We celebrating turning 1 in September with Firecracker Recordings and Linkwood Family. The guys from the electronic music magazine Random Circuits came down to see what all the fuss was about. Read on.

Manchester over the past year has seen a flurry of club nights come and go. Those that never made it did so with good reason; lack of foresight, vision, creativity and in some cases too much arrogance. Of course I wouldn’t do any better. If truth be told a night run be me would be a disaster of mass proportions, doomed to a catastrophic end that would see me collapse both mentally and financially. It takes a touch of magical wizardry to produce a successful and unique night. Those Manchester nights that have done just that are easily recognisable from their marketing, let alone the parties themselves. Hand crafted simplistic posters and flyers, which advertise their artists and their associated record labels as much as they do their own event.

Cutloose is unmistakeably one such night. A fresh faced one year old, brought into the world by well educated and wise hands. Sound Stream, Theo Parrish, Mark E, Mark Seven, Motor City Drum Ensemble and most recently a trio of artists from the Firecracker Recordings and Linkwood Family (Linkwood, Fudge Fingas and House of Traps) having all played their part. The seemingly hand picked crowd is instrumental too. Rioting with due cause on a monthly rota, they tear down decorations, rip up the floors and pillage the cider stocks from behind the bar with smiles stretched wildly across their faces.

The party started off life at Spektrum but quickly moved (for one night only) to Bookbinders before settling at the Roadhouse, where fortunately it has stayed ever since. Often referred to as the Basement, the venue drops down under a building and opens up into a small square red lit room. The club normally plays host to bands and the likes and therefore is littered with oversized speakers. A line of them protect the decks from any would be stumbler, whilst an untold number of high powered cones hang from various heights around the room. Once wired into to a high powered mixer of some kind, the sound thunders.

It was 11:30 when I arrived, the crowd was a little light but like every other month the numbers rose exponentially over the next hour, by 00:30am the dance floor was fat with Cutloose regulars perpetuating the atmosphere into a freakish momentum. A crowd that doesn’t cry out every time the bass gets cut is no crowd at all in my opinion. I want to literally see people’s thoraxes exploding out of their mouths, which is rather lucky considering the sheer volume that rattles out of the average Cutloose visitor, who seems to have vocal power of a banshee. An intoxicating breed and no mistaking.

This uncontrollable raving horde revels in nights like this one, where the guests take charge for the whole evening, gifting everyone with a fascinating insight into what the label and its key figures are all about. I’ve seen a few examples of this done lately and it’s safe to say that I like it. I often walk away astounded by the sheer diversity of an imprints output and influences. Whilst the Firecracker and Linkwood trio played a lot of tracks reminiscent of the Prime Numbers sound early on, they also drifted into the kind of deep house and techno you’d expect to pick up on labels like Wax and Mojuba. Each of the 3 DJs showcased their own unique catalogue and as they swapped places behind the decks the mood would shift ever so slightly into a different direction but never dropping in pace.

3am closing times are a cruel thing for any human being to bear. Although perhaps the play their part; the vindictive swines, leaving those that remain standing with an unquenchable thirst for more. The end of a Cutloose night is a sad moment that can only be recompensed by a head first plunge into Sunday morning front room fun times where you’re left clucking frantically for next month’s party.

Here’s the lastest review from the dance and electronic music magazine; Resident Advisor. As usual you can stick around and digest here or head over to Resident Advisor website.

Chequered shirts, for me, are the primary colours of two distinct groups of people; one wields an axe, whilst the other gets fired up on booze and turns Manchester’s red lit Roadhouse basement into an intoxicating monthly romp. DJs at this romp are varied and span the eclectic funk, soul and disco side of house. Mark E, Motor City Drum Ensemble, Theo Parrish—who’s set to return in July—and Sound Stream have all played previously. The crowd at its centre is a feverish group that sets an unmistakeably infectious mood about the night they call Cutloose.

