Sunday, 31 August 2008, Ibiza, Spain
The fifth best club in the world—according to you voting Resident Advisors—but undoubtedly the best night of the week. Of every week! The line-up this summer at We Love....Sundays has been phenomenal so far; and it doesn't look like quitting yet. This is a true tester, putting the staying power of every headcase on trial. Six arenas before 6 AM? Surely, it can't be done. Out on the Terrace, planes swoop overhead to the sleazy sounds of old man Lawler and later we'll see just how much "Grace" there really is to Miss Kittin. Meanwhile, in the Discoteca Arena, the hardest working whore in production, Erol Alkan, allegedly makes his Ibiza debut alongside International Deejay Gigolo, Helmut Josef Geier; the one they call Hell. Big names also being pulled out of the hat include resident Balearic legend Alfredo; the boy with 20/20 Vision, Paul Woolford; as well as Abe Duque playing his hypnotic tones absolutely live. Lucky for you, RA got embroiled in a chat with him recently....

What are the three essential things the crowd at Space will need on the 31st?

Money, breath mints and oh, sunglasses for when they leave, but not before please.

What goes through your mind just before you start playing at something like this?

Abe, make sure you go and pee before you start.

Will you be sticking around after your set to check out some of the other DJs?

Of course. I am there to party.

Who are you looking forward to seeing?

Hell and Miss Kittin

Is this trip for work or for pleasure?

This one is for fun

Describe a normal Sunday for Abe Duque.

Sitting in an airplane flying back home to NY from some very far away destination

Do you travel well?

I have learned to make it a sport/art/science/hobby/religion.

Where's your favourite restaurant in the world?

"Foo On" Chinese take-out in Hollis where I live.

Where's the world's best shop?

I love Filenes Basement, a discount department store here in the States. I bought an Armani suit there for 200 bucks.

What's the strangest thing you've seen in Ibiza?

Cops.

Thursday - 28 August 2008

Freak n' Chic at Batofar

Thursday, 28 August 2008, Paris, France
It seems the groovy minimal Freak n' Chic conglomerate are intent on pushing the Germans into Paris. This night's last installment provided a hearty dose of Tiefschwarz and now, in part deux, their techno-edged little sister—Micro-Fibres—has similarly chosen some Teutonic expertise. Once Micro-Fibres co-creator, Marc Antona, gets his special atmospheric live set out of the way he'll surrender the dance floor to the mercy of Mobilee darling, Anja Schneider. No doubt she'll be dropping the odd minimal-tech monster off of her August RA Top Ten. Likely candidates? Probably Delete's "Kick the Bully" or "Berolina" from labelmate, Marcin Czubala. Expect hyper-hypnotic basslines and über-neurotic sampling. Rear guard comes in the form of late-night terrace resident, Djebali.

Inner City Pick: For those scholarly types, there's a bookshop in Rue Bûcherie called Shakespeare and Company where Hemingway was once a customer. Brave the rickety stairs to the attic and you'll get a secret surprise.

Friday - 29 August 2008

Goa Ibiza Electronic Fridays at Space

Friday, 29 August 2008, Ibiza, Spain
Madrid's biggest party is holidaying on the White Isle this summer and has shacked up at probably the only place that can sustain such a vibe: Space, the one-stop shop for hedonism. You just can't ignore it. For the second time in three days it's the place to be, and it's only Friday. "They Only Come Out At Night"—quite apt, really. That was the maudlin, yet melodious Latin tech house EP delivered by Guillaume & the Coutu Dumonts earlier in the year and tonight it should translate well to the live performance. Bringing up the sun in the main room is Detroit master, Kevin Saunderson, whose recent remix series—History Elevate 4—was rightfully given 4.5 thumbs up on RA.

Inner City Pick: For the most fabulous vista on the island check out a little, cliff-top hotel called Satorre La Torre where you can get a quiet coffee.

Opening Party at Danzoo

Friday, 29 August 2008, Madrid, Spain
The party season begins anew in Madrid with the opening party this weekend at Danzoo. Hitting the champagne bottle against the ship will be prog legend John Digweed and fellow Bedrocker Guy J. Expect the latter to play a track or two from his upcoming debut artist album, Esperanza, while Digweed will probably just do that thing that he does. Which is pretty much annihilate the entire room all night long. - Todd L. Burns

Inner City Pick: Grab a pic in front of the Bear and the Strawberry Tree statue.

