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These are the Top 15 UK club events in January 2018

It's a tough month, but someone's got to do it. 

Call us masochists, gluttons for punishment, or just people that don't know when to take a break. Either way, despite the collective gout following a festive season of red wine, cheese, and copious parties, it's time to look ahead at the finest sessions the UK has to offer in the coming weeks. 

London and the South has plenty to distract you from impending credit card payments. Tesselate hits the capital's beloved Corsica Studios with two of Berghain's best, Nick Höppner and ND_Baumecker, which should be more than decent.

Across town, Stuttgart selector Konstantin Sibold touches down inside The Pickle Factory, a name you may remember from such labels as Mute, Innervisions, and Running Back. Outside the big smoke, Southampton boots 2018 off with the slick house sounds of Peggy Gou at Junk, while Reading has a proper treat in the oft-elusive Romanian banger Cosmin TRG; futurist bass techno stuff. 

Moving swiftly along, Truk follows on from its first party in Bristol with two undergound heavyweights— London stalwart Manni Dee, and Joe Farr, who together should provide enough power to blow away any post-December cobwebs. Timedance is also back in town, this time bringing Lena Willikens' mind-melting electro business to The Island with that man Batu.

We're also excited to check the experimentalism likely to be on offer at New Year New Noise (NY/NN) courtesty of Giant Swan, Vessel, Moor Mother, and more. Cardiff, on the other hand, gets Drumcode stompers abound via emergent Brit Harvey McKay, DJ Mag fave Alan Fitzpatrick, and Enrico Sangiuliano

Northern heads should think themselves luckiest of all, mind, with a host of quality coming their way. Aside from our numero uno, you get the first in mUmU's tenth anniversary shindigs; Mathias Kaden, Gary Beck— who featured in our Back To Yours playlist series in November— and Ryan Elliott at New Bird Street. 

DJ Mag Best of British Awards nominees, Meat Free, welcome heavyweights Sarin and Ancient Methods for a bring your own booze throwdown at Salford's finest proper rave spot, The White Hotel. High Hoops hit the same venue and draft in one of Holland's mightiest, I-F, alongside rising Mancunian Black Eyes, and Cult changes the pace by teaming up with Pala Sounds; HAAI's tripped out exotic beats and pieces meet the equally worldwide tones of Mogadisco at Versions in Manchester. 

As always, more extensive listings are out in the latest print version of DJ Mag, January 2018— less commonly known as Issue 577.

LONDON / SOUTH

1. FABRIC
SATURDAY 6TH JANUARY
FABRIC
The Farringdon institution wastes no time whatsoever getting 2018 started, calling on one of the fastest rising names in European techno to open the scoring, with Amelie Lens bringing the thunder. Parisian kingpin DJ Deep is also on the bill, making this a definite must for anyone who prefers their kicks with a serious serving of muscle, meanwhile resident hero Terry Francis completes the bill at the time of writing, with a secret live act still to be announced — we're expecting something equally meaty on that front given the other artists booked in. Either way, probably worth getting involved.
11PM - 7AM / £13 - £21

2. TESSELLATE
FRIDAY 12TH JANUARY
CORSICA STUDIOS
Nick Höppner, ND_Baumecker, Iona IONA.
11PM - 6AM / £10

3. JUNK IS...
SATURDAY 20TH JANUARY
JUNK, SOUTHAMPTON
Pegy Gou.
11PM - 4AM / £8

4. INCOGNITO RADIO
FRIDAY 12TH JANUARY
AFTER DARK, READING
Cosmin TRG.
9PM - 2AM / £7 - £10

5. THE PICKLE FACTORY
FRIDAY 12TH JANUARY
THE PICKLE FACTORY
Konstantin Sibold. 
11PM - 6AM / £7.50 - £10

MIDLANDS / WEST & WALES

1. WIGFLEX
FRIDAY 26TH JANUARY
THE BRICKWORKS, NOTTINGHAM
After hitting these pages numerous times in 2017, Wigflex breaks into the new calendar all guns blazing, or at least with the kind of line-up that ticks all boxes without opting for anything remotely obvious. DJ Stingray will be donning his mask and doing the proper electro thing. Young Marco is also here and ready to drop disco/house goodness (whether we'll get an airing of 'Last Christmas', a track the Dutchman has been spinning regularly irrespective of the season, is another question, of course). And the running order is completed with a live set from Lorenzo Senni, a Warp Records regular and head of the rightly revered experimental Italian label, Presto!
11PM - 6AM / £15

2. TRUK
SATURDAY 13TH JANUARY
THE ISLAND, BRISTOL
Joe Farr, Manni Dee.
9PM - 3AM / £10

3. SHANGRI-LA
SATURDAY 27TH JANUARY
TRAMSHED, CARDIFF
Alan Fitzpatrick, Enrico Sangiuliano, Harvey McKay.
3PM - 12PM / £20

4. TIMEDANCE
SATURDAY 20TH JANUARY
THE ISLAND, BRISTOL
Batu, Lena Willikens.
10PM - 3AM / £15

5. NY/NN 5
SATURDAY 13TH JANUARY
BRUNSWICK CLUB, BRISTOL
Giant Swan, Moor Mother, Vessel, S4U, Nervous Condition. 
8PM - 2AM / £12

NORTH / SCOTLAND & NORTHERN IRELAND

1. PRETTY PRETTY GOOD
FRIDAY 19TH JANUARY
WIRE, LEEDS
PPG has consistently impressed with its recent line-ups, and this one might be the best of the lot. Hessle Audio's Pangaea will be bringing some of the bass-influenced floor-fillers we've come to expect from him, playing to the city that gave birth to his imprint no less. Label signee and regular on Hemlock Recordings, Joe, is also here, although we might be most excited about Willow, the Manchester-bred and now London-based artist who blew up with the first tune she ever made, 2015's 'Feel Me', and hasn't looked back since. Talk about natural talent.
11PM - 6AM / £9

2. MUMU 10TH BIRTHDAY
SATURDAY 27TH JANUARY
NEW BIRD STREET WAREHOUSE, LIVERPOOL
Ryan Elliott, Matthias Kaden, Gary Beck.
9PM - 5AM / £20

3. MEAT FREE
FRIDAY 26TH JANUARY
THE WHITE HOTEL, SALFORD
Sarin, Ancient Methods, Blasha & Allatt, aalice, Lucy Ironmonger.
11PM - 7AM / £17 - £20

4. HIGH HOOPS
SATURDAY 27TH JANUARY
THE WHITE HOTEL, SALFORD
I-F, Black Eyes.
12AM - 6AM / £8 - £15

5. CULT X PALA SOUNDS
FRIDAY 26TH JANUARY
VERSIONS, MANCHESTER
HAAI, Mogadisco, Cult DJs.
11PM - 4AM / £4 - £8

Martin Guttridge-Hewitt is DJ Mag's Clubs Listings Editor, when he finally resurfaces after New Year you can read his pained thoughts or submit events for future consideration via Twitter, @Martinghewitt