View a photo gallery from last night Four Roses Speakeasy at London’s Camp venue. Curated by Bill Brewster with appearances by Mock & Toof, Dj Cosmo and Bad Passion.
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The third in the now well established Four Roses Speakeasy parties kicked off and started filling up early, as London’s finest new underground club venue opened its doors at 8pm on a wet Thursday in the capital. A crowd of clued up dedicated disco kids filed straight onto the dancefloor via the bar to pick up Speakeasy style prohibition jam jars of tonight’s bourbon offering.
Local club collective Bad Passion instigated musical proceedings with a stylish warm-up of chunky melodic electronica slowly teasing people to get moving before the sounds of yesteryear to be celebrated by tonight’s curator Bill Brewster. Known for his passion for classic NYC disco and house Mr Brewster threw down an early electro gauntlet dropping Egyptian Lover’s ‘I Need a Freak’ as his opening gambit before taking things backwards and forwards through classic disco and funk, more contemporary nu disco and acid, with highlights like ‘BT Express’ Keep It Up’ and the classic Foremost Poets call to action ‘Moonraker’ dropped as his CD started jumping, expertly escaping an ashen cheeked moment as the cheeky intro voice announces ‘We are conducting a trouble shoot test of the entire system!’
By the time Brewster left the decks for tonight’s live duo Mock & Toof, the floor was heaving, glasses being clinked, and sprits were high. Our Anglo Scottish live pairing quickly picked up the tempo and the volume with a subtle but driving showcase of their latest album Tuning Echoes’ rolling african drums, boogie bleep rhythms and synth hooks under intoxicating vocal samples balancing the disco sounds of earlier with an afro-funk flavour that kept the dedicated heads nodding and hips shaking.
Multi talented DJ, broadcaster, producer and remixer extraordinaire originating from disco mecca NYC DJ Cosmo was left to take the night to its climax, with a party starting mix of disco edits, kicked off with an amazing version of Yello ‘Call it Love’, onto club classics and deep tribal house and nu-jazz sounds, rocking the dancefloor at every turn. This was one of NY’s original DJ figureheads, mentored by the legendary David Mancuso of The Loft fame, so a DJ who knows exactly what its like to play illicit underground drinking and party dens – a perfect choice to finish off this installment in subversive celebrations of the best in cutting edge music.
Here’s to plenty more in 2011.
Find out more about the Four Roses Speakeasys HERE.
