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Features
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| Introducing NEM3SI$’s new label Infinite Resistance! | | Mindbenderz talk ‘Lord of the Rings’ and fishing, as well as the creation of their new album ‘Celestial Gateway’! | | Iono-Music artists One Function, Eliyahu, Invisible Reality and Dual Vision talk Robert Miles, kids, dogs and vinyl, while we chat about their current releases! | | Luke&Flex talk influences, the Irish rave scene, why Flex wears a mask and Play Hard, their new EP out now on Onhcet Repbulik Xtreme! | | Lyktum expands on his new album ‘Home’ – talking about his love of storytelling, creating new harmonies and the concept behind his musical works. | | Pan talks getting caught short crossing the Sahara, acid eyeballs and tells us Trance is the Answer, plus shares his thoughts on his latest release 'Beyond the Horizon' - all from a beach in Spain! | | Miss C chats about living with the KLF, DJing in a huge cat’s mouth, training her brain and the upcoming super-duper Superfreq Grande party at LDN East this Saturday, 16th September! | | NEM3SI$ - I Live for the Night – talks superficiality, psychopaths, and bittersweet success, ahead of a plethora of evocative, emotional, and passionate upcoming melodic techno releases! | | Psy-Sisters Spring Blast Off! We talk to DJ competition winner ROEN along with other super talents on the lineup! | | Blasting towards summer festivals with Bahar Canca ahead of Psy-Sisters Spring Blast! | | Shyisma talks parties, UFO's, and Shotokan Karate ahead of his upcoming album 'Particles' on Iono-Music! | | SOME1 talks family, acid, stage fright and wolves - ahead of his upcoming album release ‘Voyager’ on Iono-Music in February 2023! | | The Transmission Crew tell all and talk about their first London event on 24th February 2023! | | NIXIRO talks body, mind and music production ahead of his release 'Planet Impulse' on Static Movement's label - Sol Music! | | Turning the world into a fairy tale with Ivy Orth ahead of Tribal Village’s 10th Birthday Anniversary Presents: The World Lounge Project | | The Psy-Sisters chat about music, achievements, aspirations and the 10-Year Anniversary Party - 18/12/22! | | A decade of dance music with Daniel Lesden | | Earth Needs a Rebirth! Discussions with Psy-Trance Artist Numayma | | Taking a Journey Through Time with Domino | | New Techno Rising Star DKLUB talks about his debut release White Rock on Onhcet Republik! | | PAN expands on many things including his new album 'Hyperbolic Oxymoron' due for release on the 14th April 2022 on PsyWorld Records! | | Psibindi talks all things music including her new collaborative EP 'Sentient Rays' on Aphid Records, her band Sentience Machine and 10 years of Psy-Sisters! | | N-Kore talks Jean-Michel Jarre, unfinished tracks and fatherhood! | | Celebrating International Women’s Day and Ten Years of Psy-Sisters with Amaluna |
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Convergence @ The Fridge
Reported by Spacehog
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Submitted 11-04-03 09:32
Mention Karim to some people and their minds immediately swell with blissful images of aural heaven, paradise and Nirvana. To others, the very idea of Karim conjures up thoughts of pneumatic drills, bleeding ears and incurable headaches. And that is what makes Karim stand out so much in our ‘hard dance’ scene today and that is what makes him great – either you LOVE his style, or you HATE it.
I have never heard anyone say “He’s alright” or, “I don’t really mind” when discussing a Karim set – there is no room for sitting on the fence when he sets foot in the DJ booth and the rolling basslines kick-off.
Take this conversation, for example, which I had overheard earlier in the night:
“Why is it that the hard stuff only sounds good when Karim plays it?”
“Magic!… You got a spare fag?"
Admittedly, it wasn’t a very long conversation, but in precision came truth.
Frantic have taken note of this, and while this edition of Convergence was to be a celebration of Karim, being shown up was the last thing on the minds of the other DJs playing there….
Convergence is, and always has been (as those who remember the events at Crash can testify to), one of Frantic’s eldest and best spin-off nights. The music is geared towards new releases and productions fresh on the acetate and generally with a harder edge. The line-up for this night – ‘The Harder They Come’ - was one of the more interesting and versatile to date, with a few of those playing not being able to claim regular, weekly appearances in London.
Guffy is a DJ who Frantic have been putting a lot of faith in recently, and his progress is something that I have kept my eyes (and ears) on. Brought in to give Frantic more options with the early time-slots in a night (and at last freeing up Steve Hill to get some late night action himself?), Guffy brings control and pace to his warm-up sets, which I for one, gladly welcome. His funky, groovy, riff-filled set at Convergence only confirmed why he has just been awarded with a Frantic residency.
Glasgow Superclub Inside Out is on the expansion up in the Scottish city with gigs now at the Glasgow Academy as well as The Arches, and with the likes of Fergie, M.I.K.E. (Push) and the mighty Tiesto having all played at recent events. It’s therefore good to see what they themselves have to offer, with ‘Inside Out’ resident Simon Foy taking over from Guffy, furthering Frantic’s effort to bring in to London talent that is rarely heard down here.
