Vaunted Berghain resident DJ Boris will return to Sydney to throw down this Saturday March 1 at Lovecult, a party that celebrates the international queer underground scene and will also feature a live set from Milan’s Hard Ton. Boris is best known for his early morning sets at Berghain, which depending on the mood, traverse house and disco – vestiges from Boris’ early days behind the decks in New York, where he was influenced by Larry Levan – or plenty of booming techno. “I like a lot of different styles of music and feel at home in either genre,” Boris said recently, adding in a hushed tone, “there is no fail-safe way of how to get a crowd. You have to have a feel and some intuition about the situation and the people to make it happen.” In addition to his DJ output, Boris has also released on Berghain’s Ostgut Ton record label (head straight for the 2010 label compilation FЯnf), and oversees the running of Careless Records as an A&R (music industry speak for the division of a record label responsible for overseeing the “artistic development” of recording artists and talent scouting – a tough gig indeed!).
Meanwhile, Italian duo Hard Ton, comprised of Mauro Wawashi, a formidable producer and DJ in his own right, and extremely colourful frontman Massimo Bastasi, collaborated with Nina Kraviz on her track ‘Walking In The Night’, which was released on Kraviz’s self-titled debut album a few years back. The pair has also worked with Billie Ray Martin and Paolo Mojo, while erudite house music tastemaker DJ Sprinkles remixed Hard Ton’s cut ‘Food Of Love’ on the hallowed Mule Music label last year. Lovecult will run from 9pm till 5am this Saturday at the Metro Theatre, with people of all (musical and sexual) persuasions and preferences welcome. First release tickets had sold out at the time of writing, so prospective attendees should grab a second release ticket online for $65.50, stat!
[Movie buffs please imagine Dennis Hopper is reading you this section for maximum impact.] Pop quiz, hotshot. What’s the first thing that comes into your mind when you hear the phrase ‘romancing the stone’? Yep, I knew it: Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas swanning about in the 1980s adventure flick. Well it’s time to wash that image from your mind, as Detroit producer Omar-S is gearing up to release a new EP on his own FXHE label next month entitled – you guessed it, maestro – Romancing The Stone. Omar-S has rapidly established himself in the top echelon of the Motor City’s pantheon of producers since he dropped his breakout track ‘Psychotic Photosynthesis’ back in that acid-washed summer of ’07. His subsequent contribution to the Fabric mix canon opened his discography to a broader listening public, and his productions have continued to hit the mark ever since. If the audio previews floating around the internet are any indication, Romancing The Stone will offer a collection of melodic Detroit house that is imbued with a slightly more upbeat ambience than one might expect from Omar-S (though side C will sate the sonic appetite of those after some gritty analogue acid house). The forthcoming EP follows the recent release of Omar-S’ FXHE 10 Year Mix Compilation, which is out now.
Most readers of this column are surely familiar with the popular Subsonic Music parties and especially Subsonic’s flagship festival that is held in Barrington Tops every December. However, an oft-overlooked layer of the Subsonic brand is the Subsonic Music record label, which has just released a new EP entitled Want Youfrom local lads Square Room Heroes that includes remixes from two renowned Berlin producers who have headlined Subsonic parties in years past: Guido Schneider and Nico Stojan. Want You is a dreamy fusion of deep tech house soundscapes that is very much in keeping with the sounds pushed at Subsonic events. Schneider’s rework in particular features bouncy yet subtle bassline grooves that will ensure the track does the business on the dancefloor. Schneider has a formidable pedigree, having released on labels like Cadenza – ‘Albertino’ anyone? – Poker Flat and HighGrade, while the other remixer Stojan may be familiar to dancers as a resident of the now defunct Berlin party parlour Kater Holzig. The EP can be procured through online record stores such as Juno, or by contacting local Subsonic label representatives, which can easily be done through Facebook.
LOOKING DEEPER
Saturday
March 1
Lovecult 2000 ft. Boris + Hard Ton
Metro Theatre
Redshape
The Civic Underground
Sunday March 2
DJ Harvey
Oxford Art Factory
Saturday March 8
4our ft. DJ Mareena
Warehouse Party
Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through [email protected].
