Had a really fun night at this party, well, once Joanne and I got over the shock of seeing again how expensive a night out here in Sydney is, compared to Berlin a few weeks before. We stayed at this till the very end, lights on, eveyone out at 5am.
Prior to the night, I was a bit concerned that Marcel Dettmann may just play hours of that cold, deep, stripped bare, building block techno that he and Ben Klock are known to play, produce and have on their labels. I like that sound, but hours of it, wouldn’t be very interesting, well, not to a crowd outside of a night at Berghain in there for the long haul. After seeing Marcel Dettmann play, I can tell he knows this too.
I was well impressed with the range of sounds and intensities he played here in Sydney. Mixing up some of that Dettmann/Klock sound with lots of memorable, melodic techno/house, and a little tech-house, and minimal, with many nods to past techno/house classics, and a large serve of some proper, percussive, hard, solid, techno compression, all kept under 127bpm (I like how techno has slowed down).
He kept my interest for his entire set, playing for more than 4 hours. I had a great jump around on the dance floor. Even with the changes of style/intensity throughout his set, it all seemed to flow well. He finished off with some interesting selections for his encore tracks, some electro, electronic-body-music, beatless melodic electronica, some Krautrock and Kraftwerk, respect. I think he was using both vinyl and CDs to play, a few slips in the mix here and there, but mostly he was solid and tight. I was left musically very satisified and inspired. Joanne noticed he was wearing a Sandwell District t-shirt too, very cool.
This party was going to be at Plantation at The Empire (old Palladium) in Kings Cross, but from what I heard management there kicked out all the recent house and techno nights/promoters, leaving the Disconnected crew with a tough time finding a new venue at the last minute. They ended up getting the side room at Space (above Shark Hotel) in the city, sharing the venue with the DefQon1 crew using the main room.
Probably no more than 100 people there for Disconnected in the side room, but enough for the small space to look/feel busy enough to create a vibe. Minimal lighting, lots of darkness, space to move, respectful dance-floor, with lots of friendly, familar music passionate people about, plus friendly staff and quick bar service, all win! The only negative was the sound system which struggled to push out any proper bottom end or volume intensity, but was adequate enough. I think every other sound system will fail me now though, when compared to experiencing Berghain’s. There was no sound bleed from the main room, and the DefQon1 kids stayed away, all good.
Some of the tracks Marcel Dettmann played that I knew/remember…
Aaron Carl(RIP) – Down Gerd – Arkests Blaze Justin Martin – The Sad Piano (Charles Webster Remix) James Ruskin – Work (Steve Rachmad Remix) Shed – My R-Class Deuce – Cue Ed Planetary Assault Systems – Hold It (Deuce Remix) DJ Hyperactive – Wide Open Lil Louis – Why’d U Fall ( I Called You) Marcel Fengler – Sculptures Richie Hawtin – 005 DJ Hyperactive – Music Box Ray Kajioka – Steam Function – Diassafected (Ben Klock Remix) Junior Boys – Work (Marcel Dettmann Remix) Tadeo – 4 Kraftwerk – Numbers Kraftwerk – Computer World
Thanks for putting this on Disconnected crew, top night. So, Ben Klock next?
Club nights/events with international techno, minimal, tech-house, deep-house, house DJ/live acts in Sydney Australia…
I made it out to the red ones.
SEPTEMBER 2010…
03.09.10 : Dario Zenker, Thomas Muller @ Bug In The Bass : PLUS ╬ 1 – Civic Underground
04.09.10 : Agoria, Superflu @ Finely Tuned & Future Present… – Plantation
04.09.10 : Marc Romboy @ Chinese Laundry – Chinese Laundry
05.09.10 : Ahmet Sendil @ Spice – Home Terrace
10.09.10 : David Keno, Reuben Keeney @ Shrug : PLUS ╬ 1 – Civic Underground
11.09.10 : Ahmet Sendil @ Wham! – World Bar / The Office
12.09.10 : David Keno @ Spice – Home Terrace
12.09.10 : Ahmet Sendil @ Church Of Techno – Forbes Hotel
18.09.10 : Marcel Dettmann @ Disconnected – Space (Side Room) **
18.09.10 : Todd Terje @ Adult Disco – Civic Underground
24.09.10 : Tobias Becker, Kaito [Live] @ Kompakt Session 3 – Subsonic Music : PLUS ╬ 1 – Civic Underground
25.09.10 : Lee Curtiss (Disco & Deep-House Set – 9pm-Midnight) @ Pulse Radio Present… – Name This Bar
25.09.10 : Martyn, Illum Sphere, Tokimonsta + More @ RBMA, Index & SITP Present… – The Forum
27.09.10 : Tobias Becker, Kaito [Live] @ Earth Dance – Secret Location – Hunter Valley
