Mix of the week: Optimogeddon: The final Optimo club night from 2010 is DJ magic

Optimo Espacio was a Sunday night club in Glasgow that was the stuff of legend. The Sub Club-held night ran for 13 years and was run by DJs JD Twitch and Jonnie Wilkes who as well as having live acts like Grace Jones, Four Tet, LCD Soundsystem, ESG and more play, was notable for its eclectic tune selection that ran the gamut of electronic, post-punk, disco, lo-fi and rock. Basically, it serves as one of the main inspirations for our own Lumo in Dublin.

Optimogeddon was how the pair billed their last night on April 25 2010 and the night has gone down as one of the best clubbing experiences many in the room had and Rolling Stone even went as far as listing as one the 25 best internet  DJ mixes of all-time whatever that means. Read RA’s oral history for more.

The night ran for seven hours and the pair sent the club on a wild ride from downtempo curios and  personal favourites from Angelo Badalamenti, Suicide, Etta James and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band through an increased BPM that features LCD, the tune the club was named after by Liquid Liquid, disco (First Choice), pop (modern Madonna) and rock (Iggy Pop) through to the glorious final 90 minutes of all-sorts: Sparks, Westbam, Blondie, ‘Stand On The Word’, Fleetwood Mac and ‘Stand By Me’.

Of course, Optimo are very much relevant as producers and DJs these days but their club was a Scottish mainstay and one that reverberated and inspired many around the world (a comment from The Black Madonna I saw only yesterday prompted me to seek this out).

All seven hours are available in 5 parts thanks to many people before me. 

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four 

Part Five

Pt 1

1. Einstürzende Neubauten – Kollaps
2. William S Burroughs – William’s Welcome
3. The Residents – Hey Good Lookin’
4. Angelo Badalamenti – Mulholland Drive Theme
5. The Parsonage – Love Will Tear Us Apart
6. Butch Willis & The Rocks – Drugs
7. This Mortal Coil – Song to the Siren
8. Suicide – Che
9. Blondie – Shayla
10. Etta James – I’d Rather Go Blind
11. T.L. Barrett & Youth for Christ Choir – Like a Ship
12. Bessie Jones & Group – Sometimes
13. Nina Simone – The Backlash Blues
14. James Chance & The Contortions – Contort Yourself
15. Absolute Body Control – Baby’s On Fire
16. The Normal – T.V.O.D
17. Grauzone – Ich lieb Sie (slowed down)
18. lb – Jealous Guy
19. Chris ‘n’ Cosey and … – Sweet Surprise
20. Iggy Pop – Nightclubbing
21. Uncle John And Whitelock – Black Hat
22. Bo Diddley – I’m A Man
23. Johnny Kidd and the Pirates – Shakin’ All Over
24. The Fall – Totally Wired
25. The Strangeloves – I Want Candy
26. Gene Vincent – Rollin Dany
27. The Ventures – These Boots are Made for Walkin’
28. Leadbelly – Black Betty
29. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band – Nashville Blues
30. Cabaret Voltaire – Nag Nag Nag
31. Dark Day – No Nothing Never
32. Chris and Cosey – Walking Through Heaven
33. TV on the Radio – Staring at the Sun
34. The Jellies – Jive Baby on a Saturday Night
35. Throbbing Gristle – Hot on the Heels of Love
36. Liquid Liquid – Bellhead (live)

Pt 2

1. Liquid Liquid – Bellhead (live)
2. Max Berlin – Elle Et Moi (Joakim Mix)
3. Justus Köhncke – Timecode
4. LCD Soundsystem – Losing My Edge
5. Discodromo – Cosmorama (Prins Thomas Diskomiks)
6. !!! – Hello, is this thing on? (Thomas ‘n’ Eric’s Rub And Tug Throwdown)
7. Chilly – For Your Love
8. Barry Mason – Body (Faze Action edit)
9. Roni Griffith – Desire
10. Mount Florida – Yo La Poptimo
11. Prince – Controversy [ Contro (Wish We Edit) ]
12. Madonna – Into the Groove
13. Human Resource – Dominator
14. Grafiti – What is the Problem?
15. First Choice – Let No Man Put Asunder (vocal loop)
16. Tchaikovsky – 1812 Overture
17. Iggy Pop – The Passenger
18. Laid Back – White Horse
19. Midnight Star – Midas Touch (Starskee remix)

