We’re still waiting for the day when an American techno bill
featuring two female performers isn’t an anomaly. (Luckily, we’re
patient.) But the Sweatbox crew’s Devil’s Night event on Friday
is a power move in the right direction, as it features quality
selectors Julietta (of Munich, Germany) and local up-and-comer
Miss Shelrawka.
Julietta will be making her Emerald City debut this week, but she’s
rocked decks at some of the world’s most revered clubs—including
Berlin’s Panorama Bar, Munich’s Ultraschall, Frankfurt’s
Robert Johnson and Cocoon, Paris’s Rex, and
London’s T Bar (she’s a resident at Munich’s Harry
Klein)—while also playing massive outdoor parties such as
Love Parade and SonneMondSterne, and sharing a stage in
Thailand with Ricardo Villalobos.
Julietta initially drew inspiration from German dub-techno pioneer
Maurizio (one of the Basic Channel label’s stars) and
Detroit techno soul-inflator Moodymann. Their influence
manifests in Julietta’s understated yet eminently danceable selections
that pull from techno’s top-shelf producers. She knows how to build
tension and then release it without being crassly obvious about it. Her
sets, which lately have included tracks by Deetron,
Luciano, Lee Curtiss, Kai Alcé, and
Sascha Dive, prove that you can lose yourself in bliss without
having the urge to thrust your arms heavenward—your hips are
another story, though.
Miss Shelrawka (aka Michele Kinsey) elbowed her way into the techno
boy’s club by showcasing a similar sound to Julietta’s. Shelrawka
doesn’t cane the most banging tracks out there, nor the most
experimental cuts, but she does explore her niche—a low-slung,
funky, tribal strain of minimal techno—with excellent
aesthetics and technique (and, bless her heart, she spins only
vinyl).
Kinsey lived in New York and New Jersey before moving west, and she
brings an East Coast energy and grittiness to her techno and house
mixes. They’re also incredibly sexy, featuring much percolating hand
percussion; swiveling, loin-engorging bass lines; cooing,
groaning, and sighing vocals; and ass-smacking beats. Cold, clinical
minimalism ain’t Shelrawka’s bag (not that there’s anything wrong with
cold, clinical minimalism—that shit’s some of my favorite music).
Rather, she’s in the booth to warm up the club to steamy temperatures,
but via measured, well-considered methods rather than the trite anthems
to which less discerning DJs resort. Shelrawka may be playing Devil’s
Night, but don’t expect a disco inferno.
You can check out several mixes by
Miss Shelrawka at www.soundcloud.com/miss-shelrawka.
DJ Julietta, Miss Shelrawka, DJ Shift, Jonny Romero, and
Ctrl_Alt_Dlt perform Fri Oct 30, Electric Tea Garden, 1402
E Pike St, 10 pm, $10 before midnight/$13 after, 21+.
