Live @ Welt Discos! (15/04/23)
Here is the recording of my warm-up set at the Welt Discos party in Lisbon on 15 April. It was only as I was actually playing on the night that I suddenly realised how empowering it is to throw your own party and be able to set the vibe entirely to your own taste. A bit like with the artwork, I wanted to transmit a sexy yet off-kilter body feeling, modern but grounded in the musical and emotional themes of classic disco, which for me is what always underlies everything. Taking this approach meant a focus on musicality over genre and, I hope on listening back, showcases the kind of laterally-minded technical flow I’m always reaching towards.
Writing out the tracklist for the set (below the pay-line) gave me a bit of a shock: aside from one disco tune from 2018 that sounds like it could have been made in 1979, there’s only one other pre-2020 track. Two thirds of the music was released this year. In fact this selection very much resembles a Flamingo show, or maybe it’s my fantasy of what I would be playing were I a resident DJ trying to keep it fresh every week at a local club. I can’t say confidently that what I tried to present here reflects what I’ve been doing through the label itself, but I hope the common thread comes through a little bit (that is: me). I was very pleased to find a serendipitous complement for the ‘I Call Upon’ acappella (review here) and almost managed to make Peverelist meet Alison Goldfrapp on good terms…almost.
On the night itself there were only about 10 people present until the Goldfrapp moment, after which the room began to fill up a bit. But of those 10 people, several were my close friends and fellow DJs who I knew would appreciate it, and one was a guy who I’d never seen before but who danced right from the word go and gave me a lovely compliment afterwards, saying it had made him nostalgic for other happy party-times past (the kind of thing I would say to a DJ too, if I wanted them to understand how much I enjoyed something). That was more than good enough for me feedback-wise at the time, and I’m as pleased with the recording now listening back.