Things have been pretty busy this week, so the report from last weekend is a little later than intended – sorry about that. Thankfully (in a way, at least) not a lot seems to have happened in the scene this week, so there’s not too much catching up to do.

Last weekend’s NRGetic Romancer started off in slightly worrying style, as almost nobody was present for Horny’s schranz set..! I must admit that I missed the first half, but he played a very nice selection, including a few mashed up vocal remixes in typical schranz fashion. A few of Betwixt & Between’s older tracks would have fitted in nicely, it was that kind of set – and a nice introduction for me of Horny’s play style. Just a shame that he has to somehow conjure up an atmosphere from an empty dancefloor…

Next up was Cogi, who pre-set was insisting that he didn’t have a clue what tunes to use this time around, but ended up playing an absolute blinder. The selection ranged from slower psychadelic NRG to Alek Szahala Freeform, and he hit upon some absolutely killer combinations this time. His mixing style leans towards longer/complex connections between tunes, which I whole-heartedly agree with, and the highlight for me might have been his mix from Rx’s original Hellfire into Tlaloc, going on for a good couple of minutes and really sounding like a new tune altogether. Other top choices included Hase and Psyfix’s Void of Farthest and a nice range of Finnish classics. Granted, this set was slightly similar to his last performance at NRGetic Romancer, but this really is freeform Djing at its finest.

Following on from the excellent Full Circle set in February, DJ Yousuke played solo this time, somehow going up another notch or two on the quality-o-meter. It’s saying something, but it might well have been the best set I’ve ever heard from him – this time going all out with some quality freeform tunes. The set was given an added dimension by the appearance of a light sabre-wielding fellow (in full sci-fi samurai/anime cosplay get-up) who chose Yousuke’s set for a spot of slow-motion sword performance (although, outfit aside, not quite able to surpass the stupendous glowstick antics of the regular crew, it must be said). Yousuke eventually brought attention back to the set, with tunes ranging from the ever-excellent Spiral Life to Ephexis’ Shunt and Nightforce’s classic The Ghost of Jupiter. He even squeezed in Arkitech’s Alanamra remix, which has grown on both of us, particularly live – it is definitely great to hear the anthemic main melody at around 170bpm (quite why Alek chose to pitch his most uplifting tune at a relatively sedate 160 is beyond me, to tell the truth). All in all, an awesome set, and (unusually for Yousuke) a fairly consistent mix style all the way through, which worked very well for this kind of energetic freeform.

Betwixt & Between’s set was as good as ever, although no new tunes this time. He has recently been experimenting with some slower styles, but June’s event will almost certainly see some new freeform tracks being played. Instead, this set was a refreshing mix of older tunes alongside new tracks like Kamsheen. Sadly, given all the classics that got a play this time, there was no sign of Disturbed Mind. Granted, it’s a difficult one to mix, and the tune does go slightly mad about halfway through, but that opening sawtooth/drum pattern can’t be beaten. Anyway, the excellent Self Extortion was played as the opener – a tune that really does have everything, and was followed up by Reincarnation.

A very nice set, then – and it shows the depth of Betwixt’s discography these days that he can go the full hour without playing tunes of the quality of Mirage and Surendrajit. I must say, I’m really looking forward to the next event, and hearing how the new track(s?) work with some of these classics.

The final set of the night/morning was well worth the wait, as Guld went into promo-overdrive. He made great use of some of Adam Lab 4’s new tunes from the album Drink Me (the fearsome Boot Licker comes to mind) as well as some Lab 4 classics (4 Those About 2) and his insane-in-a-good-way new track, Requiem. There was talk of Guld playing a possible world-exclusive new DJ Rx track, but I’m not entirely sure about that – it could well have been an Adam tune (I must admit that I haven’t got the new album yet, so I’m a bit sketchy on some of them). It wasn’t the incredible Lacrima bootleg though, that’s for sure. As for other tracks, well, a set including almegiddo, Eternal Cannon (original version), Venla, Hatral and The Last of the Mohicans remix speaks for itself really, doesn’t it? Guld also played the original, unreleased version of Hase’s Galatea. I’d heard that this tune was incredibly dark and nasty, while keeping the uplifting breakdown/main lead, and it definitely lived up to expectations. Apparently Guld is the only DJ given permission to play the tune, otherwise it would be galloping into the NRG Monogatari 3 tracklist with no problem whatsoever. Finally, here’s something a little special (although sadly very short) – a clip of the Eternal Cannon breakdown – a nice note to end on, I hope you’ll agree:

The next event will be held in June – and as usual, a thousand thanks to Cogi and Guld for the photos and video usage.