My Nu Leng

Mint Lounge, Manchester | Thursday 26

For this month’s outing, the team behind Sick Chirpse joined forces with tattlers of bookings fresh, danceable and often legendary in the city Hit & Run, to cinch a night of screwfacing and (in)appropriate grinding with Bristol duo My Nu Leng.

As we walk through the maze-like corridors of Mint Lounge we’re gretted by the sound of Jonny Dub’s set. The boisterous arm jerking during Daphni’s Ye Ye, the eyes closed foot stomping in old school recognition of Wookie’s Battle Garage and beefy Danny Brown cuts are hardly obscure choices, but these well executed bangers cause a tangle of bodies writhing down the front, make this feel more like a party than a ticketed event. Besides, where else would you be able to shimmy to Tag Team’s Whoomp! There it is, before trying impress the nearest babe that you heard Blue Daisy’s Used To Give A Fuck six months ago, as it blasts out overhead so early on a Thursday night?

After a comedic performance from host Chimpo involving a confectionary necklace and some seriously poor aiming skills, proceedings only get even more peculiar when the monochrome uniformed Duo’s set (Tommy sported a Patta t-shirt, while Jammo represented Black Butter) was spun out of consummated mayhem. You can thank Daniel Bedingfield for assisting us in retracting our originally naive perceptions that this would be a firm set of chunky booming house, as early noughties guilty pleasures are cited as nothing to be ashamed of. Shimmering edits of Modjo’s Lady cause even the most stationary hips to swing in unison and speeding up Crystal Water’s Gypsy Woman into a repetitive oblivion is nothing short of brilliance. No mistake made, there are plenty of hefty 4/4 beats dropped in the form of Maya Jane Coles and Mosca releases that the audience go crazy for, as the familiar surfaces and merging some of the UK’s most loved classics from the likes of Dizzee Rascal and The Streets contribute in bringing back the rudeboys’ present to throw up the gun fingers with MC T-Man on stage. Bursting out with their influx of heavy duty bass and striking a chord that as a unit, these producers’ have an undeniable flair for their practice with daring selection, ensures that My Nu Leng were welcomed back with open arms to the city.

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Words: Leah Connolly