Omar-S in London

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  • Over nearly a decade of throwing parties, Bleep43 has fostered an ambitious booking policy and a uniquely "take-it-or-leave-it" approach to promotion. Previous guests range from legendary names like Derrick May and Surgeon to local heroes of foreign climes like Kevin Reynolds, who are relatively unknown in the UK. All of them share a maverick approach to dance music, none more so than Omar-S who headed the bill recently. In support were Newworldaquarium, Italy's passEnger and Xluve, and residents Max Duley, Toby Frith, Dan Bean and Ken Odeluga. Bleep43's home since 2006, Corsica Studios, is housed over two rooms, the main room a small theatre with stage and large sound booth for the DJ, the second room equal if not larger in size and adorned for the party with various birds of prey suspended from the ceiling. Bleep had opted to place Newworldaquarium in the second room, which hadn't quite filled up as he came on. This was a shame, as he produced an enthralling laptop set of Drexciyan funk which would no doubt have pleased fans of Intergalactic FM and its associated Dutch artists. Meanwhile passEnger and Xluve guided the better-attended main room through their live set, a return to the sound of artists like Norken and early Trapez releases. Omar-S embarked with a more vocal house sound than his own productions would suggest, featuring tracks like Juliet Roberts "Caught in the Middle." With the club slowly filling up, the uplifting selections did a great job of energising the crowd, assembled of their regular devotees, techno aficionados, and the passing Friday night trade. MK's legendary dubs of Chez Damier's "Can You Feel It" and Masters At Work's "I Can't Get No Sleep" featured before the Detroit DJ launched into a harder acid assault to end his set. He received a superb ovation from the audience who wouldn't let him leave the decks, persuading him to stay on for a good half hour after his scheduled slot. Toby Frith closed out the main room by switching to a faster groove and pacing through some of techno's disco-sampling history, with the notable inclusion of I:Cube's masterful Supernovac remix a high point. February, as London descends into its second winter, is a brave month to schedule an ambitious lineup like this, and if this didn't feel like the best Bleep43 has to offer, it was down simply to the time of year and the difficulty in generating the large numbers needed to fill both of Corsica's rooms. With Osunlade and Patrice Scott already scheduled for April, though, you have the sense that this night is always capable of receiving the widespread attention it well deserves.
RA