There is a certain finesse and refinement to the way Japanese people do everything. Perhaps it is their quirky appearance or unassuming demeanour but they whatever they tend to do, they do it right. No less, DJ Shufflemaster hits town for a night of techno wickedness alongside the Melbourne Teriyaki posse – something about being Japanese for techno…



And so it was. Slack and Dee Dee as always, playing extremely interesting sets of slammin’ synthetics, Teriyaki style. Dee Dee closed up with another bang – Jamie Bissmire – Numbers and Measures raising the roof and getting everyone up. These two were followed by Shufflemaster with Slieker and Disko Pussy taking over after our tourist friend. For those that don’t know, this is a different techno – not the music you have necessarily heard before. Abstract and intense and always on point, these guys know how to rock a party. Needless to say, this would have been a great night minus our guest Sensei – having the Japanese wizard in the house made it all a little more special.



A short intermission with the Space Cowboy who is one half of the Happy Sideshow got all those not already on their feet, standing, as he did vicious things to his body with of all things, a dingo trap and a sword (hey, this is a Japanese theme after all, right?) From there he proceeded to swallow what would have been a 2 foot long glowing red neon tube, illuminated and electrically powered – which in turn made his neck glow red with the lights turned down. Dangerous. Scary. And downright mental! Back to the music…

No stranger to electronic music, Japan’s DJ Shufflemaster has been a DJ and producer for some time. And that always tends to shine through in a performance such as the one witnessed on this occasion. Always comfortable with his selection, he began to immediately work three Technics to great effect. This was not a Dave Clarke cut, chop and change performance. Compare the likes of Oliver Ho (smooth and seamless) with the melodic and bangin’ minimal sounds of Richie Hawtin and you get the idea. Further, there was no use of the mixer EFX which I greatly appreciated too – it was clear from the outset that this man was here to rotate as many records as possible – not rape them with effects. And he certainly did. The wax was on 1 minute rotation and mixed seamlessly. No blunders either – he would kill a mid from one and drop to another – likewise with the kick drum. At times, building up aggressive rhythms and then eliminating the bass line only to drop it back and then drop another one over it 4 bars later. It was a charming performance and it highlighted his obvious talents.



And so overall, it was exceptional work. Close to the best I have witnessed this year. Some of Melbourne favourites got outings too. Andrew McLaughlin – Love Story , was played over some harmonious Detroit minimal as was the much more relentless DJ Shufflemaster – EXP and then back to the spatial organic sounds of Oliver Ho – Magic. Displaying extreme humility he didn’t look to the crowd once – he just did his thing and operated off the random screams coming from the dance floor. If there was any doubt before – there is none now – Teriyaki cements itself as THE most consistent and reliable haunt for all things cool and friendly even before we talk music. Indeed, the full house last night would have worked at least one thing out – he is not called DJ Shufflemaster for nothing. More please, sir?