Article by Christian Pandtle & Jake Filderman

After Pride on Saturday, DC’s nightlife was in full form as many establishments on U Street had lines of people down the block ready to party. While lacking the incredible capacity Nellie’s had that night, UHall was still bumping and hosting a couple of heavy-hitters from west-coast house maestro Claude VonStroke‘s seminal record label, Dirtybird. Based out of San Francisco, Dirtybird has been a major player in the revival of house music in America, having put out some of the biggest and nastiest tunes of the last few years. J Phlip and Kill Frenzy have been rising stars in the Dirtybird roster, having both produced a number of massive tunes within the last year, including recent J Phlip hit “Say My Name” and Kill Frenzy’s nasty “For the Ladies”. After opening for Claude on his national Urban Animal tour last year, Saturday’s show was the first time J. Phlip headlined UHall, giving her full reign over one of the best sound systems on the east coast. I had been personally looking forward to this show for a long time. After experiencing the amazing parties thrown by Claude VonStroke in the last year, I was excited to hear more from the Dirtybird crew.

As per usual for UHall, Saturday’s show was free before midnight for those who are 21 plus, resulting in a good sized crowd early in the night. While (typical) metro problems prevented us from seeing the first opener, we were lucky enough to arrive early in Kill Frenzy’s set. Hailing from Belgium, Kill Frenzy has been rapidly building a reputation over the last few years as a talented young gun who can both open and close a night. His set was the perfect sort of opener, meaning that he kept the energy at a moderate level while pushing and pulling the crowd with a great mix of tunes that tantalized everyone on the floor. There were some especially potent moments when he dropped the BPM from 122-128 range house down to ~100, a BPM which is typically utilized by rap music and the Twerk beat trend. Dropping the tempo not only allowed for Kill Frenzy to showcase the down low west-coast grooves which make the Dirtybird crew so unique, but also to allow the crowd to slow down and really get into the vibes. At one point he even played some old school Biggie (original mix even!), to great acclaim from the party people. He was also not afraid to show his Dirty face, closing his set with his awesome remix of Claude VonStroke’s “Dood” and his own original mix, “For the Ladies”. After playing for over 90 minutes, at 1 am it was time for Kill Frenzy to give up the decks and for J. Phlip to step in. The love that exists within the Dirtybird family was plainly evident when J Phlip got the stage, as she gave Kill Frenzy a big hug before conversing with him for a few minutes while a track played out. Both were able to display their true professionalism by seamlessly mixing over to J Phlip’s CD-Js; you would only know there was a DJ switch if you had been watching.

Whereas Kill Frenzy has made his reputation on hip-hop influenced, upbeat, rolly tech house, J. Phlip has built her career on producing/mixing a more dark, dirty, and moody brand of tech house. This style was fully evident when she opened for Claude VonStroke last November, but since she was an opener her energy was a bit reserved and subdued. Her set was certainly not subdued on Saturday night. Instead it was a raucous two hours of massive baselines (the sort that you can feel in the nostrils), hard hi-hat grooves, and moody atmosphere that kept everyone going into the late night. Her set occupied an interesting cross section of deep house, tech house, and techno, with some tracks displaying the huge rolling basslines and shuffling hi-hats typical of tech house, while others had the dark chord lines and thumping basslines of deep house. Her ability to seamlessly bounce between structurally similar, but aesthetically different styles of house music while still maintaining a common mood is indicative of J. Philip’s outstanding mixing talent. Her set was chock-full of deep cuts that set the crowd into a seemingly never ending frenzy of shoulder bouncing and hard stepping. Seriously, it was one deep set, I listen to her sort of stuff every damn day and couldn’t recognize one song, which is a sign that a truly talented and creative DJ is on the decks. At times I kept thinking ” Damn I’m tired, maybe we should think about leaving”, but then another chord pattern or baseline would drop out of nowhere and I would be stuck to the dance floor again. Sometimes I even forgot to get another drink.

If you’re a fan of house music then don’t be sleeping on these Dirtybird shows and check out the music they release on their label. Their UHall appearances present fantastical opportunities for us on the east coast to experience the west coast vibes that San Francisco based Dirtybird has been pumping out for years, solidifying themselves as one of the most respected American labels not just among the house music community but the dance music scene as a whole. Make sure to check UHall’s website for upcoming shows, but if you have to miss something be sure to check back in with theMUES to see what you’re missing.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Fill out this field
Fill out this field
Please enter a valid email address.
You need to agree with the terms to proceed