Layered Sounds 290611

Carl Craig in Soweto was a great gig to go to. Carl Craig's performance was awesome, although way too short. He only played for an hour. When I arrived in Soweto at the Thesis Clothing shop, Vinny Da Vinci was warming up the crowd nicely with his style of Deep House, warm and friendly. This was a street party, Kasi style, and the soundsystem was a huge, cooking EV setup.Vinny put it to good use.

Carl Craig took over at 6pm. The change from House to Techno was immediate, and the crowd was captivated. All of the well-known faces were on the floor: Steve Clarke, Shaun Beukes, Rob Dickens, John Vichos, G-Force, Ivan Turanjanin, Craig Massiv, Dogstarr, Fabio, Sound Sensible, Deadbeat FM, Leigh-Anne Harrison, Rob Sloan, Rob Toca, C-Smoothe, Ricky Da Mata, Floyd Lavine, Vick Vaid, Kim Rupping and Emma X.

Carl Craig is very charismatic, and had the crowd bouncing in seconds. He was playing off an Apple Mac, yay for technology! He played some serious classics, and as Ivan said, the crowd got schooled! One of the biggest moments in his set was The Jaguar:

He also played Good Life and The Bells, both huge Techno classics. The crowd was bouncing up and down, energy was high and the place was rocking. Big smiles on all the faces, people having an absolute whale of a time:

The sun set and the night was cold but nothing could dampen the crowd's mood, or so I thought.

Carl Craig finished his set after only an hour. Next up up was Monty Luke, also from Detroit. He started out OK and I was left thinking, cool! Was I ever wrong. His set just went south, for the next 80 minutes. That was as long as I managed to stomach it. The energy was low, the music was crappy and his vibe wasn't great. I was extremely disappointed, to say the least. I would have really liked to stay and watch Culoe De Song, as I really like his stuff, but Monty Luke drove me away. His set was, in my opinion, sloppy, second rate and it sucked.

Thanks to Graham, Ivan and Ryan for pulling off this gig at such short notice. Thanks to the people of Soweto for their great hospitality, and thanks to Carl Craig for an awesome set, albeit short!

http://twitter.com/djchrispalmer
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layered Sounds 200611

Escape to Psychecelica last Wednesday was so badly supported! I would have thought that all the best underground female dj's would be well supported, guess I was wrong. The production was amazing, as Fu-Cha and Teknotribe's parties are always, with amazing decor and sound. The line-up was good, all well-seasoned DJ's with a wealth of experience. So, what was wrong?

 Are the Psytrance crowd at odds with Fu-Cha these days? Hardly any of them arrived. Teknotribe had our big Winter Wonderland party only a week before, and it was packed. Did the girls do enough promotion to get their crowds there? There are a ton of questions regarding the poor support of this event that need to be asked.

CanDNutz (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=714430942) warmed up the Techno floor with a gentle Tech House set that got people bouncing. Deep Candy (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Deep-Candy/306763771370) took over and played some deep Tech House before moving into rolling Techno. Monique Pascal (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Monique-Pascall/120008234707755) headlined the Techno Floor. Her flight was delayed by Kulula, twice, so she arrived just in time to play her set. This always makes it more difficult for a dj, as they don't have much time to acclimatise. This meant a slightly shaky start, but she ended up playing a good set. I was dancing solidly for most of it, very well done. Emma X (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Emma-X/117715049375) played the closing set and kept the crowd bouncing with her infectious energy.

The Psytrance floor was opened by Hegchick (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=739864250), who wasted no time in getting the ball rolling. She played some great progressive Psytrance, high in energy. It took us through the Lunar Eclipse, with a blast! Next up was Gwen C (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gwen-C/230237917003235), who gradually built up her set and got the crowd bouncing around the room. Nice one Gwen! Dre'ama (http://www.facebook.com/pages/DreAma/96530803268) took over, unexpectedly, as her set time was announced for 1am. She had apparently swapped with DJ Sway from Beartrap. Mel has always been one of my favourite Psytrance DJ's and this was her first set back since an operation.  Mel rocked the crowd but I wasn't feeling it.  I moved up to the Techno floor for the rest of the party.

