#binary vision

Review. Binary Vision Part Two @ Lakota

Binary:Vision are beginning to establish themselves as a collective in whose bookings you can trust. Part 2 of their series offered a line-up unfamiliar to your average Bristolian. But it provided all the variety that house and techno offers and provided it well. The organisers took a risk in making Mosca ‘headliner’. His live style is the musical equivalent of marmite and anyone expecting to hear ‘Bax’ was in for disappointment.

On top of this, to follow up a night of accessible garage with one consisting of difficult, but essentially rewarding, music might seem like a commercial risk. But Binary:Vision don’t see it like that. When Inter:Mission made the mistake of describing Mosca as last Fridays ‘headliner’, we received the response: ‘this line up was about a grouping of talent rather than any one solo lead performance’. I:M approves of this essentially egalitarian approach. On the promotional artwork, Mosca’s name was no larger than those of the other artists; neither did he play the typical headline 2am slot. That pleasure went to Gardens of God.

Lakota was surprisingly empty at first. A crowd had gathered in the main room to watch Doc Daneeka, but the bar and smoking area were thinly populated. Numbers did swell and by the time the clock showed 1:30 the venue held the perfect number; enough for the atmosphere to flourish, but not too many to prevent dancing.

Venturing into the second room, partygoers experienced dubstep, 2-step and drum and bass. The volume was noticeably louder than normal for Lakota’s 2nd room, which normally labours under local council noise restrictions. Whether this was due to a set of newly installed PA system or a sly hand with the volume control was unclear. In the main room the sound was poor; crowd chatter leaked over the speakers, never a good sign. When Trevino came on, the sound quality and the volume noticeably increased. Christopher Shenkman, one of the B:V team, acknowledged the problem and said that he had ‘a frank conversation with the management about sound’ and mentioned that it was ‘something that has been troubling main room party goers at Lakota for a while’.

Next on was Gardens of God who was flown in for his Bristol debut. His track, ‘Gluk’ was picked up by Vice’s Thump and his remix of VIMES ‘Celestial’ has been getting hammered by Berlin based Innervisions boss Dixon for months now. Expectations for his set were high; he delivered a nuanced performance that drew from Innervisions-esque euphoria and the crunch of Scuba’s Hotflush Label. Comparisons to Ten Walls were unavoidable: both Lithuanian by birth, they respectively produce the sort of Gothic-tinged house that could soundtrack both a noir horror film and Jurassic Park. Gardens of God managed to exceed those similarities and craft a distinctive live presence that varied surprisingly from his production style.

Mosca’s distinctive brand of rhythmic techno suited Lakota’s off-centre main room well. ‘I suppose Mosca might have turned out to be a risk had the numbers not turned out to see him play’ said Shenkman. But they did, and Mosca delivered the ‘diversity in style and sound’ that the organisors sought. Mosca played cat and mouse with the crowd, keeping the tracks tense and the low-end under wraps. Then he brought in the sort of intelligent, uncompromising techno that has become his divisive trademark.

The crowd was not as responsive as they were for Gardens of God before, or Shenk after, but his track choices were on point and a fair portion of the crowd were desperate for IDs. Mosca rounded off an intelligent line-up of well-established and diverse DJs, adding his own brand of diversity into the melting pot as he passed on through. Occasionally you stumble upon a night that reminds you of the great breadth of house and techno. This night felt as if it fell within that category.

Then there are the perks of running your own night. Resident DJ and organiser Shenk must know this well enough, for coming on after multi-genre mainstay Mosca to close the main room and drawing a raucous reaction from the mass of bodies below would undoubtedly, but justifiably boost your ego. Shenk closed in style and as I looked down from the balcony of Lakota’s main room, the crowd’s energy was infectious. Impressive seeing as the clock was about to hit 6.

Review. Binary Vision Part Two @ Lakota

Binary:Vision are beginning to establish themselves as a collective in whose bookings you can trust. Part 2 of their series offered a line-up unfamiliar to your average Bristolian. But it provided all the variety that house and techno offers and provided it well. The organisers took a risk in making Mosca ‘headliner’. His live style is the musical equivalent of marmite and anyone expecting to hear ‘Bax’ was in for disappointment.

On top of this, to follow up a night of accessible garage with one consisting of difficult, but essentially rewarding, music might seem like a commercial risk. But Binary:Vision don’t see it like that. When Inter:Mission made the mistake of describing Mosca as last Fridays ‘headliner’, we received the response: ‘this line up was about a grouping of talent rather than any one solo lead performance’. I:M approves of this essentially egalitarian approach. On the promotional artwork, Mosca’s name was no larger than those of the other artists; neither did he play the typical headline 2am slot. That pleasure went to Gardens of God.

Lakota was surprisingly empty at first. A crowd had gathered in the main room to watch Doc Daneeka, but the bar and smoking area were thinly populated. Numbers did swell and by the time the clock showed 1:30 the venue held the perfect number; enough for the atmosphere to flourish, but not too many to prevent dancing.

Venturing into the second room, partygoers experienced dubstep, 2-step and drum and bass. The volume was noticeably louder than normal for Lakota’s 2nd room, which normally labours under local council noise restrictions. Whether this was due to a set of newly installed PA system or a sly hand with the volume control was unclear. In the main room the sound was poor; crowd chatter leaked over the speakers, never a good sign. When Trevino came on, the sound quality and the volume noticeably increased. Christopher Shenkman, one of the B:V team, acknowledged the problem and said that he had ‘a frank conversation with the management about sound’ and mentioned that it was ‘something that has been troubling main room party goers at Lakota for a while’.

Next on was Gardens of God who was flown in for his Bristol debut. His track, ‘Gluk’ was picked up by Vice’s Thump and his remix of VIMES ‘Celestial’ has been getting hammered by Berlin based Innervisions boss Dixon for months now. Expectations for his set were high; he delivered a nuanced performance that drew from Innervisions-esque euphoria and the crunch of Scuba’s Hotflush Label. Comparisons to Ten Walls were unavoidable: both Lithuanian by birth, they respectively produce the sort of Gothic-tinged house that could soundtrack both a noir horror film and Jurassic Park. Gardens of God managed to exceed those similarities and craft a distinctive live presence that varied surprisingly from his production style.

Mosca’s distinctive brand of rhythmic techno suited Lakota’s off-centre main room well. ‘I suppose Mosca might have turned out to be a risk had the numbers not turned out to see him play’ said Shenkman. But they did, and Mosca delivered the ‘diversity in style and sound’ that the organisors sought. Mosca played cat and mouse with the crowd, keeping the tracks tense and the low-end under wraps. Then he brought in the sort of intelligent, uncompromising techno that has become his divisive trademark.

The crowd was not as responsive as they were for Gardens of God before, or Shenk after, but his track choices were on point and a fair portion of the crowd were desperate for IDs. Mosca rounded off an intelligent line-up of well-established and diverse DJs, adding his own brand of diversity into the melting pot as he passed on through. Occasionally you stumble upon a night that reminds you of the great breadth of house and techno. This night felt as if it fell within that category.

Then there are the perks of running your own night. Resident DJ and organiser Shenk must know this well enough, for coming on after multi-genre mainstay Mosca to close the main room and drawing a raucous reaction from the mass of bodies below would undoubtedly, but justifiably boost your ego. Shenk closed in style and as I looked down from the balcony of Lakota’s main room, the crowd’s energy was infectious. Impressive seeing as the clock was about to hit 6.