Focus On: Argy / Diynamic Label Night at Watergate

Friday, 29 August 2008, Berlin, Germany
The young Diynamic label is taking their electrohouse and tech house on the road, this time stopping off at Watergate for the night. Hail, the Hamburg Three—Solomun, Stimming and H.O.S.H. You no doubt clocked them on their solid gold Trilogy EP earlier in the year. This could be why they've subsequently been lurking around our DJ-voted top 20 recently. Being something of a remix sensation himself (when cast amongst the right friends—H.O.S.H's "Steppenwolf," Argy's "1985"), Jerome Sydenham, should feel right at home on the main floor alongside Liebe Detail Spezial labelmate and supposed-focus for the evening, Argy.

Inner City Pick: Berlin's open air party scene is all systems go. Check out Das Boot Zum Sonntag on MySpace for a series-closing party on the 31st.

Saturday – 30 August 2008

Outhouse at Cabrio

Saturday, 30 August 2008, Soest, Netherlands
OK, we're cheating a bit with this one because it's a not really a party, it's a festival. But given the juicy inventory on offer, we could hardly resist. Heads up deep heads, this one's going to need screwing down properly. Outhouse festival's third annual event and they're sticking to much the same formula: invite a truckload of talent out into the woods for a full day of warm techno, house, electro and minimal. Divided into two separate areas, the open Cabrio space will be hosting the likes of distortion-loving Shitkatapult co-founder, T. Raumschmiere, as well as his fellow countryman Redshape, techno's analogue purist, masked crusader and the devil of Delsin. Dubstep champs, Tectonic, will be reprezented by their popular grimey tech-king, 2562, who's riding high on the back of his recent debut release, Aerial, and will be getting down to some serious thinking man's experimental dub chords.

Inner City Pick: The closest and largest municipal city is Amersfoort, where the slow, quiet pace of life should help the recovery process. Have a wander through the medieval town and stop off at a place called Corazon, it has the best coffee in town. You'll need it.

Voltt Loves Summer Open Air at NDSM Docklands

Saturday, 30 August 2008, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Another open air festival, another Dutch one-dayer. Raving outdoors in amongst a functioning port might not seem an inviting idea at first, but just think of all those warehouses, industrial machinery, and sharp angular scraping sounds washed by the calm of water; this is practically how dance music began. All nations and all genres are welcomed. The cream of Spain, Netherlands, USA, England, Germany and Sweden come together to compete in the fun and games. The events range from tech house to minimal, from dub to Detroit tech. Carl Craig will be beaming his deep melodic techno from Planet E, as will Sweden's Adam Beyer and Trapez's Alex Under. Modern Love minimal Mancunian, Andy Stott, and the flying remix Dutchman, 2000 And One, will also be keeping the pace.

Inner City Pick: The Nine Streets area of Amsterdam is filled with unique boutiques, cool cafés and brilliant bars.

Closing Party at La Mania

Saturday, 30 August 2008, Bucharest, Romania
The only thing better than an opening party is a closing party—and that's exactly what we've got here tonight at one of Romania's finest. Back from their various Ibiza vacations, the [a:rpia:r] trio of Raresh, Rhadoo and Pedro will take to the decks for the entire evening, mixing together deep house, minimal techno and all manners of abstract, hedonistic party music. We don't want to jinx it or anything, but we get the distinct feeling that this one is going to be big. - Todd L. Burns

Inner City Pick: Grab a brew at Becker Brau, one of the few places that makes beer on site in Bucharest.

Invol2ver Launch Party at Ministry of Sound

Saturday, 30 August 2008, London, United Kingdom

The time has almost come, thankfully, for the return of the proggy-house son. Four years on and we're finally onto part two of the Involver saga. Following a similar pattern of reaping tracks from all those artists he deems worthy—Thom Yorke's indie, Ladytron's electropop, Apparat's meloncholy minimal—the almighty Sasha has once again gone concept mixes and exclusive remixes. Before its release next week, it will be given an airing in a trademark marathon set. Just what the deafening MOS system was built for. The Global Underground musical brotherhood, led by Hallucination fascination, Three, and electrohousing Jim Rivers, will set the tone.

Inner City Pick: Weird fact, but anyone who was ever important in the world of rock & roll probably died when they were 27: Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Brian Jones, Kurt Cobain. Check them out, framed for eternity in the Forever 27 exhibition at Camden's Proud Gallery.

Summer of Love 20th Anniversary at The End & AKA

Saturday, 30 August 2008, London, United Kingdom

If you're not in the mood to look forward on Saturday with Sasha's futuristic mix launch party, why not relive the golden years of acid house with some of the originals that made it all happen in the first place? Mr. C will be headlining his own club, The End, with support from old faves Colin Faver, Eddie Richards and Stick, while Danny Rampling will be manning the decks at AKA Bar in what promises to be a night full of e-stalgia. (The price, a mere £10 to get in, included.) - Todd L. Burns

Inner City Pick: Still in the Olympic mood? Check out the free exhibit of more than 100 posters from past Games at the V&A Museum of Childhood.