriter.

Never underdressed for any occasion, London-born Theodora has a love for vintage music and style. A swing dancer, she is also a highly regarded DJ in the scene, with a particular passion for Charleston, swing and classic British and American dance bands. She is a resident DJ at London clubs Shugapush, a monthly burlesque’n’blues night, and The Wood Street Wind-Up. She is a regular guest DJ at the legendary dance club Hellzapoppin’, and has also been a guest DJ at Rakehell’s Revels, Modern Times, The Tiger Rag Club and many others in London and beyond. An avid collector of music on 78s, Theodora was one of the founding members of The Shellac Sisters, a quartet of glamorous ladies who DJ with wind-up gramophones.

American ex-pat and “country music aficionado” Robert is co-founder and resident DJ at the monthly honky-tonk club Nashville-on-Thames, along with writer and music critic Andrew Mueller (a.k.a. The Wagga Wagga Kid). Heralded by such wildly divergent media as the NME, The Times and Country Music in Britain, Nashville-on-Thames has grown quickly into one of London’s most highly regarded country music nights, and Robert has been a DJ at The Spitz Festival of Country Music and a guest at Nashville Babylon. Classic country music is his specialty, from western swing to cowboy boogie to juke-joint jive. His shirts are the stuff of legend, and an occasional source of merriment.

Theodora and Robert live in Walthamstow, in a house full of wool, cats, records, vintage clothes and assorted cocktail paraphernalia.

www.myspace.com/misstheodora

www.myspace.com/takethisclubandshoveit

www.promnightuk.com

Scratchy was the tour DJ with the Clash from 1978-80. Prior to that, he’d been resident DJ at the famed Dingwalls Dancehall in Camden Town, London. During those heady days, he spun at all the major concert venues in the city, including the Roundhouse, the Rainbow, the Electric Ballroom, Hammersmith Odeon and the Lyceum, alongside the likes of the Ramones, the Cramps, Blondie, Black Uhuru and Iggy Pop, as well as touring the UK twice with Dr. Feelgood.

After his stint with the Clash, he hosted his own radio show ‘Scratchy Sounds’ before taking time-out to concentrate on his alternative passion as a musician. Having previously lined-up in the notorious Snivelling Shits he went on to play in bands like Khmer Rouge and Trash County Dominators. In the 1990s he emerged as a photographer and has had work published in Mojo and Q Magazine.

Scratchy hooked up with Joe Strummer & the Mescaleros in 2002 and has since gigged alongside Jah Wobble, Joe Ely and Jesse Malin, the Iraqi-French group Aiwa, Jon Spencer’s Blues Explosion and Tony Joe White, Ska Cubano and the Urban Voodoo Machine. He toured with the Pogues on their 2004, 2005 & 2006 Xmas tours of the UK and has also worked with Geneva’s the Dead Brothers, New York’s rock’n'roll Globalistas, Mad Juana and the Mexican Mestizo outfit, Los de Abajo.

(Photo credit: Claudia Janke)

Festival & International dates include Sziget, Budapest, the late lamented Rock’n'Roll Station, Helsinki and Reggae Sun Ska, as well as Beautiful Days, Bestival and Lovebox in the UK. He has performed on various stages at all the Glastonburys since 2003 including the West Coast Dance Tent, the Lost Vagueness Ballroom and Strummercamp. Scratchy showcased at Womex ’05. Throughout 2006 & 2007 Scratchy toured extensively with notorious ‘gypsy punks’ Gogol Bordello and also began 2007 supporting Groundation. Scratchy is the resident dj of hot London club night Gypsy Hotel.

“Scratchy Sounds: Ska, Dub, Roots & Reggae Nuggets”,
a CD selection from his ska and reggae favourites was released in October of 2004 and is available worldwide through Trojan Records.

http://www.scratchysounds.co.uk

Radio show live every Wednesday afternoon, 4-6pm UK time
http://www.wirelessfm.net
archived for one week only in ‘Scratchy Sounds Playback’
http://wirelessfm.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=8

Combining an eclectic DJ set with their extensive wardrobe of identical costumes and occasional choreographed routines, the girls provide a spectacular experience for the eyes and ears. Drawing from the iconography of Weimar Berlin, circus sideshows and the Golden Age of Hollywood their show is a technicolour extravaganza that takes the DJ out from behind the decks and into the limelight.

[youtube t5ciUpKuFlE]

From Rakehell’s Revels (as featured in Vogue) to the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club (“Best club in London” Time Out) and some of the most exclusive venues in town (Sketch, The Grill Rooms, Tate Britain, The V&A and ICA), the pair play a set that is unsurpassed in terms of style, panache and sheer dance-ability. Having graced the decks of clubs in Paris, Stockholm and Milan, as well as playing a support slot for rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson at the Luminaire, they are set to spread the Broken Hearts’ charm far and wide.

The Broken Hearts released their debut single on the new Mute Irregulars label in December 2007. “Black Cat”/ “Blanco”, a collaboration with London musician Whitey, is a double A-side release on seven inch and download, and was used to close the PPQ S/S 08 catwalk show during London Fashion Week.

On account of their impeccable flair for elegance and chic credentials they have been featured in British Vogue, The Independent, The Observer, i-D, Time Out and Nylon.

“A Hollywood musical on hallucinogenics” The Independent

“This act is full of the style and panache that will leave onlookers gawping enviously from the sidelines” Artrocker

www.myspace.com/2brokenhearts

Since 1997 Dickon has kept a celebrated Internet Diary, making it one of the UK’s longest running ‘blogs’. This dubious qualification means he now appears on TV documentaries about blogging, like BBC1′s ‘Imagine’.

