With a firm farewell to an awful April, Disco Matt looks back on a month that, true to his rollercoaster ride of an existence, had some huge highs & some lousy lows, but scoring a line through it all, looks into his disco morrorball of expectations for the month of May that will mark a new era in DM expeditions & enthusiasm.

To say that April has been a challenging month is a little bit of an understatement, as we have struggled to get even our core activity back on track, while also attempting to expand our offer & cover more events both during the week as well as at the weekend. And when we look back across the last month, it would be fair to say that there have been some winners as well as losers in our activity, but what this reflection has already done, is concentrate our minds on what is most important to us & where May will be taking us. So, in true “Monthly Message” tradition & looking into our mirrorball of reflection & then expectation, we run down on April’s activity & May’s missions in what we have already labelled as a new era in our expeditions & enthusiasm.

REVIEWS

Given that April included Easter, one of the busiest weekend’s of the year, that on top of a handful of other expeditions, to find that there has been not one single review penned for the month is a shocking wakeup call in what is, without question, our core activity and one that simply has to get back to track. So with the most colossal review catch-up on the cards that will include Beyond at Fire, Playtime at Profile & Matinee for March, as well as reviews of Onyx & Beyond back at Area in April, we will draw a line under this lacklustre of lamenting, while we take you back to our one of our last published reviews as our post pick & for a flavour of what is to come

http://discomatt.com/web/2012/02/reviews-brazilian-beats-bender-casalatina-a-space-odyssey-saturday-18th-february-full-size-review/

PREVIEWS

We started April with ample anticipation of our first preview of the year, new club venue Covert the subject matter. Although with the month closing on entirely the wrong foot & this full on feature shelved, we will be devoting our attention to other subject matters in May while the differences between Covert’s upper tier management & ourselves are sorted out. So, with an expeditionary look out East, we will be sinking our preview teeth into Summer Rites, while we will also be previewing the month of May for Room Service, The Shadow Lounge & Profile/Lo-Profile, that on top of looking at life for Salvation after losing its shining light, Steve Elliot, in his untimely passing.

RECOMMENDS

With both our Weekend newsletters & focuses having spluttered along during April, we recognise that, like our reviews, this needs much more attention in May. However, we did cover a multitude of events & happenings in the month just gone, including a two recommends features on the Orange Nation offer & as well as alternative antics, while our new Picks section (more on that in a mo) saw us combine a handful of recommendations in, not least CasaLatina’s “Love Banana”. But it is that Easter activity that we look back to for our post pick, before looking forward to a May commitment that will include those weekly newsletters, & focuses that have been awkwardly absent.

http://discomatt.com/web/2012/04/recommends-towering-three-course-clubbing-collective-the-big-easter-weekend-ticket-beyond-we-fluro-as-one-saturday-sunday-monday-7th-8th-9th-april-weekend-focus-special/

REPORTS

April saw us attempt that much prized re-focus that was required, laying out both our music & our monthly plans in two reports, although with none coming to the fruition that we would have liked, our reporting activity ended up being confined to just one on Beyond, although one that was combined with our “Picks” post of the same day. However, with it falling under the attention radar, we have chosen it as our post pick here, while May should see a return (if but a little abridged) or our “That Was The Week That Was” report, along with other features covering the topics of the time.

http://discomatt.com/web/2012/04/picksreports-awesome-afterhours-achiever-beyond-sunday-21st-april-pick-of-the-dayspecial-rport/

MUSIC/D.J.’S

With no newsletters & only a handful of focuses, the real passion in our life & activity took a bit of a bruising again in April, our enthusiasm dented by issues of the day that saw Saturday’s & Sunday’s squandered when we normally have devoted this time to delivering delightful doses on D.J.’s & their productions. However, our new(ish) “Podcast Of The Week” pickings did allow us to look at Zach Burns, Eduardo De La Torre, & Adam Turner, the latter our post pick here, while the last few days of April saw us combine music with picks, which will be a continuing feature in May, that along with our determination to re-start those much missed music newsletters, special features & D.J. focuses.

