Knoxville native Nikki Nair returns to London to seamlessly meld US and UK bass music.
This country has such a rich history of bass music that it sometimes gets forgotten that most of its influences are from elsewhere. There is now, however, a growing understanding of the debt that British bass music today owes to Caribbean Soundsystem culture, Northern Soul clubs and 80s electronic experimentation, among others. The debt owed to electronic dance music from the United States, on the other hand, is less acknowledged among UK bass music circles besides vague mumblings giving credit to Detroit house and techno when referring to the beginnings of UK club culture.
Nikki Nair’s mission then, over the course of nearly 6 hours, is to bridge the divide – and do so by blending styles from both sides of the Atlantic. To this end, he enlists a selection of top UK talents to, in back-to-back format, meld his own spectrum of US techno subgenres with various complimentary styles of UK techno.
The first impressions are mixed. The room at around midnight is still pretty empty. The cavernous, barn-like atmosphere of the venue does not lend itself to what seems like what should be something more intimate. High ceilings do not lend themselves to heavy bass music. Seeing Nair behind the decks, at this point unaccompanied, one gets the feeling that this may be a marathon not a sprint.
Bristol-based Dani Whylie is the first DJ to share the decks. The music at this point is, as it should be on nights like these, light and breezy to the extent that techno can be. The sprinkling of Nair’s heavier tunes, a taster of what is to come, is at this point conservative and deliberately selective.
The spectacularly named DJ Bus Replacement Service marks the turning point, and in fact heralds a not entirely pleasant change in atmosphere. The music becomes dark and sludgy. The BPM has not changed but the tunes certainly have. The crowd swells and becomes crowded. The security presence in the crowd has also become more pronounced. Suddenly, left and right, men in black puffer jackets with torches are lifting people from the crowd. Shouting and protestations abound. All the while, the music is becoming more and more claustrophobic.
Nair’s bridging mission, healing the great techno schism, is being complicated. By the time his set with DJ ADHD hits its stride and the night enters its final act, it’s a wonder there’s any crowd left.
The musical concept of the night is excellent, the execution of the sets are perfect. What lets the night down is nothing to do with Nair and everything to do with the venue itself and highlights the importance of finding the right spaces for events like these. By about 3AM, it seems like time to leave.
