- Close your eyes, try and shut out the Spanish din in the background and you could almost be in Brixton circa 2006. The air was thick with weed and seismic bass was oozing through the speakers, but there would be no full-on sonic immersion tonight, no soundsystem meditation. We were in Lima, Peru, at the wrong end of the continuum. Deep Medi chief Mala was in town, though. In conjunction with RBMA, the dubstep heavyweight was giving a free lecture, followed by a performance later in the evening. The idea was to encourage more local artists to apply for the upcoming Academy in Paris.
The evening began with local boys Dengue Dengue Dengue playing host, recounting their Academy experiences to an audience of predominantly wide-eyed Peruvian bass fans. Things switched into English for the Q&A session, a bland grilling at best which Mala nevertheless responded to with charisma and colour. As one of few (if any) Brits in the room, it was nice to wallow in nostalgia for a while—and continue to do so for the rest of the night.
But before Mala took to the decks, Dengue Dengue Dengue—now with a third member and donning playful SBTRKT-like animal masks—warmed up the crowd with a patchwork set of bass, pop and more traditional beats. It admittedly wasn't for me; it sounded like a neon cacophony of jigsaw pieces being forced into place, a far cry from the sort of contemplative atmosphere I was anticipating—nay, praying for—next.
Thankfully, I wasn't disappointed. Those lucky enough to find nirvana between a speaker and a fan caught the best of it, but elsewhere distractions were abundant. The sing-a-long climax to Digital Mystikz's dub of Fat Freddy's Drop's "Cay's Cray"—a fierce classic—was lovely, but it seemed like the rest of Mala's set fell on confused or disinterested ears. Likely they'd danced themselves out to Dengue Dengue Dengue and, this being a Thursday, home time was looming. I left feeling awkward and deflated, with Dallas Tamaira's poignant vocals ringing in my ears.