A night with.......Sebo K

As a concept I like ‘a night with.. . .’ one DJ all night long. The idea that the artist takes you on a 8 hour musical journey, an daunting concept but a vision that works. Previous showcases have included Michael Mayer, Tobi Neumann, Magda and Tiefschwarze. Magda has stated it was the best party in Europe and while the notion stands it has yet to be proved wrong, which brings me to the present ‘A night with……Sebo K.’

Usually held at venues like The Victorian Basement on Great Eastern Street, this month ‘a night with’ re-locates to Basing House.

Basing House was voted 2011’s best London venue and this was to be my first visit at this reputable setting.

We arrive to be jolted into the main queue; apparently there is no separate queue for the guest list. What is the point of being on the guestlist if it is not to skip the queue at least?! After what seemed an unnecessary period of waiting we finally enter London’s No1 venue, and proceed down the stairs into a very busy atmosphere. I admit the hustle and bustle of the venue took me by surprise and unfortunately was extremely disappointing as it is usually quite relaxed and chic event. Also one thing that ‘a night with….’ usually boasts is a crowd that are there for one shared reason, to see the specified DJ, this one, however was quite the opposite. It seemed definitely an audience that were not familiar with either the concept of the ‘night’ or even the DJ itself. Basing house with the Basing crew! A shame really.

The man from Mobilee is known for incorporating tech house and vintage dance music and to be quite frank delivered an impeccable set. Throughout the night all genres of electronic music were visited. Starting off with Chicago house then into the more European tech/minimal sounds and then coming down into the more funky grooves. There was a element of Kenny Larkins remix of Kevin Saunderson/Inner city's new release, 'Future' and around the 5am mark the majority of the Basing crew had been filtered out leaving the true fans to join together for one big party.

The last hour, as expected was brilliant, featuring Tom Trago 'Use me again' and finally ending with Chic 'I want your love' a fantastic way to end a fantastic 8 hours. Well done Sebo K. I would happily do it all over again and can't wait for the next ‘A night with……M.A.N.D.Y.’ One thing though, let’s stay underground. It’s a great party with a great concept that doesn’t need to be ruined by oblivious individuals.

Down Under Review

As a Soul fan, I moved to London in 2004 new to the underground scene of electronic music but soon found a space in my heart ready to receive and accept this new genre of music. I found that being introduced to the harmonious dance tracks produced by Valantino Kanzyani was a nice way to ease into the more techno rhythms one hears on a night out. 8 years on however, and fully immersed in the electronic music scene, I was drawn to The Hub Studios next to Hackney Wick station for the ‘Down Under’ party with the prestigious Valentine Kanzyani as guest, alongside PRASLEA from a:rpr:ia . Merry after a few Christmas cocktails we reached our ‘secret warehouse location’ and after being warned by an acquaintance that we won’t need the cloakroom, continued to put out jackets in anyway and headed to the bar to continue our Christmas festivities. Cold doesn’t even begin to describe it; freezing would be a more accurate description! However our notion that the more we drank, the warmer we would become, seemed effective and we persisted with this method of retaining warmth throughout the night.

The Hub Studios seems to be the new ‘it’ venue where various parties such as Day Moon and Muak have been held. It is an intimate space that was ideal for this occasion, the only thing I can fault is the temperature (pre-drinks) and perhaps the location, as it could be much further to travel than your usual warehouse venue.

Made up of regulars to small knit parties the crowd where a pleasure to be with and gave the event more of a party vibe than the intensity of a warehouse rave. Kanzyani played a fairly non-substantial set that unfortunately didn’t really live up to the expectation. However, he was shortly followed by a back to back set from PRASLEA and Kanzyani that saw us through the rest of the night and this more than made up for it. There was distant inclusion of the melodious track ‘Flying’ from Kanzyani’s label ‘Jesus Loved You’, coupled with the familiar minimal undertones from PRASLEA which was delightful and gave a feeling of sentiment to the occasion, like hearing the voice of an old friend.

On the whole Down Under delivered a fun party to kick off the Christmas festivities and it more than fulfilled us on a night out. I am looking forward to the next one.

Chloe 'Watch Out' EP Review on Bpitch control

Usually releasing tracks on her own label ‘Kill the DJ,’ Chloe has now returned to Ellen Allien’s label Bpitch Control, an EP that is exactly what you would expect from the Parisian DJ.

Chloe has definitely excelled in hitting the chords that require you to move when hearing her tracks on the dance floor especially with ‘Chatterbox.’ With all three tracks delivering relentless techno sounds, your imagination runs away with you and ‘The Shift’ in your ear canals could almost teleport yourself back to Rex Club where Chloe is resident. There are dirty deep sounding lyrics in ‘Watch out’ that literally make you want to ‘watch out’ as you become more and more convinced that the answer to your problems is booking a flight to Paris to see her at Open House on the 17^th.

