- It's a tricky thing to try and review a label's showcase night when you're really there to see the one act in the lineup who has no real connections to that label. That's the problem I have as I enter Watergate, and I hope I am not doing Hamburg label Diynamic label a disservice by having such a clear and vested interest in hearing the live set by Isolee, AKA Rajko Muller, who has been (randomly?) sandwiched between Diynamic acts. I have been a huge Isolee fan, from the first time I heard "Beau Mot Plage" through to the sublime and melancholy house of "Initiate" and pretty much everything else in between.
So. As we arrive at Watergate the first thing on the agenda is to check the lineup and see how much time we've got before Isolee's set. The answer is plenty. With couple of hours to spare we wander downstairs to offload at the cloakroom (which we sack off as the queue is too long, a decision which returns to bite me on the bum a little later) and briefly park ourselves on the Waterfloor.
The consistently interesting programming and general popularity of Watergate often leads me to forget that it's actually a spectacular looking space; seeing it quite early on in the night when it's not packed-to-the-rafters gives a bit of breathing space to appreciate the design and location. For the unacquainted, the club is situated right on the River Spree, with floor-to-ceiling windows, an LED disco ceiling, waterfront panorama views and a floating pontoon on the river, perfect for summertime sunrises.
Tricksi are playing in the Waterfloor tonight. It's 2 AM so still relatively early (in Berlin terms) but the room is tumbleweed-empty, perhaps because the music is so very, very quiet, a problem which persists in this room for the rest of the night. In fact, the bass rumble from the main floor above is so distracting that after a while we take the stairs to hear what Solumun & H.O.S.H. have to offer.
The main floor is pleasantly populated with the kind of mixed crowd one comes to expect of a night out in Watergate, and although Solumun & H.O.S.H.'s sound is bouncier and more infectious than expected, their set often repeats itself: it gradually builds and builds, gets the dancefloor loose and moving, and just when you think a peak is about to be reached the music stops just short...and descends into murky tech-house deepness. After hearing this over and over for about an hour, the chronic tease of their set is perfectly summarised by a friend, "It's like a roundabout, we're not going anywhere."
The consensus, then, is to head back downstairs to catch the rest of Trickski. Thankfully, the Waterfloor has started to fill up. Despite the sometimes clunky mixes (and the volume, which still isn't loud enough), Trickski work because they understand deepness and groove unlike many other deep house spinners, so I'm always happy to hear their special brand of slowed-down house. They soon wrap up and on comes Kollektiv Turmstrasse whose sound is simultaneously tougher and lighter, but we leave quickly as we need to scurry back upstairs to take our positon for Isolee.
Solumun & H.O.S.H. are still on and in our absence something has changed: They're off the roundabout, the beats are more urgent, the crowd is hands-in-the-air responsive and there's a tangible atmosphere in the club. As the duo start to wind down behind them in the back of the booth there's a flash of pale arm, the glint of glasses and a glimpse of a bald head. Isolee has arrived.
Solumun & H.O.S.H. finish, Muller stands up, opens his laptop and begins his set subtly, fading up with almost excruciating slowness.... but then he finds his groove and something incredible happens. The previously perfectly acceptable sound quality of the main floor is rebooted and refined.
Isolee's dub-inflected house beats demand clarity and precision, and he achieves this as the bass is expanded and pushed into every corner of the room. It's not louder, just flawless. You can hear it—and feel it—under the pylons and behind the columns, in the sternum and in the space between your clothes and skin. Someone once said that dub isn't about rhythm and bass, but the spaces between rhythm and bass, and hearing Isolee, I finally understood what they meant. The crowd? Not always along for the ride. Every so often the deepness and sparse rhythms become a bit repetitive, but he keeps my attention with his superb bass-heaviness and smiling, friendly demeanor.
Amidst the deepness the unmistakable first bars of "Beau Mot Plage" chime in, and there is an unmistakable whoop of recognition from the crowd, but the track is soon marred by technical problems. Some ugly-sounding electrical burrs and stutters pepper this and the next few tracks, but Muller nonetheless seems unflappable and upbeat. For the last 15 minutes or so we take a left turn into more accessible pots-n-pans minimal, and he finishes with a couple of anthemic builders that—while not entirely to my taste—bring the crowd right back to where they started: Hands in air.
It's all over far too quickly, and Isolee exits the booth to a warm round of applause. He's a hard act to follow, of course, but Stimming's deep and melodic tech house is a lovely counterpart, and keeps us on our feet and shuffling for a while longer.
After one last jaunt downstairs to hear the rest of Kollektiv Turmstrasse—which still isn't loud enough to hold our attention for very long—we decide to call it a night, deeply satisfied with both Isolee and Diynamic. The only thumbs down we can bring up being threefold: the sound on the Waterfloor (sort it out!!), a distinct lack of "Initiate" (boo!!) , and having my favourite scarf nicked (use the cloakroom!!!!).
All in all, then, another top notch night at Watergate.