Pt 3

See Also

The 5 best songs of the week

1. Midnight Star – Midas Touch (Starskee remix)
2. Josh Wink & Lil Louis – How’s Your Evening So Far?
3. Scan X – Midnight (Julian Jewel Remix)
4. Chicks on Speed – Fashion Rules (Alter Ego Remix)
5. Cameo – Word Up
6. Par-T-One vs INXS – I’m So Crazy
7. Talking Heads – Psychokiller (live) (Greg Wilson Edit)
8. Adult – Nausea
9. The Rapture – House of Jealous Lovers
10. Gui Borrato – Beautiful Life
11. The Juan Maclean – Happy House
12. Soup – New York, London
13. Rondo Veneziano – La Serenissima (Serge Santiago edit)
14. Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell – Duelling Banjos with Country Joe and the Fish intro
15. Liquid Liquid – Cavern (Dj Phantom’s ‘let’s hear it for the b boy mix)
16. Boney M – Rasputin (partly Nighflight to Venus too)
17. Chow Daddy – Dismembered
18. Retro/Grade – Moda
19. Virtualisimo – Mismoplastico (serge santiago maxi edit)
20. Glenn Underground – I Feel Dub
21. The Immortals – The Ultimate Warlord
22. CLS – Can You Feel it

Pt 4

1. CLS – Can You Feel it
2. Eurythmics – Love is a stranger
3. Den Haan – Release the Beast
4. The Stooges – I Wanna Be Your Dog
5. Robin S – Show Me Love loop
6. Whirlpool Productions – From Disco To Disco (Les Rythmes Digitales remix)
7. Nathan Fake – The Sky Was Pink (Icelandic Mix)
8. Amnesia – Ibiza
9. Cutty Ranks – Limb by Limb
10. Sean Paul – Like Glue
11. Shabba Ranks – Mr Loverman (David Morales Ragga Hop Mix)
12. Primal Scream – Loaded
13. The Ramones – Blitzkrieg Bop
14. Donna Summer – Love to Love You Baby
15. Man Friday – Love Honey, Love Heartache (Acapella)
16. Ferenc – Yes Sir I Can Hardcore (Michael Mayer Mix)
17. Green Velvet – Flash
18. Bizarre Inc – Playing with Knives
19. A Number of Names – Shari Vari (Vitalic & The Hacker mix)
20. Depeche Mode – Behind the Wheel (Shep Pettibone mix)
21. Jefferson Airplane – White Rabbit
22. T-Rex – Children of the Revolution
23. Brother J C Crawford, MC5 Spiritual Adviser – 5 seconds speech
24. AC/DC – Highway to Hell
25. Cousin Cole – Bam A Lam
26. Echo Park presents No More – Suicide Commando (2006 Remix)
27. Delia Gonzalez and Gavin Russom – Relevee (Carl Craig Mix)
28. Loose Joints – Is it all over my face (acapella)
29. Console – 14 zero zero
30. KXP – 18 Hours Of Love (An Optimo (Espacio) mix)
31. DJ Rolando A.K.A. Aztec Mystic – Knights Of The Jaguar
32. Dustin Zahn – Stranger To Stability (Len Faki Podium Mix)
33. Madonna – Hung Up
34. Langley Schools Project – Good Vibrations
35. Gloria Jones – Tainted Love (all nighter version)

Pt 5

1. Gloria Jones – Tainted Love (all nighter version)
2. Vitalic vs Peaches – La Rock 01/Rock Show
3. Sparks – Beat the Clock
4. A Homeboy A Hippie and A Funky Dred – Total Confusion
5. Westbam – Oldschool, Baby (Piano Mix)
6. The Turtles – Happy Together
7. Chris Isaak – Wicked Game (Trentemöller’s Businessman Dubby Games Remix)
8. Blondie – Atomic (JD Twitch dub)
9. Sylvester – Do You Wanna Funk?
10. The Doors / Merzbow – The End / Woodpecker No. 2
11. Dinosaur L – Kiss Me Again
12. The Joubert Singers – Stand On The Word
13. Ben E. King – Stand By Me
14. Divine – Shake It Up
15. Liquid Liquid – Optimo
16. Ike & Tina Turner – Come Together
17. Warner Brothers – End Credits With Porky Pig
18. Nina Simone – Feeling Good
19. Fleetwood Mac – The Chain (coda)
20. Chuck Wood – Seven Days Is Too Long

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