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‘When The 2000s Clashed’ compilation celebrates the electroclash era

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Demon Music/Edsel have announced details of a forthcoming compilation, ‘When The 2000s Clashed – Machine Music For A New Millennium', an 81-track retrospective of the electroclash era.

Demon Music/Edsel have announced details of a forthcoming compilation, When The 2000s Clashed – Machine Music For A New Millennium, an 81-track retrospective of the electroclash era.

The 5xCD compilation, accompanied by a 3x vinyl edition, features sleeve notes by Jonny Slut, founder of infamous electroclash club Nag Nag Nag, as well as archive shots of club regulars by Ophelia Wynne.

The electroclash movement, the name of which was reportedly coined by International Deejay Gigolos impresario DJ Hell, was popularised in the US by DJ Larry Tee, who put on the first Electroclash Festival in his native New York in 2001.

This was echoed by underground nights in the cooler parts of Berlin, Munich, Paris, London (mostly centred around the East End’s hipster environs of Hoxton, Shoreditch & Old Street) and the Williamsburg district of New York. Named after a 1979 single by Cabaret Voltaire, Nag Nag Nag was established by Jonny Slut in a small Soho venue called Ghetto, in 2002.

As a press release for the compilation puts it, ‘A glorious mess and hedonists’ hotspot, a night at Nag Nag Nag (if you could get in!) saw the capital’s club kids, students and creatives rub up alongside names from the fashion and music worlds – Björk, Pet Shop Boys, Kate Moss, Boy George, Alexander McQueen and Pam Hogg were among the regulars. Madonna visited (as did John Peel); Yoko Ono asked to perform (and did!); Throbbing Gristle’s Chris and Cosey DJ’d; so did Marc Almond and 2ManyDJs; Justin Timberlake was refused entry (too many bodyguards)… Even Cilla Black was spotted getting down to Khia’s filthy ‘My Neck, My Back’.

These stories, and more, are elaborated on in the compilation’s sleevenotes, penned by Jonny Slut – who even rode the electroclash wave himself with one of the scene’s most popular tracks.

“I had done a track (as Atomizer) with my old mate Jimmy Cauty (KLF) called Hooked on Radiation and had managed via another old pal, Adamski, to get it to the attention of DJ Hell,” he recalls. “At the time Gigolos was the label de jour. Anyway, apparently he thought it was ’the bomb’ and so I was incredibly excited when he signed it to his label. This would’ve been around the same time as starting the club, so it seemed like things suddenly exploded very quickly.” 

Elsewhere, as Princess Superstar, who has two tracks on the compilation – Perfect (Exceeder), with Mason, and Licky (Hervé Radio Edit), with Larry Tee – puts it, “Nag Nag Nag was one of my favourite places to play, hands down. It was so raw and so authentic – more punk than Trash which was another club of the era – and I definitely loved Nag better! I remember it just being packed with the coolest crowd, everyone was just sweaty, off their faces, and ready to dance. When I DJ’d there I could really just experiment with so many genres and just be raw which was really the essence of that electro era.

“I nearly died when I saw Boy George there one night when I was playing, a hero of mine from when I was a little girl in the ‘80s, and he was just so cool and dancing like just a regular person. That was the vibe there. But probably my favourite memory was when Lindsay Lohan came and she had three bodyguards with her, and the door told her she could only come in without the bodyguards. Lohan refused, and she was turned away. Like, how amazing is that? There was no celebrity ass kissing, none of that pretentious shit. That was the essence of Nag.”

When The 2000s Clashed – Machine Music For A New Millennium is set to be released on 31 October, and can be pre-ordered here. An official launch party will take place at Colours, Hoxton Square, in London, on 3 October, ticket details for which will be revealed soon. [Photo by Ophelia Wynne]

CD Tracklisting

CD1: PLUG ME IN

Fundamentals

CD2: EMERGE

Essentials

CD3: OVER AND OVER

Developments

CD4: WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS

Evolutions

CD5: NICE MOVER

Origins

LP Tracklisting

LP1: EMERGE

Side A

Side B

LP2: OVER AND OVER

Side C

Side D

LP3: WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS

Side E

Side F

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