Joe Brooke-Smith gets up close and personal at London's longest running techno night, Lost.
To say that Andrew Weatherall has been making a bit of a comeback implies that he's been away somewhere, but it can't be denied that he has been a busy man of late, DJing relentlessly across the globe. The fact that he's recently been the focus of a Facebook campaign to take over the hallowed John Peel slot on Radio One is a nod to the respect he holds with countless music lovers. His off-the-wall repertoire, monolithic production career and DJ sets that can take the most dramatic of tangents at any moment have earned him a place in many people’s musical hearts.
All of this makes him perfect material for an appearance at Lost as they bring their “Cosmic Disco Tech” off-shoot to XOYO in the heart of Shoreditch. Lost is the stalwart underground techno night that has been bringing the biggest, most respected names in electronic music to the capital for over two decades. Under their Cosmic Disco Tech guise, Lost bring a deeper, more disco-orientated vibe to the table and have played host to such luminaries as Oliver Ho and undisputed king of electro-disco, Alexander Robotnick.
From XOYO’s website I expect the venue to be a “trendy” Shoreditch hang out, haunt of fashion victims and try-hards. Thankfully this presumption turns out to be completely unfair, and to my relief the space I enter is low-key but comfortable. It's a friendly crowd, seemingly intent on nothing but getting up and getting down.
As I enter, Tomoki Tamura is in full swing, playing a mixture of stripped down house and acid tracks. Tomoki is no rookie on the scene; he arrived in London from Japan in 2004 and since then has definitely not been idle. He’s had a string of releases on a number of respected underground labels including Four:Twenty, Plastic City and SAW. Tomoki is also the man behind the London-based HOLIC parties that have been happening in and around the capital since 2007.
It’s midnight, the party is well and truly going but there is still a sense of expectancy in the air. As Tomoki nears the end of his set, a short man with an impressive beard who looks less than at home on the London club scene apologetically weaves his way across the dance floor. This unassuming man in a red striped top that wouldn’t look entirely out of place on a pirate takes up his position behind the decks and assumes control of the party. He slows the tempo down considerably, launching us into a set of deep, dubbed up cosmic techno and house music. Chugging disco influenced synth lines, rattling snares and off-kilter grooves wash over the dancefloor. The crowd are entranced, locked in.
After what seems like hours of dancing, I leave with a big smile on my face, happy to have seen a true master at work and vowing to come back to XOYO soon.
Joe Brooke-Smith
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