He opened with the awesome ‘Scratch ‘N’ Breaks’ mix of ‘The Sound’ by The Disco Brothers, and his set progressed a notch higher without yet hitting too much of the hard stuff. After a good helping of his set I decided it was time to go and shoehorn myself into Room 2 (formerly known as Le Café) in preparation for Karim: Episode One.
In the meantime, Donna Birt was halfway through her set in there and continuing in her rise in London’s hard dance scene, having already played the mainrooms at the Camden Palace and The Fridge, displaying a potential that matches her undoubted determination.
I immediately spied some familiar faces, the same ones that I always see ‘at the front’ whenever Karim is on. We were all already sweating anticipation as well as sweating generally in this broom-cupboard of a room, as Donna’s set made me wish I’d walked in for the beginning of it. Peaking just at the right time with some great current tunes as well as some classic oldies like her finale, ‘My Definition’ by DJ Pure – in her own words, “Something a bit filthy”.
Funnily enough, ‘Filthy’ is the most often quoted word that I have heard used to describe Karim’s music. Filthier than the lavatories of Cardboard City, you might say. I have no idea where this expression came from, or what it is supposed to actually imply, but it sounds just right. So here I was, getting down to some pure and utter filth as Karim blasted out his mix of ‘Let’s Rock’, ‘Black Dogs’, ‘Age of Love’ as well as his own ‘Cheap Rent’, ‘Begonia’ and that cranky ‘I Got the Power’ tune…
However, I must admit an act of high treason about 5 whole minutes before the end of his set – I left. This had nothing to do with the tunage, but all to do with the room it was being played in. I had my reservations about this being converted in to a second room for music when I first heard about the initial plans, and to be honest, now I’ve been in there a few times, I think it is a waste of time.
No air, poor sound quality, and so narrow that Jo Brand would barely be able to do a 360 degree turn, I don’t think I even breathed in any actual oxygen while I was in there either. With all that sweat, suffocation, being stamped on, elbowed and rubbed up against by soaking-wet, bare-chested blokes, I may as well have gone out for a Friday night at a Turkish sauna (Note: Surely that kind of fun is reserved for de-stressing during midweek?).
There are many people who enjoy that room and are glad that it can now be used for music. I also know that a club with more than one arena for music is commercially a lot more marketable, but I would be hard-pushed top say that the room ‘has potential’. Stepping back out in to the mainroom was like setting foot on another [oxygen filled] planet: Bring back Le Café!
The gorgeous fresh air that I was now inhaling initially made me think I was having a ‘giddy turn’. I was hearing some strange sounds and couldn’t quite relate them to the night I was at. Things like “Yo’ MC says ‘Anyone from London, England?’” and “Everybody say Ho!” kept bellowing from the speakers. Then I realised everyone else was hearing the same thing and all that chin-scratching around me was because Energy Dai was now playing the mainroom. By this time the music needed to be up a few gears, especially for a ‘Convergence’, but sadly it was a little too flat on this occasion.
The ever-reliable Phil Reynolds was up next before the main set of the night – the Karim and Paul Glazby B2B. Fans of these two were treated to this B2B combo only a couple of weeks previously at Riot! and were not left disappointed this time around either. Loads of old classics mixed in with brand new tracks from both men, culminating in RR Fierce’s ‘Yamamba’.
It was at this point that I also bumped into HarderFaster’s Editor-In-Chief by the bar (which, having been done-up, looks 100 times better), whom I was very surprised to see, as he had previously declared that he’d “rather spend the night washing his hair” than attend this Convergence. When I enquired as to what he thought of the music he gave the kind of smile that a lead actor of a play gives on stage midway through the key act just as he is about to immediately and unavoidably shit in his pants. Like I said, Karim isn’t everyone’s cup of chai.
BK closed the evening with a great set which showcased a lot of new work. I have yet to identify which of his new tunes is the follow-up to ‘Revolution’ so cannot give an opinion on whether it is “Even better” or “Cheesy nonsense made with Radio 1 in mind” – two opinions I have had expressed to me with equal glee. I’m guessing it has elements of both.
An event that delivered what it promised - a DJ line-up that was fresh and different as much as it was solid and trustworthy. Don't go expecting extravagant décor, or people to be handing out free bananas, but if the names on the flyer gets your juices flowing and puts you in the mood for some no-nonsense stomping, then Convergence is a party that will more than satisfy you.
With thanks to AbFab for the use of his photos 
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Other Features By Spacehog:
KARIM - Exclusive Interview!
becomeone NYE @ (Sub) Logic
Tasty presents Total Recall 2 @ The Fridge
Riot! @ The End
The views and opinions expressed in this review are strictly those of the author only for which HarderFaster will not be held responsible or liable.
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Bloody artistic license 
@ tom.