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Each Wednesday at DC-10, Jamie Jones and crew smash the walls down at the highly successful Paradise: The Next Dimension. Though last night, the Hot Creations boss took a well-deserved break from the action, leaving the night’s vibe in the very capable hands of the likes of Russ Yallop, Darius Syrossian, Heidi and Dixon.
As we walked in, Darius was keeping things jacking and bass heavy, pumping the crowd up with classic samples like Ruffneck feat. Yavahn’s ‘Everybody Be Somebody,’ heading over to slightly edgier and dark territory with the ThermalBear Remix of Simon Baker’s ‘Hideout.’ From there, the Leeds native and Viva Warriors resident effortlessly headed over to the beautiful piano melodies of ‘Mr. Man’ by Dusky, eliciting cheers and whistles from the crowd, eventually sliding things up to a more energetic pace with tracks like ‘You Know What It’s Like’ by Burnski and Manik.
At around 3am, we headed outside to cool off, only to start feeling a few gentle taps of rain, instantly emptying the garden, pushing everyone in attendance into the main room. Things got packed, hot and sweaty very quickly. No matter, that’s the way we like it! Ahead of The Jackathon queen, Heidi, Darius pumped up the tempo back to jumping, bass territory, the now packed room heaving along with the rhythms.
Heidi began with a bang, with tracks like the sax laden ‘I Need U’ by Cajmere featuring Dajae, DC-10 agreeing with the song’s lyrics, ‘that’s right,’ as they pumped and shuffled to the groove. As the rain began to subside, the main room eased back from sardine can to dance club, bringing the vibe right into the sweet spot. Heidi kept it going with bangers like Claude VonStroke’s newest bomb, ‘The Clapping Track,’ dirtybird boss grooving right along with Heidi in the booth, clearly enjoying the chance to hear his stripped down, bass heavy, organ laden mover in such a setting.
Of course, as the track broke down, the entire place, including Heidi, erupted in applause for Claude, as the San Francisco based DJ, producer and label boss gave a slightly embarrassed if not humble smile and nod to the crowd. From there, she moved onto ‘Existence’ by KiNK, out on Josh Wink’s Ovum Recordings, a track that’s getting rinsed this year by none other that Carl Cox over at The Revolution, and for good reason – the track is pure groove.
Finally it was time for Germany’s Steffen Berkhahn, better known as Dixon, co-founder of the highly lauded record label, Innervisions, who was filling in for Jamie last night. Dixon’s popularity has skyrocketed in recent years, having helped to usher in a resurgence of deeply layered, complex, thought provoking, emotional techno and house. Like the golden age of Sasha and Digweed, Dixon and fellow Innervisions boss Ame present a formidable force in electronic music these days, reminding one of the Northern Exposure era.
Dixon pulled no punches last night, heading from typically dreamy territory with movers like Satisfy’ by Cajmere featuring Dajae, to punchy, bass heavy rhythms with tracks like Jimmy Edgar’s ‘Strike,’ keeping everyone moving along gratefully. One glance around was all I needed to see the impact an artist like Dixon has on his captivated audience, with smiles beaming their signal loud and clear, ‘tonight is something special, and I’ll never forget it.’
Listen to Darius Syrossian and Heidi on Pulse Radio.
