Fakin’ the Funk is a fortnightly event that takes place in the Chinese Laundry @ Slip Inn. It rotates with Tech-ni-kal, which is on every other Friday.
Firstly, let’s clear a few things up. I think Fakin’ the Funk is inappropriately named. They don’t play much funk. Even if they were “Fakin’ the Funk” the DJ’s would be attempting to play funk, or at least music of a funky nature. But this isn’t the case. It seems, “Funk” is clearly the most overused word and constantly used of out context. Nonetheless, the advertising and promos defines the music as house, deep house and break beats, which would be a fairly accurate description.
In the Chinese Laundry, first up was Illya, playing a blend of non-descript breaks. He mixed everything well, but being first up, he was pretty much playing to a near-empty room. Those gathered in both the cave and the laundry were sipping their drinks, waiting for others to arrive. Neither he, nor the music he played was particularly exciting, and it was obvious he had another (probably bigger) party to go to later that night. Still, he played a clean set that made for good background music early in the night.
In the Cave, Goodwill and Jon Hardy had the job for the night. The first song I heard was a cheesy house song with the shallowest groove I’ve ever heard. It was early, but on a further visit an hour later, the depth had changed little..
Note to the people controlling the air conditioning: It seems the Cave is also the storage room for cold drinks. It could double as a very large esky or mortuary. In my opinion, in the middle of winter, it is wise to keep the temperature above 2 degrees celsius INSIDE the club where the temperature can be controlled. On the upside, your couches are very comfortable. Lucky, as the music certainly wasn’t inspiring enough to get off them.
Alas, as the night went on, it all improved. Much later in the evening, there was an improvement here and the music did pick up. I suppose everyone need to warm up.
At this point I was pretty much ready to leave, but decided to stick it out for a little longer. And, in hindsight, I’m glad I stayed. The breaks got dirtier, the house got deeper, and bass began to chugg-chugg along. Also, the room got a little warmer as more people filled the dance floor. By 1am, The Chinese Laundry was pretty packed, which shows it pays to stay a little longer on cold winter nights.
Mark Walton took the reigns in the Laundry and played chunkee breaks, more tech-ie than expected, but nonetheless people seemed to enjoy. The dance floor was packed, leaving just enough room to shake your booty and do some two-footed ka-ra-te kicks. His mixing was good, and he was busy on the turntables.
Noodles from Byron Bay stepped up around 1.30 or 2am and was the tastiest. The percussion made my ears pick up with their earthy, Byron Bay bush inspired nature. Songs with bass lines not just sub bass stabs were played and the crowd certainly were enjoying the evening.
The wrap up. Friday night at Fakin’ The Funk gives another decent option to the plethora of breaks nights out there in Sydney. Worth checking out every other Friday. But it’s important to remember, as James Brown (I think) says “Whatever I play, it’s got to be funky.”
(especially when you choose to call the evening Fakin’ the Funk)