** This party moved from Plantation. Management at Empire have stopped all dance music/club events, including Bunker.
OCTOBER 2010…
02.10.10 : Deetron @ HAHA Industries – Versus – Marrickville Bowlo
03.10.10 : Layo & Bushwacka @ Tank Long W/end Sunday – Tank
03.10.10 : Mike Monday @ P.S. – Melt Bar
03.10.10 : Holy Ghost @ Adult Disco – Civic Hotel
08.10.10 : Industrialyzer [Live], Virgil Enzinger [Live] + More @ Mainline 6.66 Birthday – Secret Warehouse
09.10.10 : Gregor Tresher @ Chemistry & Subsonic Warehouse Party – Secret Warehouse
09.10.10 : Mike Monday + More @ Effigy’s 1st Birthday – Hippo Bar
09.10.10 : Satoshi Tomiie, Guy J, Marc Marzenit [Live] + More @ Música – The Forum
15.10.10 : Bart Skills @ House Inspection : PLUS ╬ 1 – Civic Underground
16.10.10 : Timo Maas, Hybrid @ Garden Party – Chinese Laundry
23.10.10 : Jamie Jones, Robert Dietz, David Squillace @ Circo Loco – Greenwood Hotel (Noon-10.30pm)
23.10.10 : Stacey Pullen @ Chinese Laundry
23.10.10 : Surgeon @ Index Presents… – The Forum
23.10.10 : Daniel Bell @ Mad Racket 12th Birthday – Marrickville Bowlo
23.10.10 : Jamie Jones + More @ Circo Loco After Party – The Gaelic Club
29.10.10 : Spektre [Live] @ Envisage Halloween Madness – Favela
30.10.10 : Superpitcher, Alexkid + More @ Attack Of The Superpitcher – Kompakt Boat Cruise (Sydney Harbour) – MV Constellation
31.10.10 : TBA @ Kompakt Boat Cruise After Party – Secret Warehouse
~~~
Please note:
This is not a complete list of every event on in Sydney, these are events that have caught my attention.
I do my best to post up accurate info, but dates, artists, venues can change etc.
TBA = To Be Announced
If you’re after info on other techno/minimal club nights with more local flavour in Sydney, check out the Sydney Loves Techno blog.
The InTheMix – Sydney – What’s On section lists a whole range of dance/electronic music events/club nights, check it out here.
I’m not that much of a fan of dubstep, but if you’re into it, there is a crew (Void/Index) in Sydney putting on regular quality events, often with internationals, check here for more info.
So we’ll be in London for just under a week, after Berlin.
It’s a shame we’re not arriving a day earlier on Saturday the 28th, lots of events on the bank holiday w/end with: Aphex Twin [Live], Leftield [Live], Alex Under, Carl Craig, Sebo K, Ben Sims, Ben Klock, Russ Gabriel [Live], Steve Bicknell, Marc Houle [Live], Hobo [Live], Troy Pierce and more…
Some of the club things on, that have caught our eye that we may get out to, if we’re not too clubbed out from Berlin…
The red ones we made it to.
Much thanks to ResidentAdvisor for these listings and links.
Sun 29.08.10 : Daniel Bell + More @ Secretsundaze – Rich Mix – London
Sun 29.08.10 : Michael Mayer, Thomas Fehlmann [Live], Robag Wruhme + More @ Eastern Electrics August Bank Holiday – Union Car Park – London
Sun 29.08.10 : Stimming [Live], Oxia, Johannes Heil [Live] + More @ WetYourSelf August Bank Holiday Special & WYS! – Fabric – London
Sun 29.08.10 : M.A.N.D.Y., Layo & Bushwacka, Matthew Dear + More @ Sw-More – Ministry Of Sound – London
Sun 29.08.10 : Jay Shepheard + More @ Supercool Bank Holiday Special – Public Life – London
So we left London on Sunday 5th September, and went to Barcelona (Spain) for four days, and had a lovely relaxing time, ate lots of great tapas and paella, and just hung around the La Ramblas area where we stayed. We did all the sights and tourist stuff last time we were in Barcelona, so didn’t feel too guilty doing very little this time. We were due to fly back home to Sydney from there on the Thursday 9th September.
However… We decided to extended our holiday by a few days, change our flights, and return to London, so on the Thursday (9th September) we could see Ricky Gervais perform his live show ‘Science’ at the Hammersmith Apollo, very funny, not much new material, but I’m really happy I’ve seen him live, after being a fan for so many years. Plus, train up to Manchester on the Friday, and return to London on the Saturday for these excellent gigs below, and most important, we could see and party with our London friends one more time.
So, after leaving Cable, we went back to our friends place in West Hamstead, sorted out our baggage, I mixed it up on the decks for a couple of hours, playing morning come-down tunes. 9am Sunday morning arrived quickly, and then we were in a taxi heading to Heathrow for our flights home.
