Seeing as this is my first post, I thought I should kick of with a bang, and what better way than a review of one of Techno’s real innovators, and a true pioneer of electronic music-Laurent Garnier.
So for those of you not in the know here’s a few facts about Monsieur Garnier:
* He is French
* He was a resident at the seminal Hacienda (under the pseudonym DJ Pedro)
* He used to work at the French Embassy in London
*He is responsible for one of the biggest ‘beefa’ tracks of recent times (The man with the Red Face )
* He is god
OK, perhaps the last bullet point was an over exaggeration, but if you have seen him play, I’m sure you understand.
So onto the night itself. The evening was curated to celebrate the launch of his new album: Tales of a Kleptomaniac, and the support was strong. Warm up duties were provided by Circus main man-Yousef. This was the first time I had seen him play, and I was impressed, in fact i was very impressed-the first track I heard whilst waiting for my obligatory bottle of water, was Radio slave’s - Grind house (Dubfires terror planet mix), which was one of my favourite tracks from last year (and probably one of the darkest tracks I’ve heard in a while). Yousef continued with the deep, atmospheric mood throughout his set. At one point, I thought the soundsystem was playing up, as the track that he dropped was doing crazy things to the speakers -more on this later. So fast forward two hours, to another French man taking to the turntables-François Kevorkian.
François Kevorkian is someone I have been wanting to see play for at least 15 years. I first became interested in seeing him, when i read an interview with DJ magazine, in which he talked about his sets including tracks that were considered to be part of the ‘wild pitch’ genre, new wave punk, and the orb’s little fluffy clouds (diverse? you bet!), this was during the height of the whole sound-factory/Junior Vasquez period during the 90’s, and I was impressed that someone out there, was doing something that represented my philosophy of if a tracks good-play it.
I digress, François Kevorkian (or François K, as he was billed on the night) came on, and the energy level increased -10 fold. The set was, for the first part at least, really Tribal. During the first hour the vibe remained the same, Deep, Tribal, Moody House, and then from nowhere, the speaker system started going haywire again, but this time, it was a more organised chaos- I started picking out familiar sounds, that kick, those hi hats, that screaming sound, that clicking sound that bounced around the speakers……It was then that I, and the rest of the dance floor realised this was not the speaker system going into overload, but a must have tune (that nobody knew the name of). Other highlights of this particular set included a Tribal remix of Porn Kings - Up To No Good, and an amazingly deep and throbbing remix of Fake Blood- Mars (that destroyed thedance floor). All in all, a very impressive set that was appreciated by all-unless you were the Mancunian guy I was chatting too, that couldn’t understand why he hadn’t played Paul Van Dyke- For An Angel……….oh well!
So onto the man himself: Laurent Garnier. Before i continue, i must say this is going to be a biased account of his performance, as i am a bit of a LGFB (Laurent Garnier Fan Boy). I have seen him perform countless times (both live and DJing), and have always enjoyed myself - immensely (high point being Homelands festival 2001-he dropped Octave One’s- Blackwater, and I shed a tear…)
Anyway…..
I had just been on the terrace smoking a ciggy (yeah i know its disgusting, but how else would i have got to stand on the terrace whilst the sun rose over canary wharf??), and when i arrived back in the club, i noticed a bit of commotion in the DJ booth, so, as is my nature, I thought I’d investigate. And there he was, standing just behind Francois K. I realised I needed a spot on the dance floor asap, so positioned myself under a speaker in anticipation of the ‘real’ techno assault that was about to be unleashed upon my willing ears.
What can i say dear reader, that can convey how superb Laurent Garniers set was? He started of deep, and complimented the sets that had been before him, the gear shifted, and some real ‘Detroit Techno’ came flying thick and fast, which culminated with probably one of the best, unreleased tracks ever- Josh Wink’s remix of Radiohead’s - Everything in its Right Place (!!!!!!!) WOW! if you haven’t heard this track before (and I implore you if you haven’t, please heed this next piece of advice), download, or purchase Josh Wink: Profound Sounds vol 3, just so you can hear this beautiful example of what a remix should be about (note: I think the u.k. release of Profound sounds 3, was part of the M.O.S. sessions compilations -check the track listing, if its there its the right one). When it dropped the whole club lost the plot, and I mean lost it, smiles, hugs, jumping, screaming, hands up-the lot, all the cliches were there! Then, with no warning, he segued into some really heavy Dubstep, which although surprising, worked-really well.
After a while of the heavy stuff, he returned to the Techno (and it was real machine gun Techno). Then after a quick delve into Italio Disco, Mr Garnier came to the end of his set, and the last track he played? Well it was none other than Massive Attack’s - Unfinished Sympathy (!!!!) this was the point in which we stumbled out of the warm cocoon that is Matter, and into the stark sunlight, for a walk along the Thames, to go catch a train home (which is another story in itself)]
So all in all-Another superb evening by the French Maestro, and his cohorts…..
EPLILOGUE: So when I recovered, I decided that I needed that track that had been played a few times. I had no idea of the artist, track name, label etc, i just had a recollection of those sounds. So after four hours of trawling all my favourite online DJ stores, I found it! And lo and behold-its a Dubfire track! so here, for your pleasure, is the full mp3 (at 320), for you to get an idea of just what i was going on about!
Split the line - Paul Ritch (Dubfires megamix)
Following a string of wonderfully idiosyncratic and freshly skewed instrumental EPs and remixes, the Diogenes Club have now been bolstered by the addition of song-writing vocalist Paul Giles. The combination of the Club’s quirky take on ‘80s funk and synth-laden melodies and Paul’s sweetly melancholic vocals make a resounding match. The startling effect has not gone unnoticed; and Pete Tong has already made ‘Do You Know How To Feel It?’ one of his ‘Calm before the storm’ tracks on his Radio 1 show. This EP pioneers the way ahead for the reinvigorated Diogenes Club, trailblazing along a path of emotionally-charged melody-driven electronic song.
