Special guest Symmetrical (Nuestro Futuro Records Detroit / Fractal Love DC) joined residents Andy Grant, Ramirez & Katrina Mir for episode 106 of the DC House Grooves Show on Underground Quality Radio. Three hours of quality underground grooves served up fresh from the wax.
Didn’t get a full track list for this one, but here are the tracks Andy played:
Coflo – FM On Tha Rawks (Slowly Losing It) Steve O’Sullivan, Thomas Melchior – Spirit Funk (Sushitech) Solomonic Sound – Children Of Israel (Dub) (Worship Recordings) DJ Duke – Green Pastures (Solo Works Records) Solid Gold Playaz – Do You Think? (Freerange Records) DJ Technics – Clair (Take Two) (World Building) Stefan Ringer – B2 FWM 006 (FWM Entertainment Test) Kako – Samson (Slowly Losing It)
I’m a regular at the Headroom workshops held on Flash’s main floor once a month. It’s a chance for local producers to play their works-in-progress on an excellent sound system and get feedback from their peers. I don’t produce or DJ, but I like to hear what’s new and it’s a good place to network. This party was a chance for Headroom producers to show off their chops, and damn it was fun.
I was late getting out the door and parking on a Sunday was trickier than expected, so I missed a chunk of DJ Winterman‘s set. When I came in, he was running smooth and energetic. Later he hit us with breaks and drum & bass.
The night was a sampler pack of styles, just as the Headroom workshops are. The audience came and went over the course of the night, but it was a great assortment of DC producers and DJs.
District & Circle laid down just good old house music, including some samples from classic Cypress Hill. Nebo slowed down the pace with a live set of contemplative piano, live guitar, and vocals. Lovely set. It was the calm before the storm.
Symmetrical hit his custom rig for a live set and kept on hitting it, he said later, because parts kept fritzing out. His sets are always lively but this one was the wildest mad-scientist techno I’ve heard him crank out. And he was deep in it, too, riding the storm.
Darius Twin took over next and piloted us out with smooth, hard techno. It was almost relaxing. JP Jed continued the techno grind, dropping one of his own tracks quite perfectly into the mix. And then Sid Waters smoothed us all down with some heavy trance. An excellent way to end the night, and it fulfilled my recurring “problem” with Ten Tigers: I always end up staying later than I meant to.
It was a long show, and on a Sunday, but no regrets. Here’s to hoping this becomes a tradition.
Wednesday nights. The final frontier. DC’s scene is already home to a four-day weekend every weekend and plenty of events each of those days. But what’s out there for music heads on a Wednesday night?
This installment of Tiger Bomb at Ten Tigers featured Symmetrical, Ben Jenkins, and Keenan Orr throwing down an eclectic mix of tracks.
I met Symmetrical a surprisingly long time ago but it’s only in the last couple years that he’s been climbing the DJ ladder here in DC. Now, my tastes don’t always line up with Symmetrical’s but when they do, he hits it really well. And if there’s one thing you cannot doubt about him, it’s his passion.
Well, he was mixing the hell out of everything tonight. I hope I’ve got correct IDs on his track in the sample playlist! Symmetrical kept it funky, infectious, and high energy.
Ben Jenkins, I know from the techno scene where he’s always been very flexible in style — ranging from harder beats all the way to ambient. His turn at the decks smoothed out the beat and then led us into techno territory.
I didn’t catch enough of Keenan’s set to comment on it. A full review will have to wait for some other show.
Overall, Tiger Bomb was energetic to get you over your hump day and start thinking about the coming weekend. Keep an eye on the weekly lineup for what fits your style best.
