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Features
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| 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 | | A Catch Up with John Phantasm ahead of his upcoming set at the Tribal Village 4 Day Outdoor Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! | | 'The Maestro that is Tristan talks barn owls, Shazamming and keeping it Psychedelic ahead of his upcoming performance at the Tribal Village 4 Day Event in Kent 6-9 May 2022! | | DJ talk with Psyrenzo ahead of his debut set at Tribal Village, the Steelyard this Friday 14th January 2022! | | TENZO aka Overdrive talks freely about launching his new act which will be showcased at Tribal Village, Steelyard on 14 January 2022! | | A long overdue catch up with JourneyOM ahead of his next Tribal Village party this Friday 14th January 2022 at the Steelyard, London! | | Goa based party animal and artist extraordinaire Nirmal talks punk concerts, metal sculptures, flying and rippin' it up on a High Tide! | | DJ Wired talks to us about the Rise of the Hope and parties, ahead of his upcoming set at Tribal Village on 14th January 2022! |
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becomeone: Unified in Sound - Review
Reported by bunny
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Submitted 02-11-03 10:25
There’s late, there’s fashionably late and then there’s embarrassingly late… guess which one I was when I shuffled into Sub Logic around 7pm on Saturday the 11th October. For 4 full hours Become One’s had the deep red walls below vibrating but though the afternoon is over, the evening’s yet to come. There’s still a full 3 hours of partying awaiting us and after being welcomed in by some of the friendliest door staff in London (and a highly suspicious-looking blonde character) things are definitely looking far from lost.
The Glitterball in it's debut performance at becomeone
This is my first time at Sub Logic and my first Become One, although I did catch a good chunk of the B1 action in the second room at the Fridge when they hosted it for Logic at their last birthday party – and damn good it was, too. Sub Logic itself is a cosy and very inviting venue with a good-sized dance floor, gorgeous chill-out lounge and very affable staff. Above all, it’s clean and well air-conditioned (although the toilets can get a little on the warm side), something that seems to be somewhat of a well-sought-after novelty in the world of Hard House clubbing. When we walk into the club the place hums with two equally pleasing sounds: 1) the music, 2) the chatter of a multitude of people in full guard-down, chilled-out, easy-going mood. Time to shuffle off the morbid coil of working life and slip into something more comfortable.
To all the DJs I missed, and therefore missed in this review, I just want to apologise for not being more on the ball, and for missing out on some good sets. After chatting to the more sensible people who’d been there from the start, it was pretty obvious I’d missed out on some fine tunage – including a kicking mix of Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit. The unique idea behind Become One is to provide clubbers with an event that truly does progress, as opposed to continually flirt around one genre with extremely sporadic and brief forays into other, usually very similar styles. The party begins with some deliciously dirty funky house then develops through several styles – house, progressive house, trance – to end in full-on, pulsating Hard Trance. By 7pm the sound has evolved into trance with Pandora S-K on the decks pumping out the euphoric, hands-to-heaven riffs of Steve Morley’s Reincarnations, the kind of track that sounds like it might just be able to bring back the dead for one last stomp. The dance floor’s on the receiving end of some serious GBH as a motley crew of clubbers give it all they’ve got.
Pandora S-K on the decks
The cool thing about Become One is that it’s a great place to meet up with your mates, share all your stories from the past week and get yourself psyched up for the weekend ahead. All the Unusual Suspects are here; a good portion of HarderFaster is out in force although please don’t assume this imposes a cliquey feel to the atmosphere. It doesn’t. The crowd’s split about 50/50 between HF and non-HF people but the question of whether you’re a net-nut or not isn’t relevant. Everyone’s here purely to have a good time, a good chat and, of course, a damn good dance. None of which, by the way, are particularly hard to do to Pandora’s sign-off tune, a beautiful mix of Love Resurrection.