I’ve made attempts to get down early, which have crumbled into pre-night out red wine drinking frenzies. I told myself that this time was going to be different, I was going to concur the bottle and witness more of the resident’s warm-up. A minor alcoholic infraction and cash point trip set me back slightly but still I managed to fall in by 11:30. A rewarding effort it was too: I caught an hour of Mark and Wes, two of the night’s three promoters and residents. I still held a straight eye at this point and remember Wes tightly mixing rolling house classics, familiar to the any old club head. Mark came on about 30 minutes later, adding a disco edge to the four-four proceedings. This expectedly caused a rise in what was already high numbers on the dance floor. Cutloose fever was in full swing by midnight and the vibe reminiscent of the first time I went to the night some months ago when Sound Stream put a memorable show.

I managed to acclimatise myself to the deafening volumes of the Roadhouse sound system earlier and more sober than usual. At previous events the high notes, at times, have been too much for me to bear. This time—reduced to a more acceptable level—they were palatable and easier to digest.

Mark Seven, the headline for the night—a man I know little of—was on by 1 AM.
He started with a bleary look in his eye and a distinctly house sound. Early on he dropped “Reach for Me” by Funky Green Dogs, which almost left my voice spent. Things got a little crazy amongst the dancing public at this point and as he took a disco swerve it was all out bloodshed. Singing, strutting and quick-toed carnage were the order of the day. The last 45 minutes had a more ’80s feel about it, which may not be to everyone’s taste, but the way he got to it had me sold. There was plenty of well-known ’70s numbers thrown in too but I’m at a lost as to what they were.

This was possibly my favourite Cutloose so far but I’m not quite sure why. Looking back the music was good—at times a little outside of what I would normally like—but despite this I was well involved. The crowd, I feel, was the main reason I came away grinning like a 14th century gay man. There wasn’t a pretentious head in the room and without exception everyone was in a good time mood.

Words – Ben Thompson

Those sound guys at Resident Advisor came down to check out Motor City Drum Ensemble. We’ve printed the review in full below or you can go read on the Resident Advisor website.

Recent releases from Danilo Plessow, AKA Motor City Drum Ensemble, have come on both his own Raw Cuts imprint and respected old hats alike. His 2020 and Four Roses offerings are a refreshing master class in analogue sounding, heads down, driving intoxication. These, combined with the Resident Advisor podcast available late last year, have given me with a gratifyingly soul-infused impression of the Stuttgart born 24-year old and left me salivating at the thought of the recent Cutloose night.

My enthusiasm was temporarily crippled as disappointing news of severe cold and financial flu-stricken friends found its way to me. Ever the optimist, I rallied a loose rabble of friends, some of whom were still recoiling from the night before, and took to the mean streets of Manchester shortly after 11:00 PM.

The number of excitable punters rose steadily after our arrival, culminating in a respectable showing by the midnight hour. The crowd on a Cutloose night appears to have a communal urge for locked groove rioting and the enjoyment that such chaos invariably incurs. Their ungraceful yet enviable approach to a Friday night is something to behold as a cross section of the city’s well versed house enthusiasts embraces faces new. It would be unfair to mention other nights in this review but the work being done to revive the once unshakeable Manchester scene should be applauded and embraced.

I was unable to name the residents on show, partly due to my wavering grip on reality, brought on by a seductive cocktail that I engulfed shortly before heading out. One name does stand out though: Mark Webster, a former Sankeys resident. In conjunction with my first visit to the monthly musical romp, the early sounds excited and enticed. The Cutloose signature, to me, is an unpretentious one that reminds me of back room parties far superior to their main room rivals, as I’m sure I’ve said before.

The next three hours were steered by Plessow who played undisputed classics such as Inner City’s “Big Fun,” Kerri Chandler and many more, which are now lost in a tangled web of heart warming memories. His track selection was far reaching taking in lesser known rarities such as the Richie Hawtin’s remix of “Motor Bass Get Phunked Up,” straight from the vaults of 1994. Home brewed MCDE productions caused the greatest stir, which is unsurprising when you hear how each of them takes on a new life when thundered out of a bass heavy system. Unrelentingly, he marched on and finished with Carl Craig’s remix of “Tides” and sly bass shuffling, elbow-raising black slabs.

A captivating atmosphere clung to the night like the floor did to my shoes. The sound system at times almost tore my eardrums apart, which may be down to it being tuned for live acts as opposed to DJs. But as the highs dropped and basslines rolled, the good times kept on coming. An invigorating night on all accounts, anyone that hasn’t yet experienced a Cutloose of their own should make sure they make it down next month.

Words – Ben Thomson