Arrived in Sydney Monday 13th September at night, stressed out, sleep deprived, after a couple of rough flights full of screaming kids and babies. It’s taken me over a week, to get my mind and body back into the AU time-zone.
What a fantastic holiday! Now the post-holiday depression kicks in…
So we’re off to Europe in August/September, our annual holiday, I really need a holiday! This time last year we went to the U.S.A and saw Depeche Mode. The last time we were in Europe was in June/July 2007, I blogged about it here.
I’m excited, looking forward to catching up with old friends, who moved OS just over a year ago. We’re arriving in Frankfurt, a couple of days there, then spending a couple of weeks (3 weekends) in Berlin. Then we’re heading to London for a week to catch up with more friends and some family, then back home to Sydney via a week in Barcelona. I’m looking forward to the warmer weather, leaving Sydney’s winter behind.
Always a music focus with our travels, let’s party! Here below, is how crazy busy the Berlin scene is. These are some of the techno, minimal, tech-house/house club and party events/nights on in Berlin/Germany, for just the three w/ends we’re there, featuring many of the producer/DJs we like.
When I started this post, I didn’t expect there would be this much on, it’s quickly grown out of control! I’d go nuts with that much choice all the time.
Tough choices! I’ve highlighted some of the things we’re most keen on, some we have tickets for already. Hoping to get to experience a bunch of different venues/clubs. The lines in red we’ve made it out to.
Much thanks to ResidentAdvisor for these listings and links.
Fri 13.08.10 : Redshape [Live] + More @ Finest Friday – Berghain/Panorama Bar – Berlin
Fri 13.08.10 : Matthew Dear, Lee Curtiss, Kabale und Liebe + More @ Heidi Pres. The Jackathon – Watergate – Berlin
Fri 13.08.10 : Karotte, Marc Miroir + More @ Paso Night – Weekend – Berlin
Fri 13 > Sun 15.08.10 : Douglas Greed [Live], Funkwerkstatt [Live], Gorge + More @ 3000° Festival – Wald, See & 3000 Grad – TBA – Berlin
Sat 14.08.10 : Ricardo Villalobos, Moritz von Oswald, Loco Dice, Raresh + More @ Merkwürdiges Verhalten Am Strand – King Kamehameha Beach – Frankfurt
Sat 14.08.10 : Ben Klock + More @ Klubnacht – Berghain/Panorama Bar – Berlin
Sat 14.08.10 : Function (Sandwell District) + More @ A Night In Motion Pt. II – ://about blank – Berlin Sat 14.08.10 : Jerome Sydenham, Tony Lionni + More @ Cookies Summer Saturdays #3 : Strictly Dancin’ – Cookies – Berlin (CANCELLED)
Sat 14.08.10 : Falko Brocksieper [Live] + More @ Jack Off – Horst Krzbrg – Berlin
Sat 14.08.10 : Adultnapper, Langenberg + More @ Liebe*Detail Night – Watergate – Berlin
Sat 14.08.10 : Dave Clark + More @ Tresor Klubnacht – Tresor Berlin – Berlin
Sat 14.08.10 : Ion Ludwig [Live] + More @ Amsterdam Meets Berlin – Weekend – Berlin
Sat 14.08.10 : Harry Axt, Philip Bader + More @ Supdub Label Night – Bar25 – Berlin
Sat 14 > Sun 15.08.10 : Mark Henning, Stimming, Audio Werner, Someone Else + More @ Berliner Luft & Liebe Festival – Yaam – Berlin
Sun 15.08.10 : Paul Kalkbrenner [Live], Robag Wruhme, Mathias Kaden & Daniel Stefanik + More @ Th!nk? Festival{site} – Cospudener See / Nordstrand – Leipzig
Sun 15.08.10 : Marco Resmann, Marcus Meinhardt + More @ Upon.You – Bar25 – Berlin Sun 15.08.10 : DJ T., Gazi Mizrahi & Eli (Wolf + Lamb) @ Sommer Auf Dem Dach – Weekend (CANCELLED)
Mon 16.08.10 : Tom Clark, Jens Bond @ Undergroove – Badeschiff – Berlin
Wed 18.08.10 : Barem, Jorge Savoretti, Gurtz [Live] + More @ Meet: Argentina – Watergate – Berlin
Wed 18.08.10 : Pacou, Camea + More @ Bonito House Club – Tresor Berlin – Berlin
