Post by anastasia on Jul 29, 2010 12:27:31 GMT 7
Barefoot Asia Sound System ft Dexter "XX" Asia Tour 2010 (Australia) @ Laundry Bar, The Curve, Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya (04/08/10)
When: Wednesday, 04 August 2010, 9.00pm
Opening Act: Cee & The Donn
Monsoon and Barefoot Asia present:
DMC CHAMPION DJ DEXTER (Australia)
At dinner, someone who had seen Dexter on many occasions warned me “expect nothing and you’ll get everything”. I had dismissed this remark. Truth be told, I didn’t know what to expect of the ex-Avalanchian/ DMC Turn-Turntablist – except, that it was going to be interesting and it would involve plenty of that beloved organic compound: Vinyl.
Such is the reason for The XX tour- his relationship with such glorious stuff from the last 20 years. This is, after all, a love that goes all the way back to 1989 and Grade 6, when Dexter first listened to hip hop, wagging school and learning how to DJ. It was apt that the truant-turned-DJ kicked off this very personal tour off in his hometown of Melbourne.
Climbing down the ever-descending stairs to The Hi-Fi Bar, I was initially surprised. With someone like Dexter, the crowd was neither here nor there. They were definitely not your typical scenester crowd, nor a pure-breed hip-hop crowd. Yet the room that night was a sea of flat caps and rapper machismo. The one vibe felt in the room was of deadpan faces – seemingly not primed for a fun time.
Later rather than sooner and after an array of various scratchers, Dexter finally appeared. With his big fro bouncin’, he looked ready to churn through his vinyl bag with had an air of confidence. This immediately changed the state of the room. The crowd went from cross-armed wallflowers to an episode of Soul Train within minutes.
His movements on the decks were revealed on a screen behind him. It became useless; not really enlightening on how he could achieve what he did. Like a magician performing his magic tricks, he showed after a very short time why he’s classed in that upper realm of DMC Turntablists.
It wasn’t just the aura of the man; it was his choice in music. Jumping from track to track it was like he was given a vinyl crate from the darkest corner of an op-shop or your grandma’s attic. But, he had the ability to keep it danceable and fresh. Very similar to the timeless feel in the Avalanches’ Since I Left You, he meshed a dusty nostalgia with the vitality of clean sounding hip hop. It was like a baby was being created on stage by a gramophone and an old school Adidas tracksuit.
In under an hour, he explored entire chronologies of music. He leapt from Strawberry Fields, to Purple Haze, to Rage Against the Machine, then to some old ragtime (where I bet he dug up for 2 bucks from a market stall). It shouldn’t have made sense, but it still put a smile on everyone’s face. All this was going on while images of his favourite records and his touring lanyards were flashing up behind the screen.
The peak of the set was when he seamlessly flowed from Still Dre, to MJ’s I Want You Back then to Ol’ Dirty’s Got Your Money. There was not a disaffected face in the house. These three after each other threw any lingering inhibitions out the door. It might sound like your typical Girltalk mash-up set, but this was an entirely different animal. It was adventurous vinyl turntabling done with grace and patience. Dexter was unafraid to let tracks run out and actually soak in. After all, he was going through his favorite records so it was unlikely he was going to disrespect them with itty bitty snippets.
The “expect nothing, and you’ll get everything” remark made to me earlier now made sense. I didn’t know what to expect (essentially, nothing), but Dexter delivered everything – in the most literal sense of the word. He played almost everything that you could musically think of, showcasing his homage to open minded listening with some rather incredible wax-scratching.
For more information: www.laundrybar.net
When: Wednesday, 04 August 2010, 9.00pm
Opening Act: Cee & The Donn
Monsoon and Barefoot Asia present:
DMC CHAMPION DJ DEXTER (Australia)
At dinner, someone who had seen Dexter on many occasions warned me “expect nothing and you’ll get everything”. I had dismissed this remark. Truth be told, I didn’t know what to expect of the ex-Avalanchian/ DMC Turn-Turntablist – except, that it was going to be interesting and it would involve plenty of that beloved organic compound: Vinyl.
Such is the reason for The XX tour- his relationship with such glorious stuff from the last 20 years. This is, after all, a love that goes all the way back to 1989 and Grade 6, when Dexter first listened to hip hop, wagging school and learning how to DJ. It was apt that the truant-turned-DJ kicked off this very personal tour off in his hometown of Melbourne.
Climbing down the ever-descending stairs to The Hi-Fi Bar, I was initially surprised. With someone like Dexter, the crowd was neither here nor there. They were definitely not your typical scenester crowd, nor a pure-breed hip-hop crowd. Yet the room that night was a sea of flat caps and rapper machismo. The one vibe felt in the room was of deadpan faces – seemingly not primed for a fun time.
Later rather than sooner and after an array of various scratchers, Dexter finally appeared. With his big fro bouncin’, he looked ready to churn through his vinyl bag with had an air of confidence. This immediately changed the state of the room. The crowd went from cross-armed wallflowers to an episode of Soul Train within minutes.
His movements on the decks were revealed on a screen behind him. It became useless; not really enlightening on how he could achieve what he did. Like a magician performing his magic tricks, he showed after a very short time why he’s classed in that upper realm of DMC Turntablists.
It wasn’t just the aura of the man; it was his choice in music. Jumping from track to track it was like he was given a vinyl crate from the darkest corner of an op-shop or your grandma’s attic. But, he had the ability to keep it danceable and fresh. Very similar to the timeless feel in the Avalanches’ Since I Left You, he meshed a dusty nostalgia with the vitality of clean sounding hip hop. It was like a baby was being created on stage by a gramophone and an old school Adidas tracksuit.
In under an hour, he explored entire chronologies of music. He leapt from Strawberry Fields, to Purple Haze, to Rage Against the Machine, then to some old ragtime (where I bet he dug up for 2 bucks from a market stall). It shouldn’t have made sense, but it still put a smile on everyone’s face. All this was going on while images of his favourite records and his touring lanyards were flashing up behind the screen.
The peak of the set was when he seamlessly flowed from Still Dre, to MJ’s I Want You Back then to Ol’ Dirty’s Got Your Money. There was not a disaffected face in the house. These three after each other threw any lingering inhibitions out the door. It might sound like your typical Girltalk mash-up set, but this was an entirely different animal. It was adventurous vinyl turntabling done with grace and patience. Dexter was unafraid to let tracks run out and actually soak in. After all, he was going through his favorite records so it was unlikely he was going to disrespect them with itty bitty snippets.
The “expect nothing, and you’ll get everything” remark made to me earlier now made sense. I didn’t know what to expect (essentially, nothing), but Dexter delivered everything – in the most literal sense of the word. He played almost everything that you could musically think of, showcasing his homage to open minded listening with some rather incredible wax-scratching.
For more information: www.laundrybar.net