1,600 miles away, dancing to Jungle in Istanbul
At the quintessential crossroads of east and west, I did not expect to hear such a love for British dance heritage.
You travel with the hope of hearing new sounds to take home with you. But at the quintessential crossroads of east and west, I did not expect to hear such a love for British dance heritage.
It’s our second day in Istanbul, and we’re at a venue we stumbled upon the night before. NOH Extended is tucked deep in the belly of Beyoğlu, decked in red and black decor. It’s part of NOH Radio, a local music and creative initiative who treat this as their nightclub. Bench seating extends along the alleyway it straddles, whilst getting to the toilets means going through a small art gallery. The director of the place is hanging out with the regulars, coming over to us at one point after he no doubt spots that we aren’t locals. His hospitality is immensely welcoming.
This is clearly one of the spots to be at on a Saturday if you’re queer, too. Stunning outfit after stunning outfit walks past us whilst we keep sinking pints of Efes, bags and accessories galore. I’ve come in a striped shirt, and even with two buttons loose up top, I’m not feeling slutty enough.
Looking like a London creative, however, will turn out to be no problem at all. I’m keen that we do a club night during our stay, and the DJ set we head in for at 2am just so happens to be especially British in flavour.
“…the appeal is clear. DJs from all corners of the earth, darkly-dressed Electronic bands, and a dedicated crowd to perform to.”
Scroll through NOH Radio’s YouTube channel or flick through their listings on Instagram, and the appeal is clear. DJs from all corners of the earth, darkly-dressed Electronic bands, and a dedicated crowd to perform to. You bet your arse I’d be here every week if I could be.
Past the bar, where the staff had been battling with getting just one of their three card machines to work, and into a boxy room at the back. It’s dark and packed, silhouettes cut by the single red strip light along the wall. The place is pungent with the smell of tobacco, whilst above, a fan provides merciful cooling.
Ahead of us stands the DJ cage. Dear reader, I have done my best to find their names, but alas, I have been unable to find the name of the duo who were behind the decks, and would love to credit them properly in this article.
Not that I’ll forget them, mind you. Who opens a set with ‘Bassline Junkie’ by Dizzee Rascal? I was worried we were in for a cheesier night than I had envisioned. But my two mates didn’t mind, and the room was chanting along.
“The vocal sample from ‘Way In My Brain’, SL2’s hilariously druggy Rave classic, got played twice.”
Any snobbish fears soon evaporated. The cuts became an intoxicating mix of Big Beat, Bassline and Jungle. Classic Prodigy bangers rubbed shoulders with fresh releases. The vocal sample from ‘Way In My Brain’, SL2’s hilariously druggy Rave classic, got played twice. I had to keep reaching for my phone, recording audio snippets in the hope of IDing the tracks later. I’ve struggled to hear this stuff in clubs in the UK, so to find them here, running on the dopamine of travel, was joyous.
It takes a genuine love for Britain’s dance heritage to play this sort of stuff properly. Not even a 6 Music special would choose things quite as personal; this was a duo who clearly loved the exports of our funny little island.
Better still was their interpretation – the broad brush of Techno is omnipotent as soon as you set foot on the continent, and all was mixed under its supervision. The occasional diversion to some Hardcore cut kept heads bobbing, and satiated any Berlin lovers in the room.
“As ever when you go abroad, you find yourself asking why they can’t do it like this back at home – or at least, as cheaply as this.”
As ever when you go abroad, you find yourself asking why they can’t do it like this back at home – or at least, as cheaply as this. We don’t quite have room for this sort of interpretation. Our current obsession with UK Bass, and its associated lexicon of words like “dirty”, “filthy” and “that drop makes me want to dropkick my nan” is great, don’t get me wrong. But the frivolity of Techno and Hardcore, their ludicrous speeds and rakish maximalism, can end up being set below our station.
In this environment, you appreciate how Dance is more global than ever, and that BPM is the only barrier to slipping the sounds of one country’s scene into another. Beyond our iconoclast exports of Beatles, Stones, Smiths and Oasises, it’s the UK’s penchant for big beats that really connects.
What an homage to pay then, perhaps even unintentionally. Even with the broad, youthful crowd the bar clearly attracts, what a privilege to be the three Brits dancing to Jungle 1,600 miles from home.
NOH Extended, Istanbul, 6th September 2025
