All good things must come to an end, and last Friday night was celebrated with the final Democracy party ever to be held in Perth – The Quickening, featuring a 3 hour set from the one and only, Radio Slave.
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PERTHQUAKE
Democracy pres. The Quickening @ Ambar
After 3 years and 39 International DJs, Democracy announces its LAST EVER show for Perth…featuring Radio Slave (Rekids, UK) and SOS The Collective – Omid 16B and Demi (SexOnWax, MOS UK).
Radio Slave – aka Matt Edwards – is a man whose talent doesn’t seem to end. His productions, remixes and DJ sets have only one aim: to make you move – inside and out. Originally from Brighton in the UK, Radio Slave re-located to the natural home of the electronic movement this past Decade, Berlin, in 2008.
Radio Slave’s productions never miss a beat because his ideas never stop. His Rekids ‘No Sleep’ EP series, beginning in 2006 and currently on Part Six, are always highly anticipated and highly coveted. Classed as one of the greatest remixers of all time, Radio Slave’s remixes – including artists like Talking Heads, Danny Tenaglia, Kylie Minogue, Carl Craig, Trentmoller, DJ Hell, Tiefschwarz, Gwen Stefani, Le Noir, Sir Elton John and Sasha – deconstruct and reconstruct the original inspiration into explosive compositions that become his own and step up the game with each re-work.
Radio Slave holds a quarterly label residency at Panorama Bar in Berlin (recently voted number one club in the world), DJs at Fabric exclusively in London and tours the world every week – including Europe, USA, Asia, Ibiza (gigs at Cocoon and Space this summer) and every festival that counts.
SexOnSubstance, The Collective: in its present format is a duo with Omid ‘16B’ Nourizadeh and Demi Hajigeorgiou. With a common goal to move people, the innovative duo exist in an exciting digital era when live remixing, personal edits and inimitable shows all allow for differentiation – and this is where the dazzling SOS trailblazers shine with their icy-hot approach to djing in the 21st century!
From their infamous boat parties in London & Ibiza to sellout WMC marathon sessions in Miami, along with a 3hr Essential Mix for BBC Radio 1 (a first since its inception) to add to their acclaimed triple disc opus mix for Balance on EQ Recordings in 2008 – with SOS, sparks fly and good vibes abound, as they work their wonky voodoo, full of love and energy.
Their sonic blueprint was previewed to the world in February 2010 on a double-CD compilation for Ministry Of Sound. ‘MOS presents SOS’ featured as the compilation of the month in both Tillate and DJ magazine.
Sponsored by industry giants such as Pioneer, Ableton, Roland and Native Instruments, their forthcoming debut artist album is eagerly anticipated by industry and fans alike. The eyes of the world are now focused on SOS and their best is yet to come…
Villa Loco
Last Friday night, Villa was transformed into an ostentatious and energetic playground for the return of the infamous Circo Loco brand to bring us a little taste, fresh from their DC-10 home in Ibiza. With Jamie Jones and Davide Squillace to headline the event, punters were sure to be set for a night of hedonistic partying and quality dance music.
Shonky @ Ambar
Shonky, whose real name is Olivier Ducreux, was first introduced to the Parisian dance scene via Dan Ghenacia’s infamous Sunday ‘Kwality’ Batofar parties. He studied mathematics for five years until he decided to become a full time producer and DJ – releasing his first track on Freak n’Chic in 2005 and fast becoming a key player in the revival of the underground scene in Paris… He went on to release on Crosstown Rebels, mobilee, Substatic and Reposal in 2006, and in 2007 released ‘Olympia’ and ‘Phantomas’ on Freak n’Chic, whilst also remixing Danton Eeprom’s ‘All I can say’ for the label. Shonky currently lives and regularly DJs in Berlin, alongside playing in the UK, Italy, France, Spain and more – having also recently completed a US tour.
His first album ’Time Zero’ landed in 2008, This was not a first class debut. It’s a first class album, full stop. ‘Time Zero’ is ripe with a musical intelligence well beyond Shonky’s years. The first single from the album being remixed by Paul Ritch and Mathias Kaden. Shonky was last in Australia for the album launch smashing Lost Baggage and the infamous boat party in Melbourne. This time he also heads west for a night of deepness at the home of the underground for Democracy, the sound of the underground.
Support from: Nina Van Dyke, Kid Deep, Darren J (Democracy Debut)
The Circus Is Coming
From growing out of an old airport hanger in Ibiza, Circo Loco, aka the ‘Crazy Circus’, has now become one of the most identifiable club brands throughout the world. Circo Loco is primarily known for its house & techno music policy, boisterous crowds and a highly respectable artillery of resident DJs.
A Night In Berghain
Not exactly, but close enough.
Friday 17 September was celebrated with Democracy’s 3rd birthday, hosting the infamous Marcel Dettmann at Ambar Nightclub for a 4 hour set.
Marcel Dettmann Debuts in Australia
This weekend, club Berghain resident, Marcell Dettmann, will be performing for the first time on Australian shores. If this isn’t enough for techno fans, how about a mesmerizing 4 hour set whilst he is here.
Dettmann has come a long way since his first gig as a resident at the Ostgut Club, where he has now made his way to becoming one of Berlin’s most respected artists. His upcoming tour has also been one of the most anticipated tours in 2010 for techno fans.
