414 News Blog

HarderFaster Awards 2016 - The results are in!

Reported by HarderFaster / Submitted 15-03-17 13:11   It’s that time again and the results are in after HarderFaster asked you to look back and tell us who, what, when and where made the grade in 2016, whether that be for good or bad reasons At your suggestion, we added a new poll category – Jaw Drop Thread – and the winner won’t come as any surprise. Our free-text voting system means you can enter whatever you want and we always look forward to your wit and wisdom. In keeping with tradition, we were delighted to see Josie making a comeback for best festival. As we’ve said in the past, the diverse votes continue to reveal your eclectic tastes so we’ll continue to award top honours to those who were clearly in the lead and honourable mentions to those who were near the top or where there are no clear winners.      

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Clubs

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HarderFaster Club Night of the Year 2016 Which was the best overall event of the year? Winner: Zoology 15th Birthday     Zoology 15th Birthday was the clear winner for as your club night of 2016, and the writer can vouch for this. Honourable mentions go to Lost Dawn, winners in 2014, and newcomer HDM.  

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HarderFaster After Party of the Year 2016 If the night is just not enough then this is where you'll be, and 2016 continues the trend - you’d rather be at a crack-on than a formal event when it comes to afters so we’re not going to award a winner in this category. Honourable mention goes to Trance Sanctuary After Party who polled most votes of any formal after party.  

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HarderFaster Day Party of the Year 2016 Don't fancy a late night? This is the daytime party where it's all happening. Joint Winners: Alumni and Lost Dawn       Alumni made a strong comeback in 2016, tying with our previous winner Lost Dawn.  

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HarderFaster New Party of the Year 2016 Joint Winners: HDM and TranceLUCID       It was neck and neck for these 2 newcomers, too hard to call for top spot so we’re awarding Joint Winners. Props to the jokers who voted for Zoology's "comeback".  

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HarderFaster Festival of the Year 2016 What was your favourite festival of 2016? Winner: Chilled in a Field     Chilled in a Field was the clear winner, unsurprising with several of HarderFaster’s favourite promotions contributing over the weekend.  

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HarderFaster Venue of the Year 2016 What was your favourite clubbing venue in 2016? Winner: Club 414.     Club 414 lifts the cup again, reflecting the massive support from far and wide after being threatened with closure by property developers.  

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HarderFaster New Venue of the Year 2016 What was your favourite new venue in 2016? Whilst not strictly new, Tobacco Dock was the clear winner and has established itself as a venue of choice.      

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Choons 'n Labels

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  The trend continues with votes being divided in these categories so we’ll continue to award prizes where there’s a clear winner, and mentions to the cream of the crop. HarderFaster Tune of the Year 2016 Everyone seemed to have their own favourite in 2016 so no clear winners but Mind Shift - Luke Warner and Latex Zebrareceives an honourable mention. Surprisingly there were no votes for BK – Revolution or Breather – Come On this year.  

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HarderFaster Remix of the Year 2016 Your pick of the tunes revamped and refreshed this year? Another diverse vote with no clear winners.  

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HarderFaster Album of the Year 2016 Which album was the best of the year? Without any consensus as to your stand out album of 2016 we can’t give any awards, but Tangled Audio Best of 2016 was very popular.  

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Producers

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  Another case of everyone having their own favourite, although continuing a theme we’re awarding Luke Warner an Honourable Mention after polling highly in our New Producer, Producer and Remixer categories.  

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DeeJays and Performers

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  HarderFaster DJ of the Year 2016 Who was your favourite DJ in 2016? Latex Zebra gallops home to win HarderFaster DJ of 2016 by a length. Royal Mail declined requests for a gold post box but TFL stepped up and dedicated the Nugget bus route in his honour.     Honourable mentions to his partner in crime. B.S.E. and HarderFaster’s very own Miles Gorfy.  

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HarderFaster Live Act of the Year 2016 Who was your favourite Live Act in 2016? Current king Libra9 shares top spot with Natural Selection, an electro-swing combo to look out for.  

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HarderFaster Resident DJ of the Year 2016 Which resident DJ at which club made it their own in 2016? Latex Zebra shares the resident crown with Lost Dawn dynamic duo Adam Symbiosis and Craig Gunn.  

