- "Marginalized bodies dancing is power" read posters taped throughout the cavernous warehouse space in Downtown Los Angeles where Directory hosted Huerco S. and J. Albert on Saturday. While the city's afterhours scene has become a full-blown industry after several years of increased activity, Directory represents its young and political wing.
Unlike many of LA's late-night happenings, where the bulk of the crowd appears after the 2 AM bar curfew, Directory's opening DJs had already drawn an enthusiastic dance floor by midnight. Locals Xander and Hello DJ—the latter of whom founded the party as a reaction against racist incidents and a lack of diversity at other events—got things rolling with a back-to-back. After trading tracks like Gene Tellum's "Who Says No" and Delroy Edwards' "Can U Get With," the pair dropped a series of UK garage classics that made the room jump and signaled a departure from the four-to-the-floor orthodoxy that's common around much of LA's underground.
When J. Albert launched directly from the openers' last tune into a menacing live set, the uplifting flavors of garage gave way to a darker mood. Rocking behind an MPC, the Exotic Dance cofounder sent the crowd into head-nod mode, conjuring up ominous chords and thick jungle breaks. But soon the rhythms became more familiar and the dance floor took off again. Shifting from dubby techno and electro to half-time breakdowns, his set moved swiftly across a range of rhythmic styles while maintaining the atmosphere and tension of a horror movie.
Despite having dropped a sprawling ambient release on his new label just the day before, Huerco S. brought peak-time energy. Keeping the party in motion until well after 3 AM with quick tempos and nearly imperceptible blends, he still let bits of weirdness creep through, from the deconstructed piano house of his opening track to the electro and EBM stylings of Neil Landstrumm, I-F and Not Waving. Rising local DJ Bianca Lexis took to the decks for the night's final phase, returning to the sounds of UK garage and soulful house, along with recent favorites like DJ Central & Erika Casier's "Drive." She ended the party on a euphoric note, as revelers trickled out into the night.