Deetron @ The Club Club – Chinese Laundry : 25.10.2008 : Photo by Hobietje from ITM.
So, it sadly seems not many Sydney techno people are interested in Deetron anymore. I think there were no more than maybe 8 people in the Cave at Chinese Laundry who knew who he was, and even less who had probably seen him play before amongst the 50 or so people in there whilst I was there. I think everyone was in the other room for DJ Hyper.
I remember Deetron’s first visit to Sydney way back in the early 2000’s, his records got lost in transit, and my record collection was called on to help him out, that was a great night/set!
Unfortunately on this occasion, he pretty much cleared the floor/room with his sounds, starting very deep with the lovelly nu-disco track ‘Afterski’ by Ytre Rymden Dansskola and then working his way through some deep, house, techno, tribal sounds. I just don’t think the usual young Chinese Laundry crowd understood the music, too many deep, rolling house/tribal grooves, not enough (electro-ish) musical hooks for them to mentally grab on to, to keep them interested. I know he’s been heading towards a more soulful house/deep-house sound for quite sometime, taking in disco/nu-disco, jazz, funk influences, but he’s still playing a lot of tribal, bongo, loops, which surprised me. He used them as bridges between melodic tracks, and as layers in the mix to cut against, which is cool, but I felt makes for too much variation in sound intensity and audio quality, especially when going from/to old (thin sounding) vinyl records, new (fat sounding) records and CDs, quite a dynamic range contrast.
I think the problem is with me though. I’m probably now too used to the sound of CDs being used, hearing compressed flat, minimal tracks blended together, with next to no dynamic range being experienced.
It’s worrying there is a whole new wave of kids clubbing now who have probably never heard that style of Jeff Mills, Derrick May, Ben Sims, multi-deck techno mixing, tweeking the EQs, cutting faders, using records as tools and layers, mixing up old classics with new releases, and lots of variations of intensity in a mix. It’s been a long time since any of those guys have played here actually. Plus, most of the punters who would know of those guys and have seen them play in Sydney in the past, probably don’t club much anymore, if at all.
Some track IDing on the night…
Ytre Rymden Dansskola – Afterski
Moodymann – I Can’t Kick This Feelin When It Hits
Moodymann – Shades Of Jae
Chez Damier – Untitled (KMS049)
MDIII – The Pressure Cooker (Phil Weeks Remix)
Deetron – I Believe
Dop – I’m Just A Man
Ralph Sliwinnski – Pox Rox (Johnny D Remix)
Idjut Boys – Sarbeni Drums
Sui Generis – Speaking Terms
Aural Distortion – Plasma (Peter Dildo Remix)
I’m guessing this below was played too, I’ve not heard it yet, but I’ve read Deetron is a fan…
Christian Vance – Tiger Snake
Nice tunes, but it just felt like the wrong music for the crowd, and the lack of numbers, lack of understanding and energy/support from the dance-floor didn’t get the best out of Deetron, who does have some amazing skills when fired up, and is a very talented producer.
I was only there for the first hour of his set, so things may have got better later on. I hope so.
I left behind those tribal, funky techno sounds about 5 years ago, and not being a huge fan of old-school house, funk, disco, jazz music, I was probably not going to get that much enjoyment out of this set anyway. I do still buy the odd Deetron production here and there though, I used to buy everything he released in years gone by. Most recently I bought the Henrik Schwarz remix of his “Let’s Get Over It”, which is a really nice track, and I’m usually not a fan of vocals.
I don’t think Deetron would have had a very memorable time this trip to Australia, gig wise. I feel sorry for the guy. A dull gig in Sydney, and I heard due to flight problems he missed his gig in Melbourne on the following Saturday, and his make up show on the Sunday in Melbourne at Ffour was not that well attended, but probably better appreciated than his gig in Sydney. I hope it wasn’t all that bad. Best of luck next time Sam!