Fly Club, Cabaret Voltaire. The venue was always going to be perfect. There’s something about descending into what is effectively a collection of old brick tunnels in the old town of Edinburgh which will never get, well... old.
Fly Club has been providing the soundtrack to the freshest Friday night in Edinburgh for some time now. Their resident Theo Kottis has been picking up regular play time on BBC Radio One recently, the place is pretty much always rammed, and when the Fly team do book guest slots, they tend to do so rather well.
On 4 December it was the turn of Dutch duo Tom Trago and Willam Kouam Djoko to take to the decks in the Scottish capital. The latter has been toning his trade on the Amsterdam club scene for years and making a name for himself far from just the Netherlands.
The former, of course, is a huge name on the electronic scene, and one of the best known in Amsterdam. Trago has three albums under his belt which have all warranted vast acclaim, his list of collaborations makes for impressive reading, and his ability to work a crowd has earned him the right to do exactly that on a regular basis all over the world.
Fly Club has been providing the soundtrack to the freshest Friday night in Edinburgh for some time now. Their resident Theo Kottis has been picking up regular play time on BBC Radio One recently, the place is pretty much always rammed, and when the Fly team do book guest slots, they tend to do so rather well.
On 4 December it was the turn of Dutch duo Tom Trago and Willam Kouam Djoko to take to the decks in the Scottish capital. The latter has been toning his trade on the Amsterdam club scene for years and making a name for himself far from just the Netherlands.
The former, of course, is a huge name on the electronic scene, and one of the best known in Amsterdam. Trago has three albums under his belt which have all warranted vast acclaim, his list of collaborations makes for impressive reading, and his ability to work a crowd has earned him the right to do exactly that on a regular basis all over the world.
Trago and Djoko fitted together perfectly on stage; similar ideas and music philosophies which blended wonderfully, all of which resulted in a set almost definitely dissimilar to any other on offer in the capital that night.
Catchy hooks circled down the main room over thumping backbeats, floor-shaking speakers funnelling well-thought-through electronics to the packed out audience.
House was the central theme of course, with the loops inspired by elements of hip-hop and jazz, possibly some African roots and the toe-tapping touch of Trago flowing firm and fluently throughout.
The crowd in attendance will no doubt have been drawn to the night either through a long-term following of Trago and his progression through the house scene in recent years, or perhaps even just on the strength of his single releases – the likes of ‘Hidden Heart of Gold’, above, a track so cool that it'll make you feel like Ryan Gosling, even when the only thing stopping your hangover from progressing to certain death is half a leftover chippy lurking ominously next to your bed.
Either way, they – and the JFC team – turned up expecting energy, originality and a set delivering something more than just bassline after bassline. We’re glad to say that we were not disappointed.
The other possibility of course is that the clubbers in the capital have simply learnt to trust in Fly Club to deliver the goods, no matter what the name on the poster. Fly can now add Trago and Djoko to the impressive list of those who have spun under their banner, and they continue to reinforce the point that on a Friday night in Edinburgh, there’s only one place to be.
Catchy hooks circled down the main room over thumping backbeats, floor-shaking speakers funnelling well-thought-through electronics to the packed out audience.
House was the central theme of course, with the loops inspired by elements of hip-hop and jazz, possibly some African roots and the toe-tapping touch of Trago flowing firm and fluently throughout.
The crowd in attendance will no doubt have been drawn to the night either through a long-term following of Trago and his progression through the house scene in recent years, or perhaps even just on the strength of his single releases – the likes of ‘Hidden Heart of Gold’, above, a track so cool that it'll make you feel like Ryan Gosling, even when the only thing stopping your hangover from progressing to certain death is half a leftover chippy lurking ominously next to your bed.
Either way, they – and the JFC team – turned up expecting energy, originality and a set delivering something more than just bassline after bassline. We’re glad to say that we were not disappointed.
The other possibility of course is that the clubbers in the capital have simply learnt to trust in Fly Club to deliver the goods, no matter what the name on the poster. Fly can now add Trago and Djoko to the impressive list of those who have spun under their banner, and they continue to reinforce the point that on a Friday night in Edinburgh, there’s only one place to be.
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