Next to take over the mantle of dishing out major floor-fillers is Ian Betts, who takes to the occasion with relish. There are few things in the world of clubbing more enjoyable than the sight of a DJ who’s really getting into his music. Even Mr Magoo could see that Ian has a genuine and absolute love of what he’s doing and short of nailing your feet to the floor it would be impossible to be on the dance floor and not move during one of his sets. And even then you’d probably find yourself doing the hand jive. It’s uplifting, energetic and blissful, with a tempo carrying enough momentum to fire you up without becoming over-exertive.
Ian Betts winding up the crowd 
Unlike in Hard Dance, where I think I’m now the Head, I’m yet to qualify for the Elite School of Trance Anoraks so my knowledge of track names and artists is a little shaky (like the millennium bridge in a hurricane) but thanks to a lot of help from more learned clubbers (who were distinctly anorak-free), I got a few titles down. One of the first tracks to really stand out – and there was stiff competition – was a sublime piece called Solar Stone, melding together the perfect arrangement of build up and breakdown resulting in a sound like a midsummer sunset spun out on vinyl. Then there was Cloudwalking, another wonderfully arranged track culminating in an ultra-simple high-pitch piano breakdown that makes you want to reach up, grab God himself and whisper ‘Thank you’. Two other tracks that were similarly awesome, but I’m buggered if I know the name of them, were a powerful anthemic track whose breakdown included an underlying heartbeat (leading straight into Tiesto’s Silence, which needs no explanation) and his final tune, one that I can only describe as deliciously, ecstatically squelchy.
Last set of the night honours go to Daegal Brain, Ground Zero luminary, emerging legend and damn fine DJ to boot! After recently experiencing his stonkingly-good closing set at the Ground Zero boat party I was looking forward to a good hour’s worth of arm-stretching to some deeply danceable Trance and Hard Trance. Kicking off the set with a sequence of trance tracks incorporating a subtle energy within a gradual, rolling momentum, Daegal’s giving us an easy-going initiation into his set and a chance to calm down just a little after Ian Betts full-on pandemonium. But the Vicar’s tea party this ain’t, and in no time at all the pace has quickened and hardened like a snowball round a stone, weaving in fiercer and fiercer basslines until one of the biggest, finest, evillest trance tracks cascades like an avalanche across the dance floor as the whole place erupts in screams. Camisra’s Let Me Show You is one of those tunes that’ll make you want to dance to the point of hyperventilation. It’s got one of the catchiest basslines ever and just the right balance between breakdown and tune to give you time to dance your socks right off and then find them again. The energy keeps going right up to and on through the encore track, a thick, rich slice of uplifting trance giving everyone their very-much-appreciated just desserts.
Another quiet saturday afternoon at (sub) Logic
And as the last beat dies down Shaun Rowland steps up to thank us all for coming – pleasure, believe us, was all ours and a big thank you for a brilliant party – and to announce that this is Fraser Nairn (AKA Flash) last Becomeone. A resident right from the start, Fraser’s now heading south of the Equator to up the funky factor in Australia. Best of luck and hope you have a wicked time tearing down the House down under! So the final encore of the night is also the perfect send-off for Fraser, playing us his ultra-fresh, ultra-catchy mix of Kriss-Kross Hip-Hop classic, Jump. And yep, we did! Bloody excellent tune; bouncy without being cheesy, retro but still bang up-to-date, exhilarating without playing at a g-Force inducing BPM; to sum it up – class!
As we amble out en mass into the cool night air, I can’t help but feel proud that I’ve finally popped my Becomeone cherry. And, as is so often the case, once you’ve tried something, you help but go back for more; I’m certain we’ll all be reuniting soon for the next installment… Just have to remember next time NOT to go to that café on the corner afterwards; warm white wine, fresh from the cat’s arse. Cheers anyway, guys, hehehe!
The next becomeone is on Saturday 8th November at (sub) Logic. For full details on this event click here.
With thanks to Stevie for the use of his photos 
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Other Features By bunny:
It's about music - interview with Alex Parsons
Monkey business as usual: interview with Shaf De Bass
Twistathon – Twist’s 12 Hour 1st Birthday Bonanza
Zoology's 2nd Birthday - Review!
Logic's Fourth Birthday - Hooray! (review)
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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