Thu 19.08.10 : Agaric, Ed Davenport (BBQ Allstars) + More @ Beaners Backyard BBQ – Final Chapter – Bar25 – Berlin
Thu 19.08.10 : Tiga, Simian Mobile Disco + More @ Melt! Booking Presents… – Watergate – Berlin
Thu 19.08.10 : David Dorad, Katovi Menovsky, Louis Louis & Maximilliam Hertz + More @ Freier Fall – Open Air – Suicide Circus
Fri 20.08.10 : Franco Cinelli, Violett @ Play For Me Argentina – Club Anthrazit – Frankfurt
Fri 20.08.10 : Sven Väth, Reboot [Live] + More @ All Night Long – Cocoon Club – Frankfurt
Fri 20.08.10 : Matt John + More @ Kubikklub – Ritter Butzke – Berlin
Fri 20.08.10 : Falko Brocksieper, Jens Zimmermann, Paul Brtschitsch + More @ Tunapark. Every Friday – Tresor Berlin – Berlin
Fri 20.08.10 : Martin Buttrich [Live], Woody, Alejandro Vivanco, Autotune [Live] + More @ Fumakilla 10 Years Anniversary – Watergate – Berlin
Fri 20.08.10 : Magda, Dominik Eulberg, Barem + More @ Stereo City Festival 2010 – Ferropolis – Grafenhainichen
Fri 20.08.10 : Stacey Pullen, Ryan Elliott + More @ Detroited – Weekend – Berlin
Fri 20.08.10 : Charles Webster, Andre Lodemann + More @ Best Works Nacht – Panorama Bar – Berlin
Sat 21.08.10 : 3phase, Alexander Kowalski, Jammin Unit, Pacou + More (24hr live electronic jam, no turntables) @ Krautok 2010 – Maria om Ostbahnhof – Berlin
Sat 21.08.10 : Ellen Allien, Sascha Funke, Kiki, Chaim, Mr. Statik, Telefon Tel Aviv + More @ Klubnacht – Bpitch Total – Berghain/Panorama Bar – Berlin
Sat 21.08.10 : Tensnake, Idjut Boys @ Cookies Summer Saturdays #4 – Disco Daze Cosmic Craze – Cookies – Berlin
Sat 21.08.10 : Robert Babicz [Live] + More @ Circle Night | N.E.X.T. – Tresor Berlin – Berlin
Sat 21.08.10 : Dapayk [Live], Guy Gerber, Marcel Knopf, Marco Resmann + More @ Mo’s Ferry Night – Watergate – Berlin
Sat 21.08.10 : Matt John, Konrad Black + More @ Record Release – Weekend – Berlin
Sat 21.08.10 : Tom Clark, Lee Jones, Afrilounge + More @ Suck Me Now & Fuck Me Later – Arena Club – Berlin
Sat 21.08.10 : Audio Werner, DeWalta [Live] + More @ Meander Night – Horst Krzbrg – Berlin
Sun 22.08.10 : Marco Carola, Guido Schneider, Matthias Tanzmann, Pier Bucci [Live] + More @ Sunday Getaway Rechenzentrum / Funkpark – Berlin
Mon 23.08.10 : Daniele Papini, Hugo + More @ Noisy Glance – Club der Visionaere
Tue 24.08.10 : Johnjohn & Chopstick @ Suol Label Night – Cookies – Berlin
Wed 25.08.10 : Nico Purman, Adam Marshall, DeWalta [Live], Dario Zenker + More @ Vakant ‘Family Values’ Release Party – Watergate – Berlin
Wed 25.08.10 : Dave DK + More @ Bonito House Club – Tresor Berlin – Berlin
Thu 26.08.10 : Anja Schneider, Florian Meindl, Pan-Pot, Heinrichs & Hirtenfellner + More @ Heiligenfeld # 1 – Watergate – Berlin
Thu 26.08.10 : Heartthrob & Troy Pierce Present… Square One @ Square One – Weekend – Berlin
Fri 27.08.10 : Surgeon, Shed [Live], Juno6 [Live], Sven Tasnadi + More @ Shed Record Release Party + Kann & Oh! Yeah! Nacht – Berghain/Panorama Bar – Berlin
Fri 27.08.10 : Bushwacka, Marcus Meinhardt, The Cheapers @ Yes – Watergate – Berlin
Fri 27.08.10 : Tom Clark, Daniel Dreier + More @ Betriebsfeier – Hoppetosse Boat – Berlin
Sat 28.08.10 : Scion Versions [Live] (DJ Pete & Vainqueur), Marcel Dettman, + More @ Klubnacht – Berghain/Panorama Bar – Berlin
Sat 28.08.10 : Lee Jones, Chymera, Dirt Crew @ Total Black Out – Tresor Berlin – Berlin
Sat 28.08.10 : Argy, Zander VT + More @ Clubmotoren – Watergate – Berlin
Sat 28 > Sun 29.08.10 : Mathew Jonson [Live], Ryan Crosson, Barem, Sammy Dee, Ame, Afrilounge, Tiefschwarz + More @ Luna Land Berlin – Spreepark Plänterwald
I really like this album, have listened to it non stop since it came out in May.
