Alex Martin reports from the launch party of Hessle Audio's new compilation L.P. at XOYO
Hessle Audio have been responsible for putting out some of the most exciting electronic music around over the last 4 years, earning the DIY label plaudits from such luminaries as Ricardo Villalobos and Carl Craig. It says a lot about the quality and volume of their output that in this relatively short space of time they have developed to the stage where the release of a compilation L.P, 116 & Rising, half of which is takes the form of a label retrospective, does not feel at all premature.
Tonight sees the launch of 116 & Rising, and to that end the Hessle team have assembled a line-up which features label stalwarts (and co-owners) Pearson Sound, Pangaea and Ben UFO alongside scene compadres Objekt, Peverelist and Loefah, with Chunky on the mic.
Having been tantalised by what little of his material I have heard so far, I am excited to see that Objekt is opening in Room 1, and that his set is just underway by the time I arrive. A floppy-haired, boyish figure in an over-sized button-down collared shirt, he looks faintly like a rascally under-supervised kid who has broken into his dad’s home studio, dressed up in his clothes and is goofing around with the expensive-looking equipment he’s found inside.
But Objekt is no goof. For just shy of an hour he expertly navigates his way through the “convoluted mess of dubstep, 3-step, garage, techno, bass-core, post minimal wankstep, shithouse, acid wonk” from which the plucky seedling of his sound has sprung, before a swelling mass of human metronomes, heads fixed in motion like the Churchill poster pooch. His first two releases having appeared on unassuming, hand-pressed white labels, this set has the feel of a Goodnight Mr. Tom moment for Objekt; in Hessle Audio he seems to have found a loving home.
Next up is Peverelist, who does what he does best, mixing up some of the freshest of the Bristolian beat community’s output with his own techy, intricately percussive take on 21st century junglism.
Hessle’s set list proves curatorially adroit as Pev’s sophisticated atmospherics crazy-pave the way for the highlight of the bill: an incendiary showdown between bass zeitgeister Pearson Sound and DMZ heavyweight Loefah, the Chuck Norris of trad-dubstep. As omni-steppin' percussionista goes toe-to-toe with dubwise chest-rattler, what ensues is one of the most entertaining consummations of the back-to-back, ‘versus’ format I can remember seeing. It feels like the baton being passed between these two doyens of bass has ramifications beyond this one hour set.
To finish the evening we are treated to Ben UFO’s usual master class in mixing, a selector with his ear so firmly to the ground and his finger so firmly on the pulse that it’s a wonder he can operate turntables at all. Pangaea goes back-to-back, the massive are rapturous. Room 1 retains its euphoric atmosphere right up until the night draws to a close at 4.
XOYO’s soundsystem, which has in the past reputedly struggled to make itself heard even above its own air-conditioning unit, deals with the demands placed upon it by the onslaught of sub bass well, and MC Chunky proves himself a skilled compere, his unobtrusive patter recalling the enjoyably vacuous lyricism of the garage days.
My only reservations about the night relate to the music itself or, rather, its accord with the 'floor. In their drive to push the sound forward, the producers on Hessle’s roster, along with others associated with the loosely defined sub-subgenre known variously as UK bass, post-dubstep, and ‘wotyoucallit?’, operate on the basis that as the creative possibilities permitted by a given production template become exhausted, new ones must be unearthed.
But like the Mighty Boosh’s Rudy and Spider wandering into the desert searching for the new sound, the next big thing, if it exists, has not yet come to light. Kode 9 feels we are witnessing a ‘holding pattern’, and Martin Clark a ‘musical sorbet’, serving to cleanse the palate between meals. It’s not like going to a jungle night, or a dubstep night, or a funky night, where a spade can, with confidence, be designated a spade. Because Hessle’s artists have not converged on anything like a common template, their styles are so nebulous that sets at times tonight feel disjointed. That they are rhythmically semi-coherent and so highly variegated makes Hessle sets interesting and challenging to listen to, but they are not always the easiest thing in the world to dance to.
Maybe the issue lies with the conservatism of my own tastes rather than fluctuant danceability, however - people are cheering Ben UFO and Pangaea like they’re the Second Coming. A well engineered, well received launch.
Click here to see all London DJ music.
Click here for things to do in London.
Return to Spoonfed's London Clubbing homepage.
Add an event