After a successful night in October with Heidi and Maribou State, Troupe returned to dismantle the roof of the Faversham with some of Britain’s most exciting nascent techno DJs. The venue isn’t quite the ‘jungle of glitter’ and ‘revelry’ promised in the night’s description, but things quickly become pretty wild with the emergence of Subb-an (Ashique Subhan), whose live, producing and disc jockeying talents have earned him the accolade of DJ Magazine’s ‘Best Breakthrough DJ’ in 2011, and numerous residencies at the world’s biggest clubs.

A certain amount of this internationality is sensed in his sound as he flirts with latin rhythms before taking us into old school house and disco via space. There is little more galvanising than a glorious female vocal or bright disco strings sections, especially when they are given a techy makeover. He blends groove and techno thump in a very clever way, but the biggest moments of his set come when he plays purely the latter. The rich rumble of his stunning remix of And.Id’s ‘Erotica’ and his own solid driver ‘Vapour Trails’ (set for release via Crosstown Rebels in December), conjure a sophisticated deep house sound more akin to the Hot Creations label, with whom the next DJ, wAFF (Jon Wafer), releases music. A bunch of wAFF loyalists barge to the front to give him some skin, clearly indicating this man’s current prominence in the scene. The harsh, almost perverse rattling bass of opener ‘Jo Johnson’, overlaid with sexy vocal samples, makes you fist pump to the point of tennis elbow. And if that doesn’t hospitalise you, you’ll probably pass out later anyway: wAFF makes a relentless, claustrophobic but captivating sound.

https://soundcloud.com/waff-2/puke-it-up

Troupe’s own Capulet close the night with a superb set of garagey techno, and are certainly ones to watch at the company’s upcoming nights.

[Oliver Walkden]

Photo: Khris Cowley