Lasting a year in Sydney’s fickle club scene is a good achievement. Lasting a year when you’re a small, grass-roots party that plays the music you love – rather than pandering to the masses – and books DJs on skills – rather than hype – is something to brag about. But that’s not TECHnique’s style. Instead, they just got on with the job and did what they do every time: got some really talented locals to play some really good music of the techno variety.
As I arrived The Sculpter was wrapping up what was by all accounts a sterling live set of solid electronic grooves, immersive techno rhythms and intelligent but funky jams. I cursed my tardiness as I caught his final 15 minutes, and he laid some excellent bouncy tech house with plenty of balls. Musically it was almost like Will Saul had mated with Dave Robertson. Proper indeed.
Ryzer, Whisper and Onnit then provided an hour of mashed madness with the three going track for track (for track). Each of the three brought their own unique flavour to the set, with Onnit slamming out some banging ravey sounds, Ryzer laid down plenty of sweet acid and Whisper hit his stride with Adam Beyer-influenced stripped-back techno.
Next up Kate Doherty got her chance to shine. Kate’s been slowly plugging away for a few years now, but it’s not until recently that she has been afforded the props she deserves by a wider audience. Sydney’s finest female of techno threw down an outstanding set of slamming grooves that could best be described as the sort of thing you’d hear Adam Beyer pump out, only more interesting and mixed better (yeah, I went there). Maetrik’s grinding Choose Your System was a highlight in the set, as was watching Kate work hard behind the mixer with the EQs and effects.
Three-deck stalwart Big Dubs took over from Kate and showed the crowd how multi-deck mixing is meant to sound. Utilising Traktor audio software, a MIDI controller and traditional vinyl, Dubs cut, looped, scratched and layered his way through an hour of slamming percussive goodness, funky rhythms, ghetto vocals and of course horn stabs. Mark Broom’s massive Things and All That Wurk by DJ Kamikaze were personal highlights, but it was definitely all good. What was even better than the tunes, though, was Big Dubs’ mixing. He really worked the mixer to its fullest, chopping the faders like a madman and utilising all of Traktor’s features to his advantage.
The music then took a deeper, darker turn as recent Aussie import Mark Craven got stuck in. Mark’s been slowly but surely getting his name out there since moving to Sydney, and it’s easy to see why: he’s got mad skills, yo. Seamlessly working his way through stripped-back, low-down grooves, dark minimal techno and slamming percussive nonsense, Craven demonstrated he’s got what it takes to match the best of them in Sydney. Oh, and he played Samuel L Session’s great remix of My Black Sheep by Len Faki, which automatically makes him awesome.
Swarm promoter Vic, who’s been pushing techno since I was still in high school, then pounded the dancefloor into submission with his set, slamming out some ridiculous cranking techno, including the excellent Smith & Selway mix of Valentino Kanzyani’s Zvijaca. What struck me (and many others) about Vic was how well he crossed borders of sounds. One minute you were listening to driving, ravey sounds, the next you were busting out the techno arm to more percussive cuts.
Finally, Typhonic jumped on the booty train and went all stops to gutter funk city like only he can: better than every other booty DJ out there. No matter how many times anyone sees Ben play, they always walk away saying the same thing; “holy crap he’s good”. Not only is his mixing blindingly quick, but his turntablist skills are up there with the best, and his choice of music is so fresh and different, even compared to more underground selectors. Saturday was no different.
A big congratulations to the TECHnique crew for an outstanding party, and an outstanding year of parties to date. Let’s hope I have the opportunity to write a review for their second birthday.
r_y_z_e_r says...
Champ
r_y_z_e_r says...
Champ