Club
bugged out @ Cream, Nation, Liverpool
Bangalter delivers astunning three-hour spesh including his new live set. Amazing

Music
'THERE is less taken for granted in UK garage now. It's more musical instead of a DJ set thing. People have got into syncopation and are trying to stretch the boundaries within the genre. It's the same thing as Timbaland in r n'b. "Two-step is basically any track with a breakbeat. Rather than four kicks per bar there's two. Roy Davis Jr's 'Gabriel' was one of the first. It's good for the genre because it draws more people in, but I still love a bit of four-to-the-floor.

"I find the scene is much more comfortable within itself this year. Last year it was hype-hype-hype and everyone went wild: 'Wow! Speed garage! The new thing!' It was the season's fashion accessory - wear the right trousers and have a speed garage CD in your car. Now people aren't doing it for a quick buck. If a record gets through to you it's got to be really good. I don't think you can just knock out a chart hit unless there's an exceptionally good looking woman on the cover, heh-heh. "There's still plenty of room for manoeuvere in garage. When I was making drum n'bass I felt everyone had already made the great tunes and I couldn't get anywhere near it. But I feel very secure making garage. There haven't been as many hits this year but it's all very healthy. When I go outside London to DJ they're really into it.

"Everyone is into this crossover thing between garage and r n'b. Quite often that's hard to do because of the tempo differences. I get three or four times more remix offers than I accept, and I have turned some r n'b work down because I don't like the Mickey Mouse effect on the vocals. I am doing some production work for some household names - but I can't tell you who yet. I'm really fired up at the moment."

News
- One in ten UK workers have tested positive for drugs, says The Guardian. Some were in their 60s
- Massive Attack deny they're splitting up after tabloids seize on flippant comments made on Radio 1
- The US threatens airstrikes on Iraq unless weapons inspectors are given access. Saddam Hussein finally climbs down
- Jailed bad boy Mark Morrison, now converted to Islam and going by name of Abdul Rahman, donates £25,000 to Children In Need
- Cream releases the latest in its 'Anthems' series after a year-long gap, mixed by Seb Fontaine and Tall Paul
- Cabinet ministers Peter Mandelson and Nick Brown are 'outed'. The Sun asks if Britain is being run by "a gay mafia"
- Björk considers abandoning music after being stalked

Year Review: 12/1998