The DMC UK Finals

The DMC UK Finals

21 July, 2010
by: Trol23

The 25th annual DMC is rapidly approaching, Tomas Olesen went to check out the UK finals.

The DMC competition is 25 years old this year, those 25 years have seen some of the most incredible DJ sets to have ever been performed by such greats as Q-Bert, Roc Raida, and DJ Craze. As we enter a new era of digital vinyl in the form of programs like Serato and Traktor it's reassuring to know that there are still vinyl addicts locked away in their rooms, breaking needles and ruining records, practising the dark art that is turntablism. This is their Olympics, and tonight was the turn of the UK to pick a champion to send to the World Finals.

Host for the evening, Inja, takes to the stage to get things going with a live PA and does so with aplomb. Inja really is one of the best MCs in the UK right now and he is ably supported by Switch who, despite losing his up-fader knob a couple of times, demonstrates the skills that won him the Scratch Supremacy title twice.

Being first on must be tough, but Down Low seems to have brought everyone he knows with him for support and the enthusiastic chanting of his name whilst he sets up must have helped to calm his nerves slightly. His set is solid and a section of cutting involving needle drops instead of backspins is particularly impressive.

Killer Tomato is next up. He unfortunately fluffs his set and the frustration is obvious. The amount of practice that is required for one of these six-minute sets is insane and what really marks the great from the good is being able to reproduce it on the night, under the lights, in front of a crowd. You’d have to have a hard heart not to feel for him. Maybe next year.

Mr Eclipse has technical issues initially but gets going after a little tinkering timeout. His set starts slow and steady but he finishes strongly. Technical hitches seem to be the order of the day with Loop Skywalker also taking a timeout after initially getting the crowd onside with a cut up of ‘You Can’t Touch This’. He holds his nerve, however, and comes in hard after his restart. His bass juggle at the end is especially good.

Rasp comes out firing with a crisp, crowd pleasing set. His frenetic cutting is at times quite hectic but always impressively on beat. The competition really steps up a gear with his set.

Mike L is up next, representing the old guard of DMC competitors. His set is slick and danceable, the style is classic and, given how many competitors make mistakes in their sets or stopped and started because of technical problems, it looks like he might take it. His odd ending routine involves swapping one of his needles for a modified cartridge plugged into the mixer, creating a feedback tone that he's able to manipulate. Possibly the effect achieved doesn’t justify the effort but top marks for trying something different and delightfully nerdy.

Jonny 1 Move comes on to prove he has much more than just the one move really, and plays a really good set although at times it's a little scrappy.

Defending champion Jeppa starts out with some seriously hard cutting, slipping into something a little more introspective and jazzy after that before going into a crazily fast and concise juggle. Needle drop scratching at the end seals the deal. To be honest half way through his set it's obvious he's (excuse the pun) a cut above the rest and by the end he really has slaughtered the competition.

All in all it's a great night, technical delays throughout the evening mean that TY and Klashnekoff only got to do a couple of tunes each at the end, but such is the nature of live events like this. The best DJ won on the night and Jeppa goes on to represent the UK at the finals. Mike L took a well deserved 2nd and while Rasp should maybe have taken 3rd spot Jonny 1 Move was certainly not an unpopular choice.

Sally and the rest of the DMC crew deserve so much credit for their hard work and dedication to the art of turntablism. Roll on the 25th annual DMC World Championship Finals in December.

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Trol23