ABSOLUTE. is a force of nature. A DJ and producer, he’s a figure who transgresses boundaries, embracing the full sense of freedom that club culture – at its root – can offer.
An artist who revels in a continual state of flux, ABSOLUTE. he moves easily between music and fashion – he’s a McQ ambassador – grappling with different disciplines in order to reinforce his creative practice.
It’s set to be a huge summer for ABSOLUTE. with new single ‘Stuck In Love’ out now. An anthem in his sets, it blends his innate grasp of club tropes – just check out his Essential Mix for evidence of this – with a thirst for pop-rooted melodies.
‘Stuck In Love’ comes from a highly personal place, with ABSOLUTE. sharing that the song “took on a whole new meaning when the lyrics ended up becoming my reality during my trip in LA, with art imitating life.”
A real powerhouse, ABSOLUTE. discusses the best ways to open out a DJ set in Starter For Five.
Over the summer I’ve mainly been playing peak time festival sets, but playing on the Terrace at DC10 recently was a great opportunity to start things off a little easier, and these all featured in my set.
Inner Zone – ‘Higher Dimension’
A fab balance of dubby, percussive house with a bumping organ bass with breaks and a house beat that evolves with some emotive trancy strings make this a real winner in building energy and emotion, whilst not being too banging.
D-Shake – ‘TechnoTrance (Paradise Is Now)’
Coming out in 1990, this starts with just ‘woo’ / ‘come on’ and fiery claps make this a really fun one to mix, then comes the bass stabs unfolding with distorted snare grove and fierce percussion make this a winning relentless groover, then the surprise breaks and vocal chant comes in keep things fresh.
Stefan Seay & Willyouarenot – ‘Acid Kiss’ ft. WILLYOUARENOT (Mood Remix)
The chuggy acid bass grabs you straight off the bat with this one, when the beat drops it’s simple and effective, then the percussion grove keeps things building and then ‘feel the vibe, feel the bass’ vocal hook feeds in making it impossible not to move to.
Cubic 22 – ‘Night In Motion’
This track has so many amazing elements, from the ravey stabs that lift the energy, the breaks and pumping bass groove that give way to emotive strings and uplifting piano to bringing euphoric release, then back in with whistles and ‘party time’ and ‘let me hear you’ vox make this a favourite classic of mine that never fails.
Garneau & Max Ullis – ‘People’
A nice lift in energy here, with an undeniable bass groove, pushed 909 drums and ’people pump’ repeated vocal that keeps it rolling with the right amount happening to keep everyone bumping along nicely.
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Photo Credit: Sam Neil
