- A Love From Outer Space may have migrated from its midweek basement to a compact club in Elephant And Castle, but its ethos has remained unchanged ever since it started in 2010. Formed originally as an outlet for music that the crate-digging Sabres Of Paradise and Hardway Brothers pair couldn't shoehorn into their usual sets, Sean Johnston and Andrew Weatherall's creation has already gained a devoted following, refreshingly populated with as many punters over 40 as under 30, and has found a home in European cities and festivals alike.
For their Easter party, A Love From Outer Space enlisted a trio of equally talented DJs, with Ewan Pearson, Daniel Avery and Craig Bratley manning Corsica Studios' cozy second room. After a weekend of exertion, a room of people slowly nodding to low-tempo beats was a welcome scene to absorb. It was like dancing in molasses at first, but before long the floor was hypnotized in red and blue light under the solitary disco ball, the spartan beams lending proceedings an even more intimate feel. An imperceptible raising of tempo and temperature is what makes the atmosphere at A Love so tantilising—you can never quite capture the point of ignition, and when it happens, you're uncaringly lost in the moment.
There was a lot of excitement over Pearson's performance, and his epic opening track—Peter Horrevorts' "Siren"—set the scene for a cosmic two-hour set to rival his hosts. Flicking between analogue acid-flecked leads, his deft control was a glory to witness. When 3 AM hit, he closed with two monstrous tracks: Soulwax's mix of LCD Soundsystem's "Get Innocuous" and Luke Solomon's rework of Shit Robot's "Feels Real."
Any night curated by a musical chameleon like Andy Weatherall tends to feel multi-dimensional: plenty of seasoned artists do not put this much of their soul into a night. As a result, leaving A Love isn't easy. There's always time for one more drink and one more record as 6 AM looms into view. Walking out into the cold amongst mutterings of "amazing," "incredible" and "ridiculous," the adoration isn't misplaced.