R&S Records Presents // Warehouse Project

Over the last few years R&S have been re-establishing themselves at the forefront of techno and experimental electronica, pushing forward the likes of Blawan, James Blake, Untold, Space Dimension Controller and Pariah just to name a few. however the lineup for their curated warehouse project, took into account not only the current London based incarnation of R&S, but also payed homage to the classic techno sounds of the original Belgian label, namely via legendary names such as  Andrew Weatherall & Optimo Espacio.

After a relatively late start, largely due to the amount of kit they needed to set up, Mount Kimbie took to the room one stage, presenting an excellent live formulation of their most successful tracks, such as ‘Mayor’ and ‘Carbonated’. I had been hoping to hear some new work from the London based duo, however they apologetically announced that their new work is still very much in the development process and would probably require more band members to perform which was a shame. Despite this I got the impression that Mount Kimbie’s live sets are developing leaps and bounds, with clever blends between songs, drifting somewhere between a mix and a band performance. However the incontestable highlight of Mount Kimbie’s set had to have been at the end when they welcomed James Blake onto the stage to perform an epic formulation of ‘Maybes’ perhaps the bands most influential track. Having previously performed with Mount Kimbie in the early days of their live shows, it was clear that the two acts are still extremely cohesive.

This led nicely into Blake’s own live set with a significantly quicker setup time. I had previously been unsure as to how Blake’s live show would go down in a club environment, as much of his singer songwriter project is significantly more downtempo. However I was impressed to see that this had obviously been taken into careful consideration, and tracks such as ‘I Never Learnt To Share’ seemed to have been given a welcome boost to make them that much more dancefloor friendly.

I was however dragged away mid way through James Blakes live set by the lure of Blawan and Pariah in room two. The pair who have recently joined forces for a project titled ‘Karenn’ were both representing their own sounds and influences, bringing to the palette a broad spectrum of House, Garage & Techno. Progressing on from this, Hemlock co-owner & Producer ‘Untold’ was next to step up to the decks, playing one of the strongest techno/dubstep sets I’ve heard.

Finishing off the night in room one was Andrew Weatherall, a name i’m ashamed to say I was barely familiar with prior to the event. During his lengthy career Weatherall has worked  alongside legendary names such as Paul Oakenfold and Danny Rampling. He is also responsible for setting up the ‘Sabre’s of Paradise’ label and has had his own works released on high status labels such as Warp Records with collaborative projects such as ‘Two Lone Swordsmen’. Playing for several hours Weatherall’s seemingly covered only a small selection of tracks to absolutely no detriment, manipulating the audience with sublimely created breakdowns and buildups.

Over the last few months Warehouse project have been putting together some of the biggest nights in the UK, hosting the likes of Aphex Twin, Zomby and Hudson Mohawke all in one lineup earlier this month. Mindblowing lineups like this, coupled with its stylish underground aesthetic means Warehouse Project is well worth a visit.

• Published
• Dec 2, 2011

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