- When I walked into Good Room at around 12:30 AM on Sunday for the latest installment of The Bunker New York, the club's side space, Bad Room, was already heaving with dancers jumping around and applauding Mike Servito. He was billed for an all-night set alongside Justin Cudmore and Gunnar Haslam as the Hot Mix trio. After some raw, bassy house cuts, Servito played the Turtle Bugg and L.L Free edit of a funky new acid track called "Ducue" by the Brooklyn artist Love Letters. The tune set the scene for a night that leaned heavily on hypnotic 303s.
Rising star Cudmore followed with his trademark take on acid house, dropping "Flirt," one of his recent tracks on Interdimensional Transmissions. Haslam was responsible for some of the room's more adventurous moments. At one point, he pulled off a brilliant mix featuring Alien Rain's "Alienated 5 B" and snippets of Pépé Bradock's classic "Lifting Weights." For lovers of acid, Bad Room was the place to be.
In the main space, Good Room, another two locals were midway through their seamless hour of live deep techno. Aurora Halal and Daniel Martin-McCormick, presenting their new collaborative project Halal & Relaxer, performed behind a control board of drum machines and blinking analogue gear, wrapping trippy tones around steady basslines that chugged upwards until finally decomposing into faint vocals. While the set toyed with fluctuating energies, I wondered how it would've sounded in a large warehouse where the beats had more room to travel.
After Vril's live set of stripped-back techno, Dr. Rubinstein stepped up to the decks in Good Room. The space was at full—and slightly uncomfortable—capacity. She played fast, hard tracks (one of her opening tunes hit 134 BPM) that invited you to dance. Squelchy cuts like Shinoby's "Acids Are A Bet With Your Mind" meshed with the ghoulish synths of Regal's "Rem," creating long, strange soundscapes that kept the crowd curious. At around 4 AM, she smiled, lit a cigarette and played Laurent Garnier's churning banger "Dangerous Drive" from 2000. Some DJs might have been hesitant to unleash such a ferocious tune on a club floor, but she slotted it in with ease.
After nearly 15 years of operation, The Bunker has mastered the art of curating lineups that strike a balance between the challenging and the danceable. Also, their persistent focus on showcasing locally-bred artists makes every party feel like a reunion. In a clubbing landscape crowded with nights that either recycle old ideas or try too hard to do something new, The Bunker is that rare event that gets it just right.