Argentina club: Ups! presents Ryan Crosson

Argentina club: Ups! presents Ryan Crosson

20 March, 2008 | 8.34AM

• Section: Music News Topics: Beatport Blog
• Written by: Planetkat

On Friday, March 14th, the Detroit nuschool technoist Ryan Crosson played at Ups!, one of the friendliest, most intimate minimal nights in Argentina. Some people had been waiting for this moment for months. And they were not disappointed.

Ups!, organized by local DJ and promoter Juan Deb, is highly recommended: It is an amazing thing when event organizers are not only great, erm, organizers, but also good DJs and, above all, frantic music enthusiasts as this guarantees they will do everything in their power to book those who they admire the most.

After booking the likes of Lee van Dowski, Ripperton, Shaun Reeves and Easy Changes plus offering the emerging Argentinean minimal scene with key figures like Barem, Franco Cinelli, Dilo, Seph, Gurtz, and Funzion a platform, Ryan Crosson fits the bill perfectly as there is an irrevocable connection between the Detroit producer and the Argentinean minimal scene.

Violett, whose “Kids EP”, released 2006 on Telegraph, springs to mind when thinking of strong Crosson remixes.

Dilo and Gurtz who produce with Violett, got Crosson to remix them which resulted in the ‘Cosacos’ remix on Einmaleins. Rosarino Santos Resiak also got the special treatment: ‘Derrape’ on Glueckskind being the most recent Crosson remix.

In some ways, the new wave of Detroit and the scene in Buenos Aires have a lot in common. The protagonists from both cities were working very hard on shaping their distinctive sounds which would eventually set them apart from their peers, not afraid of embracing new technologies like Ableton, and getting completely immersed in sounds that would eventually shape the esthetics that make the productions from Detroit and Buenos Aires so special.

It was down to a few labels and artists who picked up on their distinctive vibes and offered the new crews, who sounded avant-garde in comparison to their European peers, an outlet and this is where the connection started: Alphahouse, Mo’s Ferry, and most importantly, Telegraph (which released the ‘Post Office Special Argentina’), started to feature new and upcoming producers from the South American country that most people associate with Tango and meat.

Similarly miraculous but possibly less surprising was the formation of the new generation of Detroit producers that emerged a few years ago: the holy trinity Seth Troxler, Lee Curtiss, and Ryan Crosson aka Berg Nixon, three befriended backyard DJs with a distinctive flavor who did not aim at simulating the tried and tested.

They rose from the ashes of Detroit’s underground techno and house scene in a truly subversive manner. Taking it to the outer limits of minimalistic, technoid house, their trademark is a dark, percussive sound full of evil reverbs and mucky dub, often garnished with hair-raising vocals. Their tracks, as demonstrated in breathtaking records such as Lee Curtiss’ ‘Taint’ on Trapez, and Troxler’s ‘Friend Of Mine’, quite frankly blow my mind.

Releasing tracks and releases on labels such as Beretta Grey – the Detroit imprint that first offered an outlet when Crosson started to produce – as well as Spectral, Minus, and Wolf & Lamb, amongst others, their lumbering, luring, subliminally freaky minimal beats ooze the spirit of dirty downtown concrete warehouse parties in which you completely lose your mind to a tweaky frequency, and their live sets, highly sophisticated micro funk, reverberate the spirit of the olden days while moving completely off the radar.

Considering all this, it’s not surprising that it felt like being beamed into another dimension when Ryan took over the decks at around 4 in the morning.The sound spectrum changed - the beats mutate into Plastikman’s and Moodyman’s cranky grandchildren, playing pranks on the neurons while begging for sweets.

Crosson’s set started profound, dirty and funky before moving into heavy techno territory. From the playful and energetically driving yet reduced flavors of the Fase Miusik Sender live appearance that preempted Crosson’s set, the transition to even deeper, funkier and creepier sounds made the night something special.

Noteworthy was also the amazing atmosphere. Full until the later morning hours, this night in Cocoliche will be talked about for a while.

Fair play Ups! Having recently started their own little booking agency called Blupblup Bookings which enables the Ups! crew to build a network of Latin American clubs that fit the reduced agenda of the emerging Argentinean minimal scene, it makes total sense to add international artists to the bill.

Offering them a safe haven in Buenos Aires, which results with a steady influx of interesting artists, there will be more and more DJs and producers from all over the world gracing the decks of Cocoliche.

Next down the line: Miss Fitz – who, by the way, also got the Ryan Crosson remix treatment on her EKLO release. I will be there.

Fumor has it that Ryan did not leave Buenos Aires when he should have. Well, if he chose to stay, he would not be the only one. Buenos Aires is full of magic that unveils itself to those who dive right in, nose down.

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