One side-effect of Being Dickon Edwards is DJ-ing at stylish club nights like The Beautiful & Damned, which Time Out called ‘unmissable’. He’s also played to a huge tent of happy dancing people at the 2007 Latitude Festival.

Another side-effect is being in bands such as Fosca, who have been featured on the late John Peel’s show and have toured the UK, France, Greece and Sweden; and Orlando, whose album, “Passive Soul” scored 8/10 in NME and made it into the Melody Maker Critics’ Top 20 Albums for that year.

He’s written the Afterword for a new edition of Jerome K Jerome’s 1886 work, The Idle Thoughts Of An Idle Fellow (Snowbooks, Autumn 2004), and has also graced the pages of The Decadent Handbook (Dedalus Books). His short stories have started to pop up in odd places, such as the liner notes for an album by Sweden’s This Year’s Model.

He maintains his appearance so his friends can spot him in a crowd and his enemies can see him coming. Mr Edwards lives alone in one rented furnished room in Highgate, London N6, UK. He enjoys drinking sake, reading Saki and being sarky.

“One of London’s favourite characters” – Le Cool London magazine.

“Think Andy Warhol meets Oscar Wilde meets Quentin Crisp. One of those genuinely extraordinary individuals.”- Emily Dean, Boyz Magazine

“A national treasure trove, he should be listed both on the Stock Exchange and by English Heritage.” – John Howard, singer-songwriter.

Boasting a vast collection of 78s covering all styles of music from the twenties through to the fifties, the Shellac Sisters play big band swing by Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and The Andrews Sisters, classics like Tea for Two and The Lambeth Walk, novelties by Noel Coward and cheeky music hall acts, 1920s flapper favourites, Hollywood movie classics from Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire and Marlene Dietrich, jumping jive by Cab Calloway and Louis Jordan, 1950s rock’n'roll from Elvis and bombshell hits from Marilyn Monroe, latin exotics by Carmen Miranda and Perez Prado… Not to mention tea dancing foxtrots, quicksteps, blackbottoms and cockney knees ups!

The Shellac Sisters launched two years ago and have been thrilled to find so many people who enjoy the original retro sound!

They have entertained at all sorts of fashion and art events, weddings, private parties and night clubs. Some of our favourite events include the BBC’s 1930s party at Simpsons, milliner Stephen Jones’s birthday party at The Dorchester Hotel, Amazon.com’s Christmas party at Fulham Palace, Time Out Magazine’s Christmas party, a 1940′s party at the South Bank’s National Theatre, The Arts Council’s Knitted Wedding in Battersea Park, the anniversary of the Beyond Retro vintage emporium, 1920s-themed Klub Dada, The Vibe Bar, The Notting Hill Arts Club, The Old Vic Theatre Bar, Viva Cake, The Secret Garden Party and Bestival!

The gramophones don’t need any electricity (just lots of wind-up action!) enabling them to play in parks and gardens or just about anywhere we like! For large events the Shellac Sisters have had unique electrical attachments custom designed so that they can plug their grams into an amp and turn up the volume!

“They’ve got wind-up gramophones and they know how to use them” – Guardian

“Four ladies in fabulous frocks with wind-up gramophones…no electricity necessary means it’s a case of ‘have gramophone, will travel’” – Time Out

[youtube KOFUnuLxPwM]

A well-known “man about town”, Jean-Paul Séculaire is a Londoner through and through. He was born in Walthamstow in 1978 and has lived in London his whole life. He is passionate about vintage black music and collects many different styles from many different eras. Though specialising in the sounds of 50s and 60s soul, rhythm & blues, calypso and ska, Jean-Paul’s vast collection of original 45s, 78s and LPs covers everything from 30s jump blues and swing through to 70s funk, reggae and salsa, as well as some more contemporary releases.

This passion and open-mindedness has led to him being called a “musical visionary” by legendary Jamaican sound man Gladdy Wax.

Jean-Paul has been DJing and running his own club nights since the beginning of 2002. He runs the highly acclaimed Right On! and is the club’s resident DJ and host. Right On! is famous for being London’s (and possibly the UK’s) most open-minded black music night and its loyal fanbase includes the likes of the Jazzcotech Dancers as well as many of London’s top DJs and musicians. Right On! has been called “a complete musical education” and “truly inspirational”.

Jean-Paul is a talented dancer himself and was featured dancing the ska in the BBC’s adaptation of “The Long Firm” in 2004. Coming from a dance background is what gives Jean-Paul his edge. He knows exactly how to get people’s feet moving and is known for keeping a dancefloor swinging all night long.

As well as running his own club nights, Jean-Paul is frequently invited to guest DJ at some of London’s other premier club nights, such as the highly-acclaimed Lady Luck club where he has DJ’d numerous times over the years. Other notable guest spots have included supporting Toots & The Maytals @ Koko, the Blue Bar R&B Club in Rome and a night at Saatchi & Saatchi’s private bar “The Pregnant Man”.

When not DJing, Jean-Paul is usually to be found dancing in one of London’s many night spots. His knowledge of London’s nightlife is highly regarded and his online London Dossier – www.londondossier.info – is a definitive guide to London’s coolest clubs, bars, cafes, shops and more.

Enquiries/bookings: paul@right-on.org
Website: www.right-on.org