aaamusic | On 29, Oct 2010

You just never really know what Chibuku are going to do next. Sure you might think you have their music policies locked down, that their eclectic attitude to genres will conform to a certain pattern and always leave certain sounds in certain in the air. There can be no second guessing with Chibuku as the club powers on through one of its most successful periods yet. The first show of November gifts the intimacy of Ink with a drum n bass rinse out, the Loft the bounce of house and old school UK garage whilst the Theatre swaggers to dubstep, reggae and dancehall. You could even argue this is Liverpool’s alternative response to the MOBOs.

Chibuku was on the money when they stuck their neck out and got behind dubstepin early 2007, and they’ve been just as successful exploring the music in and around the genre’s core influences. The Theatre is all about that with Dub Police taking control. Set up by Caspa to explore the dubbier and half stepped elements of the still burgeoning sound, it’s been at the forefront of the genre’s stylistic changes; a hefty sonic boom instead of mere wobble and a more rounded and, dare we say it, intelligent musing on the beats.

Top of the tree in for them on this occasion is Kiss FM’s peerless Sir David Rodigan. A cat with serious music (how many DJs can boast of tailor made edits of Shaggy’s ‘Boombastic’ and Ini Kamoze’s ‘Here comes the Hotstepper’ with personal mentions in the lyrics?!), Rodigan’s unshakeable commitment to reggae in its myriad of forms has made him the perfect exponent of it on the dancefloor. And he’s recently mixed the latest FabricLIVE compilation to great acclaim. Nuff said.

He’s joined by label honcho Caspa, replete with the smooth and otherworldly chatter of MC Rod Azlan, who will be bringing his trademark approach of dancefloor destruction. Birmingham’s finest Emalkay, he of the brilliantly focused Morphic Sounds label and one of Dub Police’s most stringent producers, rounds the room off with Matty G. Expect some bright fireworks twenty four hours late.

Next up; the Loft. Headline duty falls to the Count and Sinden, two artists who have torn up the rulebook in terms of the music that they have brought in. Both were there at the beginning of ‘fidget’ house, The Count/Herve knocking out tunes for Derrick Carter’s label Classic and Sinden Djing for Basement Jaxx’s London Warehouse parties. Since then they’ve both gone on, together and on the solo tip, to become pivotal in the surge towards even more insane and bouncier productions.

Their recent fixation with classic speed garage from the late nineties has also rubbed off on a DJ more usually renowned for his dubstep and drum n bass. But then DJ Zinc was always representing garage when it first kicked off and his recent spate of housier sets, of which tonight will be falling loosely under that banner, continues that rich vein. Mr Paul is entrusted with the responsibility of kick-starting the lunatic’s ball.

The final segment of the evening comes in via Ink in the shape of Furturebound’s Viper Recordings. Liverpool through and through, Futurebound has been at the epicentre of the city’s drum n bass heritage since the last century, co-promoting and frequently starring at all the serious haunts for the music; X, Sophonic and now resident at Chibuku. His Viper Recordings constantly delivers heaviness on wax, and here he will be showcasing that sound in the brutally intimate Ink.

The Full Line-up

Chibuku

Saturday November 6^th

@ The Masque, 90 Seel Street, Liverpool, L1 4BH

Theatre
DubPolice
Sir David Rodigan
Caspa & MC Rod Azlan
Emalkay
Matty G
Loft
Count and Sinden
DJ Zinc
Mr Paul
INK
Viper Recordings
Feat.
Futurebound
Special guests TBA
MCs SAS, Madrush

£11 NUS / £13 advance