aaamusic | On 12, Apr 2011

Sankeys hit hard with a double header of hedonistic bliss, Friday and Saturday catering for the main room and underground respectively. First up it’s the turn of Sankeys mainstay and definitive house tycoon Mark Knight to throw down his indefatigable beats; then temptress Cassy takes the helm, one of the few DJs who can bring a mic to her sets without sounding clichéd or played out, rounding off another impressive weekend of dance floor debauchery.
Mark Knight remains one of dance music’s most enduring icons. One of the true masters of main room house music, his skill in delivering perfectly pitched sets makes him a huge draw whether pounding out accessible techno at Ministry of Sound or sun kissed grooves on Warung’s beaches. Constantly evolving, Knight has retained the knack for knowing what records are hot without slaving to trends, possessing a freshness that has kept him at the forefront of dance music.

He managed to do the unthinkable with Laurent Garnier’s ‘Man with a Red face’ two years back, retaining the original’s lurid vibe and delivering a respectful edit that was lapped up by everyone; the great man himself still plays Knight’s version during his sets. It summarises Knight in a nutshell, the innate understanding of what makes a great record and the ability to deliver them at exactly the right time; criteria which is essential in commanding the Sankeys’ dancefloor.

To call Cassy’s upbringing as multicultural would be an understatement. Born in London to an Austrian mother and Caribbean father, she was whisked off at an early age back to her mother’s homeland for an upbringing surrounded by music and drama (of the acting rather than tumultuous variety) before settling in Geneva, Switzerland. Here a chance meeting with Luciano set her on the dance music path, his patronage on Cadenza records leading to Berghain hearing her DJ and subsequently installing her as resident.

Rightfully held as one of the darlings of the Berlin scene, her patchwork DJ sets thread together house and techno with the focus on seductive grooves and gentle rhythms rather than the bone-crushing beats Berghain has become synonymous with. Her sultry vocals have also been at the centre of her sets and productions, and with labels like Perlon, Playhouse, Ostgut Ton and Cocoon all as spellbound as the clubbers shuffling their feet to her hypnotic offerings, it’s easy to see why she’s perfect for the Sankeys dance floor.

The Full Line-Ups

Sankeys
Friday 15^th April
@ Sankeys, 4 Radium Street, Manchester, M4 6AY
Mark Knight
NUS £10 available in Gaffs and O.T.D all night
Early bird £10 / Advanced £12 / Standard £15
10.30pm – 5am
Tel: + 44 (0) 161 236 5444
www.sankeys.info

Sankeys – Disco Electronica
Saturday 16^th April
@ Sankeys, 4 Radium Street, Manchester, M4 6AY
Cassy
OD Musique
More TBC
NUS £10 available in Gaffs and O.T.D all night
Early bird £10 / Advanced £12 / Standard £15
11pm – 6am
Tel: + 44 (0) 161 236 5444
www.sankeys.info