Review: THEM @ Corsica Studios

THEM took over Corsica Studios on Saturday night with a line up that promised an amazing night! They had brought in Kuedo (the new hip-hop alias of dubstep veteran Jamie Vex'd), Boxcutter, Hyetal, Shortstuff, Slugabed and more to provide the soundtrack so the line up didn't leave anything to be desired (or so it seemed)! We got to the club at about midnight and (after paying £9 concessions :-/) I was surprised that the club was virtually empty, with resident SDUK playing to a crowd of less than 10! However, given the line up this obviously wasn't going to last and sure enough the club filled slowly but surely.

After SDUK, his last tune being the superb 'CYMK' from James Blake (forthcoming R&S May 2010) was Slugabed, been a fan of his for a while his sound for some is too glitchy but i thorouhly enjoyed with heavier tunes such as his on 'Donkey Stomp' (he said it was forthcoming) and Eprom's 'Face Melter' . That far end of the glitch-hop spectrum is really original and really forward thinking, but one thing it lacks is dancefloor presence. No one was dancing! I don't think anyone knew how! That said his earlier production such as this (see below) is a lot more focused as comprehensive.

Next up was Planet Mu's latest signing Rudi Zygadlo took to the decks. By far the standout act of the night! The system was fully cranked up so the bass was heavy and he played all the right tunes to get the crowd dancing! With this mutant strain of Hip-Hop its exceedingly difficult to mix meaning that the DJs attention is solely on the laptop screen however Mr Zygadlo was extremely entertaining to watch, loving it every bit as much as the crowd! 'The Udu and The Clave' and some Beastie Boys remix being the tracks that I remebered the most.

Last but not least Kuedo stepped up in the main room. I didn't like the setup - the stage was elevated far too high meaning that I had to strain my neck to see him all the way up in the clouds. I didn't manage to catch much of his set but from friends who stayed on they said it got better and better. My early departure sadly meant that Boxcutter, Hyetal & Shortstuff & Bullion! This meant that i left the night feeling somewhat unsatisafied especially after hearing back from friends who stayed that the night was a big success! Props to folks at THEM for a big line up! Looking forward to the next one!