Sims / Degiorgio / Rolando @ Machine Pics

I’m the first to admit that it’s only been the past 18 months that I really started looking to techno, and even then only really looking back. And while it doesn’t give me the authority to talk about how it used to be, there’s already been a clear distinction between the artists and DJs who’ve been championing the sound from the start and the artists emerging from dubstep in to house and original Detroit sounds.

The gap between the two couldn’t have been any clearer on Friday night, as Ben Sims and  Kirk Degiorgio hosted the techno legend that is DJ Rolando for the second Machine night. To overuse some cliches; these guys lived it, and when they play there’s such an element of raw soul to it that’s so far removed from what your average clubber might consider techno music that it’s barely recognisable. Almost like it’s own underground secret of a scene within a scene.

I could bang on about the joy of seeing Rolando live, but it’s really not that sort of night with headliner vibe. Whilst it was a picturesque electronic moment to watch him rocking back and forth, lost in his own soundscapes, and pulling white labels and unmarked CDs, it was still just the one part of the synergetic night.

Sims and Degiorgio have been representing long enough to know how to rock a party, and the fact is that the music was just good ALL night. Tunes beautifully mixed in with analogue and new school sounds balanced, filtered and manipulated to escalate the party perfectly. Some of the old-school heads say that it’s a lost art-form, which I’ve never really been inclined to agree with, though I will say that I’ve not seen anything consistently done at this quality since the Planet E night earlier in the year, and before that not sure when. Maybe I’ve just not been going to enough techno nights to not know what I’ve been missing out on.

It’s my hope that Machine will bring back the trust in promoters that only a few nights maintain. To not worry about who’s the act they’ve flown in but just to turn up knowing it’s going to deliver. The ideology of the night is to play unreleased tracks or tracks under 12 months old, pushing the boundaries of new techno.

Big ups to everyone who had a hand in putting it on, and we look forward to the next one rumoured for October. Our photographer ending up having too much fun to pack a camera, so I ended up snapping some shots below. I’d definitely recommend checking Martin Lesanto-Smith’s pictures on Resident Advisor for something a bit more pro.