Jeff Mills // The Ocean Rooms

I left the country to see Jeff Mills once; he never turned up, now finally I got my chance.

“a complete mistake…like George Clinton and Kraftwerk caught in an elevator, with only a sequencer to keep them company.” Is how Derrick May once described Detroit techno. The fusion of genres, technology and experimentation gave birth to a genre that seems to never date. Tonight Brighton had a glimpse into the future.

Being partly responsible for the foundations of techno, Jeff demonstrates his talent not only as a DJ but as a producer, not many can use a TR-909 and seamlessly integrate with vinyl and CD. Of course many DJs combine technology such as midi keyboards, midi controls, samplers, effect units and the like, but throwing in a 909 with such finesse speaks for itself. The sounds of the 909 sound as fresh as they did 20 years ago, the crisp synthetic drum patterns even now make you feel like you are engulfed in a distant futuristic dimension. His set perfectly blended atmospheric ambient tones with his unmistakable pulsating drum patterns, everything flowing together with such ease. Sure some mixes fluffed, but this is Jeff Mills, anyone who is said to go through 70 records an hour is bound to slip up. In some way you expect it, and with Jeff it doesn’t detract from the quality.

Techno has always been about rebellion and looking forwards. Back in the 80’s while Public Enemy ran around turning Hip Hop on its head, Jeff and Underground Resistance did the same with techno. You can still feel the militantesque power of the music and the anti-establishment message still prevails today.

The guy is an originator for a reason; unlike your modern producer/DJ he learnt the skills of the trade using the hardware. He didn’t download software, fuck the software didn’t exist. Anyone can pick up a cracked copy of logic, reason or Ableton, download some samples and be a “producer” but that’s a completely different game. This is why you should go see Jeff play! The man is a real connoisseur of all things techno, miles apart from your modern “artists”. This leads me on to another sell out event which was on tonight, Deadmau5.

Deadmau5 is the pseudonym of Canadian born Joel Zimmerman. From the hype, I think it’s safe to assume he is probably 1 of the top 10 most influential Canadians, slotted in somewhere after Brian Adams, Celine Dion, oh and probably Hawtin. Tonight Brighton’s Digital was set to see Deadmau5 take to the decks. The guy got his name when a mouse died in his computer, we can only assume the “5” was added to add some coolness factor – those crazy Canadians. Nothing wrong with assumptions in journalism yeah?

The first paragraph of his MySpace reads: “In this world of ever evolving genres, sounds and trends, the word phenomenon is rarely if ever used, unless of course you are the hottest talent in the world of electronic music and your name is deadmau5.“ It’s not unusual for DJs to big themselves up, but that line is reminiscent of a small penised business man driving a Ferrari. It’s a Thursday, you’re in Brighton, you want to go out – Jeff Mills or Deadmau5, oh fuck that’s a hard one (does sarcasm convey well in writing?). Deadmau5 has been the most downloaded artist on Beatport this year, and they even went as far as to name him the “Most influential, forward-thinking and relevant person” of the year. Now let’s make another assumption, from Beatport’s “current top downloads”, I think it’s safe to say the majority of users once in their life purchased “Fragma – Toca’s miracle”. As I said it’s just an assumption.

I had a free ticket for Deadmau5, it didn’t get used. I am yet to feel the force of this mou5, fuck sake I can’t do it anymore, it’s spelt MOUSE! Then again what do I know, the place was supposedly packed, it’s good for Brighton to attract the “hottest talent in the world of electronic music”

As of recently Fusion favourite Audio has not been delivering in terms of quality. Maybe the Ocean Rooms could push forward and lead the pack? If that’s the way forward then I think I need to buy a new wardrobe, the sweat patches won’t get me far.

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