Leeds clubbing institution Butter Side Up’s booking policy rarely disappoints. While in recent years the party’s musical direction has shifted more toward the more minimal end of the house and techno spectrum, they never fail to grasp the opportunity to bring the selector of the moment to Wire when available.
In the past, this has been Motor City Drum Ensemble and Hunee. For their final party of the 2016/17 term, it was Call Super, recent contributor to the fabric mix series and one of the most highly regarded DJs on the circuit as we speak. In contrast to MCDE and Hunee, whose draw was their wonderful selections from outside the electronic music sphere, Call Super’s reputation appears to be built upon playing within the confines of electronic club music, just very very well.
At Butter Side Up, he followed Jonny Sleight, whose deft warmup set culminated in some of the palatable tech-house selections the party’s residents have become famous for. Call Super began with more of the same, but the pace quickly increased as he began to sift through his record bag, before his first big moment came with the deployment of the high-octane ‘Revival’ by Peter Croce around half an hour in. From this moment, he navigated between skippy garage, hands-in-the-air trance, pulsing techno, stabbing electro, soothing ambient, 80s Nigerian synth pop and much more over the course of four hours, as if it was the most natural direction he could take.
Similar to his peers Ben UFO and Objekt, there seems to be a mad scientist element to how Call Super plays. He has an incredible pinpoint perception for the right moment to switch the tempo and genre; he comes across somewhat like an Iniesta-esque playmaker, always knowing when a dangerous pass is on that most other players on the pitch would not even consider. His mixes are invariably executed with clinical precision, but there is enough flair, creativity and pure ‘what-the-fuck did I just witness’ moments for them to ever feel methodical.
At Butter Side Up, his pièce de résistance was playing Steve Monite’s ‘Only You’ at around 4:30 to completely transform the darkness of his previous techno and electro selections. The next time he plays, it is sure to be something entirely different, it is plain that he will adapt his set effortlessly to whatever club situation he is in. After witnessing him in action, we couldn’t recommend anything more than doing so yourself.
John Hardy