ON THE FLOOR
the breaks in his tracks with ricocheting reverb. Featuring a vocal diatribe on one of his stripped-down tools on the nature of house, it’s pure body music. DJ Mag USA is soon lost in the groove — despite having just woken up. Settling on no more all-nighters in one spot lest they turn into all-dayers, we split our time with La Santanera where Harvey, enjoying a worldwide renaissance, is holding court in the dark downstairs room with bongo-driven disco, Danny Tenaglia watching from a seat in the corner. Beginning to feel refreshed, we again club-hop the next day, splitting our time between Gavin Herlihy playing for Culprit vs Leftroom at Mamita’s, his techy house punctuated by the old school electro of Hashim’s ‘Al- Naafiysh (The Soul)’, and Never Say Never next door where Cassy is pumping out techno, the bottom of her t-shirt just obscured by the decks — so we’re left with the defiant, but mysterious slogan, “Fuck the...” in view. She hands over to Sasha, epic trancey chords midway through his set a rushy, melodic counterpoint to all the bass- driven groove. Next door, meanwhile, Laura Jones is throwing down old school house organs, a techy remix of Romanthony’s ‘Let Me Show You Love’ winning the crowd. Back at La Santanera that night for Modern Love Affair, Miguel Campbell does another standout job, outshining Jamie Jones and Eli from Soul Clap, who have teamed up upstairs, with a set that includes Chromeo and warm filtered disco peppered with crowd-pleasing r&b and hip-hop re-edits. We’re not staying still for long though, watching Dixon expertly helm the Innervisions party at Coco Maya, his set taking the pace from soporific deep house to skipping garage, and we even pop in to see Thomas Gold next door, an animated crowd punching the air as he drops a remix of Daft Punk’s ‘Aerodynamic’.
THE DJ’S PERSPECTIVE
BPM 2013, PLAYA DEL CARMEN, MEXICO Seth Troxler & Guy Gerber
DJ Harvey
NICOLE MOUDABER
How was The BPM Festival for you? “Off the hook and can’t wait to be back again next year. The promoters were on point and the crowd ready and up for it, simply ‘muy caliente.’” Best BPM memory? “Just being able to hang out with everyone in the industry in a chilled atmosphere is very special.” Describe the BPM Festival in three words? “Pimiento, bass & drums.” Tune of BPM 2013? Nicole Moudaber - ‘Roar’ Breakthrough DJ/Producer of BPM 2013? “Nathan Barato.” What are you looking forward to most in 2013? “My Label MOOD is set to launch at the end of Feb and my album set to drop end of April on Drumcode. Exciting times. I’m also working on a collab with Adam Beyer.”
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Retreating to the beach the next day, hanging out on the peripheries of Lee Burridge’s All Day I Dream event, we save ourselves for Rebel Rave, which takes place at Blue Venado — an isolated club a short bus ride away. With a giant queue for the free bus, we accept the challenge of trying not to be over-charged by our taxi driver (failed) who drops us off at the top of a dirt track, the absence of light pollution unveiling the full majesty of the stars above. With rope swing chairs around the bar and giant cloth butterflies hanging from the ceiling, it’s as impressive a coup as you’d expect from Damian Lazarus. Subb-an warms up, at least until his Traktor cuts out, with tunes like Mike Dunn’s ‘Freaky MF’. The main act, however, is Masters At Work, the New York duo of Kenny Dope and ‘Lil’ Louie Vega, who hit us with a barrage of ‘90s and ‘00s classics, mixed in quick succession or already cut down into rapid-fire nuggets. Another over-charged taxi ride from the cartel of drivers who gather at the entrance to the club and we’re back on the main strip, Marco Carola somewhere in the final quarter of his eight-hour set at Blue Parrot, his own endurance behind the decks matched by the adamantly rooted dancers in front of him. Come final Sunday, crowds are slow to build, people perhaps weary from the previous week’s escapade, but by 6pm John Digweed is working the Kool Beach crowd — the busiest we’ve seen — with a giant Italo-sounding bassline, three dancers wearing a letter each from BPM on their heads hyping the crowd. Guy Gerber and Seth Troxler, running concurrently at Mamitas, are equally frantic in their last night assault, rapidly mixing in and then out of Sebo K’s ‘Mr Duke’ as a ‘Thank You’ air blimp veers precariously overhead. Bags packed and ready to leave, we spend our last dregs of energy watching Danny Tenaglia hammer out dark Twilo techno to Blue Parrot. With every bit of floor space and elevated surface covered by bodies, the last-gasp energy is palpable. With that, BPM 2013 is over. Except for the three-day after-party that happens in the beauty of nearby Tulum, a place that has some of the best beaches in the world, and hosts 32 DJs playing non-stop for three days. And of course Primovera, the organisers four-day April event for Mexican fans, plus soon — if all goes to plan — a European equivalent in an undisclosed country. In fact, like the music at the festival, BPM’s organisers never stop in their commitment to bring you the best DJs and labels they can. Now, someone pass them that glass pipe... JOE ROBERTS
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