Eastern Electrics: May We Feel The Bass?

Eastern Electrics: May We Feel The Bass?

05 May, 2009
by: Lowri

The Eastern Electrics parties have risen to become some of the most reputed in London underground rave terms. Monster line-ups decorate the sparse flyers, a secret location confuses the ravers and the wave of pre-event excitement continues to swell, collecting more and more people as it snowballs towards its glittery destination.

Tonight, they are back at the Union Car Park – a massive arched area between Southwark and London Bridge and the scene of mulletover's blinding Easter bash last month. It ticks my boxes, (and turns my pages) with its classic rave atmosphere, minimal, monochrome decor and plenty of elbow room. The acoustics are slightly echoey in the main room but all in all, it's a winner.

It looks like a stereotypical London rave venue – what you'd see if you were imagining such a party when you were 13 (as I was). Tonight it's pleasingly buzzing with folk. The wide eyed techno set decisively punching out each beat, smoky, slanty dubsteppers having bass-face-offs, hundreds of brilliant dancers. Loads of hotties. Executive toilets! But still £4 a drink. (Christ.)

The three promotions in charge tonight (Bloc, Dublime and Man Make Music) cover a lot of musical bases with their line-ups; from the techno-dubstep crossover of Appleblim to the misty-eyed old skool jungle of Congo Natty. The stabbing, uneven IDM-techno of Monolake to the slick and solid beats of Justin Martin. After perusing the Bloc room and rediscovering jungle courtesy of Congo Natty in Dublime I retreat to the back room and where I'll spend the entire night: for me it really is all about the Man Make Music room.

These cats have been chucking out a serious range of parties for a good few years, and their choice for tonight's headliner is really the reason I'm here: Dirtybird originator (alongside Claude VonStroke and his brother Christian Martin), Buzzin' Fly collaborator, king remixer, San Fran wonderboy and producer extraordinaire Mr Justin Martin. His infamous track The Sad Piano has become a house classic in a minor key and he's solidly cemented his reputation again and again as a brilliant producer with every track since: the dark melodic Nightowl, the lilting tribute to late 90's intelligent DnB 'My Angelic Demons', his numerous superb remixes. As a producer Martin cuts a melodic line in house. His tracks share a slight melancholy and undercurrent of minor key darkness. I'm hoping he'll kick it tonight but I've no idea what to expect.

MMM residents Another Amit and Sketchy play brilliant warm up sets; bouncy, techy house tunes which are not too serious. The time flies with a nice upbeat, booty lean to the room. They get the crowd warm and excited and suddenly it's 4am and time for JM. It's difficult to describe to you just how good the next two hours are. His characteristic melody is there in spades but every single tune is just so damn tough. Solid, driving, massive; absolutely fucking satisfying and the beat goes so deep I can still feel it now.

He captivates the crowd and keeps them there, stabbing us in the chest with his hard, percussive grooves. People keep turning to each other to proclaim 'This is so fucking good!'. He drops Fake Blood's 'Mars' which goes down a storm with it's old skool flavour and heavy, glitchy beat. His remix of Marshall Jefferson's 'Mushrooms' works well with its trippy darkness. In truth I recognize little of what he plays and I revel the unfamiliarity. There's certainly some Claude VonStroke and Switch in there somewhere. It's all excellent and tough, with a clever, superior edge and tight futurism to it. He drops a lot of epic sounding, super-dark, almost orchestral build-ups before slamming it home with that lovely, heavy 4/4 beat which makes us all shout and smile and jump in the air and think 'Oh the delight of dancing to brilliant, hard electronic music done well….' It makes me feel like I've wondered out of jungle at the dawn of civilisation and the sun is setting and the fires are burning and the sweat is sliding down our backs and the drums are beating and everything is as it should be: PERFECT.

Click here to read Max's take on Eastern Electrics: May We Feel The Bass (or not?)

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Lowri