Solar Plexus was the fourth installment of the well received Plexus club series held at the Slipinn, formerly the Shamrock Hotel. To inaugurate what has been thus far seen a combination of fantastic local and international talent the promoter billed techno wunderkind Robert Babicz who is currently touring his album A Cheerful Temper released recently on Systematic Records. Those who have been past Shamrock regulars will be glad to know that for the moment very little of the venue has been changed bar a fresh lick of paint and new curtains downstairs. There are allegedly plans to expand the capacity downstairs so keep an ear out for future developments.

As this was a Queens Birthday public holiday we were mercifully given a 2:00pm ‘till late time frame for a (perhaps) early night to rest up. Monday is a school night after all! It’s certainly out of the ordinary to be walking into a club in the daylight hours in Brisbane yet something which somehow seems a much more respectable way to cap off a long weekend and certainly continental in concept.

The venue didn’t fill to any great extent until Babicz set, something which didn’t however deter the earlier acts from putting in some brilliantly entertaining sets.

8012 was at the decks around 4:00pm when your’s truly arrived (punctuality certainly not a personal strength). The Roel H Remix of Minilogue’s The Leopard, a tune which he played fairly early in largely typified his style. Willfully minimal yet largely unswervingly melodic it’s easy to envision him pillaging Beatport for the latest German techno and minimal releases, sounds which seem to have very much overrun the Brisbane underground in the past year.

Local underground hero Murray Antill played immediately after and for those not familiar with the name you would do well to make an effort. Antill sports a predominately vintage sound dominated by his Roland Juno keyboard and grand silver box the TB-303. Speaking of which if his 303 could grow legs and run away it would through the constant abuse it doubtless receives both on stage and away from. His set was a continuous dirty accord held between percussive acid lines, crazy vocal samples and frightfully large drums. It would be interesting to see how a crowd in a more mainstream club like the Met or Family would react to a Murray Antill set, but bets are on that it would go down a treat.

Hunter changed the pace quite dramatically with a highly atmospheric intro. The lady of the decks played a proper sexy yet brooding minimal set on the increasingly neglected wheels of steel. She would be better served with an earlier billing where this sound would be given breathing space. Given the lack of a crowd this wasn’t a huge issue but could prove otherwise with a higher attendance. With a bit more time and space to practice on the mixer her impeccable taste could prove to be quite formidable in the future.

For the man of the hour the room became unsurprisingly animated and glowing reports of Robert Babicz’s performances in Sydney and Melbourne were confirmed as he tore through a 303 and pad driven techno set. His desk was covered with enough of the latest kit to be a tech heads wet dream yet he used it all to full effect. Babicz played his own material presumably from Ableton and as expected mixed impeccably well taking full advantage of all the instruments at his disposal. All of his rhythms were balanced yet inventive and sounds particularly crisp and well designed with a slew of chest smashing bass lines and destructive swirling flanging. The overall effect of Babicz’s set was an enraptured seemingly gob smacked audience. Hopefully Brisbane will have the opportunity to see more talent like his soon.

Jackie Onassid played shortly after but considering the crowd dissipated as soon as it appeared for Babicz her fairly typical yet well mixed electro was given little chance to shine as it consistently has in the past.

Apologies to Baax and Kris Ko for being missed in the process of reviewing, a ‘weekend worn brain’ needed a good bit of rest to recover. (Because we all get up to a bit of mischief from time to time.) Until next time keep your eyes peeled and mouse at the ready!