- Last Friday saw the penultimate edition of Sasha’s Fundacion NYC residency take place. It was a very special night for me as well since the two people that initially influenced me to get into dance music were playing. Taking to the decks were Sasha’s “Xpander” vs. Josh Wink’s “Higher State of Consciousness,” my two favorite dance tracks of all time!
I arrived at Crobar about forty-five minutes into Sasha’s first set and the room was rather crowded, but nothing like the human carnage that existed during the previous month’s Digweed visit. Sasha was playing rather well, but he didn’t seem to have much direction. He seemed a bit timid as if he was unsure how to play with Wink going on after. However, he got through some good tunes and it was nice to finally hear James Holden’s “Come to Me” on a loud system. Julie Thompson’s vocals soared on the Phazon and I immediately ran up to a stranger and asked for a hug! Okay, that’s a lie, but it did sound good!
Philly resident Josh Wink stepped to the decks at 3:15 and started off rather slow. I’m not exactly sure what he was up to, but it kind of killed off the room. After he fussed about for 20 minutes, he infused the room with energy and then the aciiiiiiiiiiiid hit! It was nice to hear some throw-back sounds in a big club after all these years. He even threw in a few “Higher State…” vocal loops, which put a big smile on my face.
"...Wink kept changing styles from acid to deep, to tech, to house, and back around again."
I liked that Wink kept changing styles from acid to deep, to tech, to house, and back around again. He would really wind up the builds using loops on the CDJ players and everyone would be up for it, Sasha would be bouncing about, but then the break was never quite as big or long as expected. I felt that all the tension that he had created maintained its presence in the air- never fully dissipating. It was nice to finally hear Wink have a go at it with a large crowd around as all the previous times I’ve heard him it was in a small venue and he played a primarily house set.
At five or so, Sasha and Wink went back to back and things did pick up. Sasha seemed to be setting loops up with Ableton and Wink would go in and out of them with tunes. It did sound pretty good and they seemed to work in sync a bit better as the night went on. After the second balloon drop the music really got twisted for about twenty minutes. I must admit that I was impressed by what each was coming up with.
Unfortunately, a few of the people I was with turned out to be sticks in the mud and I departed a little after six. Overall, it was not my favorite of the Fundacion nights, but I did have a good time. I applaud Sasha for bringing in Wink as a guest as he was not one that I would have imagined him to pick.
See you next month.