This 20th April we’ve been asked to take over the wonderful Hope House Gallery, the home of Cosmic Slop and their famed soundsystem, for one night to help raise funds for the incredible work they do at MAP. More details below, but do not sleep on this one!

As a very special guest for the occasion we're bringing up the superb Nina Yamada, part of the Jazzy Sport London crew, to play alongside us. Her record collection's deeply enviable, with all bases covered across jazz, funk, soul, boogie, disco, hip-hop etc. As one of the key residents for the London branch of Japanese DJ/record shop/breakdance/artist collective/sports fans Jazzy Sport, she has absolutely lit up the London/UK scene since breaking on to the scene some 18 months ago, and has been a firm favourite of ours since we heard her. We've been aiming to do something with her for a while now, and the opportunity to hear those records on the Cosmic Slop Sound System is an opportunity to good to pass up.

Jazzy Sport London is the first international team of ‘Jazzy Sport’, aiming to connect the local music scene between Japan, UK, and beyond. They are a collective to offer a new form of harmony through music : Currently hosting radio residencies at Voices Radio in London and Tsubaki FM in Tokyo to introduce local DJs and hosting local parties that break all boundaries between any borders. We focus on inviting new talents from all over the world, starting with London and Japan to build a space for artists and music lovers to share their passion.

Backing her up on the night will be us, the Apricot Ballroom hosts/residents Gabe & Dave, AKA Joi La Frique and Nonna Fab. Apricot Ballroom’s ran for 6 years as of this April, and in that time the ‘friendly late night hi-fi party’ has become one of the city's best-loved dances, with a variety of guests and the many AB residents holding it down for 6 hours every month for the last 6 years. The Cosmic Slop DJs came and played at one the last parties before lockdown in 2020, and we're thrilled to now be hosted for the return fixture at their space, and will be packing only the heavyweights from our collection for the night..

This party’s an opportunity for us to come and dance in Leeds while raising funds for MAP Charity, the incredible organisation that uses Cosmic Slop as it's fundraising arm to provide learning opportunities for disadvantaged kids in the area, and is "a pioneering alternative provider in creative education, offering qualifications and first-hand experience to young people at risk of exclusion from the mainstream school system." The work they do is vital, and we're thrilled to help them raise funds (and play records on their very nice speakers).

The party will have use of the Cosmic Slop Sound System, regularly cited as one of the best systems in the country, hand built by the team behind Cosmic Slop. It’ll be a treat to use it for a party, and we’re looking forward to it immensely. Tickets start at £8, with 50% of all profits from the night going to MAP.

We hope to see you there!

Tickets: https://ra.co/events/1882589

Wow, our kick off for 2023 last week with Heels & Souls was very special. A full house with tickets selling out in advance, and despite a few technical power-related hiccups, the vibes were wild inside all night. And in just under a month we go again, with the fantastic Millie McKee joining us for March's party.

Millie's someone we only cottoned on to recently, but have been blown away by what we've heard in that time. We first heard her from her My Analog Journal mix around 6 months ago, which is frankly brilliant, and shows off her style stitching together percussive dub, jazz, and world rhythms in a hypnotic and utterly engaging style that belies her 2 years of DJing (although the digging for 5 years prior may be a clue as to why).

She also hosts an excellent Noods Radio show, counts herself amongst the residents of Bristol's superb Love Inn venue, and is fast becoming a regular name at many festivals and club nights around the country. She's a fearless selector that we can't wait to have join us at the party.

Joi + Nonna will be back on b2b host duties again after a rare solo appearance from Joi at the last party. The soundsystem will be tweaked to full power as usual, and we're assured there'll be no more power issues next time.

Tickets start at a fiver, and the last party sold out in advance, so would recommend grabbing one if you wanna join us.

See you on the dancefloor x

After last months sell out party, we are back with another very special guest up from London for our first dance in the spring time to help celebrate our fourth birthday (yikes). Charlie Dark joins us for an evening of psychedelic soul music down at Bal, where he'll be bringing a very deep and expansive sonic cohesion to the Apricot Ballroom dance floor.

With a past in running his own Blacktronica parties, long-term exposure to pirate radios, and experience playing on dance floors , including Plastik People, he’s earned his stripes ten times over with respect from peers.

In support we've got DJ duo and power couple extraordinaire Wow & Flutter. With a record collection that firmly belies their years, and some of the best mixing skills in town, they've absolutely cemented themselves as two of Sheffield's best DJs. If you caught them warming up for our Red Greg party last October, you'll know what we're on about.

