Saturday saw a collection of some of Singapore's oldest and most underrated house and techno DJs provide sessions which were nothing less than Sublime. Reaching the outskirts of this often overlooked yet fundamental genre of electronic dance music, each DJ, or team of, wove a seamless set to the pleasure of tapping toes, pumping elbows, bouncing knees and gyrating hips. A dance floor full enough to feel it yet not too claustrophobic to really move was at the helm of those who lapped it up.
I salute all of those who had a truly good time without second guessing what they were doing or where they were. These are the good times which still are and always will be, make a choice, be part of an event that holds more to heart than the wallet, we (and that is the collective universal 'we' including both you and me) do it because we love it, not because everyone else is.
The night started off with one of the pioneers of Singapore's female DJ scene, Cherry from Pop My Cherry. With a collection of tunes and an ear that will make any respectful DJ drool, this lady has big ears for tunes that escape most on their first listen. A deep, dubby set with the occasional throw-in of funky latin beats created an appropriate backdrop for later painting on this canvas of 4/4 beats.
Moving on progressively, Kai and DJ Justin gave a lesson in absolutely seamless perfection as they mixed meticulously both beat and melody into a journey of an hour and half. Unforgivingly good in terms of phrasing and programming, these guys never fail to challenge you into deciding exactly when one track starts and the other finishes. No egos or fast fingers, this is how mixing was meant to be for a big dance floor or festival. These guys are possibly Singapore's best kept secret when it comes to progressive sounds minimal, house and techno.
Next up was Rafi. He is part of Singapore's leading forums 'Frontallabs' and no stranger to the scene of both Singapore and Melbourne. Heading for a more minimal approach than any of the previous DJs, he showed a filling floor why he has evolved more into a sound technician than DJ. Layering sample upon sample in constructed his set, he pieced together elements from respective tracks rather than going from the orthodox one track to the next, laying the final bricks of what was now the walls of a stronger than adequate 'house that jack built'. The roof was next to come...
Xzez swiftly slotted in after Rafi and methodically sped up the pace to a responsive floor that might well have been full of just knees, feet, elbows and fists. Surprising all with much more than his driving, percussive detroit tech, a good dose of left field electro also came out of his ever-growing-deeper bag of tricks. It has been a long time since I've seen this guy behind the wheels, and it is a shame really as he is both modest and intense, restrained yet incredibly quick. We hope more from this always impressive DJ soon.
Next up came Sublime DJs, loopinmotion, lock'n'groove and DJR. Keeping with the tempo and feeding off each others fire they brought a wide range of house and techno for the now full but-not-excessively-so dance floor. Taking over from xzez and tightly pushing it with tension that made anyone who wasn't on the floor think twice, loop played a set that was nothing less than driving. Comparable perhaps to something like a locomotive, he eased into his tracks, after which, taking full of their pitch and the effects unit, layering, cutting and dropping beats with a lucidity that only comes with experience. Lock'n'groove came up afterwards adding some flavour to the mix, from Dave Clarke, Laurent Garnier, Luke Slater and Current fave Redshape, he played from the back part of his collection, sending memories into the minds and moving shoes of those on the floor. DJR came in towards the end solidly pummeling out techno to electro which had the effect of keeping everyone, no matter how tired they were, moving incessantly. A master puppeteer, he kept each and everyone tied to a string, moving, feeling and loving every moment as we arrived into the later hours of the early morning.
A variety of classic tracks both old and new, Sublime DJs looked both at the past and present of Detroit, into the recent releases of Berlin but more so with a mix that would fuel a future global nation of dance. Singapore might be a small island but something special happened last Saturday. All quite idealistic I know but nonetheless, there was feeling in that floor, sense in that sound. Ask anyone who was there, people were above all getting down without preconceptions of who they were supposed to be or how exactly they were supposed to be dancing. Even those who were not dancing eagerly brought their chairs forward, closer, to those great speakers that hang in the sky.
A night without pretense and full of truth, a simple night in it's essence, through and through, simply Sublime.
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