We all have those days, the ones that start the work week and give us that collective sigh in the middle of the day. It’s the day people dread most; Monday. Well, for a while now, Deep Space have provided an eclectic and refreshing take on Monday nights, turning depressing sighs into electronic highs. Francois K, veteran expert DJ, always has a hand in that cookie jar, prodding whoever is ready to tickle the fancy of a very diverse dancefloor. On the night of February 1st, it was Gilles Peterson, BBC Radio 1 DJ and new-music guru, who took his turn on the decks at Cielo. Spinning a huge set in terms of new tunes from up-and-comers, he opened up the eyes of partygoers and warmed the hearts of music lovers all around the room.
Peterson began the night spinning soul and funk tunes, going into some Italo disco, all with transitions not making much of a fuss to the dancefloor. The people on the floor didn’t care about smoothness, they were all about the tunes that night; and with that Gilles did not disappoint in the slightest. Playing out upcoming releases from Joy Orbison, Lone and a new remix from Nero, (who remixed MJ Cole’s classic “Sincere”) the crowd were eating every beat, bleep and bass tone up without any hiccups. The night got even more experimental as Peterson went a bit downtempo and notationally-insane, as Dorian Concept’s “Tropical Hands”, the flip track on his Trilingual Dance Sexperience release, was dropped to HUGE APPLAUSE. The room shook and the dancefloor erupted with shouts of Joy. Soon thereafter, some darker UK funky was dropped and Francois K gave the crowd a surprise, the ever-now-anthemic tune that is “Hyph Mngo” by man-of-the-moment Joy Orbison was dropped. Again, the crowd went nuts to the sounds and the smiles all around were enough to know that Cielo was full of good vibes. As the night winded down, Gilles dropped some Haitian funk tracks to pass those very same positive vibes onwards to the devastation in Haiti. A kind and beautiful gesture, as while the tracks played, people moved in ways that are unimaginable to the beat.
What was provided was nothing more than a showcase of upcoming tracks that will be life-changing in electronic culture. The dancefloor simply does not look for kicks and snares anymore, and Gilles Peterson proved that. In essence, he did live what he does naturally on his show, which is open up a world of new musical opportunities for every single listener willing to give him their ears and their heart. We sincerely hope we feel this way again soon, and hope he comes back to New York quick.
For more photos of this event, visit HiFiCartel. Special thanks to Naomi Palmer and Erica Ruben.
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