2009 has been a fantastic year for techno-lovers in New York City, due in small part to the forward thinking booking policy of the Bunker crew. Bringing unusual talent to the city such as Marcel Dettman, Ben Klock, Silent Servant and Sandwell District, nary a month has passed without a trip to Brooklyn's Public Assembly for the party. As such, it was no great surprise when they announced the impressive lineup for the Mutek_10 Brooklyn Preview: Bringing in four heavyweights from the Modern Love label plus Guillaume and the Coutu Dumonts and Ezekiel Honing, the roster was stacked with critically-acclaimed producers who rarely drop by New York City.
The one potential catch? The party was being hosted at Studio B, a venue much maligned by club-goers for its lackluster sound system. Nevertheless, several reputable sources assured me that the sound had been upgraded and that the venue had actually been thoroughly remodeled.
Photo credit: Seze Devres
Rolling in around 2:30 AM, it dawned upon me that with a lineup as packed with talent as this one, arriving earlier would have been a wiser move. Andy Stott had already played and I had thus missed out on one of the night's main draws. Still, the immediate impact of the upgraded sound system made me quickly forget my disappointment. Catching the tail-end of Claro Intelecto's live set, the enormous kick drums sounded pleasingly thick while the dub atmospherics had the crowd in a trance.
People grooved from side to side while following Claro's every move around the raised stage. Suddenly, at around 3 AM, Claro lowered the volume and nodded across the room at the DJ booth. Unbeknownst to the hypnotized revelers, MLZ had been readying himself at the decks. Taking his cue from Claro's deep and hypnotic set, MLZ launched directly into some heavy dub techno. Like metal bearings drawn to a magnet, the raving mass quickly migrated across the room to surround the DJ booth.
Photo credit: Seze Devres
After a few tracks grounded firmly in the dub techno sound Modern Love is famous for, MLZ began to take things in a housier direction with Minimal Man's "Make a Move." The crowd lapped up the transition, cheering and whistling to the increasing intensity of the music until MLZ eventually lowered the pressure a few notches by transitioning into some dubstep / techno hybrid material. While many fans seem to enjoy this current trend, I for one, see it as a bit of a mixed bag.
While mixing in these types of tracks can create an interesting and "challenging" experience for the crowd, they can sometimes kill the groove and swamp the energy level a bit. Unfortunately in this case there definitely seemed to be a bit of a decrease in crowd excitement as MLZ played several head-nodding dub-step cuts. Unfortunately, the club's policy to stop serving liquor at 4 AM—no doubt reacting to city regulations—further dampened the mood as the crowd slowly but surely started to thin out.
Photo credit: Seze Devres
Despite an impressive closing run which included a very creative layering of Plastikman's "Spastik" with an interesting breaks track, my friends and I were ready to call it a night. It was nearing 5 AM and we'd grown tired of drinking water and over-priced soft drinks. While I had enjoyed Guillaume and the Coutu Dumont's Face a L'Est album, I wasn't really sure it was worth staying up till daylight for his live set. I was however, quite wrong.
As soon as the Canadian took the stage the vibe and mood of the club exploded. Immediately firing up the dance floor with his mix of high-speed house music and African tribal beats, Guillaume had everyone yelling, flailing their arms and shaking hysterically. This had a lot to do with the music of course, but it didn't hurt that Guillaume was frenetically hand drumming on what I can only describe as an Ableton-enabled, electronic bongo unit.
Photo credit: Seze Devres
No matter the actual name of the device, seeing such a physical performance in a world where most 'live sets' involve the artist staring at a laptop and pushing buttons on a controller, this was definitely something new and invigorating. While at times the performance grew a bit too repetitive, there was no denying the crowd loved every minute of it.
With everyone pouring out of the Brooklyn club into a grey, spring morning, there was a definite feeling of satisfaction among those gathered to wait for cabs or make the long trek to the subway. The lineup had delivered some great sets, the crowd had happily danced the night away and the sound system had been far better than anyone had likely expected. Overall, I'm sure all those who made it out eagerly await the return of these artists to NYC and would be happy to see more events like these at Studio B. Another great party for the Bunker crew, and of course, a mouth-watering preview of the delights being offered by Mutek in May.
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