Crack

The Hessle Audio showcase rolled into Motion for one of the most anticipated parties of the In:Motion season, and certainly one of the most cutting edge. In a short space of time, the Hessle label fronted by Ramadanman/Pearson Sound, Pangea and Ben UFO has become one of the hottest in the UK, and in the process propelled its founders into significant limelight. It’s a credit to the bookers for taking a chance on a relatively fledgling label, and they’ve been rewarded with a sell-out.

Pearson Sound in particular, has become a producer whose signature style has seen him release a superb Fabric CD and be personally selected to remix Radiohead on their prestigious recent TKOL remix compilation. The Hessle Main Room boasts ol’ Ramadan himself plus the two other Hessle founders, as well as man of the moment Jamie XX … but first up, Jamie Woon.

Billed as the special guest live act, his debut album, Mirrorwriting, has propelled him into the big boys’ league, but we were always a bit dubious about Jamie. His performance tonight amounts of an unnamed man backing his milky-smooth R’n’B vocals by controlling the bass levels. As far as we could make out that was it. A truly uninspiring, uncaptivating performance, Woon’s efforts amounted to basslines with live karaoke. Live? Try again son.

This conveniently gave us the opportunity to go to Room Two and check out the Idle Hands boys, who we found in a refreshingly contemporary frame of mind. Tech-house, groove-house, odd-house and straight up hard techno, 95% of which had never passed the ears of Crack, reflected the knowledge of a room hosted by a record shop. Standout sets from Chris Farrell playing alongside Crack feature star Kowton, October and then some truly nasty sounds from the Kelly Twins, showcasing a sound far removed from their frequent R’n’B sets, meant we returned to The Tunnel room over and over again during the course of the night. These boys are truly at the cutting edge of pretty much everything we like electronically at the moment.

Pearson Sound (or whatever Islamic jihadists are forcing him to be called these days) delivered a superb set full of wild dubby British tech-step and two-step in Motion’s vastly, vastly improved main room. Visually superb, there is no doubt the scale of the operation put together for the In:Motion season this year has been raised a notch or two, with extra lighting and an eye-catching speaker arrangement on the main stage.

Headliner Jamie xx continues to defy and confound with a heavy, heavy house set far removed from the sparse sounds for which he has become renowned. Nods to Bristol house producers of the moment Waifs And Strays, and even Berlin techno experimentalist Robag Wruhme, showcases Mr xx as a varied and studious selector. He is a consistently interesting artist and keeps the main room ticking over, which is then further compounded by a raucous hour from Ben UFO, who steps the intensity up further. Occasionally overlooked due to being a pure DJ rather than incorporating his own productions, he is the unsung Hessle hero and one of the best in the business.

Tonight is a massive showcase for how bastardised British electronic music has become in recent times, and how forward-thinking and boundary-pushing this current crop of British electronic producers are. Trying to assimilate the range of sounds on show means Crack leaves a buzzing Motion in an inspired frame of mind.

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Photos: Ben Price

http://benjaminprice.carbonmade.com/

http://www.bristolinmotion.com/

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