Saturday, 10 May 2008, London, England
This week's number one pick stars mash-up overlords Planet µ, who are celebrating their 200th (ish) release plus the launch of a new album by breakcore demon Venetian Snares. From their indie, improv electronica roots to their more recent leftfield representation in the dubstep scene, the label has kept an undercurrent of its dark, neuron-bending beginnings and their rave in grimy south London promises more of the same. Mad-as-a-box-of-frogs Venetian Snares joins Neil Landstrumm, and Shitmat in room one, while in room two Vex’d, Boxcutter and Radio 1's Mary Anne Hobbs play electronica-infused dubstep alongside µ-ziq, aka label mastermind Mike Paradinas. We called up Mike Paradinas, who has a lot of candles to blow out...

So two hundred releases. Are you expecting a telegram from the Queen?

Yeah. But we haven't received one yet. We hoped for it after the hundredth one, but we got to 150 and it never showed up.

If you could only keep one of those records, which would it be?

Who's making me? Are the bailiffs are coming round or something?

Yes, they are.

Well in that case, probably the latest Venetian Snares album, Detrimentalist. It's really ravey with loads of old rave stabs in it, Amen breaks. It's all dancefloor stuff.

Yeah, his music is pretty nuts. What's up with the man?

Nothing, everyone else's music is just really fucking boring.

On stage he's the personification of grimey underground electronica...

He's actually quite a normal, intelligent guy. He sometimes takes a bit of acid, but...

Hee hee. Have you been to Corsica Studios before?

Yes, I've played there a couple of times already. It's a really nice venue. It's got a new Funktion One sound system so the sound is amazing. For the party they're opening a third room that they don't normally use 'cos we sold all the tickets. So we'll put two hundred tickets on the door plus pipe music from the main room into the third room.

You've had a few Planet Mu parties before, too.

This is about the fourth or fifth one, I think. There was two big Electrowerkz ones, then there was one at Jacks, and we did another invite only one at Electrowerkz.

Any particular moments you can remember?

Yeah, when Vex'd played at Jacks, and they played 'Angels', that was a pretty good moment. When they dropped that bass it was amazing, the whole room went wild. It was one of their first gigs in front of a big crowd, away from places like FWD>>, which was really small at the time. Dubstep's obviously exploded since then.

Yeah, when the label started out you were putting out mostly glitchy electronica, but now you're much more about dubstep.

Well, it didn't exist back then. I think apart from Tempa we were one of the first labels to put that stuff out. It took a while for people to accept that we could release different types of music, I guess they thought we were stepping on their toes.

What's the future hold for dubstep?

It's going to expand and become codified. I don't think it'll be able to keep that freedom of expression it's had up until the last year really. I see it becoming formulaic. Maybe it will go the way of drum and bass where it becomes an insular scene that's big around the rest of the world but not in London. Hopefully innovative producers like Peverelist and Shackleton can keep expanding the sound.

Friday - 9 May 2008

Sonic Warfare Part 7 at Melkweg

Friday, 9 May 2008, Amsterdam, Netherlands
The Sonic Warfare nights are a reminder that dubstep and grime has travelled far from its home in south London. Bass tectonics come this time from Bristol, with artists like Appleblim and Gatekeeper from the Skull Disco label (ethnic style dub) and Perevelist and Foresaken on Punch Drunk (glitchy dub); but there's also locals Martyn, Aardvarck and U Dub. Things are kept tru to tha rootz (kind of) in a concert venue setup that reflects early sound system days.

Inner city pick: If you like art, Amsterdam is great for galleries.

Versions 1 at The Classic Grand

Friday, 9 May 2008, Glasgow, Scotland
Up tae Glasgae now, making a contrast with the other European events on the list. The weather might be crap, but inside the club things are better with a kind of shrunken down version of a theatre with posh decoration and a mini stage. Which will host, instead of tiny actors, a very special guest (psst – it's Andy Weatherall) who will smoothly dish out acid/techno, accompanied by Donnacha Costello with wonky minimal techno, and Mark Broom somewhere in between the two.

Inner city pick: If you've still got the energy, go and see a band at the famous King Tut's Wah Wah Hut where Oasis (and others) were discovered.

