The Playground Presents… Ellen Allien, Luke Slater, Dasha Rush ++

ELLEN ALLIEN
LUKE SLATER presents...
PLANETARY ASSAULT SYSTEMS
A GUY CALLED GERALD- live in session
DASHA RUSH
RAVING GEORGE
AUTOKRATZ
D/R/U/G/S

The Playground gives 2014 a spectacular send off with an outstanding line up! Leading lady Ellen Allien will be supported by LUKE SLATER and his PLANETARY ASSAULT SYSTEM guise, Playground regular A GUY CALLED GERALD and DASHA RUSH. Room 2 will be playing host to BAD LIFE Records with performances by RAVING GEORGE, AUTOKRATZ and D/R/U/G/S.

► ELLEN ALLIEN - DJ, musician, label manager, t-shirt designer and creative all-rounder. Born in Berlin, living and working in Berlin and Ibiza, one of the planet’s most dynamic party scenes, her artistic home stands for one thing above all: freedom. Since 1999 she has managed the label BPitch Control in Berlin, as well as the fashion range ellen allien.As a DJ she rocks clubs and festivals all around the world. She is a resident at DC10/ Ibiza, Nitsa/ Barcelona and Robert Johnson/ Offenbach as well as at major festivals such as Melt/ Germany and Name/ France and tours worldwide with BPitch Control events.For a long time now, Ellen Allien has been regarded as a fixed star in the electronic music galaxy. She is an extraordinary creature, a one-of-a-kind artist without whom Berlin’s vibrant electronic club landscape wouldn’t be the same.

► LUKE SLATER - PLANETARY ASSAULT SYSTEMS - Luke Slater's most influential pseudonym. A techno alchemist, Slater has always sought out the extreme often melding influences and styles into a furious and unique sound that has seen him acclaimed as one of the pioneers of British techno. His many and varied releases have seen him mature from an acid house inspired amateur to respected elder statesman of the global electronic empire. From launching that speculative 12" to putting out superb Detroit flecked 12"s on Djax as Clementine to fully-fledged artist albums on Peacefrog (Planetary Assault Systems, X-Tront) and GPR (7th Plain and Morganistic), Slater's trajectory through the early to mid nineties electronic music scene was at the very least staggeringly prolific and a lot of the time utterly majestic. From tough techno beats to beguiling symphonics, Slater's palette has grown ever broader and his musical skill has refined and evolved over time.

► A GUY CALLED GERALD - The gateway between Chicago House/ Detroit Techno and the Uk Dance explosion in the 80’s. The first, if not only, Acid House producer to have 2 instrumental dance tracks in the UK charts at the same time. His visions, stylistic versatility and open-mindness helped forge the development of global dance culture and helped to pioneer the Jungle/ Drum & Bass scene, with “blueprint” tracks like “28 Gun Badboy” and his critically acclaimed “Black Street Technology” album. A Guy Called Gerald is still touring worldwide, playing anywhere from 2 to the now legendary 14 hour sets - no DJ software, no gimmicks, just pure undiluted beats strictly for the dancefloor.

► DASHA RUSH - Began to DJ in her home country, Russia, at the age of 14. Opening herself to diverse style of electronic music from ambient to hardcore. After her move towards Europe in 1996, beside djing and working in fashion business, Dasha Rush began multi-artistic collaborations alongside artists and dancers. Developing sound installations and working with theatre/dance pieces. Dasha Rush has spent most of her time between Paris, London and Tokyo, exploring emotional and technological aspects of electronic music, as well as symbiosis and conflicts between sound and other artistic expressions. In 2004 she ventured back into Dancefloor music and launched her label ‘Full Panda.’ Nowadays Dasha Rush performs mostly Live acts and dj sets, as well as developing her labels, and producing other artists.

► RAVING GEORGE - An artist who loves the dark and melancholic sound of techno music. This young dj-talent has already been crowned the high priestess of Belgian dancehalls. Belgium loves Raving George and the memorable raves she threw at renowned festivals as I love Techno, Tomorrowland, Pukkelpop, Laundry Day and Studio Brussels’ Switch. She hypnotizes party people with her mesmerizing mix of electro and techno music and makes it impossible for any decent raver to stand still. She will take you by the hand into her domain of beats, synths and strange sounds and she’ll only let you go when she wants you to go completely crazy to one of her tracks.

► AUTOKRATZ - Known as one of the finest live electronic acts, London based duo Autokratz compose of David Cox and Russell Crank. They were previously signed to French electronic label Kitsuné Music and appeared frequently on ‘Kitsuné Maison.’ After having released a string of well received singles and remixes, for the likes of La Roux, Alex Gopher, Fischerspooner and Underworld, they released their debut mini album ‘Down & Out In Paris & London’ in 2008. The debut received critical acclaim across a wide variety of publications including the NME.

► D/R/U/G/S - Hailing from Manchester and London, electronic outfit D/R/U/G/S appear to be part of a slow yet highly welcomed re-emergence of ambient house music, creating serotonin-inducing textures that are as contemplative as they are danceable. D/R/U/G/S, for all their brackets and backslashes make an awesome racket. The duo deal in club music, but with an organic, spacey bent. Their tracks manage to be both languid and dynamic: songs that reach high but stretch out slowly.