So, a great production with great sound, great DJ Line-up, very poorly supported.

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Layered Sounds 120611

Dark Motion was a great party, with one problem. The venue, after agreeing to allow the promoters, Primal Underground, to use the venue till 4am, on the night told them that they would have to close at 3.30, and later on rudely stormed into the DJ box and pulled down the music at 3am. This was both uncalled for and has become a pattern at CCHQ. Every promoter I know that has worked with the venue has had the same complaint, their party gets closed down early. The bar closed at 2, as per the license, but that doesn't mean the venue have to throw people out unceremoniously because they're no longer making money and are tired. It's bad form.

I was considering throwing a party there and when it happened, I was reminded why I never tried to use the venue before. It always has had the same pattern. It is one of the most beautiful venues to have a party in as it contains thousands of antiques, collected by the owner for many years during his time as an antique dealer. He died a while back and his family carry on the business. Pity they think it's ok to throw the crowd out into the cold without any warning. Bad manners to say the least. It's fine to close early, but then don't pretend that you won't. We don't like being lied to.

There were 2 great sets on the night. The first belonged to Deep Candy (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Deep-Candy/306763771370). She absolutely rocked! A while ago I watched her play one of the best sunrise sets I've ever seen, and her set at Dark Motion was tops! She played dark, groovy Techno, she was loving it and so was the crowd. Well done Candy! The other great set belonged to Gavo (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=102945265170), although he wasn't allowed to finish it. He played for an hour, and had the floor rocking. The EV sound system was purring nicely, and he took full advantage of it. He played some really great Techno and I was just getting fully into my groove when the dark haired woman stormed into the booth and pulled down the fader! Classy.

Jono's set (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=574830936) also had sections of greatness but I felt that he was holding back in some parts. He ended off with one of my favourite classics, Moan by Trentemoller, and the crowd loved it. There were also some great builds in his set and some great tracks, nicely done. I didn't get to see Isma's set as I arrived just after he finished playing, but heard it was good.

There was one set that disappointed me during the night and it was the only time I actually left the dancefloor, Just Smart. These guys chose great tracks which I really liked, but their mixing was way off and they kept messing with the tracks to add effects and cut the bottom end at the wrong time. this kept jarring me out of my groove and messing up the vibe on the floor, till I eventually walked off to chat to friends at the bar. These guys need way more experience before I'll be happy to dance to them again.

Overall a great effort from Primal Underground (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Primal-Underground/222385011109515)! The place rocked from beginning to end and I had a fabulous time. I saw tons of my friends too, which was great. Thanks to Sylvain, Steve, Cherié, Gavo, Afrodeutsch, Ursula, Neil, Bella, Lorna, the 2 Candy's, Jason and Jono for the great company.


I'll have some new tracks up on Soundcloud for you to hear this week, as well as my show on Dance Web Radio coming up on Thursday, 12-2pm (GMT+2) (http://www.dancewebradio.co.za). I'll be going to ESCAPE to PSYCHEDELICA ▫▪▪▷ a Fu▫Cha/Teknotribe winter colaboration ▫▫▫▪▪▷ on Wednesday evening at Groove Bar, so catch you on the dancefloor



http://twitter.com/djchrispalmer
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Layered Sounds 100611

It's been frikkin' cold here in Jozi!!! Last night I went to Digital Grafiti at Aruba Lounge and checked out the vibe. It was freezing! I didn't stay very long, was home in bed by 12. Brothers Underground played a good set, but being tired I left before much else happened.

Tonight I'm off to see Primal Underground presents Dark Motion at CCHQ http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=106351442786594. I'm looking forward to this gig as Jono Baiocchi and DJ Gavo are 2 of my favourite DJ's to listen to. Also, the venue is just amazing. There are more than 2000 antiques in the place, making for an awesome visual delight. It's Gavo's last set before he moves to Zambia, so catch him tonight for the last one in a long time! If you heard the boys set on 5FM last week, I'm sure you'll be there!!!

