Pretty Pretty Good kicked off an impressive run of events last Friday night, as they brought Avalon Emerson and Batu to the hallowed Wire basement.

The Sheffield based promoters’ 2018 autumn programme sees them hosting some great nights across the UK, with Palms Trax, Margaret Dygas and Shanti Celeste all featuring. It was their Leeds line up, however, that impressed most as two scene stalwarts turned out for the first PPG party of the semester.

Avalon Emerson had stolen hearts in her Leeds debut for Ossia just under a year ago, before becoming ubiquitous in an extraordinary summer which saw her play stonking sets at Gottwood, Lost Village and Dimensions. By the same token, Batu’s summer has largely been defined by his much-lauded headline set at Dekmantel Selectors, alongside a string of inspired releases on his Bristol-based record label, Timedance. Expectations for both DJs were therefore extremely high.

After resident Stevie Cox, Avalon Emerson was first up on what felt like warm up duties, starting off her set with ambient and deep house. But fans of Avalon will know she is a DJ that rarely stays on the same path for too long. So, as her two and a half hour set unfolded, she switched onto harder breaks and groove-driven, industrial techno, including Lock Club’s punky forthcoming track, Svoboda.

Then at 3, Batu stepped up to the decks to close out the night, delivering a characteristically dark and dubby set. By mainly selecting percussion-led techno tracks, typified his choice of Ploy’s Ramos, his set aligned with the aesthetic of many recent Timedance releases. Bruce’s Aeon, out on Hessle Audio, was unquestionably the track of the night, perfectly befitting Wire’s Funktion-One speakers as it permeated through the club with an almost ethereal quality.

All in all, this was a great night of music in what looks set to be a great autumn for Wire.

James Dewar

(Image credit: Pretty Pretty Good)