About the only rock/pop band stuff I listen to regularly is Nine Inch Nails, Depeche Mode and a few other 80’s bands/songs, but this new Foals album has really impressed me, grown on me, inspired me.
I’m looking forward to seeing them play live on Wednesday night at the Manning Bar here in Sydney.
I bought this mix CD (as .mp3 via Beatport) recently, and I really like it, featuring minimal and techno sounds that are moody, deep, solid, hypnotic, spatial, dark, and cold, contrasted with some warm, melodic touches, and some interesting changes of intensity throughout. DJ mixing wise it’s not that interesting with just smooth blends, and some of the tracks feel like they play a bit too long, but the flow of tracks, and the overall mood the mix creates are top notch. At times it reminds me a bit of the less frantic moments of a Jeff Mills DJ set.
Stand out tracks for me, some of the more melodic moments: ‘Pressure’ by DVS1, which is the next release on the reborn Transmat label, released under artist alias Zak Khutoretsky, also ‘Miniluv’ by Martyn, ‘Compression Session 1’ by Ben Klock, and the bent sounding ‘7am Stepper’ by Kevin Gorman. My favourite track on this mix, is actually the last track, ‘Junie’ by Rolando, a really nice piece of moody, melodic, downbeat electronica, that would have been right at home on one of the early 90’s Artificial Intelligence releases on Warp, have a listen.
This mix also features ‘Nuthin Wrong’ by Tyree, a 1995 release on Dance Mania, that I’ve heard many times played by local Sydney DJs Simon Caldwell and Ken Cloud over the years, but never knew it’s title or artist, until getting this CD.
We’re planning to see Berlin’s Ben Klock play at Berghain on our holiday in Berlin next month, this gig:
I saw him play at Berghain in 2007, he was excellent. I was also one of the few people who saw him play later that year in Sydney, at a Deep As Fu*k party at the Abercrombie Hotel, I think there were 15 people in the tiny room when he played, über intimate.
~~~
Ben Klock – Berghain 04 : Mix CD [Ostgut Ton]
Tracklist:
01. 154 – Apricot
02. DVS1 – Pressure
03. Junior Boys – Work (Marcel Dettmann Remix)
04. Martyn – Miniluv
05. STL – Loop 04
06. Levon Vincent – The Long Life
07. Jonas Kopp – Michigan Lake
08. ACT – RoHd
09. Mikhail Breen – Veracity
10. DVS1 – Confused
11. Rolando – De Cago
12. Kevin Gorman – 7am Stepper
13. Ben Klock – Compression Session 1
14. Roman Lindau – Keppra
15. Tyree – Nuthin Wrong
16. The Echologist – Dirt (Ben Klock Edit)
17. James Ruskin – Graphic
18. Ben Klock (Feat. Elif Bicer) – Elfin Flight
19. Rolando – Junie
A couple of club gigs coming up next weekend, that I think I might check out. It will have been a month since I was last out. Deadbeat from Berlin, and U.K’s James Holden. Almost opposite ends of electronic dance music there, a nice contrast.
23.07.10 : Deadbeat [Live] @ Void – Phoenix Bar
24.07.10 : James Holden @ Chinese Laundry
This will be my first Void party, should be interesting. I’m not much of a fan of the dubstep genre, but I do like deep, spatial, minimal, dub techno sounds, and some dark electronica stuff. I heard a recent live PA set from Deadbeat that was excellent, featuring exactly those deep, minimal, dub techno sounds I like, keen for this after hearing that.
It’s a sound I’ve been buying a lot more of lately, I really like a lot of the Marko Furstenberg stuff.
I have to say I’m not much of a fan of the new James Holden DJ Kicks mix CD, it’s a departure from the glitched, minimal, melodic sound he pioneered. I find the mix tends to drone on a bit too much for me. I heard a recent recorded live DJ mix of his though which was excellent, and covered a great range of melodic electronica and techno/minimal sounds, at times similar to the CD, but with better intensity, and variety, it sold me on wanting to see him play again, I think this will be the 5th time I’ve seen him play. He certainly plays interesting, memorable, electronic music, that is both interesting and dance-able, you won’t hear any of that bland, generic, tech-house.
Please note: I do my best to post up accurate info, but dates, artists, venues can change etc.
TBA = To Be Announced
If you’re after info on other techno/minimal club nights with more local flavour in Sydney, check out the Sydney Loves Techno blog.
The InTheMix – Sydney – What’s On section lists a whole range of dance/electronic music events/club nights, check it out here.
