Beware the Oxford Arts Factory! New and fresh, clean and spruiked, avant garde and yet still, lest we forget, a basement. The two rooms of this venue represent the two sides of art: one the past and the other… the future, and a graveyard for the artistic soul. Nice though.

So, Bec Paton kicked things off with a hip-trip-break-hop set that played out to a favored few and a large screen on an inthemix loop. In fact, there seemed to be inthemix logo’s all over the place. At times I wandered if I were Tron travelling through this very website. I had visited ITM HQ the previous day, maybe they’d somehow sucked me into their votex…

Next up was DJ Dexter. This was fantastic. He brought two things with him. Number one, his click AKA Gorilla Trip, a percussion section of four with traditional drum set. They brought some bongo action, using what looked like a bunch of wooden logs but which were, presumably, hollowed out and tonal. West African? PNG maybe?

Number two, he bought the underground Sydney krumping scene. Or some of it’s proponents anyhow, to go mental on the dancefloor. In between bouts of both Dexter (and his unidentified friend) laying down some heavy bass action, ragga splashes and lyrical obscenity. But it was the mixture of live drumming and madcap dancing that really stole the show, geeing up all and every in a fever pitch of… Well, fevered dancing.

The best part about having krumpers, of course, is that it encourages others to follow suit. I remember well the week after watching Rize the hilarity that ensured everytime I heard a hip hop beat: imagine if you can, me breaking out to Rhiannon in Coles and destroying three concession stands in the process. Yes, people were having a good time, body-popping, knee-rocking, show-stopping good time. And that was only the warm up. Keep your ears wide open for Gorilla Trip!

Dj Kentaro brought his turntablist skills to the front, and let it rip. Like all good shows it was thoroughly prepared and practised, allowing him to merge seamlessly with the hypnotic, high-end visuals behind him. As the screen jumped from close-ups of his hands (a blur of action and activity) through to trippy morphs and fractals, it was cogent timing that brought taglines to ear and eye in one swoop, invigorating.

The mixing arts, such as they are, don’t allow for such a free-flowing dance-a-thon as a regular DJ. Unable to let a banger play out, the turntablist seeks to fashion and control, creating something new and original from even the most hackneyed of tunes. After the frenetic kinetics of Gorilla mist this was a chance to stand and marvel at the speed, imagination, verve and skill of Kentaro.
More than just a technical DJ, he’s a performer, and as the 2002 DMC world champion his pedigree is impeccable. Dropping breaks and beats, hitting the fast-forward in to jungle and house, the music pitches and ebbs like a skiff on rapids. To steal a phrase: Kentaro is moving at the speed of vox. Sleep on his skills and he’s gonna leave you in the dust.

This was a cracking night of tip-top music and the venue was a treat (it still has that new car smell), which just goes to show…