http://discomatt.com/web/2012/04/picksmusicd-j-s-turning-heads-talent-adam-turner-april-12-mini-podcast-monday-23rd-april-pick-of-the-daypodcast-of-the-week/

PICKS

Born out of an inspired inkling of an idea while on the dancefloor, this latest addition to our website of sections has quickly gown to becoming the dominant deliverer of our daily devotions, we having amassed no less than 25 in April, since starting them on the 5^th, making one for each subsequent day of the month. And combining our picks postings with recommendations, reports & music, it has allowed us to maintain activity amidst the tough times we have had in juggling other issues affecting our enthusiasm. So, with a temporary stall in May already over, these daily picks will continue unabated, specific days devoted to specific picks, while we will also be spreading the scene love, both here in the capital & across the international waters, while our post pick here goes tot WE Madrid’s “Fast Food” event & a feature focus on its star turn resident D.J.’s

http://discomatt.com/web/2012/04/picksrecommends-dancing-dinner-delight-we-party-madrid-fast-food-monday-30th-april-pick-of-the-dayintl-focus-special/

COMING UP  

With the need to restore the core activity that started it all, our reviews, as we have already mentioned, a colossal catch-up is planned, picking on reflections from both March & April, while the high bar we set for the month just gone will be lowered a little.  Over & above that, we have hinted towards restorations of our recommends & reports postings, along with music newsletters & features that should allow us to get back on our feet, while those now prized “Picks” postings will maintain our commitment to at least one publication a day. In addition, having added a video plug-in to our website admin tools, we will be sharing much more YouTube & other video links which will provide added dimension to our devotions.

KEEP UP  

There are a number of ways to keep track of our activity across the scene, social networking site Facebook the best way, both via our group at http://facebook.com/groups/discomatt/, or on our page at http://facebook.com/pages/Disco-Matt/112730602119746, while additional references on our profile at http://facebook.com/discomattlondon are worth watching. Then we have our Tumblr page at http://discomatt.tumblr.com/, which includes our “Pick of the Day” posts, while Twitter takes up the stain of our ever popular live “Nibble Size Review Tweets”, which you can follow by going to http://twitter.com/discomatt. Plus, for you iPhone folks out there, remember that our website in app style friendly, a simple bookmark save of http://discomatt.com/web popping up our predesigned icon & allowing easy tracking/viewing.

CONTACT US

It couldn’t be simpler really as there are a number of channels to get in touch, sending an e-mail to matt@discomatt.com one, while a message to our Facebook profile or page two others, even a wall plastering on our group getting our attention, even a tweet, direct or otherwise, pricking up our ears.

SUPPORTING THE SCENE

We have always been really passionate about supporting all sections of the scene, much of which we historically did via our various reports & features. However, the addition of a designated “Supporting” section of promotional banners as an integral part of our website,  that along with a nip & tuck re-design to increase imagery content, has allowed the image visuals to do much of the talking, we propelling clubs, events, businesses & music producers, their own websites, ticket, event & podcast pages. In addition, with an interactive “Best Bite Choices” section, along with “Pick Of The Day” & “Podcast of The Week” slots, we continue to consider these promotional banners as our gratuitous way of supporting a scene that has supported us. So, if you are a club promoter or event organiser & fancy having your club or event promoted, then just drop us a line at matt@discomatt.com, attaching the relevant artwork, and we will do our best to include you.

 DISCO DIARY DATES

With the issues marking our awful end to April still unresolved, in terms of reviews, we are not looking much further than our nose, although have already committed to “Playtime” at Lo-Profile & “Dish” at East Bloc this weekend, while Gigolo & Room Service will also be benefitting from reflections during May. Plus, with the month’s major weekend coming towards the end, The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee & then Whitsun weekend hailing a number of exceptional events, we will be going scene sporting crazy, while club event “War” will also be reaped with our review reflection.

So, with the scene showers of April now behind us and with that new era in our expeditions & enthusiasm ahead of us, a sturdy schedule of daily & weekly website posting requirements  will see much of our May goals being achieved and that all important core & extra circular activity restored to us former resplendence. (DISCO MATT)