Circo Loco feat. David Squillace & Jamie Jones @ Villa
Every now and again there are certain parties that, for a brief moment in time, hold the entire scene on its axis. Where the eye of the rave hurricane briefly focuses its efforts before moving elsewhere, at 10pm on October 22 it will pass over Villa Nightclub.
Grown out of an old airport hanger in Ibiza, Circo Loco, the ‘crazy circus’, is undoubtedly one of the most well-known club brands in the world. Celebrating its 10th birthday this year, Circo Loco built its name by playing the most cutting edge house and techno, having the wildest and sexiest crowd, and some of the best DJs in the world as residents. Clubbers flock to DC10, Ibiza, every Monday morning, to carry-on partying at the all-day, hedonistic party that’s now gone international, from Ibiza to Tokyo, New York to London … and now to Perth
Support from Aarin F, Kid Deep, Luke P, Nina Van Dyke
Democracy 3rd Birthday Presents Berghain feat Marcel Dettmann
In the years since its beginning, Democracy has sought to tread the line between forward thinking dance music and a good old fashioned dust on the floor rave up, so it’s fitting that for our 3rd birthday we have an artist who understands both.
Marcel Dettman; Rough, rugged and raw.
Mentioning Marcel Dettmann, as well as his feeling for and vision of electronic music, his way of dealing with it, is impossible without these attributes. Whether you take his DJ sets (Marcel has been made a resident DJ at the old Ostgut and also at Berghain from the very start), Dettmann’s productions for the self-conducted MDR label, his remixes for the likes of Fever Ray, Junior Boys, Modeselektor as well as Scuba, or if nothing else his debut long player for Ostgut Ton into account, all the various contrasts and distinctions that come with it are manifested in these qualities.
Techno as Marcel Dettmann defines it, is neither a movement without history nor wistful nostalgia. In the hands of the Berliner, the well-known game of hi-hats, bass lines and kick drums draws its tension and momentum from a historically grown tradition and the conscious decision to break the rules. Reformation and solid construction outplays the use of any gimmicks. Dettmann pours Detroit’s oil into European engines, puts British bass music under the control of Chicago’s very own Jack, cuts classics with abstract nuances and connects yesterday with tomorrow and today. In the unrelenting manner of a great DJ, he generates moods and connections that are age- and classless, but never irrelevant or tasteless. Marcel Dettmann links up the art of improvisation with careful preparation and finally gives techno some of its often painfully missed serious physical constitution back.
Support from: Aarin Fraser, Massiv Trav, Craig Hollywood
The Likes Of You : Round 2
It’s been over three months since the infamous ‘The Likes Of You’ brand anchored itself at Villa nightclub on a Saturday night, only this time bringing Stephan Bodzin and Hugo to the party, along with some cold weather and rain.
Despite the miserable weather we have been facing this winter season, it didn’t put off too many techno fans from missing this event. Then again, with a line up like this, why would you want to miss it?
It was a case of dejavu, with Aarin F opening the party once again for round two. This time, I only managed to catch the last few parts of his set, but I was enjoying the tunes he was playing and the way he was catering to the opening time slot. Following on from Aarin, Hugo came on stage to take over for the next two hours til 2am.
Hugo’s set consisted of warm, bumpy and funky tech-house grooves with nice rolling basslines to keep everybody on the dancefloor bopping, whilst sharing a few drinks and some laughs with fellow punters. The numbers inside the club were slowly increasing as the minutes went by, and so was the dancefloor.
From the two parties I have been two, I really enjoy the way The Likes Of You brings high calibre artists who are there to not only play the peak time slot, but to also warm up the crowd and set the mood – last time it was Seth Troxler, this time it was Hugo.
When Hugo’s set came to an end, the man that everybody was jumping out of their skins to see, Stephan Bodzin, stepped on stage to give a round of applause to the perfect warm-up set that was played by Hugo, before stepping into his live set up.
The start of Bodzin’s set flowed off the end of Hugo’s quite flawlessly, but with only 1.5 hours to impress the Perth crowd, as opposed to Hugo’s 2 hours, he was sure not to waste any time. Starting off nice and smooth, playing a more techno sound, track after track, Bodzin was building up his set to the sound that we all know him by. It wasn’t long til he was pumping out the techno, giving the crowd what they have been expecting for a long time.
In Bodzin’s live set up, he had camera placed on a tripod, overseeing his 3 Jazzmutant Lemur midi controllers. It was certainly impressive to not only listen to the music he was sharing, but to also see a visual of what he was doing with his controllers, which of course I had no idea, but it was certainly very cool.
With only two internationals headlining this time, as opposed to three the last, the closing set was handed to the Progress Inn boys to finish the night off in style.
Progress Inn is well known for their progressive and techno influenced sounds, where I thought this was a perfect time slot suited to their style of music and to finish the event off. I did not get to stay for much of their set, however I was liking what I was hearing, and I’m sure plenty of other people were too.
All in all, the best thing about The Likes Of You to me, is their fine selection of local and international talent all to warm up and follow on from each other, all while keeping the nice flow of music throughout the night, giving everybody a taste of what they like.
The thought we all have to ponder on now is – when is the next one?!
It’s been over three months since the infamous ‘The Likes Of You’ brand anchored itself at Villa nightclub on a Saturday night, only this time bringing Stephan Bodzin and Hugo to the party, along with some cold weather and rain.
