Disclosure has been a musical constant in my house music journey. I remember listening to their booty call edit of Work it Out by Q-tip back in 2012, when I was just getting into the genre and thinking that the production was flawless. It had a unique groove that made them stand out from other artists at the time.
Delving into their music further, I was suprised by how young they were, which made me respect their work even more. They were the first in a wave of teenage producers who went from bedroom productions to global stardom.
Over the past five years, the duo have released two hit albums, completed a worldwide tour and started their own festival: Wild Life, which is hosted in Brighton city airport at the beginning of June.
This year, the entrepreneurial brothers have moved their festival concept to the famous Ibiza airport side venue DC10. This comes after playing an immense set at Circoloco last year. The venue owners must have seen the pair's raw potential and audience pulling power and given them a night of their own. Pretty impressive for two lads from Surrey still in their twenties.
So last Friday, I went with my fellow co-workers, Peter, Georgia and Holly to listen to the sweet music selections of Bicep, Disclosure and Joris Voorn.
Diving into Bicep
TC Crew - I Can't Do It Alone (LP Mix)
Arriving at DC10, just after 01:00, we made preparations before hitting the dancefloor to watch Bicep. Bar, drink, smoke, chat and we are ready. I've followed Bicep for a while now and I love their blog and label, Feel My Bicep. For me, it is one of the most forward thinking electronic music projects in the past decade, leading the house renaissance since 2008. Their musical knowledge is deep and eclectic, so it came as no suprise that one of the first tracks I shazamed was the soft vocal grooves of TC Crew. A lovely house track straight from 1992 with a cool piano line that built up the energy of the mainroom audience.
Bushwacka! - Chorus
Continuing with a blend of 90s and early 2000s house tracks, the set that Bicep played was truly inspired from the past. This showed me that they are commited to the fine art of crate digging even now that they are established DJs, the craft of finding those sweet tunes is one of the reasons that Bicep is on the rise in the electronic scene. Chorus by Bushwacka! gave the crowd something to pick up their dancing shoes to, with its faster beat pace and tribal rhythms. The dancefloor was busy, but not as slammed as I have known DC10 to be in the past. This was a positive, however, as it gave my fellow Spotlight workers and I space to dance freely without stepping on someone else's foot.
Native Soul feat. Trey Washington A New Day (Spencer Parker's A Gun For Hire Remix)
Next came this upbeat little number from Spencer Parker. It was clear that Bicep were slowly building the excitement up in the room, the set was climbing up towards its peak with tracks that made the crowd dance a little bit faster and more enthusiastically each time they were dropped. Even for the start of the night I was dancing harder than I would usually would, spurred on by the awesome vibe that Bicep was laying down. Similarly to the two tunes above, the modulated piano synths and kick combination were a tasty treat for the ravers on the floor. After this track full of deep goodness, we decided to hit the cool spacious outdoor area of DC10 and relax before catching the last of the of Bicep's set.
Blaze - Lovelee Dae (Bicep Remix)
Re-entering the mainroom, I was rewarded instantly with one of my favourite productions from Bicep. Their remix of Lovelee Dae was a big hit from the Ibiza season in 2016. The deep and mysterious sounds of their take on the classic 90s track is a dancefloor banger for certain. The track was originally played out in 2014 for their BBC essential mix, but was shelved (leaving a lot of Bicep fans in want) until 2016 when they released a vinyl and then digital version through their own label. The track went down well through DC10's Loud Professional speaker system, the clubbers cutting stylish shapes as the next song began to be mixed in...
Bicep - Aura
Just before I moved to Ibiza, Bicep gave me some news that made my year. Each year I'm always curious as to what new tracks I will hear over the course of 12 months. So when Bicep announced that they were releasing an album through esteemed label Ninja Tune, I was pretty darn excited. As an exciting preview, they released the magical track Aura, a single to precede the album simply named Bicep which will be available on both vinyl and digital formats from the 1st of September. For me this track is on the pulse of electronic dance music today. With techno style kicks and a supreme uplifting main synth line, it provides a vibe that is both dark and euphoric. It was perfectly suited for the walls of DC10. Every hand was in the air.
Full Disclosure
2000 and One - Spanish Fly
It was now 03:00 and time for Disclosure to take the stage. The audience cheered as the night's hosts took to the corner DJ booth of the main-room. Everybody's eyes were fixed on the UK chart topping group. While this wasn't the first track they played, as Shazam chose not to co-operate at that point, the switch over from Bicep to Disclosure went as it should have with this track. Transporting me deep into the rave, the repetitive percussion and synth stab keep the party going. This was the set-up for something much bigger that Disclosure had planned for later.
Disclosure Feat. London Grammar - Help Me Lose My Mind (Paul Woolford Remix)
During the set, it seemed as if Disclosure had tailored their set for DC10 specifically playing house tracks that were suited for a more underground crowd. They started to tease the crowd with an uknown edit of When A Fire Starts to Burn, which went down a storm with the clubbers in the main room. This brought on a positive reaction as it took the set from a niche music selection to something more universal, music everybody could enjoy. When they dropped this remix of Help Me lose my mind by Paul Woolford, the crowd went wild. The combination of the rising piano line and the beautiful vocals of London Grammar made for a perfect build up before the drop. Then the heavy kick drums shook the DC10 room raising the excitement on the dancefloor.
Waze & Odyssey - Down With Tha
Straight after the Paul Woolford remix, this heater was dropped and the room exploded with clubbers cutting crazy dance moves. Down With Tha has been creeping into sets all across the island this season becoming a popular release from Edible, Eats Everything's label. It sees Waze & Odyssey move way from their pop image into a more G house style of production. Choppy repetative vocal sample structures and a funky bassline combination makes it a catchy dancefloor mover. It's clear to see that Waze & Odyssey mean big business in 2017. It kept the high pace of the room moving as Disclosure prepared another hit from the chart topping vaults.
Disclosure - F For You (Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Remix)
Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs (TEED) makes music heavy. It came as no surprise that when I heard the vocal of F for You and Shazamed it straight away, the remix was by that particular DJ. This techy slammer was a perfect track to include in the peak of Disclosure's DC10 set. The bouncy bass rhythms and other mystical instrumentals made for a intense movement on the floor. Along with the classic soft harmonic Disclosure vocals provided by Howard Lawrence, you could see the crowd mouthing or singing along. It made for a successful peak in the evenings playlist. Next up it was time for a man from Amsterdam to take the stage.
A bit of Voorn
Fells Point - Night Games
Joris Voorn played a mysterious set, with most tracks difficult to identify. Shazam gave up the ghost. This would point to the fact that most of the tracks that Voorn was playing were unreleased. His approach turned out postive one as we get to hear banging tracks you've never heard before, such as an unreleased Josh Butler remix of I Want You by Carl Cox. However Voorn slipped in the odd popular disco track, such as Little L by Jamiroquai, which kept the audience on a familiar groove. Night Games was by far my favourite from his set. The warehouse vibes and mixed style of the track made it a winner for me and the rest of the ravers on the dancefloor.
Other Great Tracks
1. Audiojack feat Kevin Knapp - Stay Glued (FCL Weemix)
2. Armand Van Helden - You Don't Know Me