Backing things up at the end of the night will be the party organisers Nonna Fab + Joi La Frique as always.

Full audiophile 4-point system in effect as usual, in the cosy confines of one of Sheffield's best DIY venues Bal Fashions.

We roll in to 2022 with a spring in our step after an absolute blinder of a New Years party, and having planned yet another one of our absolute favourite DJs to come up and join us for the evening.

We first met Kay a few years back whilst both helping out at Beauty & the Beat in London, and since then have become huge fans of both his music selection and his attitude towards DJing and parties in general.

A few years ago he started up Time Capsule records with his friend Pol Vals, a reissue label focused on unearthing some super unusual gems from around the world, with co-curational duties taken on by other members of the wider London audiophile community. We’ve picked up pretty much every one of these releases, and every single one is an absolute essential for any audio/music obsessive’s collection.

He’s also got a hell of a record collection alongside all this, and is a killer producer/DJ to boot. He was one of our highlights of We Out Here festival last year, and we are absolutely over the moon to be welcoming him up to join us at the end of January.

He’ll be joined on the night by party organisers Joi La Frique + Nonna Fab, who’ll be warming up and then closing the party afterwards. Full audiophile klipschorn/goodmans/bozak sound system in effect, paired with the Bal Fashions Martin Audio system for a beautiful 4-point setup.

Tickets start at a fiver online, with a chunk held back for the door on the night, meaning they’re limited online so don’t hang about.

One for the chug fans here, as we welcome Tia Cousins up to Sheffield for her first time in the city, supported by our fresh new residents Hames & Bambino.

Constantly digging out some weird and wonderful dance music on her Balamii and Narr radio shows, her tastes range from uber-weird krautrock, post-punk and industrial styles through to chuggy new wave, jazz, and balearic. She's a super exciting new name on the scene and someone we're gonna really enjoy seeing rock our party and sound system.

This'll also be the first full party we've had our newest residents Hames & Bambino on, and with their tastes delving in to similar territory to Tia's this will be a near-perfect match up.

Nonna Fab & Joi La Frique will be on closing duties as usual, and we'll have our audiophile sound system in full swing, at our usual haunt on the top floor of Bal Fashions.

Tickets available from Resident Advisor, starting at a fiver, from the link below.

https://ra.co/events/1471412

After almost two years of planning we're finally able to bring one of our all-time favourite DJs to Sheffield to play our party.

Reg Greg is someone that probably needs no introduction, but for those who still don't know the name, he's one of the UK's very best disco selectors and DJs. His set's are a constant stream of insanely good, obscure soul and boogie music, and technically he's genuinely one of the best going. Check out his mix for Resident Advisor from a few years back at the link below (https://soundcloud.com/resident-advisor/ra527-red-greg) for a taster, and there's an absolute wealth of other mixes to check over on his soundcloud. You will not be disappointed.

On the night we'll have our very good friends Wow & Flutter warming up for him, who are two of the most technically gifted DJs this city has to offer. Consistently dropping curveball after curveball, and regularly digging up gems that make our jaws drop, they were the first name in our heads when we started planning this party back in 2019. Check their mix they did for our series for a taste (https://soundcloud.com/apricotballroom/transmissions-from-space-no6-wow-flutter).

Our residents Joi La Frique and Nonna Fab (who you should be more than familiar with by now), will be keeping with tradition and finishing things off on the night.

All of this will be taking place in the intimate 150 cap setting of Bal Fashions, with our audiophile Klipschorn/Goodmans sound system in place for the night.

Tickets start at a tenner, and are likely to sell out, so don't miss out.

Love Saves the Day

After a tough year of little to no dancing, we’re beyond excited to be back at it with our friends and chosen family. So on the UK’s re-opening weekend, we’re teaming up with the Beyond Audible Limits radio crew to bring UK dance music legend Ron Basejam to Sheffield for one of our audiophile excursions.

Known for his work alongside Hot Toddy as Crazy P, he’s a certified stalwart of the house and disco scenes, and is a killer DJ to boot.

He’ll be warmed up for by our very own Dr Smorsli (AKA Sheff’s best warm-up DJ), with hosts Fab + Frique closing things down. Full audiophile system in tow for this one, with some new amps and other lockdown upgrades.

Tix available from RA here: https://ra.co/events/1438611