It’s been quite a year for Beat Research. At the same time that we struggled to maintain our modest but ambitious weekly, we’ve also had what feels like one of our best years yet. Even during the summer, when Cambridge seems to clear out, full-on dance parties would erupt on the regular, which is no small thing on a Monday night in this town.

Then, right after one of our best nights of the year — when Mungo’s Hi-Fi rocked the joint earlier this month — rumors started to fly about the Enormous Room closing the following weekend. So while we weren’t aware that the night before had been our last jam in that not-so-enormous room, we were content to have gone out with a bang. And we were delighted to find a spot for last week’s interim bash with Venus X and Hatsune Miku, which was a standout session in its own right. Experimental party music at its best. (A few attendees called it their favorite BR of all time; I can understand why.)

Given that things have been going well, Tony Flack and I are stoked to announce that we’ve found a new home for our night — and a new night of the week too, incidentally. Beginning on Nov 8, we’ll be in residency every Tuesday night at the Good Life, smack in the heart of downtown Boston. If you haven’t been there, it’s very close to the Downtown Crossing T stop and just a couple blocks from South Station / Occupy Boston (in case any Occupiers are looking for a drink and a little bass therapy). We look forward to being closer to our Boston brethren & sistren — and to really representing (it’s all too common to claim Boston without being in Boston) — and we sure hope our core crew from Cambridge, Somerville, and elsewhere across the dutty water will be up for the trek. We aim to make it worthwhile.

For those who’ve been there, you know that the Good Life has a SERIOUS sound system. I’ve seen (& heard & felt) some real bass materialists there, from Kode9 to Mad Professor to the Bug — just last month I caught a wicked subwoofer massage c/o Kingdom — and I can report from personal vibrational experience (PVE, henceforth) that Beat Research’s bass bias will assume a new prominence starting soon.

I’m also thrilled to report that we’re getting the Beat Research gang together for the relaunch event on Nov 8. Co-founder of the night and longtime torch-bearer for bouncy Boston, the mighty DJ C, will be coming back from Chicago to bust a champagne-bottle of a set against our Old Ironsides of a party. I’ll be mixing the metaphors and letting the bartenders mix the drinks. I’ll also be playing some tracks of course, as will the venerable Dr.Flackett.

Here’s the story in press-release-ese —

Beat Research began weekly explorations of experimental party music in March 2004 at the Enormous Room in Central Square. The brainchild of multimedia artists Jake Trussell (DJ C) and Antony Flackett (DJ Flack), who teaches a hands-on class at MassArt by the same name, Beat Research provided a new base for the genre-bending sets the two had been playing since throwing parties with the Toneburst Collective in the late 90s. Bridging parochial club divides, Flack and C would overlay dub and jungle, hip-hop and dubstep, dancehall and bhangra and beats from all over. After co-hosting the residency for 3+ years, in 2007 DJ C moved to Chicago while musicologist and blogger Wayne Marshall (Wayne & Wax) returned to Cambridge, bringing his big Caribbeanist ears, YouTube dragnet, and love of “musically-expressed ideas about music” to the mix.

In its 7.5 year run at the Enormous Room, Beat Research played host to some of the best and brightest DJs and producers of underground bass music in the world, gave a number of young Boston luminaries their first gig, and presented an utterly motley collection of tech-addled live PAs. The long list of special guests includes Scuba, DJ Rupture, Kingdom, edIT, Mungo’s Hi-Fi, Uproot Andy, and thereminist Pamelia Kurstin. Consistently topping local polls, Beat Research has been hard to beat for anyone seeking out extraordinary sounds early in the week, and its hosts pride themselves on offering a free weekly session for discerning dancers and enthusiastic head-nodders.

Wayne & Flack were as surprised as anyone when the Enormous Room suddenly shut down in early October, but they are thrilled to relocate the weekly festivities to the Good Life in downtown Boston beginning on November 8–and every Tuesday thereafter. Moving across the Charles seems like the right move for a night that has been putting Boston’s bounce on the map.

And we’ve got a helluva first month lined up. After DJ C on the 8th, we’ve got a trio of off-kilter beatsmiths doing live PAs: Toronto’s Doldrums will be joined by recent Boston transplants Time Wharp (via Atlanta) and Avila Santo (Los Angeles). On Nov 22, we’ve got the one and only Paul Dailey, a native Bostonian who’s been a stalwart force on the house/techno scene for decades and who can throw down a mean electro-funk set to boot (dude’s got crates). And to round out the month, on Nov 29 we’re excited to present NYC’s Atropolis, who released one of my favorite albums of the year (on Dutty Artz), and whose tracks I’ve been weaving in and out of the Beat Research mix for a minute.

December is already filling up with exciting guests, local and beyond, but that’s enough hype for now.

Real quick, tho, here are the basics; help us spread the word —

BEAT RESEARCH
every TUESDAY at Good Life
28 Kingston St, Boston MA
9-1, 21+, FREE

And when you get a chance, do check the subtle but slick site redesign c/o Grand Webmaster Flack.

Long live Beat Research!