A selection of 360° panoramic photos of the Warp20 (Sheffield) gig at Magna. Stunning venue, great soundsystem and lighting, and superb music from 20 years of Warp artists. A night of unbridled quality in Warp’s former home city.
Firstly, two shots of Scotland’s most talked about hip hop producer, Hudson Mohawke, whose debut album ‘Butter’ is released on Warp Records in October. Believe the buzz surrounding him, this guy has more talent than his years might suggest; and his bass heavy, wonky, glitchy, electronic hip-hop electronic sound (and visuals) tore it up. The album should be a belter…
Secondly, label stalwart Squarepusher raised the pace and ripped up the place with an exclusive solo set of dancefloor-orientated tracks. Micro-processed amen breaks, thumping 4/4 beats and neon-drenched acid and bass, enfused with a frenetic funkiness I’ve not heard from the man in years.
Finally Andrew Weatherall, the chairman himself, on the decks for a set of perfectly chosen and mixed warehouse classics. Wall-to-wall acid house, bleep techno and other tracks ideally suited to playing in a giant former steelworks in front of 3000 people. Probably the highlight of my night was when he dropped LFO vs FUSE’s ‘Loop’ over the top of the David Holmes remix Sabres of Paradises’s “Smokebelch II”. The roof nearly came off the building. He may be a DJ and producer with few peers, but Weatherall’s breadth of musical taste is so widely varying you never quite know what you’ll get when you see him play: however this ranks as one of the very best sets I’ve heard him play in the last 15+ years. Especially good to photograph him again almost a year after his appearance at Autodisco, when I wasn’t able to shoot a pano as it was just too dark.
Honourable mentions also go to Harmonic 313, Nightmares on Wax, Clark and Forgemasters, who all also played (and rocked it) on the night; and special thanks to the Warp staff for making this happen.
