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optimo
  • Formed in: Glasgow, Scotland
  • Band Members: J.D. Twitch, J.G. Wilkes
  • Years Active: 2000s-present
  • Genre: Dance & Electronic

Optimo refers both to the Glaswegian DJ duo of J.D. Twitch and J.G. Wilkes and, as Optimo Espacio, to the club night they've run in their native city since 1997. Twitch (born Keith McIvor) and Wilkes are the next generation of the cross-pollination that flowered at the Hacienda in the Madchester era circa 1988 and 1989, when it suddenly became socially acceptable to like both indie guitar pop and electronic dance genres like house and hi-NRG disco. Optimo expand the parameters even further in their mixes, fusing obscure 1960s psychedelia, '70s and '80s post-punk (the name "Optimo" comes from the classic groove by New York avant funk act Liquid Liquid), contemporary indie rock from both sides of the Atlantic, and several generations of American and European dance and electronic music, from James Brown to Neu! As the duo's buzz has grown and Optimo Espacio has become one of the highest profile club nights in the U.K., Twitch and Wilkes have begun releasing live DJ mixes that replicate the eclectic but masterfully programmed nights at Optimo Espacio, starting with the manic double-disc How to Kill the DJ, Pt. 2 in 2004. The more thematic Psyche Out, an exploration of mind-altering music from Hawkwind and the Chambers Brothers to Throbbing Gristle and Chris & Cosey, followed in 2005, itself followed by the wide-ranging Walkabout two years later. Twitch and Wilkes also remix singles by other artists, both together and separately. In 2010 they mixed volume number 52 of the Fabric mix CD series. ~ Stewart Mason, Rovi

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