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HarderFaster International DJ of the Year 2016 Outside the scope of regular clubbing, which world class DJ ranks as number one? Joint Winners: Drumcode’s Adam Beyer and Sam Paganini        

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HarderFaster Set of the Year 2016 Which DJ played your favourite set this year and what event was it at? It was impossible to pick a winner from so many different nominations, but Will Renville polled highly for his set at Zoology’s 15th Birthday, with Adam Symbiosis and Craig Gunn receiving worthy praise for their set at the HarderFaster Christmas Party.  

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HarderFaster Content

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  HarderFaster Feature Writer of the Year 2016 Who was the best contributor to HarderFaster's Feature section? Winner: Tara Tara continues to inform and entertain with her wide knowledge of dance music and easy writing style.  

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HarderFaster Review Writer of the Year 2016 Who was the best contributor to HarderFaster's Tune Review section? Winner: Pete Morton Pete Morton is lord and master of the HarderFaster review section.  

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HarderFaster Thread of the Year 2016 Which was your favourite thread of 2016? Winner: People who need punching (ceekay's punching bag for years to come) by ceekay. For our forum regulars, here are the popular threads of 2016 based on post count: What first world problem did you have today? by danj. Notable, Semi-notable, the downright obscure and Celebrity Deaths 2016 by wykah. In or out then. by Latex Zebra. What has made you happy today? by ceekay. Euro 2016 by ceekay. Which TV series are doing it for you currently? by Slink.. Maternity leave by LeeLegEnd. What's the worst chat up line you've ever heard? by DJ Sketchy. HarderFaster Jaw Drop Thread of the Year 2016 Which thread of 2016 made your jaw drop? Winner: Some celebrities I've met! by DJ Sketchy. No prizes for guessing the winner, we suspect the new category was nominated with this very thread in mind.  

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HarderFaster Member Awards

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  HarderFaster Member of the Year 2016 Who was your favourite overall HarderFaster member in 2016? Winner: Slink. Slink re-takes the crown, with honourable mentions to Ceekay and Fi.  

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HarderFaster Intellectual of the Year 2016 Which HarderFaster member gave you food for thought in 2016? Joint Winners: Stakker and Fi Stakker continues as HarderFaster’s resident intellectual, sharing his crown with Fi.  

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HarderFaster Redeemed Member of the Year 2016 Who in your eyes redeemed themselves during the year? Winner: 5709 5709 dons his Dr Jekyll cape and receives worthy recognition for his wit and wisdom in 2016. Stop sucking your teeth; more awards coming for 5709!  

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HarderFaster Party Animal of the Year 2016 Who was HarderFaster's party animal in 2016? Winner: Latex Zebra Latex Zebra hung up his pipe and slippers in 2016 and puts us all to shame with his party antics. Honourable mentions to Quin and Matt, can’t keep good men down!  

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HarderFaster Smoothest Operator of the Year 2016 Who was HarderFaster's smoothest operator during 2016? Winner: Slink. Slink. retakes his smooth spot.  

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HarderFaster The Dark Side of the Year 2016 Which HarderFaster member did you love to hate in 2016? Newcomer DJ Sketchy moves straight into top place, winning Dark Side 2016.  

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HarderFaster Flounce of the Year 2016 Who performed the best 3-point flounce in the year? Winner: Skaramanga Skaramanga takes gold, beating all leavers, hands down.  

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  HarderFaster Meltdown of the Year 2016 Who threw their toys AND pram out of the nursery window? Winner: 5709 A resounding win for 5709 as Mr Hyde, with Skaramanga receiving an honourable mention for his excellent work in this age-old discipline.  

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  Congratulations to our worthy winners and runners up, commiserations to those who didn’t make the mark and thanks to everyone who took the time to vote. That’s a wrap for this year’s Annual Awards! Keep your eyes and ears open in 2017, we look forward to seeing your top picks next year. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Live music Sundays at Club 414: the best late bar in Brixton on a Sunday

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New Years Eve at the legendary Club 414.

It was busy right until close and as ever there was a lovely friendly crowd in the house. We hope that this venues survives its fight to stay open and not be turned into yet more luxury flats. BY MIKE URBAN

Temporary reprieve for Brixton’s Club 414 as developers withdraw luxury flat planning application

Fabric Club campaigners lend their support to Brixton’s Club 414

Can we now turn his attention to the 414?

