BLUE HONEY BANK HOLIDAY
Gwdihw, Cardiff
Sun 27 Mar
Surely the most welcome addition to Cardiff’s nightlife recently, Blue Honey throw together brilliant parties every time; their night with Detroit’s Kai Alce in Gwdihw at the end of 2015 ended in stage dancing and smiley energy. In the ‘coolest’ realms of clubbing, where the current taste is for esoteric, eclectic selectors, Hunee was one of 2015’s breakthrough DJs, and rightly so. Last summer he released his album Hunch Music on the revered Rush Hour label, full of effervescence and brightness teased pleasurably out of diverse rhythmic zones – acid house, disco, techno and the wonkiest of hip-hop. It’s a very accomplished album, ranging from the giddy, sprite-like bounce of Rarely Happy, to the bubbling bass and string arrangements of Cross Roads and the pulsing South African house bounce of Error Of The Average. It’s reminiscent of the most engaging, storytelling producers – Matthew Herbert, DJ Sprinkles, Henrik Schwarz and DJ Koze – and Hunee’s skilled sampling, to emotive effect, calls to mind J Dilla too.
Also on the bill – it’s a bank holiday blowout after all – is Harvey Sutherland. He produces pitch-perfect modern disco; on his recent two-tracker for Motor City Drum Ensemble’s MCDE label, cymbals sizzle beneath lithe, sexy instrumentation and limb-bending bass – fans of Floating Points, check him out. Lastly, Al Zanders, who also works under the name Lodger, throws down jazz-touched, crystalline deep house for nimble dance steps. This should be excellent all round.
Tickets: £20/£15. Info: 029 2939 7933 (GTDC)