Tag Archives: Non-stop DJs

Flashpoint @ Public Life, London, Tag Team w/Nick Craddock

Thursday was fun! Really enjoyed myself once things got going and I worked through the week’s stress. I thought it was great to hear the early sets from Brendan and Guy. Unexpected selections and a great way to warm things up. Nick and I tagteamed for and hour and a half and it went really well I thought. Got to drop loads of new techno, and helped the dance floor lift off. It’s recorded, so possibly online before too long. Shawn Rudiman’s set was really cool, or at least what I remmeber of it. I think it was nice to hear each segment evolving into so much of a ‘song’, versus previous efforts which felt more like an endless transition. Both are cool, but it was amazing to see this different style of arrangement on the fly (assuming I’m not just imagining this). Wish I could remember more of Matt’s set.

[313] Party @ Public Life

So… arrived @ Public Life pretty much right on time. Max came on before me and played a nice set of quirky/slower techno/idm, ending with Kraftwerk’s Neon Lights, at precisely the right speed for me to mix out of it. Wicked! This is what I followed it up with, from 10:15-11:00:

  • Luke Vibert – Acidisco – Warp
  • Moodymann – Shattered Dreams – Peacefrog
  • Meg – Kouro (Theo Parrish Remix) – Joint Records
  • Fabrice Lig – Meet U in Brooklyn – Playhouse
  • James Duncan – Times Like These (B2) – Le Systeme
  • John Arnold w/Amp Fiddler – Get Yourself Together – Ubiquity
  • 32 Project AKA Hiroshi Watanabe – Summon – Ibadan
  • Chicken Lips – Bad Skin – !K7
  • Riton – Cast of Thousands – Grand Central
  • Infinity Plus One – Rhythmatic Unison – Drenched
  • Ennio Morricone – Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo (Swell Session Remix) – Compost Records

I was followed by Dan Butler, who played some deep-as-hell techno, then mah boyee Matt Chester picked up the tempo a bit, but not sacrificing an ounce of funk, then Lunar Selector played a fantastic Ableton set packed with classics and new stuff alike, going all over the place. The last Ableton set I saw Brendan do was a bit frezied for my taste in parts, although still really impressive, but this one was bang-on-the-money throughout. He even finished with my remix of The Shit, although Guy faded it out after about 60 seconds, not realising what it was – the bastard. 😉 Guy Thackeray closed things out with another really nice set, although I must confess the memory becomes a bit more faint at this point. All I know is that I had a great time, and the music throughout the night was all top notch. As Brendan said, it all worked really well together. An excellent progression from start to finish.

Bootytronics

Got to Public Life @ 7:55, with a few minutes to wipe off the sweat, grab a water and collect myself before I started spinning. Nick and I split the first two hours of our set into thirty minute chunks. I offered to go first, and struggled a little with battle-style tables and a crazy cross-fader that slid all over the place when you didn’t even touch it. After my first (slow, around 110 bpm, maybe up to 120) set, Nick suggested we move the tables horizontally. Light bulb number one. I played two Moodymann tracks, and Nick played a Theo Parrish remix and one of our mutually favorite Theo Parrish tracks, ‘Falling Up’ (he played the whole damn thing too). 🙂 So I got back on, and felt marginally more comfortable, and a few friends had arrived, and a few others wandered in. Then after that next bit, in which I went properly east coast with my housing (and jacked it up to 125-128ish), and a few fuck ups with the cross fader, Nick suggested we turn it off. Lightbulb number 2. Actually, I had looked all over this mixer for the on/off switch, and it was in a totally unlikely spot in the upper left-hand corner (sort of), just to the left of the Channel 1 EQ’s. WTF??? Anyway. That was sorted. As I got off, most of the posse arrived, and Nick really got into his 2nd half-hour, throwing down some Relief gems and the like. It was really nice. Everyone loves that shit. Then we opted to go two-on/two-off for the last hour, which was fucking wicked. We both had an awesome time, fed off each other, and totally jacked the crowd to hell. It was really fun. Played a bit of techno, but mostly just house with depth and considerable energy, at a pretty fast tempo. Finished with “Who’s Pussy is This”.

Afterwards, Brendan and Guy came on for their Ableton + scratching debut, which was nice. Most of the Brixton massive and the extended family headed off to Lost, leaving Mark, Steve and I there with a suddenly fairly-vacant club. The set was quite interesting, with a ton of great moments, but overall it was far too intense for me in that state. Cutlass Supreeme finished up with a really nice set of ghetto tek, booty and drum ‘n bass, all worked together nicely, with some really good scratching in parts.