“Sadiq Khan”

I am delighted to confirm that an agreement has been reached to re-open the night club Fabric. I have always said that we needed to find a common-sense solution that protects both the future of Fabric and the safety of all clubbers – as this does. I especially want to thank Islington Council for working so hard to come to this solution. In her first week in the job, my new Night Czar Amy Lamé has already held conversations with Islington Council, the Metropolitan Police and Fabric. My Night Czar will be working with other businesses, local authorities and Londoners to maximise the economic and social impact of a growing night time economy. I’ll also soon be announcing a new Chair of the Night Time Commission to work with Amy to help deliver a vision for a truly 24-hour city. https://www.facebook.com/MayorofLondon/posts/372982686381228 ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Could she be Club 414's redeemer?

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Tim Westwood’s plan to save nightlife

World renowned DJ Tim Westwood has recently spoken to NME and given them his 10-point plan on how he would save London’s nightlife, and we think some of them are pretty brilliant, so have recapped them below: Prevent gentrification from ruining club culture Speaking of gentrification, Westwood said "In areas outside of central London, if you move there, you shouldn't have the residential rights to shut down clubs when the area becomes gentrified.” And we couldn’t agree more. Club 414 was established in 1985 when Brixton was a place nobody wanted to visit, let alone invest time and money in. Now it is considered ‘trendy’, but the places that made it great are being destroyed.  Tim commented further on the issue saying “If an area’s got clubs, and you move into that area, you should accept that those clubs have a right to coexist and not use your residential rights to get those clubs shut down.” Change institutionalised attitudes Much of the issue when it comes to the closure of so many London clubs is with the councils and developers, something which needs to change in order for us all to work collaboratively to keep London’s nightlife thriving. Speaking of the matter in his plan, Westwood said; "There’s got to be a new working attitude from police and council licensing towards London’s nightclubs and that is to recognise the contribution they make to London as the coolest city in the world, the contribution they make to the night-time economy, and to young people’s lives." Protect clubs as essential public services Tim Westwood has rightly said that clubs should be protected as essential public services – as we all know, Football used to have hooliganism, but as Westwood points out they didn’t stop football, they solved the problem, which is what should happen with our clubs. “If there’s a problem with a club, a high-risk problem, the police and council should work on solving that problem as opposed to shutting down that club.” Whoever takes on the new role of Sadiq Khan’s ‘Night Czar’ should most definitely take a look at Westwood’s ’10-point plan’ which offers a lot of food for thought when it comes to London’s nightlife. You can read his full plan here, and please don’t forget to sign our petition if you haven’t done so already – with the support of big industry voices like this, nightlife in London might actually be saved.

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How the Night Czar could put the ‘life’ back into London’s nightlife

The search for London’s ‘Night Czar’ is on, with applications closing in early September, and this position is one that most definitely needs to be filled in light of the damage to London’s nightlife. The role is designed to be a lynchpin between communities, who can negotiate between the Met police, local authorities, venues and the public to find ideal solutions that work for all involved. In general, they will oversee the wider night-time economy of London, which thanks to the Night Tube is expected to dramatically improve. In relation to the role, Sadiq Khan rightly said that ‘no single organisation or public body can solve these problems alone – we all need to work together’ and having a night czar in place to do this we hope will put the ‘life’ back into London’s nightlife. Amongst those who have thrown their hat into the ring is renowned London nightclub promoter Roger Michael, who has said he wants to champion London’s cultural values in the role. Amsterdam appointed their own Night Mayor, Mirik Milan, back in 2012, and are now installing an advisory ‘Night Board’ of 12 people from clubs, festivals, the gay scene and legislation in Amsterdam – possibly the next step to look at for London after the Night Czar has been chosen? People from different elements of night life need a voice, and by bringing them together in a board, this collective voice will be heard. Mirik feels that the Night Czar of a city should have the final say on whether a club closes rather than the council, and we couldn’t agree more. If this was the case today, we’re sure that Club 414 wouldn’t be facing the threat of gentrification from developers and the council, highlighting the need for an authoritative nightlife figure even more.