Tastes Like Techno: MTC 6th Birthday @ Brown Alley, Melbourne (11/07/08)

You know when you have had one of those weeks where there the world just fucks you over, all that you want is for the weekend to arrive and to just loose your self in the music you love? Well what a way to unwind, with MTC ushering in their 6th Birthday it certainly was the perfect reason for a celebration. Six years in this business is quite an achievement, starting their journey in a Richmond pub then moving on to the basement of the Mercat before taking over the upstairs, over to the confines of The Espy in St Kilda and onto stints at 3Rd Class and F4 to find themselves on this occasion, at the recently renovated Colonial Hotel AKA Brown Alley.

The evenings proceedings were initiated by *DJ Matic *, who by all reports choose to start the mood on a deep dubby tone; unfortunately I was stuck on public transport making my way in, and braving a more traditional Melbourne winter night AKA bloody freezing. Shifting into a more traditional almost 90s sounding house vibe was miss Virginia Le, with a now steady flow of peeps entering and getting settled for a big night of Tastes Like Techno. As Virginia got her groove on but still kept it in tech house territory, bums and feet began to wiggle. Next to arrive at the decks was Lance Harrison who toughened up the bass but kept the BPMs low, but still movin’ in the right direction. First of the traditional MTC members Sam McEwin took over from Lance and by this stage there was a large crowd through out the building, lots of fresh new smiling faces blending with old crew all coming together for Ttechno. Sam busted out some fresh soulful cuts, blended through with some breaks influenced beats. As 2am approached Dave Pham and Matt Radovich took control.

Up until now the flow was happy to be on a gentle upwards curve, bumpin’ up a little with each proceeding DJ changeover. With Sam already having the dance floor locked in tight, Dave and Matt began to push the envelope and hit full on Fucking Techno, and it was received with a rapturous response. With Matty dropping one his old signature tunes a slamming mix featuring the vocals of Timmy from South Park, which always seems to catch a few people off guard in fits of histerics upon their first encounter. From here Dave and Matt didn’t let up and gave the full house one hell of a work out.

Following on from the monster was one of my personal favorite DJs Craig McWinney. Craig was designated with the task of settling in the frenzied crowd and steering them on their journey through all varieties of tasty techno, bringing down the BPMs a little and re-adding a little groove and melody, with soaring synth and string arrangements complemented with hypnotic rolling beats. Up next the mysterious Kitti whom took a tough driving groove, delving into hints of proper electro and acid. Dropping an absolute old school bomb with Steve Mason’s Conception Vessel, the crowd had thinned out a little but there was still people there dancing away and chillin’ out in various parts of the building. To close off the nights proceeding, Jay Reading slowed the pace down to a funky groove with tribal tones and fresh remixes of classic techno anthems.

What started out as a week or more of life’s shitty worries was easily erased by the excellent flow and quality of the evening as well as the positive and friendly punters and crew. A thoroughly enjoyable experience, and celebrated in a fine fashion. I wish a happy birthday and many more MTC parties in the future.