I finished mixing a special track for a special person's birthday tomorrow, will have it up on Soundcloud soon so that you guys can hear it.

Layered Sounds 040611

Wow, Teknotribe rocked last night. It was freezing, to say the least, but that didn't stop the underground massive from getting their groove on. Everyone played well, and both the Techno and Psytrance floors rocked. I spent most of my night on the Techno floor, which had a way overkill sound system that was intensely loud.  Get FX started off proceedings, playing a dark and lovely warm up set. Mike is growing quickly as a DJ and his track selection is superb. There was a complaint, I heard, that he went too fast for warmup, but that's Teknotribe for you.

Next up, Prefix played some great groovy Techno and Minimal. John has come a long way since he first started playing with us at MinTex, Malabar, 4 years ago. He was also wearing the funniest, green, woolen hat when I first saw him last night, ha ha. He wove a tight set and got the dancefloor grooving. The next DJ up surprised the hell out of me. Killer B, playing Techno? He kicked ass! Being a Psytrance DJ, his tracks were laced with psychedelic sounds, but there was no mistaking those hard, pounding Techno drums. Extremely well done!

Glen Gaffer is back on the decks, though he has calmed down somewhat over the last year. Glen used to hammer it balls-to-the-wall, but these days his sets are more crafty. He's still a serious purist, and his long time residency at GAS was the best grounding. Nice to have you back Glen! Andre Frauenstein and Chris Hattingh were up after Glen, with a surprising mix of Techno and Tech Trance. I'm sorry to hear about what happened to Andre. He was attacked by random thugs, who beat his face to a pulp. I was surprised that he pitched up for the gig, dedication, dude, much respect. Hope you heal well and fast. Great set!

Set of the night was up next. Nick Grater carved us new ones... The floor hummed. Even a cheesy remix of Smells like Teen Spirit went down a treat with the crowd. My favourite track that he played, Prodigy-Omen, was unbelievable. His set rocked from start to finish, the huge JBL rig kicking our asses. Heal well too, Nick, he seems to have come down with a nasty flu! Seb took over from Nick, with some sexy middle Eastern vibes, before throwing in his sexy and over-the-top hard Techno remixes of Soulful House tracks, as only Seb can, awesome set dude!

I took over from Seb, with my new track, Mechatron:

Mechatron Edit by Chris Palmer

I got to close off the Techno floor, winding it down with some mellower and darker stuff I have recently acquired. Like Adam Beyer and Alan Fitzpatricks's new monster, Human Reason. My mixing was challenging, to say the least, but I seemed to have a somewhat reasonable set, according to the crowd afterwards.

 From what I saw on the Psytrance floor, Gavin warmed up nicely, followed by a great set by Roman. Then Insaneacyde, playing hard rock guitar along, then Bionic (Nick Grater's Psy-guise) and the only other DJ I caught a bit of was Boogie Monster, Royston's alias, and Manifesto, tearing the crowd a new one with balls-to-the-wall blow them away Psytrance. Packed floor all night.

Awesome Decor, Becky and Caren!

Thanks for the great company goes to Nina, Matt, Mike, Sylvain, Seb, Tash and Candi, awesome to party with you! Catch you on the dancefloor!


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Layered Sounds 020611

A big gig coming up for me this weekend at Winter Wonderland II (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=202970706404887), so looking forward to it! But first, a bit of Digital Grafiti (http://twitter.com/digital_grafiti) tonight, featuring:

Floyd Lavine
Waide Lemos
Brothers Underground

Should be good fun! I'm always up for good music, no matter how cold the weather!

I'm looking forward to hearing lots of new music at Winter Wonderland II as well. Everyone always pulls out all of the stops for Teknotribe, it's great. Plus, Nick always makes sure that we have the best sound and production available, it's great. Catch you on the dancefloor!

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