- March 29th was another ordinary night for Worm, an extraordinary venue in Rotterdam. There wasn't one event happening there but several, all of them completely different. UBIK, Worm's "avant-garde training centre," was hosting a Socratic "gym" session—a workout for the body and the mind. In Wunderbar, the venue's beerhall and best-loved pub on Witte De With, a birthday party was in full swing with decks set up right next to the bar, and bar staff taking turns to DJ. In the club space, meanwhile, a small group of sound-worshippers had amassed for a very special concert.
In addition to UBIK, Wunderbar and the club space, Worm also has its own Sound Studio and artist in residency program. Hidden away in the basement is a treasure trove of rare synthesisers, analogue gear and other scavenged noise-making artefacts. It's an Aladdin's cave of wonders to which Dave Huismans, AKA A Made Up Sound, was recently given the key. Huismans spent a week immersed in intuitive play, recording as much as possible with no real production plan in mind. Tonight he was presenting his labours in the form of a loosely prepared live set—something Huismans has been dabbling in more and more since ending his label (and releasing our favourite compilation of 2016).
But first up was Yves De Mey, who delivered an arrhythmic, granular sound performance that brought Worm to a stunned standstill. You can't passively consume the Belgian's music; after all, he's not out to entertain. Instead, he puts the listener to work, sharply bringing our attention in and out of focus. One minute, we'll be admiring the microscopic beauty of a plucked note. The next, we're spiralling through sweeping sonic panoramas. De Mey's sound design is certainly striking, but the best part is his live set's tantalising link with the dance floor. He dangles those danceable rhythms, like a carrot on a stick, just ever so slightly out of reach.
It was a tough act to follow, and while Huismans' headlining Sound Studio set was nowhere near as refined or as weird as De Mey's, it didn't hold back on the dance. If De Mey's set impressed because it seemed so meticulous and calculated, the unfettered playfulness of Huismans' was its greatest appeal. This was one of club music's most inventive engineers playing from the gut and having fun with it.
Sitting on the stairs afterwards, in between the club space and Wunderbar, trying to name the bonkers track DJ Margie dropped at the very start of the concert (Parris's excellent "Hanging With The Birds"), there were a group of 20-somethings loitering in suits, dressed to impress, waiting for the next event to start—a drum & bass party in the club. Meanwhile, "Hardcore Vibes" by Dune was blasting from the bar. Rotterdam is truly a melting pot, but only at Worm do all the geeks, freaks and cool kids actually come together.