I’ve heard Voiteck Andersen several times now, and always enjoyed him, so looked forward to another of his visits to Sydney. He’s played at Tech-ni-kal before, and has a good working relationship with Biz-E, who runs the night. Voiteck has released tracks on Biz’s label Cliq, and the two recorded WetMusik 6 together, with each having a chance to showcase the live music sounds of Melbourne and Sydney respectively. Tech-ni-kal has developed an enviable reputation for showcasing the best of local, national and international techno DJs as headliners, supported by an increasingly wide range of Sydney tech, electro and booty DJs. The line-up for the night looked tasty, with Voiteck being supported by Biz, Marshall, and the deadly duo of Tom Haze and Dartech playing back-to-back to close. (Zootie, Ken Cloud and Simon Caldwell played the Cave, but I didn’t venture out of the main room much, so they are not reviewed here)
As always, I bullied Prog Girl into leaving home early and we arrived at 11:01 to find the bouncers yawning and scratching as they unlocked the front door – they told us to go away and chill for a bit. After a quick drink upstairs at the Slip Inn and lots of anxious glances at my watch I was allowed to drag her downstairs again, this to time to be let in with a smile. It’s a long time between Spousal Passes, and Tech-ni-kal closes early – so no time to waste, it was off with the coat and onto the incense-laden dance floor.
It’s always worth getting to the Laundry early on a Friday – unlike many DJ-promoters, Biz nearly always opens, and he is always worth catching. I don’t know if he actively enjoys warming up a cold room, or is being polite to his guest DJs, or if he wants to kick back and enjoy the later acts, or all of the above. Whatever – it’s always fun. Starting funky and working up the pace over the space of an hour, his set could almost have been a 1-hour mix CD, it was so smooth. That doesn’t mean boring – just technically superb, and the interest provided by track after track that just oozed funk. Techno, electro, a bit of booty, and back to techno again, slowly getting harder and faster, but never losing the groove – tasty.
Marshall didn’t even attempt to build up the pace – just let rip with a screamer and kept his pedal to the metal. Forget the funk, this was Swarm-style techno, raw, driving, hard as nails. Lots of startled bunny looks amongst my fellow ROT (ravers over thirty) members as they struggled to shift up a gear. Some of us made it, others stripped a cog and had to sit down, fanning themselves weakly – yeah, it was hot in there, and the music had the sweat flowing. Somebody got the fan going, but I kept reaching up to the aircon in vain – it was just there for decoration on Friday. Between the heat and the unrelenting pace of the music, the dance floor emptied out – people would flock back for a familiar track, or something interesting, but Marshall would lose them again a few tracks later. I enjoyed his set (I like it hard, baby…) but quite a few people out there were struggling.
Voiteck didn’t experience the same problems – he had the crowd back quickly, and worked them over thoroughly. I don’t think he DJs much any more, and you can tell his heart is in his live performances – he gets right into it, and drags the crowd after him. Percussive and bouncy, the music is of course drum- and loop-driven, but he keeps it really interesting, working the synths and effects, and it’s great music to dance to. For those who haven’t heard him, you might peg his live work somewhere between the power and energy of an HPS? set and the funk and groove of Calix – but with his very own keep-on-trucking style. He wound it all down after about an hour with a bleeping, tricky outro that completely bumped one of my mates off his little dancing cloud, but left me with a smile on my face – nice work Mr Andersen!
And last but definitely not least came the prodigous talents of Tom Haze and Dartech, playing back-to-back, and working off each other to produce a damn fine closing set. By that time of the night I was in no real state to provide a reasoned critique of their endeavours – all I wanted to do was close my eyes and move to the music. But you know what? They are the kind of DJs who want you to do just that, and between their music and my enjoyment of it, I reckon we did just fine together!
As always the 4am close came too early, and the no encore policy seemed unusually brutal, so we snuck off to the Phoenix on Oxford Street, where I’d enjoyed some very twisted and enjoyable after-parties following previous Tech-ni-kal excursions. Oh dear – was it ever a mistake! No sooner had we paid our cover charge than the DJ slipped on an INXS track, followed by another beer-hall rock standard – and then The Clash’s London’s Burning! Nope, not a remix – and no, there was nothing ironic about it – he was just playing rock music. The crowd there started to sing along, and we fled, scattering in the cool dawn to various snug pads to drink tea, smoke quietly and listen to the gentle hiss of synapses frying. Another fine night.
