Louche
Ben UFO, San Soda, Brinsley Kazak
Mint Club
Saturday 16th February

Having recently celebrated its 5th birthday and throwing a string of parties in London, Louche returned to its home, the Mint Club, with an exciting lineup (as ever) of Ben UFO and San Soda.

Resident and co-founder Brinsley Kazak kicked off the proceedings in his typically energetic style, before Belgian producer and label owner San Soda took over, maintaining the momentum, whilst carefully mixing between warm deep house music and more bass heavy acidic sounds.  A highlight was when he dropped the recent FXHE release, ‘Oh Jabba’ by OB Ignitt, previously introduced during the early hours of the last Louche, courtesy of resident Josh T.

Ben UFO’s career began here in Leeds, where he founded the pioneering dubstep label Hessle Audio, alongside fellow students Pearson Sound and Pangaea, back in 2007.  Since then he has becomes one of the most well-respected DJs in the world, notorious for his eclectic selections and flawless mixing.  The impact when he took to the decks at 3am was unmissable, as an eerie piano loop and stuttered percussion filled the room, before a massive chord and a thunderous kick drum came in, shaking the club to announce his presence.  Despite his history and affiliations with dubstep, grime and jungle, tonight would be a fairly four to the floor affair, focusing on the harder, darker side of house and techno, with tracks like Round Four’s ‘Found A Way’ and Theo Parrish’s ‘Late Dub’ of Rick Wilhite’s ‘Get On Up!’ Having said this, he still managed to squeeze in something more lighthearted with Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’, although with Ben’s mixing skills, it didn’t seem out of place or cheesy.

The night finished with all three DJs going back to back for the last half hour or so, rounding off another great night at Mint thanks to Louche.  Their next event is in London with Ame, Andres and Roman Flugel, before they return to Mint on the 16th March with Detroit’s Marcellus Pittman, ‘The Hit Man’ and Panorama Bar resident Tama Sumo.

words: Dominic Freeman
photo: Ian G. Ramsey