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PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2016 2:43 pm 
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Joined: Fri Aug 02, 2002 1:22 pm
Posts: 10011
Location: Pak Kok Village

Well. Xmas Season is fast approaching and Jim has spared absolutely no expense in putting together a stellar cast of DJs and fun loving party people for another tripped-out excursion upon The Wheels Of Steel. Up at Open Space, natch. I'm delighted to have been invited to partake in this adventure, having missed the last couple of shows because of...other reasons, I guess. Like laziness, sloth, idleness, inability to slip the surly bonds of inertia. Basically the Walk Up The Hill is a mini-Everest expedition. Not made easier by toting a big bag of CDs instead of the ubiquitous USB stick. Anyway, fuck this lame drivel. I've been asked to come up whenever. If I'm early, I can start proceedings off. If I'm later (which is the case) I get a random slot...

The Festivities run from 1630ish, 10/12/2016, to about 0830, 11/12/2016, and there's a splendiferous lineup of talent. Supposed to be 12 DJs performing. And me. Annapurna and Parksie are present. Tamara is there for a while. Caspar is tootling about in his usual exuberant mood. Quiet Tim, who has been hanging out at the back of Cath's Bar for the past few weeks, has made it up the hill. He does sterling work in procuring firewood to keep the barbecue going and warm up the surrounding environment.

I've arrived about 2000 hours and am given a 40 minute slot by Jim to wake people up and pave the way for the Superstar DJs to come. All of whom have checked their egos at the gate. My first surprise comes when Jim tells me that he's changed his CD decks around. They're the same brand that caused "my 'mare" at last year's Secret Island Party. This time I was better able to mix on them without too much hassle. I played some of NixMix 56 and introduced a digital-dub-meets-trance sort of vibe into my set. A popular tune was "Mushrooms" by (?), off a Global Trance compilation from the turn of The Millennium.

I'm followed on the decks by Ryoma, a Japanese DJ based in Macau. First time he's played here and his set is abso-fucking-lutely stunning. Starts off slow like 50's Country and Western twangy sounds and haunted feminine voices. Sort of a Patti Page drops acid and parties sort of vibe. It's a little disconcerting but very well arranged and his set grows thunderously. The mid point of his set is about 6-7 tunes which are global psychedelia at its wackiest and weirdest and wonderfullest. The voices are erupting from all corners of the room. And I'm still mind-blown as to how he's thrown the noises and FX all around the room like that...

Put simply, my analog CD set is a bit blurry. Not super clear sound. Put in visual terms as an example, I'm the tiny black-and-white tv set (about 2 inches wide) in the dashboard of a car. Can't see/hear much, but not bad. All the other DJs then unveil their huge 6-D spacetime, lysergically pulsing riots of colour shows on wall-to-wall panoramic cinema screen size tvs. That was my definition of the difference between me and the others. I don't mind though. I've got some good tunes as well. And I don't feel as I'm being humoured. Every DJ up at Open Space is chuffed to play with his peers and enjoy their musical concoctions. Egos are jettisoned at the door. It's One For All and All For One. And the wide ranging musical choices don't suffer at all.

Casey Anderson follows Ryoma. Casey played after me at the SIP where he set up live synths and drum machines and all manner of exotic noise making devices. I thought he was doing the same again tonight, but he told me later it was a DJ set, not a live instruments set. Two swoonfully blissed out instrumentals kick off his show. Like the most gorgeous parts of Vangelis and/or Giorgio Moroder in a way. Or mellow Kraftwerk. He gets tougher later on and uncorks a stunning tune with a refrain of "this is cocaine speaking". A cautionary tale in which hard-boiled vox seethe and stew. It's one of many highlights...

There's the Javon and Dieter Kunstschafter double-bill road show. Moving into more prog-tribal territory with some downbeat vocals. I like the way he layered a metallic sounding voice repeating "dawn is creaking" through at least three songs-cum-tunes. I was sitting in the right part of the room to hear everything unfolding, but there wasn't enough light to see what I was writing and I appear to have scribbled over my little nacreous pearls of wisdom and insight. Aah, fuck it. It was all enjoyable. The bar is doing good business outside. Tim is turning into Paul Bunyan and hand-dragging tree stumps and branches and other detritus more suitable to a Hollywood Oater back set up to Open Space to feed the fire.

Christian Is Back. He's been away for a while and it's a real pleasure to hear him do his set. He gets to play about three times over the night. He doesn't use Jim's computer CD decks. Preferring to play on the same decks I was using. I didn't realise that. One of his jump cut mixes was outrageously good. Changed the whole tempo and direction of the tune. No clue what the two pieces of music were. Christian later admitted that he's "not a laptop guy" which makes his sonic sorcery even more mind-blowing to hear and appreciate. He's been one of the mainstay stalwarts of HK's Underground music scene for a couple of decades and long may he reign. His sets get progressively darker and menacing. He Feeds My Head with whimsy and wonder and shows me in no uncertain terms how much more I can learn and improve.

I've had a wonderful time hogging the seat in front of the speakers and watching the magic unspool before me. I've also some delightful chats with the gorgeous blondes who are strutting their saucy stuff (almost in my face). They're all dancing up a storm and deserve their own introduction. So, here are Kitty and Freya and Josephine who are enjoying their debut gig at Open Space. Ladies, you all dance divinely and it was a sweet pleasure to chat with you later. And to have our photos taken together. You've got my email address. Please send the shots to me, so I can send them to Jim to accompany this story. And Josephine, extra-special thanks for your lovely comments about me. In Danish, but you translated them for me. I hope you all become fervent fans of the Lamma website and keep in touch.

It's getting quite early in the am. Jim has done a third turn on the decks. He's also played "Mushrooms" by (?). From the end of the third paragraph. But he also treated and fucked up the vocals and made the song sound darker and dirtier. 'grats on that one, old boy. You trumped my performance, but at least we both played the same good song. I finally get bak on the decks a bit before sun up and share a short set with youngster Gavin. Who seems to be the only other one using the computer CD decks tonight. He played some nice moody dark trance of sorts and I layered Halloween synthy goblins and ghoulie vox bites all over it. For about ten minutes or so. At about this time, it's light enough to walk home down the hill and I pack up my bits and bobs and return to Marilena who is still fast asleep. Drop most of my CDs at home. I realise at this point, I've left about ten or so up up the hill. I ask Jim to look out for them. He finds them and returns them all the next day. Happy ending on that. YAY!!

Finally, a personal note if I may. I want to extend blessings and happy thoughts to all my fellow members of The Eleventh Decemberists. There were at least two of us at the party and at least three more I know of, resident on Lamma. I hope we all had fun...

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