I’m not much of a fan of dubstep sounds myself, but if you’re into it, there is a crew (Void/Index) in Sydney putting on regular quality events, often with internationals, check here for more info.
I only got out to a single party/event in February, which was the fantastic live performance of Orbtial at The Forum, already covered on my blog here, so on to March…
05.03.10 : Sven Väth, Dubfire @ Future Sideshow – Metro
Another year, another ‘Future Music Festival’ goes by that I don’t attend. I’m always put off by what I’ve heard about the (disrespectful) crowd of previous years, but mostly it’s because there hasn’t been enough on the line up to interest and entice me each year, and it’s such a commercial event now. I would have liked to have seen Richie Hawtin last year, had my hope on a FMF side-show, but it never happened.
So, I was happy when a FMF side-show for German techno legend Sven Väth at the Metro was announced, a chance to see him play again. And I thought I would give Iranian-American digital DJ/producer Dubfire a second chance to impress me… he didn’t.
I’ve seen ‘Papa Sven’ play a few times now over the last few years. Performing at his amazing ‘Cocoon Club’ and at his ‘Love Family Park (2007)’ event, both in Offenbach am Main (outside Frankfurt), had a lot of fun at those. The last time I saw him play was down in Melbourne in 2008, at QBH, with Gui Boratto [Live] and Steve Bug, a line-up too good to miss. I wrote about that night here.
So Papa Sven is known to party hard, and get up to all manner of crazy behaviour when he’s out DJing, giving larger than life performances, feeding off the energy and excitement of the crowd, it’s entertaining to watch. Somehow he still manages to keep it together, tight mixes and keeping the music flowing. Plus he still keeps his business head together, touring the world DJing, running his clubs, restaurants, and Cocoon club nights around the planet, running his record label, booking agency and more, it’s pretty impressive, his empire. I have to wonder if the trash-bag image is sometimes an act?
So, on this particular night, I thought he gave quite a reserved performance. I can only guess, perhaps not enough excitement and energy coming from the dance-floor, or he was tired, jet-lagged or just pacing himself. The following day he was performing at Sydney’s Future Music Festival, then more performances all around the country in the days and weeks that followed. It wasn’t a bad performance at the Metro, just not as crazy and memorable as some of the previous times I’ve enjoyed seeing him DJ, so there was a lot less focus on the fun of watching him perform. I was watching and dancing on the elevated steps in the middle of the venue, kept away from the dance-floor.
Actually not much focus on the stage at all really, four bits of illuminated, vertical, lighting truss is not much of a visual feast. I miss the days when effort was put into parties with stage displays/props, projected visuals on screens, and impressive, well thought out intelligent lighting rigs. I felt like I could count the amount of lights on one hand at this night.
But it’s all about the music… I really enjoyed the tracks Sven mixed up for the first 45 minutes or more, memorable tech-house/techno music, with a nice phonky (I hate the description ‘funky’) feel to it. Some nice melodic and tribal flavours, some big moments. Add a little more house feel to the mix, and it’s the same type of sounds he ended the last 30 minutes of his set with. I knew a few tracks here and there, but mostly it was all fresh to me. I had a fun jump around, quite a few older people in the area I danced, shared some smiles, was nice.
However, the music mixed up for the majority of his set, the middle part, was pretty banging, noisy, brash, loud, hard, relentless, and a little dull. It was techno, but the new kind of techno sound that’s popular now (check out Beatport’s techno charts). I’m not really a fan of it, it’s the ‘heard it all before’ breaks/builds in every track, full of crazy noise/white noise that really bore me, and a lot of the tracks have that shuffled feel. He played a lot of that stuff for almost the entire duration of each record too, it got a bit much, so we sat out a lot of it. Speaking of records, he’s still all vinyl only, no CDs. I knew more of these tracks as I’ve seen them listed in his Beatport charts, and on recent live set track-listings.
I’m glad he dropped back down to more melodic stuff at the end of his set, I was rapidly losing interest, as was the crowd, packed at the start, but 3/4 gone by the end, I guess a lot needed their beauty sleep for the festival the next day, and to err… allow enough time to prepare their slip on canvas shoes, short shorts and over-size tank top outfit, eugh.
Tune spotting, here’s some of the tracks he played:
Ray Okpara (Feat. Nikki) – Brainows Electric Rescue – Crazy Purple Levon Vincent – Late Night Jam * Audiojack – Kicks For Kicks * Stephen Beaupre – Lotus Eaters * Salvatore Freda – Tiramisu (DJ Madskillz Remix) Die Vögel – Blaue Moschee Dustin Zahn – Stranger (To Stability) (Len Faki Podium Mix) Alan Fitzpatrick – Face Of Rejection Steve Parker – Mexilhao Pan-Pot – Confronted (Adam Beyer & Jesper Dahlback Remix) Marc Marzenit – Not Assigned Yousef – Come Home Lucid Dream – Droeth (Dominik Eulberg Blue-Crystal Remix) * Peter Horrevorts – Bloody Hands
* I like these tracks
Oh, almost forgot, Dubfire played at this party too, before Sven. I can sum up his set up with one word… boring! So dull, was the same track on loop for his whole set? No idea why he needs 2 x Apple MacBook laptops and those controllers for that performance. There is just no depth or memorable qualities to that type of minimal, the (younger) crowd seemed to love it though.
