Photo: Canal Mills

Last weekend Canal Mills set the semester into motion as the venue played host to a sensational mix of DJ’s and producers hailing from Detroit to Oslo and everywhere in-between.

Norwegian newcomer Cashmere Cat was the first to take to the DJ booth, warming up the crowd with a mix of hip hop, bass and futuristic sounds. As the mass of Leeds party goers started to pour into the venue around the 12pm mark, DJ Oneman took centre stage. This was a well informed booking on the part of the event’s promoters, Resident Advisor. Anyone who’s seen the Streatham born DJ perform before on his visits to Leeds will know about the way he blends dubstep, hip hop, grime and UK garage into unparalleled live mixes.

Photo: Canal Mills

Oneman closed his set with The Streets garage classic, ‘Blinded By The Lights’, I was sceptical as to how Paris/ London based DJ and producer Romare would be able to maintain the same sense of atmosphere. However, Romare stays true to the unique downtempo house and Afro-beat style of production that’s found on his 2012 EP release, ‘Meditations on Afrocentrism’ on Black Acre and this strongly resonated through his set.

Photo: Canal Mills

As the night pressed on the excitement clearly reached a climax when Four Tet took to the DJ booth. The post-rock/ electronic musician and producer was fresh from releasing his album, ‘Beautiful Rewind’ and his recent collaborative work with Syrian artist Omar Souleyman. Drawing on this collaboration, he dropped the track, ‘Wenu Wenu’ midway through his set, setting Arabic vocals ringing off the walls of the warehouse.

Photo: Canal Mills

Aside from Prins Thomas’ absence due to to a new addition to his family arriving the same evening, it marked a successful opening to a new season of events at Canal Mills.

James Andersen