Monday night saw a Hypercolour not to be missed, as Maya Jane Coles, Huxley, Pierre Codarin and Alex Jones took over Sankeys Basement for another instalment of great music and underground vibes. As Maya's most intimate set on the island so far, you can imagine it was packed.
After Pierre Codarin warmed up the decks, Huxley filled the room with his brand of house with a thorough garage twist. You could feel the bass tingling through your skin as he played tracks like David August's Moving Day and Hot Since 82's remix of Yousef's Beg.
For me, Maya's set was, without question, one of the musical highlights of this summer so far. For such a pint-sized person, her sounds were huge, heavy and wonderfully mixed. She blurred the boundaries of so many genres, showcasing an effortless versatility that many DJs yearn to perfect, but from her we have almost learnt to expect. The dubstep elements she frequently introduced were reminiscent of her alias Nocturnal Sunshine and there was some cheering and extra dancing from the crowd from many of her long-time supporters. She then brought it back to a re-vamped classic house sound, playing tracks such as Roger Sanchez's Troubleman. Her song choices were consistently a great fit for the crowd. The murky vocals and creepy bass lines of songs like Fabo feat Lostcause's Come My Way, along with the infectious introduction of hi-hats about an hour into her set, poured hauntingly out of Sankeys VOID sound system onto the hungry crowd.
Even though she was constantly merging genres, you could sense the true techno running through her veins this season. This most likely has something to do with being one of Richie Hawtin's regular contributors to his Thursday night Space experience Enter. Although occasional elements of her set seemed a bit too dominated by techno for some, the reactions from the hardcore fans of minimal and Maya herself made it clear that her musical choices were still unquestionable. To the whole crowd's delight she played the beautiful Everything feat Karin Park from her new album, a song which showcases her style and use of vocals from a slightly softer angle.
Maya finished to applause and whoops from the crowd, smiling modestly as she left us all buzzing, handing over the decks to the capable hands of Alex Jones. This will definitely be an event talked about for weeks to come, really putting Hypercolor Mondays on the map.
Photogrpahy by Elliot Walsh
