The Goatlab is a new club night dedicated to the art of goatrave, goatstep and goatcore, complimented by experiments in extreme visauls, crazed audio and all things goaty.

The Goatlab aims to experiment with audio / visual mashup. This involves creating visuals that reflect the mental environment as well as compliment the music. The two mediums are inextricably linked. It is the investigation of this relationship between the two that makes The Goatlab so unique.

The Goatlab music policy is open to change, but you can expect to hear a selection of breakcore, mash up, ragga jungle, gabba, grime, dubstep and bashment. In our new home of The Croft in Bristol (third Friday or alternate months) you will find live acts and DJs in the main room and DJs, video games and (hopefully soon) art installations in the bar.

The Goatlab is brought to you by ex-Toxic Dancehall survivors; Anakissed – VJ and founder of the renowned internet filmmaker’s resource plugincinema.com and Parasite – Breakcore producer/DJ and founder of Death$ucker, Bristol’s original breakcore / mash-up record label.  Dan Gusset (Death$ucker, disco_r.dance), experimental electronic musician, blogger and photographer, provides the pretentious beard stoking credentials. Activist  stalwart Anarchist606 is the fourth Goatlab hearder, check out his blog at anarchist606.blogspot.com.

The first of a series of experiments took place on Friday 29 September 2006 at Timbuk 2 in Bristol. As of December 2007 our laboratories have been relocated to The Croft.

Suggested Goat Listening:

• Servants Of The Apocalyptic Goat Rave – The Servants Pt.1 (Russian Roulette) Mashed up amen breaks and thundering hardcore anthems, operatic beats plus lots of apocalyptic horror synths!
• Loefah – Goat Stare (DMZ) This is the one for all the darkside steppas. A rolling halfstep swing sets the pace before the gut wrenching bass weight descends the track into uncharted subsonic territories, find your space and get skanking!
• Filastine – Judas Goat (Soot) A timely blend of breakbeat science and proper Middle Eastern instrumentation.
• Venetian Snares – Horse & Goat (Sublight) Some choice moments on here, harkening back to the “Songs About My Cats” era of sonic experimentation.
• Shitmat – This Goat Skull is No Good For Thirsty Psy-trance Workers (Death$ucker) Camp gabba pop music…what more could you want?
• DJ Floorclearer – Goat Slaughterer (Death$ucker) The Proboscus Records founder spews all over your face in large, goaty, meaty chunks.

Suggested Goat Reading:

• The Men Who Stare at Goats by Jon Ronson. In 1979 a secret unit was established by the most gifted minds within the US Army. Defying all known accepted military practice – and indeed, the laws of physics – they believed that a soldier could adopt the cloak of invisibility, pass cleanly through walls and, perhaps most chillingly, kill goats just by staring at them. Entrusted with defending America from all known adversaries, they were the First Earth Battalion. And they really weren’t joking. What’s more, they’re back and fighting the War on Terror.

Suggested Goat Viewing:

• The Devil Rides Out (1968) Some followers of satan want to sacrifize the niece of the Duke of Richelieu. But they did not think that the duke might be more powerful than their master.
• The Sound of Music (1965) Hardcore goat yodelling action
• The Goat (1921) Buster Keaton classic on the perils of mistaken identity.
• The Goat Sucker (2005) Tagline: “Depravity… In Its Most Fantastic Form!” IMDB says, “a darkly comical tale of a desert-dwelling serial killer. Haunted by perverse thoughts and satanic visions, he looks for the perfect victim for his next snuff film.”