Set Reviews 3 : Recondite LIVE @ Abbatiale de Bernay for Cercle

The main thing that I like about this musical universe, is its diversity. Everybody can find something that they like, house music, tech-house, acid, new wave, techno, hardcore etc… And this is why I wanted to talk about a set with something a bit different from the last one I reviewed. 2018 has been a crazy year for Cercle, what an amazing expansion they got, continuing to improve months after months. They kept offering us some amazing venues like the Chateau de Fontainebleau or the Grand Palais in Paris, and most importantly, some quality tunes with the finest DJs you can find today! Once again, they didn’t disappoint; hosting Recondite Live at the Abbey of Bernay, in the North West of France.

I have been waiting for quite a while to see Recondite working with Cercle and the result is exactly as expected, outstanding! He is an artist that I really enjoy listening to, like a storyteller he’s capable of taking you on a musical journey. His tracks are deep, melodic and powerful at the same time, in addition to his amazing skills on the decks, all the right ingredients for you to get a beautiful ride.

*This image is the property of Cercle, taken from Recondite’s set posted on YouTube*

True to his style, Recondite takes us through a smooth and steady buildup throughout his set in a way that he perfected over the years. From the very beginning you could tell that the venue suits the artist perfectly, the journey begins smoothly with a steady beat and melodic cuts. He then drops one of his own masterpieces, Unterholz, a deep track with distinctive violin-like sonorities released on Plangent Records back in 2011.
The following track is one of my favorite that he released this year on Afterlife with Henrik Schwarz called Motion. This tune is great, first of all because it is the first collaboration between those two artists and secondly, because you can hear that this record is an amazing mix of their two styles.
Nevertheless, my highlight track of this set is Sol, that Recondite released on Dystopian last year, it’s a powerful yet intensely profound track that I really appreciate! There are other ear-catching tunes to highlight too; like Recondite’s Rainmaker released this year on a EP he made with Afterlife, or the catchy Equilibrium, released on Dystopian three years ago.

In my opinion, this performance is a masterpiece, the tracklist is close to perfect and you can see it by the way people are behaving in front of the artist. During this set, Recondite is flawless, deep, melodic, intense; everything needed to be considered as a great musical moment, perfect to enjoy while driving or after a long day at work! I highly recommend everyone to check it out!

Set Reviews 2 – THE TUNNEL : Charlotte de Witte

After DJ Hell’s review, there is a more recent set that I would like to talk about. It is with great pleasure that I discovered a concept called The Tunnel that Studio Brussels developed for their radio and YouTube channel where they invite artists to perform in their studio. Once again the Belgian talents arise with a good old Techno set by Charlotte de Witte.

What a year it has been for the Belgian techno scene, with the uprising of artists such as Amelie Lens who launched her own label Lenske this year, Farrago or Charlotte de Witte and some promising talents like JoyHauser, that just signed a 4 tracker EP on Monika Kruse‘s label Terminal Records.
Charlotte de Witte is playing at festivals and clubs around the world like Awakenings, Sónar or Pukkelpop and continues to develop her productions, with the releasing of her tracks on labels like Drumcode and Suara this year.

Picture by Rouven Kirchhoff – The picture is the property of Charlotte de Witte, taken from her Facebook account

As expected, Charlotte de Witte starts her set with a deep yet powerful banger, Soliloquy by Ben Gibson, released last week on Informa Records; which is, in my opinion, a great track to start her set. Like she does best, after a good buildup in intensity, she switches to banging Acid Techno and plays Astral by Julian Jeweil releasing on the 7th of January next year on Drumcode Records.
There are a lot of tracks that I really enjoyed during her performance like the jacking and industrial Unsual Signs by Marco Effe, released on Planet Rythm or the acidic Pulse by Sam Paganini released on Jam. But I think my highlight moment of this set is when she drops Nation of Cyborgs by Alexia.K, released on Planet Underground this November as the second last track, perfect to start the closing of this performance.

I think this set has a great track list, Charlotte de Witte was focused and flawless during the whole hour, giving us a proper intense set with amazing variations; perfect to listen before going out or to get pumped up for the day! I highly recommend everyone to check it out!

Set Reviews 1 – DJ Hell @ Funkhaus Berlin for ARTE Concert

In order to celebrate the 30 years of Techno in Berlin, the french-german TV channel ARTE organized a couple of DJ Sets in the iconic Funkhaus Berlin. Artists such as Nina Kraviz, Antigone, Matthew Johnson, Radio Slave or DJ Hell all came together to celebrate the anniversary of Techno in one of the capitals of underground music. In my opinion, DJ Hell’s set really distinguished itself from the others.

For those who don’t know him (and I think every Techno lover should); he started working as a DJ in 1983 at Club Libella in Kirchweidach, near his hometown in Germany where he started mixing various styles such as Ska, Hip-Hop or New Wave. He later became one of the first House DJs in Germany by performing at Acid-House parties around Munich, he then became Ultraschall’s resident DJ, one of Munich’s first Techno clubs situated on the former site of Munich-Riem Airport. Finally, he had residencies in some of the best clubs in Berlin such as the Watergate or Tresor in the 90s and 00s. He used to be one of Laurent Garnier‘s main inspiration too, the fact that he is considered as a legend, by the french techno legend, truly shows you how important DJ Hell was (and still is today) vital for the development of underground music.

This image is the property of ARTE Concert, taken from DJ Hell’s set posted on youtube

During his set at Funkhaus, he takes you on a musical journey throughout various styles, starting with some tribal flair and some vocals from the track BOg by Shila, released on Monaberry earlier this year. He continues his set with melodic variations of some raw tunes like Drumtik by Blacktik released on DJ Hell’s own label, International Deejay Gigolo Records or even Danny Tenaglia‘s Edit of Save The Planet Kill Yourself by Chris Korda originally released on Kevorkian Records back in 1993.
The set goes on flawlessly, perfectly handled by the Munich Machine, with some proper Techno mixed with some deep vocals and interesting kicks, for example with the track Ride the Flow by Namito and DJQ released on Kling Klong in 2015.

I was really happy that an icon like DJ Hell played for such an event and delivered this gem of a set; he is one of the pioneers of the techno culture in Germany and a real legend in this industry, without him Techno would probably be very different today, thank you for all those years DJ Hell! I am really looking forward to listening to his future sets, all hail the Munich Machine!