Don’t Fuck With Our Love (Saturday, April 30, 2011)
After some whiskey at The Marksman, I made an impromptu decision to follow some friends down the road to the R&S Records night that I’d been eyeing the lineup for. I knew it was a good omen when we walked up to XOYO and saw that Space Dimension Controller was on the lineup, which I had completely forgotten about!
In the top bar area, Bullion was playing an incredibly eclectic set and not mixing records at all. It included everything from rare doo-wop to soul to more modern dance-y stuff, and cemented our crushes on him even further.
Downstairs, SDC went on at midnight, and started off playing super ‘80s style electro, even including Cybotron’s “Clear”. He then steered more in the direction of the sorts of tunes he’s best known for, which we decided should be called “futuristic tech house”. Overall I was really stoked to finally get to see him, after having recently failed at doing so.
Next, James Blake came on. I am a massive fan of his production work, and of his singing, and had also heard he’s an incredible DJ. What can’t this kid do?! Anyhow, it felt like a rite of passage for living in London to actually see him live. He started off with some lo-fi, minimal post-dubstep before getting into a more chopped n’ screwed aesthetic with Salem’s “Trapdoor”, then played an insane remix of “A Milli” that included loads of clicking noises, another insane remix, this time of “Ms. Jackson”, back to Salem (whoa) for “Redlights”, some old school grime, and then finished with Beyonce’s “Diva” and, finally, “Purple Rain” served straight up. AMAZING.
