- It's easy to get jaded. This is especially true when big international names can be seen here in the Antipodes on just about every weekend, and not just for major one-off "events." Happily, Robert Hood recent showing at HAHA Industries at the Marrickville Bowling Club was anything but the same-old-same-old. In fact, the night turned out to be a quite refreshing blasting out of the cobwebs.
With a large-scale Mad Racket-associated Vivid Live event happening at the Sydney Opera House earlier in the night, and a competing Chris Liberator and his brand of fast-paced acid techno down the road, the fourth edition of HAHA's Versus series drew a crowd that was respectably sized, if a little on the small side. But the vast majority were clearly there to dance, and even before Hood stepped up, the floor was gyrating to Matt Aubusson's well-constructed and groove-filled warm-up.
In a break from the usual practice, Hood asked Aubusson to fade out his last track. No wonder—clearly his intent was to take no prisoners, as the speakers exploded with 137 BPM techno in the form of his own "Range," a sound too rarely heard in the slowed-down modern scene. This was the other kind of minimalism, stripped bare but overflowing with energy and a kind of raw, brutal beauty. From there it was into acid house territory before veering into classic Chicago vibes in the form of Steve Poindexter's "Computer Madness" and the maddening snipped vocal samples of "House Nation." But there was also turn-of-the-millennium looped techno in the form of UK Gold's "Agent Wood" and more recent fare like the Steve Rachmad remix of James Ruskin's "Work."
Hood managed to turn heads by slamming down a housed-up version of Chicago's "Street Player" (but who could hate that horn section?) before returning to safer territory for the heads, with "Spastik," Culture Beat's proto-house classic "Ma Foom Bey" and his own remix of Ben Klock's "Goodly Sin." As the two-and-a half hour set wove its way towards a slower-paced conclusion, it was the use of tools interspersed with classics that maintained the energy levels—favourites like "Blue Monday," Armando's "100% Of Dissin' You" and "French Kiss" all elicited furious moves from the punters. But for every uplifter like "Promised Land" and "Strings of Life," there were darker inspirations like Jeff Mills' "Reverting" and the always-eerie "Energy Flash," the latter being a fitting finale.
Then it was back to the HAHA boys, Dean Dixon and Dave Fernandes, who smashed out some more Detroit goodness and kept a thinning crowd energised. Sure, nothing on the night was really that new or different for those of us who have seen styles come and go, but it was a welcome and surprising break from the bland uniformity too prevalent even among the hippest tribes in Sydney town.