It's a Nasty affair

Freq Nasty: showcasing at The Boutique on Saturday
Emily Bromfield|Metro11 April 2012
The Weekender

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You may just be getting over the Carnival and Bank Holiday weekend, but

The Boutique

Jon Carter headlines with a three-hour set encompassing blockrocking beats tinged with ragga, and he will be joined by production legend Arthur Baker doing his breaks driven electro thing. Skint's Freq Nasty (aka Darin McFadyen) also appears. The dreadlocked Kiwi has been pushing the breaks sound since way back, releasing an LP on Botchit & Scarper in the late 1990s. Nasty has a new album, Bring Me The Head Of Freq Nasty, and single Come Let Me Know (featuring Rodney P) to showcase.

When 4Hero's Two Pages (Talkin' Loud) was released in 1998, it became the essential after-hours album. With a smooth blend of gentle drum'n'bass, broken beats, shimmering string soundscapes, spoken word and rich vocals (Jill Scott, Ursula Rucker), it lulled thousands of post-clubbing casualties into deep, easy sleep.

It's a far cry from their jungle roots - their record label Reinforced that helped the careers of Goldie and Peshay among others, and the early 1990s darkcore anthem Mr Kirk's Nightmare. Their new compilation reveals 4Hero's obscure funk and soul influences, some of which will be aired, among the broken beats and future soul, by 4Hero's Dego at Herbal Remedy. Danny Clark and Vincent Vella will be keeping the momentum going and the Loft will be in the capable hands of DJ Sneaker and Wozza Woz.

A little tacky electronica never did anyone any harm. Neither did an immaculate bouffant, green eyeshadow and slicked hot-pink lipgloss. Put the two together on a dancefloor in Hoxton and you get Computer Blue: a refuge for art-school beatniks, media cats and those on the scout for unadulterated fun. Since it started two years ago, it's become one of London's finest underground club nights. It has enough satirical sleaze, stiletto-spiked electro and pimping house to lure the timid from the corners of the room on to centre stage. Residents Fonteyn and Danni Berlin, along with host Miss Marika, put on a fabulous glitzy show. Electric Stew's Nathan Gregory Wilkins and Flesh Records' Midnight Mike will be dropping in to add their own unique disco-pop flavour, while illustrator Peter Ibruegger will be showing a 1980s porn-themed visual exhibition.

Uptown Safari provides the soul-jazz underbelly this weekend. Touching on funk, Afro and Latino beats, this is one of the rare London nights that focuses on live jamming. Former Strut Records DJ Toni Rossano, Yam Who (Uptown Safari's latest recruit who has already made Gilles Peterson and Norman Jay sit up and listen) and Blackbeard will be spinning the tunes while Chaz Jankel, of Ian Dury And The Blockheads fame, will be on keyboards. Listen hard enough and you will touch upon melancholy echoes of velvety jazz and the Scotch-filled scent of 1940s New York speak-easys. Emily Bromfield

Tomorrow, Herbal Remedy, Herbal, 12-14 Kingsland Road E2, 9pm to 3am, £4 before 10pm, £6 after. Tel: 020 7613 4462. Tube: Old Street

Sat, The Boutique, Turnmills, 63 Clerkenwell Road EC1, £12 adv, £15 door. Tel: 020 7250 3409. www.turnmills.co.uk Tube: Farringdon

Sat, Computer Blue, Deluxe Gallery, 2-4 Hoxton Square N1, 9pm to 2am, £4. Tel: 020 7729 8503. Tube: Old Street

Sat, Uptown Safari, Notting Hill Arts Club, 21 Notting Hill Gate W11, 8pm to 2am, £6 before 11pm, £8 after. Tel: 020 7460 4459. Tube: Notting Hill Gate

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