- Corsica Studios, nestled in a stretch of industrial loading docks facing the abandoned Heygate Estate in London's Elephant & Castle neighbourhood, operates under no pretense of the kind of boutique club experience prevalent in trendier party zones. An interior stripped of visual amenities, a smoking area that offers the occasional mysterious city drip onto lingerers below, a limited bar selection and a cosy layout with two booming sound systems all lend themselves to a club experience that largely lets the music and the atmosphere speak for themselves. In the case of January 13th's Church event, revelers filled the space to capacity, riding the groove of sets from several hyped artists of late and making the club's blank slate a thing of daylight.
London brother-duo Disclosure may have seen the night's peak in terms of clubbers' full attention, filling the venue's main room to the point that a quick limber up the stage's side stairs was necessary for a fresh breath of air. The crowd didn't seem too bothered, however, fixated on the pair's live display of bass, samples and drums as they zipped through blogger favourites old and new. "I Love... That You Know" rang in the occasion, back to back with "Just Your Type" in a nimble rendition of their Carnival EP, before newer gems "Tenderly" and "Flow" saw heads bobbing and shoulders shifting from wall to wall. Just as quickly as they had entered and electrified the room in their first set of 2012, the pair exited on a heavy version of "Carnival," leaving the crowd to split between the diverse explorations of Synkro and Ifan Dafydd in room two.
Though Synkro may be known for his seamless vibe-blending sets comprised of everything from tech-y drum & bass to vocal UKG edits, perhaps even more surprising was the variety yet coherence of Ifan Dafydd's set, zipping from dance-starters in the from of Ramadanman and Dark Sky edits to singalong-starters from Azealia Banks, The Streets and P Diddy. While curiously lacking any hint of the DJ's own lo-fi productions, his 2 AM slot may have earned the night's party crown in terms of sheer variety and the amount of excited dancers packing the room's ledges and corners.
After what appeared to be an exodus to the smoking area, the masses migrated to headliner Boddika in room one. The experience was much what we've come to expect from the production veteran—consistently banging techno-inspired beats interspersed with infectious vocal chops, much like the one wheeled back on his 2011 cut, "Soul What." Exiting the club near 4 AM, the majority of the crowd were still inside, the space feeling fresh, despite the stifling number of swaying bodies, and anything but bare.