THEM vs DSNT - Review

‘If you have had a hard week in what ever shite call centre you work in, going out and getting binned while listening to whopper kick-drums over a massive rig is the perfect escape from the mundane.’ Wise words from the co-founder of DSNT last year on MOTZ, Belfast’s very own Oisin O’ Brien. Matching his vision, one of London’s most cherished techno & electronica labels and event series, THEM, joined forces with the Irish collective, along with Samsara Sessions at London’s Corsica Studios for potentially one of the most debauched nights of the year.

Arguably one of the most outrageous line-ups in London to see out the end of January, Mumdance, Sunil Sharpe, Myler, Clouds, Bleaching Agent and more of our absolute favourites descended into the sweaty caverns of Corsica with a combination of gnarly techno, hardcore squelch, jungle and unforgivable gabber between them all.

Amongst the topless males, a combination of B2B’s and solo sets ensued, the highlight being Mumdance B2B Sunil Sharpe after their legendary Rinse FM mix in 2017. ‘Expect bangers’ we were told on the show and once again, this seemed to be the general direction of set and the night itself. Gaining the rowdiest reaction from the floor, Taylor & Dan Zamani’s 'The Horn Track' (Fred remix) was whacked out before Sunil went solo later on in the night with a classically pounding set, playing Hodge’s remix of Perc’s ‘Chatter’ early on before finishing out on a CJ Bolland dinger, ‘Horsepower’. Clouds made their appearance kicking off with Paul Seul’s face-melter ‘GVB ’, immediately setting the tone for their 90 minutes of mushy madness.

Another highlight for us though was Room 2, aptly christened the ‘Rave Room’ for this occasion. Altar & Waterworks started off proceedings with Jeff Pills 'The Donks' sticking out as the tune which set the sonic tone of what else was to come in the Rave Room's environs. As founder of THEM and owner of Container Records, Altar has worked tirelessly to bring over the weirdest of underground artists to Corsica, and once again didn't disappoint - in his set and bookings - throughout this hazy celebration of rebellious ryhthms. Myler spun a rumbling episode of high octane jungle, dropping in the likes of Bizzy B’s ‘Afraid of the Dark’, before passing the reigns over to Mumdance for his solo slot of the night. Bringing a robust collection of hardcore to the fore, the smell of burning rubber comes to mind to describe the tunes stinking out the room.

Bleaching Agent closed the Rave Room with a ‘gabba’ set, going straight in and taking no prisoners, opening up with ‘Xylocaine - Rural Area' - a track he told us is ‘full of precious memories from my childhood’. Worrying. All we can hope for is the return of the ‘Rave Room’ in the future as it seems to be the only appropriate space in Elephant and Castle to home these genres of acquired tastes (our tastes) to the fore.

As two collectives who we’ve strongly supported here at MOTZ, THEM continues to churn out ridiculous line-ups in Corsica while DSNT blazingly flies the flag for the latest techno talent burbling away in the Emerald Isle. The night remains as an intimate rave in London which combines the relentless energy from the Irish techno scene with the UK’s latest offerings in hardcore electronic music. THEM vs DSNT is everything we applaud about oddball music and that’s why we love them.

We've only just recovered.