Eastern Electrics August Bank Holiday 2010

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  • Ewer Street Car Park has become a popular venue for some of London's more tasteful major events—Ninja Tune XX, Drumcode, the regular EEs. Despite gripes that some may have with the sound and the portaloos, the venue attracts among the best lineups around. The main reason is its uniqueness, as there aren't many (if any) other spaces of this kind and size in London now that SEOne is closed—and the warehouse location idea still appeals to many, even though it's a thoroughly hackneyed phrase. The quality of this roster was no exception, with three rooms hosted by Kompakt/Mulletover, Dirtybird and (ahem) Resident Advisor. Photo credit: Nik Torrens & Sam Donnison The Kompakt room's flavour will have made sense to anyone familiar with the label's melodic style. Robag Wruhme, for example, was quite slow and jazzy, with emotions washing over a gravelly bedrock; including a club-friendly mix of Aphex Twin's "On." In the Dirtybird room, Claude VonStroke played a solid and crisp set, with fruity, bobbling basslines and rhythms, much like his set last year but with a bit more variation. The system coped with this room better than the other, bigger ones, and one wonders whether more speakers at different positions would muddy the sound further or bleed into adjacent rooms, and whether the sound limitations are an intrinsic part of the space rather than the rigs. It was a shame in the Kompakt room how the tonal details were lost at any real distance from the speakers. Investment in some sound treatment might be a solution. This grittiness was better suited to the bass music in the RA room, with both Joy Orbison and Scuba providing slamming, syncopated, tonal kicks. Scuba later on gave the most interesting set of the night for me—at one point playing clattery breakbeats like "Hands Up" by Lawgiverz, then switching to straight techno like "The Bells." Michael Mayer, meanwhile, looked and sounded like a professional. Simple basslines drove the tunes, but then every so often the flow would switch in a deft segue. Later on, elements like powerful synth stabs pushed the energy forward, in a set that was perhaps too straightforward but generally classic and enjoyable. Photo credit: Nik Torrens & Sam Donnison At this point, a special mention should be made for the lovely crowd—everyone I spoke to without exception was very nice and chilled. How great to attend a club event with no noticeable pretense or attitude. J.Phlip at the end did a good job of keeping things techy, fun and playful, with a nursery song halfway through in sympathy with the, by then childlike, mass. She's a Dirtybird newcomer, and there's a reason why VonStroke is supporting her solidly—she hit the party nail on the head. Dirty, blippy, yet weighty basslines saw things out to the end.
RA