Berlin Calling

Beauty in sound resonates from memory as a result of our recent trip to Berlin. Surprisingly, such depth in music came from emerging artists and dj’s, while the well-established Plastikman offered an unrefined (the sound quality at Bermuda was arguably to blame in part) dose of some of the most profound sounds in techno. Disappointing! So to London, and Plastikman’s performance at Brixton Academy on Saturday, and sheer over-grounding made the artist, again, difficult to appreciate. But I’m sure it’s down to sound. When we heard Richie Hawtin perform as Plastikman in Frankfurt earlier this year, the set was consummate in its ability to transfer significant emotion across a huge audience. It was a real experience, a musical journey that was never before heard and we found ourselves in a state of awe as visual and sound joined forces to create an unforgettable experience. So naturally Berlin calling and yet again were drawn to Bermuda festival ready for another in-awe experience with Plastikman. Now in Brixton, having heard Plastikman in an environment better equipped to transfer his tracks then Bermuda (better speakers basically), London was busy, and even Plastikman couldn’t overcome this fact. There was little opportunity for us to lose ourselves in the music.

'Are we really getting old?' Post party questions, surely not. But as each party comes and goes there is little left with excitement and satisfaction. Undeniably, tracks of Plastikman musically fulfill your needs but anyone can play your favourite tracks, there just didn't seem to be any variety in all three sets that we have seen. A friend argued that we already knew what to expect, perhaps this was the case, but why should that be an excuse? A musical genius; Plastikman should really be giving each set a variety of tracks that encompasses all of his albums, he should also be taking into consideration that avid fans are likely to attend more than one showcase. Unfortunately this is not the case and both Bermuda and Brixton were as predicted, a replica on the first show. Interestingly enough the review on Resident Advisor seemed to have a similar opinions to ourselves which only confirmed our thoughts. Not what you would expect from someone trying to expand their technical horizons. It's not just about advancing in music, it is also about advancing in quality. Let's hope he doesn't forget his originality in February!

Mathew Jonson Podcast Review

There is nothing I love more then downloading a new podcast, it being so good that the repeat icon is tapped on the touch and the same set rings in your head indefinately.

Listening to the Mathew Jonson Podcast on Resident Advisor is something that needs to be done with ones full undivided attention. Let this be a warning to you all, you don’t want to be taken by surprise when the deep soulful sounds start to clutch at your soul unexpectedly.

Mathew Jonson envelopes the mind taking you to an unexpected journey of the unknown,
starting off with the undoubted sound of ‘symphony of the apocalypse,’ that distant
reverberation embraces your concentration like a string to a kitten. Five minutes in and one already knows that life has stopped, well for that hour at least!

Jonson’s own label Wagon Repair contains the likes of current group Cobblestone Jazz,
as well as the artist himself, and sees its own take on electronic music ranging from
tracks prepared in the past present and future. The historical elements of ‘marionette’ and ‘decompression’ make their overwhelming presence in the set which was recorded live in 2010, at Labyrinth Festival, Tokyo Jonson’s favourite festival.

This being said one can only expect great things from Mathew Jonson and the resident advisor podcast exceeds expectations!

If you haven't listened to it yet then I would suggest in doing so! It's not one to be missed!

Welcome Speech

In case you were wondering what the hell we're on about here's a little entree!

If your are not familiar with the term 'People like them' it is a name used to refer to the high societies of London in the Sunday Times Style Magazine.

We have decided to take a different approach with 'People like them,' defining ourselves as the original 'PLT.' Using examples of escapades we endeavour, PLT thrives on informing you with the latest updates from our 'high profile' and humourous lives as well as PLT's thoughts and opinions on the creatives!

We hope you enjoy!

Wine out of Plastic Bottles

I was drinking red wine from a plastic bottle around East London, really Shoreditch like, for want of escaping the horrors of the smokers queue outside Vendome in Mayfair. Over-populated with Select models glaring through a theatrical haze; they don't inhale. I felt vacuous, in need of a bit of rough. So it was, I stumbled across Vice Magazine's launch night at The Old Blue. Feeling all the more vacuous for it being near empty- with that "last-orders!" foreboding one detests- I continued to stumble (you don't know when you've had enough until you've had more than enough is our philosophy) into a fellow from Arts London. I was invited to take mephedrone into the wee hours as he rubbed fingers through a greasy mop. Ah the contrast. Just what was needed. But in the end I settled on a one-piece from Perfect Fried Chicken on the East India.