Luckily a good DJ friend of mine Andrew Wowk was DJing in the front room at the same time, tightly mixing up a set of dance enticing, interesting, memorable, tech-house, melodic techno and minimal music, nice one!
Ended up going to this Mad Racket the following night, last minute decision, joining my mate Tad. New York’s Jus-Ed played deep, really… really… deep! Lots of deep-house, and old-school, simplistic (not minimal), prototype, stripped back, deep, techno. Some old house classics, a little disco, even a couple of 90’s commercial dance blasts from the past. He lost me at times though, it was a little erratic flow and mix wise. But, overall I enjoyed it, nice moody moments, lots of deepness, lots of quality music.
He got on the mic a few times, telling us about some of the tracks as they played which was cool, playing a lot of his own productions, should have bought his CD there.
And yes, as my mate Matt Costain pointed out, he looks a bit like Prop Joe from the Wire.
Not a very well attended Mad Racket. There was a lot on that w/end. Dance floor was quite empty a lot of the night, I think 95% of the party was outside smoking and chatting the whole night. The non-smoking thing has really messed with the Mad Racket vibe, although I like not breathing in smoke all night.
A couple of those 90’s commercial dance, blasts from the past he played…
Robin S – Show Me Love
Nightcrawlers – Push The feeling On
A bit of a story about that Nightcrawlers track. I’ve heard that track so many times. I used to hear DJ HMC play it a lot in Adelaide in my 1990’s clubbing days, but I never knew the artist or title. I love the way they have used a bit of the vocal sample as an almost percussive element.
I even heard DJ HMC play it again in Adelaide on Boxing Day at Xmas last year, at a party called Reunion at The Electric Light Hotel, that was a fun night, with Metro (Richmond Hotel – Adelaide) 1990’s crew M.C. Scott T, G.T. (Groove Terminator), and DJ HMC all playing together again, mixing up lots of classic house and techno music.
So, anyway, I didn’t get an ID on that night, or when Jus-Ed played it at Mad Racket, and put it to the back of my mind.
A few days later at work, I hear this catchy little saxophone riff coming from a work colleagues TV speakers, and quickly realise it’s the sax riff from that track, but used in some hip-hop/pop song.
Luckily the music was coming from the AirActive music application on FOXTEL (pay TV) which has text of the artist, title, record label etc. as the song plays. It was…
Pitbull – Hotel Room Service.
I look that up on http://www.discogs.com and luckily the entry has mention of the samples used in that track…
Contains a sample from “Push The Feeling On” written by Hugh Branklin, Ross Campbell, John Reid & Graham Wilson
I go to You Tube, search for “Push The feeling On” and there it is, the clip above.
I love the Internet, sites like Discogs and YouTube are awesome for finding details about and clips of old, classic, music tracks/songs.
I’ve had a lot of these type of things happen in my life with music, wanted IDs coming to me, usually when I put them to the back of my mind. I’m a bit obsessed with track IDs in case you didn’t already notice.
Having a song on my mind, turning on the radio and there it was playing used to happen a lot in my youth, so much so it stopped being something freaky. Radio, that’s something I’ve not listened to for a long time now.
14.01.10 : Severed Heads [Live], Stephen Mallinder (Cabaret Voltaire) @ Sydney Festival – Beck’s Festival Bar – Hyde Park Barracks
I find these Beck’s Festival Bar – Hyde Park Barracks events a bit… meh. I like going to them, always catch up with people I know, but the vibe always seems a bit off. People never seem to really let go, and have an all out fun time.
On this night, I enjoyed the 80’s music local DJ Mark Murphy played, warming things up. I hope our SMS track requests didn’t annoy him too much, great to hear The Models.
Severed Heads are legends of Australian electronic music. Their live show on the night was not that exciting though. Tom Ellard and another guy ? (doing visuals?) performed on stage in darkness. So visual focus was on their projected old-school computer graphics, on a screen outside of the performance tent.
I wasn’t familiar with a lot of the music Severed Heads performed live, not sure if it was old stuff or new stuff. To be honest, I’m not much of a fan past the singles really. It sounded great though, staying true to their 80’s/90’s electronic dance sounds.