Nuits Sonores Nuit Trois at Ancienne Usine SLI

Friday, 9 May 2008, Lyon, France
This is our pick of the evenings at this four-night festival, where the quality of the acts is only matched by their diversity. Laurent Garnier will be playing one of his famous all-night sets, mixing rock, downtempo, techno, drum and bass, etc. etc. alongside fellow Frenchman Agoria. There'll also be Warp artists Battles (postrock/electronica) and Antipop Consortium (odd hip-hop), and Ninja Tune representation from the DJ Food project and DJ Krush.

Inner city pick: Lyon rivals Paris for fashion; visit the shops on the streets leading off the Place Bellecour.

Saturday - 10 May 2008

Awakenings at Graansilo

Saturday, May 10 2008, Rotterdam, Netherlands
The next dose of this highly regarded Dutch organisation (just check out the roster for the festival in June) will feature old school techno from Joey Beltram, individualistic prog/trance from James Holden, minimal techno from Gaiser, and high energy electro/techno from Joris Voorn. All this in Rotterdam's premier techno club, a converted grain facility which has kept the cavernous, gritty quality but is now associated with consumption of biscuits of an entirely different kind.

Inner city pick: The Eendrachtsplein/ Nieuwe Binnenweg area for bars and cafes.

Grand Slam Event at Universal D.O.G.

Saturday, 10 May 2008, Lahr, Germany
Universal D.O.G. has hyper-galactic décor and a light show that reflects the electro flavour of this night's music, and with four floors and an outside area as well it looks more like a fun house complex than a club. An appropriate setting, then, for DJ Hell's International DeeJay Gigolos collective and Mobilee records, both to be setting up showcases. Hell, The Model and Richard Bartz will play electro-clash on one floor, with Pan-Pot (live) and Christian Gimbel doing subdued deep house on another.

Inner city pick: Lahr has lots of old churches, so you can go and pray for your sins afterwards.

We Are Punks & Lessizmore Party at Fuse

Saturday 10 May 2008, Brussels, Belgium
Fuse lives up to its name this week with an unlikely combo of electro and minimal house from two top-notch labels. Room one hosts Datapunk, who will be rocking dark, purist electro with Don Tony Rother and Frank Kusserow. Perlon bring along Cassy and a live set from Thomas Melchior, dishing out elegant grooves for the less strong of heart, or mohican.

Inner city pick: The Ste-Catherine area is filled with seafood restaurants.

Pre-Reworks Tour at Decadence Club

Saturday 10 May, 2008, Thessaloniki, Greece
Another Mediterranean party reminds us that summer (in the rest of Europe) is just around the corner (or so we hope in Britain). The lineup: Mathew Jonson with diverse, jazz-influenced electroid house, Marc Houle with round, analogue minimal, Oliver Huntemann's groovy, dark house moods, and Greek nationals Ison and DJ Solar, with minimal electro. The club: an open air venue, with palm trees, ornate decoration and lots of sexy Greek people. Bootiful.

Inner city pick: Thessaloniki is seen as a gourmet city by Greeks; go for down-to-earth, authentic cuisine rather than expensive restaurants.

Sunday - 11 May 2008

Goa Electronic at Fabrik

Sunday, 11 May 2008, Madrid, Spain
The promoters of Madrid's spiffing Sunday afternoon art-rave conventions seem to have got confused over which Goa they were running, because they've made Bollywood the theme this month. They've also brought in the usual high class of international house and techno artists, like John Tejada, Stacy Pullen, Raresh, and Ben Watt. Audio, visual, terrace and theme: we could go on about the wicked mix
of ingredients this party has, but really it speaks for itself.

Inner city pick: La Casa Encendida, a centre of visual art and culture that's right next to the market, too.

M_nus at Uebel und Gefährlich

Sunday, 11 May 2008, Hamburg, Germany
The club name might look like a random collection of letters, but as anyone who's ever been to a M_nus night can testify, they're pretty damn heavy. Very minimal techno, of course, from Troy Pierce, Heartthrob and Tractile, the latter two with live sets. There'll also be Datapunk artist Carsten Stäcker and Maurizio Schmitz filling things out a little bit in case you fancy something with a tone.

Inner city pick: Eat a Hamburger, just make sure you sneak up on them quietly. Ha! Ha! But seriously, the hamburger was actually born in Hamburg; here they're called frikadelle.

Top photo credit: Matthew Piatkowski