03 February 2008

2562 AT UNDER_SCORE

Totally crucial night down at the Tube last night, with the Netherlands' finest Dave Huismans delivering a clinically precise 2-hour set of perfectly measured technoid intensity without even breaking a sweat. Somewhere in the middle he morphed from his A Made Up Sound persona into the dubstep-affliated 2562, though it was impossible to spot the join. The beats got a bit faster but still pushing a sub-heavy 4/4 flava until near the end when he dropped a few more recognisably dubstep-orientated tunes from Mala, Compound One and his own bad self, of course. Amazing to see the whoops of excitement and recognition when he dropped Peverelist's "Infinity Is Now" - measured purley on audience reaction it was the biggest tune of the night. Indeed I got a really palpable sense from the people I spoke to that Bristolian civic pride is at an all-time high right now - people really feel that this city is actually leading the way. So maybe we're on the crest of a wave, but I'm glad we've got Mr. Huismans along for the ride, cos I had a fairly long conversation with him beforehand and he comes across as a very switched-on guy with a wide depth of knowledge, and a real gentleman too. His album is scheduled for release on Pinch's Tectonic imprint soon (along with the aformentioned Peverelist tune) and I reckon it's gonna tear shit up good and proper.

Deeply concentrated: Dave Huismans aka 2562

Respect also to the Under_score residents Jim Petherwick, Luke Malcher and Placid for their uniformly excellent selections as well. As usual I spent far too much time chatting and hanging around on the pavement outside smoking rather than staying purely focused on the music, but that's all part of the communal experience and half the enjoyment for me. Nice to meet up with Richard Carnage (of Tape infamy) again plus Duncan, and a surprise appearance from Komanasmuk, though no other familiar faces from the dubstep scene in attendance - probably all still recovering from the previous evening's Subloaded all-nighter. Also great to make some new acquaintances, including Paul from Emptyset, that bloke from Luton, the guy who's organised a headlining set from Gatekeeper this weekend, the other guy who's involved with a Bruk night on 15th Feb. and those lads who'd just turned 19, etc etc. Wicked, friendly vibes all night, the crowd was mad for it and the dancefloor was pretty much solid from midnight through till the end. How much of that was down to pills I don't know (maybe I look like a drug-dealer cos a couple of times I had people asking me if I had any). Was it a techno night or a dubstep night? On balance it was the former, but the lines never felt so blurred before. Note to self: attend more Under_Score nites!!
Mad For It!

Gutter, Jimmy P. and Richard Carnage soaking up the Huismans vibe

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous7:24 PM

    absolutely spot on, was a top night. thought that the dstep tunes were almost put in as distinctive milestones in an otherwise winding and hugely enjoyable stream of bass driven techno goodness. as for that bloke from Luton, well, as far as I know he struggled back dim-wittedly on the train with good memories which were thankfully rekindled by looking at the pics on your site, and is now writing an epithet on said site.

    big up bristol each and every, got to get down there more often!

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