I enjoyed hearing ‘Dead Eyes Opened’ and ‘Greater Reward’ and a couple of other tracks I knew but can’t remember the titles now. I would have liked to have heard the original versions to the slightly reworked versions they played, but I can understand it’s more fun for the artists to play newer versions of old tracks. I was disappointed they didn’t play ‘Heart Of The Party’, probably my favourite Severed Heads track/song.
We didn’t stick around afterwards to hear what Stephen Mallinder from Cabaret Voltaire was going to play in his DJ set, so can’t comment on that sorry, I’m sure it would have been interesting. Most of the crowd seemed to leave after Severed Heads finished as well.
Wearing black was the right choice for this night amongst the older crowd.
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23.01.10 : Sebo K @ LadyLux – LadyLux
My partner Joanne celebrated her birthday with a big bunch of friends at our favourite Spanish restaurant earlier in the night. Somehow after all the food and cocktails we still made it out to LadyLux in Kings Cross, to see Berlin’s Sebo K.
We’ve been wanting to see Sebo K play for quite some time, fans of his productions for quite a few years, and we played his ResidentAdvisor podcast RA.055 all the time in 2007.
But, once he finally took over the decks, starting his set late, and got into the mix, we found his DJ set pretty disappointing. I guess we were expecting deeper, minimal, melodic sounds, but what we got was tough, driving, tech-house, with an almost progressive edge. Not much more than bass-lines and beats at times, not many memorable or melodic qualities. I didn’t know much of what he was playing. It’s a similar sound to what Nick Curly played when I saw him last year, who also disappointed me a bit, by playing not what I was expecting. It’s not wrong to expect DJs to play a similar sound to the music they produce is it?
Sebo K was tight in the mix, but we just were not taking much inspiration from the music he played. After an hour it was more of the same, we lost interest and headed home.
The local guys warming things up prior, were also playing a similar intensity (horrible music though), so perhaps he felt (or got told) he had to continue at that level. I have a lot of respect for DJs like Steve Bug who just start deep/slow and then build it from there, regardless of who/what was on before.
I like the new renovations at LadyLux, the venue looks great, the Funktion-1 system sounds excellent. I’ve never been a fan of the type of crowd that go to LadyLux though, I don’t think there are many passionate music people, most seem more interested in being seen there, than getting on the dance-floor and getting sweaty.
I’ve heard management have completely changed the style/sound of the club since, kicking out the more underground house promoters and DJs. Probably looking to recover all the renovation costs with a more commercial direction.
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26.01.10 : Ben Watt, Dixon @ We Love Agwa Yacht Club – MV Starship
Another boat cruise party on the MV Starship. I’ve lost count of how many I’ve been on now. We’ve only missed one, in December last year, being in Adelaide for Xmas.
So London’s Ben Watt and Berlin’s Dixon don’t really play the type of music I’m into, lots of house from one and disco/house from the other, but I still had a fun time at this.
Cruising around beautiful Sydney Harbour on the very modern MV Starship is a great way to spend an afternoon/evening, sitting back on the middle deck, enjoying the view, plus the fun of chatting and drinking with friends. The party/music is just a bonus really.
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30.01.10 : Robert Babicz [Live], Namito, Mic Newman @ Shrug – Civic Underground
A big smile happens every time I remember this night. I only decided to go at the last minute too, and I’m so glad I did. Germany’s Robert Babicz live set was excellent, lots of deep, dark, atmospheric, spatial minimal/techno beats and percussions, with lush melodic layers, and clever synthetic elements. He’s such a perfectionist with his music, covers a nice range of styles/sounds, very talented guy. I had a ball jumping around to almost all of his Ableton Live + Apple Macbook Pro laptop live set. It sounded awesome through the Civic Underground’s Klipsch sound system, such an awesome intensity in such a small room.
Later in his set he really ramped things up with some blistering Rob Acid style techno, full of nasty 303 acid patterns, and banging 909 beats, which was impressive sounding, but a bit much for me.
His track ‘Sin’ does it for me every time. I was impressed he played the Joris Voorn remix of his ‘Dark Flower’ track, such a wonderful remix, that will remain one of my fave tracks for a long time. He also played his new ‘Fever’ remix of ‘Dark Flower’ with it’s break beat and groovy bass guitar lines, check it out…
Namito from Berlin played prior, and mixed up the kind of energetic tech-house music that doesn’t really do much for me I’m sorry to say. I preferred the deeper sounds local lad Mic Newman played prior to him, he’s got a bunch of releases and remixes on a heap of well known international labels now, good stuff.
It was a fun night, great crowd, many thanks to the Shrug crew.
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That’s all for January. Coming next March, I’ve already covered February, with my single outing to Orbital scroll down to read.
![Deadbeat [Live] @ Void : 23.07.10](http://users.on.net/~dmccann/images/2010_July_Deadbeat.png)
