Our picks for seeing in 2013

The charm and romance of leaving behind whatever crap you had to deal with in the last year of your life by having a massive blowout surrounded by the friends that have seen you through it and that girl/boy who you’ve been flirting with for the last hour of the year in the hope that you’ll have someone other than your best mate to snog at midnight, is usually superseded by the stress that this evening brings on.  If you can have a house party….do it! If you can do it at someone else’s house….even better! If that house happens to be in a beautiful place, then you have the Charlie Sheen winning ingredients for a great NYE!

But….for those who’ll be in the capital and still haven’t decided on what you are doing, here is some help. We’ve tried to keep the list short and sweet and made sure we’ve only featured events you can still get tickets for. Prices range from £15 to £40, we thought about including the Eastern Electric event which has a great line-up but with only £70 tickets left this represents no value whatsoever. A word should also be said about the Trouble Vision/Tief night at Corsica which has one of the best lineups anywhere but this was sold out weeks ago and risking queueing outside for a ticket is ill advised.

So lets start with some relatively cheap offerings…

• GETME! NYE at Birthdays – Headline sets from hyperdub supremo Kode9 + Scratcha DVA, with a solid lineup of support acts, a rowdy night over two floors is expected at Birthdays, one of the best new clubs in London. And at £15 a ticket this is certainly one of the best value nights on offer. TICKETS
• Rick Wilhite all night at Plastic People – I first encountered the ‘Godson” when a friend of mine lent me a stack of house records circa 2003 so I could practice mixing a genre other than DnB. I fell in love with Dreams of Yesterday but haven’t heard much from him since. This guy is cut from the same cloth as the likes of Detroit legends Theo Parrish and Marcellus Pittman. Expect a low key affair with an exemplary selection of Detroit house cuts strictly on wax. TICKETS
• The Docter’s Orders NYE with Just Blaze at Secret EC3 Venue – Something a little different….Just Blaze is responsible for many of the commercial hip hop bangers I listened to and loved in clubs growing up and it’s not often he visits our shores, I think this is a genius booking, and he’s backed up by the likes of DJ MK, DJ Vadim and the extremely talented Kidkanevil (just listen to this if you havent heard from this guy before) on a funktion one system. If I hadn’t already made plans I would be seriously tempted by this, a risk maybe depending on the crowd that turns up but also  the potential for the most fun with a night that doesn’t seem to be taking itself too seriously. TICKETS
• Slide & Get Diverted NYE with Todd Terje at Brixton Clubhouse – A selection from south of the river, with one of the standout dancefloor hits of the year Inspector Norse under his belt, Todd Terje will be taking control of the 1s and 2s for a three hour midnight set. His sets are so wide-ranging that it’s almost worth the entry fee alone just to hear what he’s gonna play at midnight.  Brixton Clubhouse will also be hosting the ‘Up On The Roof’ Silent Disco on the terrace post midnight as part of the NYE entertainment. TICKETS

Todd Terje: Probably playing the most unpredictable set of NYE.

• Love Fever NYE Discotheque at Private Location – We’ve featurered Love Fever events before as they’ve put on ridiculous DJs but the attraction is more because of their ethos, they put on events that are a real throwback to the loved up early 90s rave culture, you don’t just recieve a ticket, it feels like you’re being sold an experience. Super camp, super sexy, super diverse and super fun. The crowd make these nights, they’ve had a great year as promoters and can’t wait to see where they go in 2013. TICKETS
• Vagabondz NYE Warehouse Party – It’s safe to say that Vagabondz are taking an altogether different approach with a line up designed to get you hyped all night long! The highlights for me have to be the now cult figure, MC D Double E on mic duties and also The Heatwave DJs providing a dose of the caribbean in their unique way. Just take a look at this video to sample what they can do to a crowd. Be ready for a reload or two or three or…..you get the picture. TICKETS

And now for the big hitters £30+ for the following events…

• Beat Dimension NYE at Ewer Street Warehouse – There is one excellent reason to go to this and his name is Blawan, it’s safe to say he is definitely one of the best DJs in the country right now debuting at a massively respectable 29 in RAs top DJs of 2012. Although Getting me Down was a huge track, it proved to be only the tip of the iceberg for what was to become a catalogue of hugely interesting releases from the Yorkshire native. I’ve often come away from his dark and relentless techno sets thinking “What the hell did I just hear?” followed by “Where the hell can I find it?” personally I love that and I think anyone who loves clubbing to any brand of electronic music should go and catch this guy at some point. TICKETS
• Urban Nerds NYE at The Sidings Warehouse – I haven’t attended an Urban Nerds event for a while now, maybe it’s because I’m getting on a bit and am less attracted to these larger events, they always seem like more effort to me. But, and this is a but of Sir Mix-A-Lot proportions,  the last one I did attend was brilliant! The lineups are  always great and in my opinion this is by a margin the best one they’ve ever put together. Breach, Lorca, Viers, Dark Sky, Bondax, Hackman are just some of the highlights on offer. Theres always quite a raw energy in these events and If you wanna go big then Urban Nerds just has to be considered in your plans. TICKETS
• Regulate presents: Swamp 81 NYE at Lightbox – Undoubtedly one of the top labels of the year Swamp 81‘s reputation continues to rise and it’s apparent when you take a quick look at the roster of DJs they’ve attracted for this night. Head honcho Loefah will be headlining alongside one of the best producers in the land Boddika. Zed Bias, Mickey Pierce and Shadow Child also feature at what is a criminally under-attended club. With 3 rooms, bags of space, a lovely smoking area to take a breather, this is a great venue and although the Vauxhall location isn’t as trendy as East London it has arguably better transport links. Highly recommend this one, great venue, great music. TICKETS

The jewel of East London.

• Dollop NYE at TROXY – And finally, this is where we at 72booms are heading. Julio Bashmore is the official headliner but Jackmaster and Oneman might stake a claim for that title as I’ve never seen them give a bad performance behind the decks. The talented Krystal Klear and Deadboy provide support amongst others. The venue is one that fascinates me deeply as it’s steeped in history and stories worthy of the most charismatic East London cabbies. It started life as a grand cinema, and has hosted the royal opera, huge boxing events and even the bingo in the eighties. The place is as cockney as Peggy Mitchell in a pie and mash shop, it’s old school, from the carpeted interior to the font on the sign outside. I absolutely love it! I drove past it just the other night and seeing the Troxy sign lit up on a gloomy, dark rainy London night gave me goosebumbs. I grew up in Tower Hamlets and the Commercial Rd has never had a reputation for glamour…the Troxy provides it! My only reservations are with the sound, I hope that the organisers have addressed the issues that such a huge cavernous place will obviously present and we really get a showcase of what these DJs are capable of. The first film ever to be shown at the Troxy was King Kong which is apt as Dollop NYE is certainly shaping up to be a monster night! Hit us up if you’re also heading to this as it would be lovely to waffle to you lovely people who love the music we do at 5AM in the dawn of 2013. VERY LIMITED TICKETS HERE.

Just to finish up, for those who want to continue straight into 2013 without a break (JAKE), Swamp 81 will be hosting an afterparty starting at 6AM just round the corner from Lightbox and then later that night Electric Minds are doing a NYD Party with Henrik Schwarz, Mosca, Shed, Will Saul, Levon Vincent, Mano Le Tough, Dusky, George FitzGerald, Midland, Jay Shepheard, Velvit (dBridge). TICKETS.

Whatever you get up to, wherever you are in the world, we hope you have at the very least a memorable NYE.