benedikt frey & chez de milo b2b all night long at the love inn, bristol

Benedikt Frey b2b Chez de Milo @ Club Blanco, Bristol [18/11/23]

| HEARING THINGS | w/ Hybrid Man | E6

Naturalis 2025 Water Stage with Vladimir Ivkovic

In April, we had the honour of hosting one of the all-time greats: Intergalactic Gary. We're thrilled to finally share the recording of his set that night at Low Profile Studios, so you can relive the dancefloor magic. Over the course of two and a half hours, you'll hear Gary’s mastery in full effect as he glides through Italo deep cuts, proto-house meltdowns, space-disco voyages and much, much more.  

We’ll be returning to Low Profile Studios for another night of sonic synchromysticism on the 23rd of August, this time with Alicia Carrera and Jonah Considine.

Intergalactic Gary at Club Pantheon - 18.04.2025

I-F b2b Intergalactic Gary at Time is the New Space for Intergalactic FM XXL Summer Edition.

Bookings I-F | Beverly Hills 808303, Intergalactic Gary and Intergalactic FM club and festival hostings: carlos@pontoonbookings.com

I-F b2b Intergalactic Gary at Intergalactic FM XXL Summer Edition 09.08.25

Our tenth installment of the podcast was an unforeseen and unplanned one. Often, the unforeseen, unexpected, and unplanned are unsettling, but in this case, they brought an unbelievable musical journey. We want to welcome Manfredas from our 10th installment. A bespoke selector with a musical knowledge that would fill several musical libraries, he kindly extended his Saigonese soiree and filled our Sunday session with great joy. Expect a mix that meanders, accelerates, and wanes, all over the course of 90 minutes. An unimaginable journey between genres, tempos, musical styles, and directions, showcasing the versatility of Manfredas.

Manfredas - NLDMIX 010

A section from my set at Magic Waves Summer Festival, Berlin, July 2015,  featuring the more accessible synth end of the kind of stuff I play at my occasional So Low night in Glasgow. So Low 2 x LP compilation in hand screen printed sleeve coming February 2016 via Vinyl Factory.

JD Twitch Live at Magic Waves Summer Festival, Berlin 2015 (Part 1 - So Low Synth NRG set)

Nosedrip b2b Orpheu The Wizard live from The Olive Grove at Love International 2025

Live from the Adriatic 2025: Nosedrip b2b Orpheu The Wizard

Odopt live from The Olive Grove for the Oddity Radio takeover at Love International Festival 2025

Live from the Adriatic 2025: Odopt

Vladimir Ivkovic b2b Sean Johnston live from The Olive Grove at Love International festival 2025

Live from the Adriatic 2025: Vladimir Ivkovic b2b Sean Johnston

This Was Belgium 1987-89 - 2 hours of New Beat favourites

New Beat was born and initially exploded in 1987, went supernova (in Belgium) in 1988 and then the formula morphed a bit and was declared dead in 1989. It was slow and initially all about the atmosphere with industrial strength beats - the main form of rhythmic propulsion being the pounding kick and heavy snare. It was often mainly instrumental and when there was lyrical content it often became more about slogans and giving commands - "Move Your Ass And Feel The Beat!", "Let There Be Brightness!", "Shout Out Loud!". While not really New Beat, it's no surprise Technotronic's "Pump Up Jam" was produced by a crew who had produced a ton of New Beat gems.

In 1989 one of New Beat's founders, Marc Grouls said "New Beat is atmosphere, beats, no lyrics, and sure as hell not commercial!!!!!" But, it was already too late. A zillion bandwagon jumpers had diluted the music and flooded the market with too many sub standard 12" singles. New Beat temple, the legendary Boccaccio nightclub, in Destelbergen, near Ghent, had been closed down and it looked like it was all over, but really, it was just the beginning. New Beat morphed into Hard Beat (many of the tracks on this mix are from the Hard Beat era) which quickly morphed into Belgian Rave, which was huge and hugely influential in the UK and is an often overlooked part of the DNA of UK Hardcore, and all that came after. Then from Ghent, R&S Records established itself as thee European Techno label and a huge wave of incredible Techno records emanated from it and many other mighty Belgian labels, but that is another story. 

New Beat arrived just as I first started DJing and I played a lot of it in my DJ sets and built up connections with several of the leading Belgian labels who would send me 12" singles so I had records nobody else here had any idea even existed. I would compile New Beat charts for the music paper The NME which may have given the impression there was a thriving New Beat scene in Scotland. The reality was very different; people here, many of whom would embrace the rave just a little while later never really took to it in a big way.

This mix is comprised of many of my personal favourites that I have loved since they came out (and two I missed at the time and only heard later). I think the tracks have aged like a fine wine, often sounding as good if not better today as they did then. There is definitely a faint whiff of fromage and a big dollop of stoopid in several of these tracks. Of course, it is not all about the cheese and many of these adhere to the "atmosphere, beats, no lyrics, and sure as hell not commercial" rule mentioned above. Some of the best programmed 303 Acid basslines ever made can be heard here along with transcendental hypno synths and those Belgian beats going on and on....! Slow and low, from under 100bpm up to 116, New Beat doesn't chug, it swings in a very distinct way. If you get to see any videos of Belgian clubs of the era, the way people moved to this music is incredible and so different to any dancing we see today.

Many of these tracks are made by the same people under various aliases, which will perhaps be audibly evident. Most of the names have been forgotten, if they were ever even known outside their native Belgium at all, but all are legends to me. 

This mix isn't any kind of attempt to tell the story of New Beat but rather a mix 33 of my favourite 12" singles from that era showing many of the various strains of the New Beat and Hard Beat sound. A lot of love went into this and I hope someone somewhere discovers this music for the first time and falls in love with it as I did way back when. This was Belgium!

This Was Belgium 1987-89 - 2 hours of New Beat favourites

Pontoon Bookings represents DJs and producers in developing their artistic vision and presence within the music scene. Founded in October 2021 by a group of like-minded artists, we’re a Rotterdam-based agency and home to musical talent across a broad spectrum of sounds.

Ays // Charmaine // Diskonnected // Eileen // I-F // Intergalactic Gary // Kimmah // Malou // Marsman // Mowgli // Pims // Yopo

carlos@pontoonbookings.com
https://pontoonbookings.com