DeTournement – The Sunday Resurrection Sessions

DETOURNEMENT

We wanted to play Daft Punk to Ramones fans and The Ramones to Daft Punk fans”, Steve Chaos.“

Please detourne me”, Jim Sonic Smith.

“I’ve never been wrong. I used to work in a record store. I had everything before anyone. But I’m losing my edge, to better-looking people, with better ideas and more talent, and they’re actually really really nice”, LCD Soundsystem, Losing My Edge (2002).

From 2000 to 2007 deTournement was a fortnightly weekend den of iniquity hosted across various Brighton venues playing, according to their posters: “Future Rock’n’Roll, Electro-Sleaze, Kinky Krautrocking Beats, Post-Punk No-Wave Disko and Maverick Pop Genius”. It was not for wallflowers.

But what did Detournement mean? According to the Situationist International it was “the integration of present or past artistic productions into a diversionary construction of a milieu. In this sense there can be no situationist painting or music, but only a situationist use of those means. In a more elementary sense, détournement within the old cultural spheres is a method of propaganda, a method which reveals the wearing out and loss of importance of those spheres.”

To the DJs it meant “the manipulation of context is the key to pop discovery”. Or whatever. Some of us were too trashed or too pseudo-intellectual to work it out properly. It had something to do with punk, culture-jamming, and turning the system against itself. Subversion etc. etc. etc.

Fucking with your head, yeah? Well Jackson.

Anyway, we’re back for a one-off Sunday event on July 2nd spinning our old floor-fillers plus many that remained at the back of our record boxes that really should have been at the front.

THE CONCEPT – if you want to resurrect a club night message dynamitesal72@gmail.com

Brighton has always been somewhere where the underground and alternative can thrive and grow into something AMAZING! As always here at The Hope & Ruin we want to celebrate that as much as possible. Over the years Brighton has hosted some fantastic club nights that have channelled a mad passion for music, crazy ideas and sharing that with other likeminded people. Often these nights started out in dingy basements or an unused room above a pub or even a dead Tuesday night in a proper club where the owner would let folk loose with a crazy idea that might make them some cash. A lot of these happenings led to regular nights that became Brighton institutions where friends for life were made, DJs were christened and a love and passion for music and being part of something was celebrated.

Many of these nights were born out of a lack of somewhere to go that felt right. So with a head full of ideas, a name for the night, some DIY posters and, of course last but by no means least a big box full of records a night would somehow happen. Persuading as many mates as possible to show up and drink enough beer so you’d get another night was how many a legendary Brighton club night started out. Some are still going, many are remembered from the flyers and posters we have kept to remind us of all the fantastic nights spend drinking and dancing with pals. Not to mention all the after parties that may or may not have involved Booze Brothers and waking up on a sofa or armchair in a flat somewhere and having to walk home in your glad rags!

Think Born Bad, Detournement, Stay Sick, Da Do Ron Ron, Modesty, Dynamite Boogaloo, It Came From The Sea, Action A Go Go, Club Sea Power, The Do, Bust The Box, Gogglez, Mad For It, Guerrilla Rocks, Stay Beautiful, 13 Monsters, We Luv Pop, Sub Pop, Fuck The Pain Away, The Tim Tim Club, Unhooked Generation etc

We thought it would be great to resurrect some of these nights for a special “ONE EARLY NIGHT ONLY” event in the pub so folk can meet up listen to some classic bangers, have a drink and maybe a bit of a dance. We’re gonna be asking DJs to come out of retirement to spin some vinyl or a badly burned MP3 whatever works we’re gonna make it happen. It’ll be on a Sunday afternoon with an early finish. Very fashionable these days as it’s what all the cool kids are doing. If it’s good enough for them we’ll do the same thanks very much.