Set on a Sunday afternoon, the vibrantly named Emmanuelle's Party Bucket got off to a shaky start due to a late change of venue. With the finishing touches yet to be made to Distrikt Bar, it was left to the vodka bar chain Revolution to pick up the pieces for the visiting Boston-based DJing duo Soul Clap.
I turned up just in time to catch Leeds-based duo Death on the Balcony. They produced a sexy, slick house set that complemented the headliners quite well by slipping in a handful of tracks from the Wolf + Lamb label. But even though the music was tight, the people in the bar were sparsely set out. The lengthy, narrow space seemed to prevent the party from forming any sort of cohesion. (Even offers of £2 Jaeger bombs didn't seem to help.) It wasn't really a party at this point, more a pit stop for the city's Sunday evening drinkers.
The introduction of Soul Clap seemed to improve things. Their start, however, did seem to mirror that of the party: An odd remix of Malcolm McLaren's "Buffalo Girls" led to a few bemused faces being exchanged by the crowd. It wasn't a sign of things to come fortunately, as sluggish, sexier, deep house began to infuse itself into the reckoning. The American duo, with releases on Wolf + Lamb and Airdrop, gradually got things moving on the dance floor with their own edit of Lee Curtiss' "Smoking Mirrors," where the recognizable organ-esque synths and skipping beat were cut with a soul record on top that seemed to strike a chord with the laid-back but increasingly appreciative audience.
In fact, the tame speakers were the pair's biggest obstacle. This became apparent as the night began to reach its peak. The wannabe Prince vocals in Jamie Jones and Gadhi Mizrahi's yet-to-be released "Nasty Things" whipped the crowd into a relative frenzy (this was Sunday, after all) and was a definite highlight. But Zev's "Forget the World," a track with the ability to bring the night to a stunning climax, was slightly let down by the impotent sound system; this robbed the track of its distinct, throbbing bass, causing a certain amount of resentment towards the club's lack of bass.
With Saturday's hangover just about shaken off, Elyte and Cynce began to deliver tracks which at times felt 70's disco and at others a synthesis of funk/soul, along with strange but intriguing track selections such as Warren G's "Regulate." Some may see it as cheesy (like the venue); although, on occasions, their tongues are firmly planted in their cheeks. By 1 AM, with the crowd dwindled down to just a handful of local DJs and their friends, the lyrics "I wanna fall in love" from Chris Isaak's "Wicked Games" brought the night to a halt. With that still ringing in my ears as I left, maybe I had fallen in love. If only just a little.
Published /
Wed, 28 Oct 2009
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