10:30pm and we’re kissing inebriated party goers in North Sydney goodbye, then heading en route to the corner of Park and Elizabeth St in the City, where we find another inebriated party goer lying in between two police officers, handcuffed, and quite humiliated. We are well pleased to kiss goodbye to ‘oh six’.

Now 11:45pm at the Sky Bar of the Blacket Hotel, and although late we still manage to take in a good portion of self proclaimed ‘King of Underground House and Chill’, DJ Chris Coco, as well as a fair share of the depleted champagne supply. His thoroughly entertaining and original set was composed entirely from the much harassed electro house genre popularised throughout 2006, which in retrospect was a salute to the year past, but when he played it again one level down for his next set it didn’t bode too well.

Drink firmly in hand, we eagerly awaited the countdown to the launch of the New Year and subsequent mayhem, as a never-ending stream of people on the street below, pouring down toward Martin Place. Coco – without even stopping to pose for a photo once – jumps from crowd pleasers Bloc Party to Mylo’s ‘No More Conversations’ to that Evermore vs Dirty South track we all know. But, it still took a baseball cap-sporting punter to get everyone on the dance floor for the final few seconds as he madly ran around claiming ‘ten minutes to go!’ Upon reaching zero about a hundred hands flew into the air as about a hundred flashes simultaneously illuminated the now festive rooftop. Coco dropped something reminiscent of a Beatles track, which then faded back to his tried and true style of electro house.

Meanwhile, idly chatting to a small entourage probably composed of promoters and/or club owners, Crown Lager in hand and adorned in an Uber-Nerdy-But-Oh-So-Chic green and black striped sweater/Black Chuck Taylor combo, was the reserved producer slash DJ Malente. I bade my time until the man himself was finally alone, running up and furiously shaking hands, with camera in hand I began clicking madly and bumbling about influences and funk samples from the 80s. Several photos and conversations about my German World Cup Adidas jacket later, I thanked him again and continued one level down to continue the festivities.

12:25pm and down on level 3 to watch the final few tracks of their second set of the night, we can bet that the ever humble duo Telefunken – although not sporting personalised t-shirts tonight – still scored massive points with the crowd thanks to their personalised collection of subtle house and minimal tech, before having their show stolen by the enormous stage presence of Kristen from Reel Sessions. Complimented by her percussive accompaniment and DJ/producer partner James Billings, she bellowed to the crowd about greeting year 2007 with open arms. All of this in between flirting with the camera and the bar staff below, soulfully singing her way into many a heart, including yours truly. A very down to earth person, the combination of her voice and the simple mixing style of her DJ made this set a true highlight of the night for the many people that had, by this time, filled the dance floor.

1:00am ticked by and it was time to move toward the exit and proceed to the basement. The German electro-funk buzz bassline king was about to begin. All memories of has-been’s and soon-to-be’s were fading as the excitement of my crew grew, and climbing out of the lift we could hear him now… Emerging into the room I scanned the DJ booth to find Malente standing back as the members of the little known group Muz and Mann finished their set. They played a similar and complimentary style to the earlier works of Malente; an overdriven white boy funk sound that made the piano-vocal-house stylings of the Reel Sessions recede even further into the back of my mind.

Having had my fill of mediocre cheap sparkling wine, and after arguing the difference between bourbon and scotch with a bartender, I finally settled in with a game of pool and waited for the magic to begin. The music slowed to a halt and the half filled room gave a round of applause for the extended set from duo Muz and Mann. At 1:30am Malente stood hunched over the console, concentration at full as a mixture of CDs and his own vinyl were sent furiously flying, moving from track to track with the ease of a hip-hop DJ. Moog filled tracks were complimented by squelchy synths and off beat vocal samples, moving more and more people to the dance floor. The ITM photographer frantically ran around, managing to capture what remained of the night, before discarding the camera and throwing whatever body part happened to be not moving in any direction that gravity would allow.

Silently grinning from behind the decks, Malente moved from bopped up funk to sliding and driving rhythms, as most of the party realised that the basement was the place to be. We were given a short summary of Malente old school favorites, although ‘We Came To Party’ was nowhere to be seen, and it soon transcended into a full on nu-skool tech fest of remixes of his own original tracks (see Myagi and Nick Thayer) against some original gems, most probably plucked from the hardworking counterparts of his fellow countrymen. Although most of these blended seamlessly together, we managed to spot a few cheeky and well reworked bootlegs of Justice vs Simian, M.I.A, and the – by now – well overplayed Evermore remix, the appregiated bass rhythms accented by big nu skoolesque beats.

Although the undersold event and extremely unorganised timings of the sets ensured Malente didn’t quite receive the acclaim he deserved, he still proved once again that he can not only bring the shit, he is the shit.