From Aaron S. Gregory Sent Thu, Nov 20th 1997, 20:49
From Aaron S. Gregory Sent Thu, Nov 20th 1997, 20:49
YOU WANT ANSWERS?
i want the truth?
YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH!
[or can you?]
* * * * *
i thought you folks might like a "little" (i.e. NOT little)
scoop on what went down at the orchard bar/nyc this past tuesday...
featuring Andy from VVm and DJ Speedranch. OH. MY. GOODNESS.
sure, the majority of the "20-50 something" croud were either
there to sip a martini and/or "be seen" and couldn't care less
about who or what Professor Broxburn is a really professor of,
let alone be there to hear some wicked DJs spin some fucked up
jams. but that made NO difference to me. HELL NO.
9:30pm.
the crew are setting up for the DJ onslaught. so, yeah, i'm
getting a little anxious. sue me. i asked one of them (Manny,
nice guy) if they knew who was going on first and when it would
happen. all he could tell me: "i think DJ Spooky is spinning?"
of course. such is life...
no worry, i meander my way towards the booth area and find a
corner stool at the bar, yes...a few feet from the turntables.
oh lucky me.
10:15pm.
the dj booth area (SMALL, with room for about 8-10 trainspotters
...on a good night) is starting to bustle. little did i know that
Andy and Speedranch were two of those 'spotters! eventually, out
from the trenches of her record box, pops up an innocent-looking
little gal with a wool hat. Sarah (aka DJ Singe, Liquid Sky res.)
would be that little gal. BUT, don't be fooled Young Trainspotter...
she's got some records that will bite your head off!
after Coma's "Zero" (that wicked trance/jungle/fusion ditty from
Alt.Freq) she moved into some heavy, hard-hitting tech step territory
featuring the likes of Future Forces Inc (on renegade hardware) and
some Rush/Nico-esque stuff. yeah, Sarah was bringin' it...TUFF.
but then.....WOT'S THIS?? why, it's none other than vibert's
glowy-green "London is a Country"...all eleven inches of it.
yeah, she was smiling. but, SO WAS I. it truly rocked the
place. what a way to close out a fine set and segue into...
11:30ish pm
"VENTOLIN"...Andy wasted no time in getting down to the issue at
hand and that was the playing of loud, experimental (read: MENTAL!
bloody fucking mental!) tunes to make any trainspotter cringe with
jealousy. a few of the nearby fodder (i.e. the 40 somethings
trying to pick up the 20 somethings at the bar) turned their heads
in befuddlement. the 'spotters are grooving and lauging it up!
well, after melting "Ventolin" into Ae's "Second Peng" and
then into "Keynell 2" (which, quite frankly, is THE shite when loud,
the breakbeats at the end are just too fucking mental for words!)...
you just had a feeling Andy was not here to mess around...so, being
the silly trainspotter i am, i just couldn't resist....
asg [leaning over]: "did you bring Lego Feet?"
andy [w/HUGE GRIN]: "Oh yeah!, Lego Feet, I've got it.
i'll play it for you, sure."
then he pulls out a copy of SKA 009. things are getting INTERESTING.
and yes, he plays what i wanted to hear..."Stainless Steel Drum"...
followed by....WOT'S THIS? Why, it's none other than *another* copy
of SKA 009. he cues (another) "SSD" up to run simulataneouly with the
first. andy wished he had a third table to work with, i'm sure of it.
and he's only getting started...
my memory's a tad fuzzy, but here's the rest of the rundown
("appearing in no particular order", of course):
Lego Feet: Leaves on the Line
(before which he promtly shows the record to my FACE, rubbing it in.
what a character. he later appoligised for the track selection,
'cos he knew i owned the skampler)
Hellinterface : Trapped
(after which he threw on Hi Scores, but didn't play it---he took
it off in favor of something else)
Jega: Phlax
Jega: Houdini
Autechre: Lowride
Mask 1 : (unknown but *funky* track...which, for the record, did NOT
sound like a remix of F'ng's "Storsender" but then again, i haven't
heard all of Mask 1 anyway)
...and a host of 7 inchers too. now just STOP what you're thinking.
not a single 7" was of the CHRISTMAS variety....so "Missingtoe and
Whine" did not, i repeat, did *not* make an appearance during the
set. he closed it out with Alien Porno Midget's Hawaiian ditty from
"Privileged Frames..." which had the 'spotters laughing and the crowd
dumbfounded. Noticeably absent? the noise. i expected a little
harsh grating from time to time, but twas not to be...not YET at
least (see: DJ Speedranch section). Overall, a fine set i must say.
* * *
andy was great and too kind. in the span of his set, we introduced
ourselves, he asked me what i was missing from the skam, vvm and mask
outfits (i.e. lego, mask 1) i told him i had some reviews for him,
etc. then, we (andy, speedranch and myself) had a nice chat outside
the club. very (read: VERY) humourous lads they were. and equally
kind to tell me anything, and the 'ranch even gave me one of his
mixes for the road. good man.
this all happened during Spooky's set of abstract hip-hop which was
what most of tha club kidz came to hear. Spooky was pretty good, he
was scratching up a fine froth of tunes. how did he get it sorted
after the Alien Porno Midgets??? well, he kicked it off with DJ
Krush's "Hitotsu No Mirai," the Witchman-esque hip-hop number from
"MiLight". of course, he would play this AGAIN. played some A.Tobin
which was nice. at times, the set seemed to be cut up too much, i
thought. i guess the two glasses of red wine got to him by then.
it didn't matter to me though, as speedranch and i were "talking shop"
like the next big stars of the VVm scene...and they're from Wales!
(that's ALL i'm gonna say)
* * *
1:30 pm
DJ SPEEDRANCH. emphasis on SPEED. holy shite. the man's absolutely
fucking mental. mad as fuck! the guy reminds me of a hardcore version
of DJ Shadow (wool hat pulled down to the nose, "soul patch", etc.)
or maybe a Sven Vath with hair? a mix of both maybe. anyway...
but good god!! the music. mostly mad fucking hardcore mania, with
some funny sampling. hell, at one point, Spooky himself went over to
the table and KILLED the treble altogether!! (due to the high grating
sounds) but like andy, speedranch REALLY wanted to use a CD player
as well, but the lame discman (provided after andy's set) just didn't
cut it for him. seriously though, his style is as frenetic as his
track selection. he bounced around behind the decks, flinging records
left and right, spilling beer everywhere. like jeff mills, he used
only the essential part of each track, and (literally) threw the
records back when he was done with them....absolutely RIPPING IT UP.
a hardcore milkshake, i'd say...with the blender on "LIQUIFY".
i'm not the biggest hardcore fan, but this was fucking cool. by the
end of his hour, Speedranch had gone through about 3 beers (half on
the floor), 40-50 records and an entire pack of smokes....and NOT
ONCE did his hand leave the cross fader. he ended his set with
"Expectation" by the Japanese Industrial Agents....ace track.
but yeah, he scared almost everybody out of the place by 2:30.
* * * * *
that's it. hope you made it through all of it...or maybe even
enjoyed the synopsis.
ASG
np: DJ Speedranch - "Nocturne: Music For Night People"
(a little bit of everything from hardcore to BoC to
phone sex to you name it...)