Can you say, minimal tech? Ambar played host to the We Love Sounds sideshow, bringing the underground techno sounds of international talents Dinky (Chile), Anja Schneider (Germany) and Guy Gerber (Israel) to show punters what ‘techno’ is all about.

Now first up, techno, tends to be the term that most people who don’t get into the electronic genres of music use to refer to anything that contains a 4 to the floor drumline, or heavily synthesized sounds. So it was interesting to see what the actual genre sounded like, myself being relatively green to the style. It is definitely eclectic as it borrows elements from minimal pumping drums, oldschool uplifting arpeggiated synthlines, to psytrance triplet basslines.

As I entered the basement-like confines of Ambar, there was rolling ambience in the air. It was almost like the calm before the storm. The room slowly filled until the clock struck midnight, and Dinky took over the wheels of steel. She presented herself as an exotic spinner of sound, her set thumping with deep minimal 4 to the floor tribal drum loops and oodles of sub bass.

The girl power kept on with Anja Schneider. As soon as she stepped up her music elevated to a higher energy level with an airy tribal feel coming over the whole club, as the punters picked it up a notch. Anja’s music could easily be mistaken for house, with just a touch of techno sounding synths overlain to present a unique brand of beats.

To bring it home was Guy Gerber, who is a truly charismatic DJ. There was just something about the way he played the part to his music, presenting a lot of deep, minimal house-y type sounds which seemed to just keep rolling, stepping up and down in energy throughout his set, with slight electro undertones to separate his set from the girls.

At the risk of sounding obvious, the night did become a tad repetitive towards the end. But this is a part of the allure of minimal tech as it creates an unrelenting feel on the dance floor. It was definitely a real treat from the international electronic music scene.