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A Magazine for Sheffield
Live / stage review

Control x Mizik Nou, 25 August, Night Kitchen

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Joining forces for a 16-hour party at The Night Kitchen on bank holiday Sunday, Control and Mizik Nou supplied something even hotter than the 28-degree heat.

Alexander Robotnick, the Italo disco vet, was without a doubt the must-see act. Playing on the Apricot Ballroom Soundsystem hooked up in the courtyard, as the sun set he island-hopped across a sea of synth-heavy tracks. The crowd was one beaming, ear-to-ear smile when he played an obligatory, karaoke-esque version of his own 'Problèmes D'Amour'.

Nestled among the classics were a few surprises: progressive house, still synth-obsessed, but trancey enough in the heat to take the mind away to corny desert island retreats. The highlight, though, was the closing track. Name a better way to signal 'goodbye and thank you' to a DJ than obligingly whirling round in circles to Dead or Alive's sing-along banger, 'You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)'.

Shortly after, things moved indoors and bodies flocked to the shipping container sized Pipes Room, hosted by Control. Picture a loud, dark place, dimly lit with red lights. A biting energy was pent up and unleashed back and forth over the course of the night. Annabel Fraser, a resident of The White Hotel and NTS, built a big, bleak tension playing tracks from Clarence G and Mark Fell. The edgy twangs of Bauhaus's 'Bela Lugosi's Dead', sounding amazing on the system, saw a ridiculously good set come to an end.

All was then let loose with face-vibrating electro from the solid Control resident AARONDYNAMIC2. And when everyone thought they were relatively safe, Katiusha, resident of Selective Work and Cashmere Radio, shook things up again with lots of hard, percussive techno.

It's parties like this which make Sheffield an exciting place to be.

Marek Nowicki

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