Sandwiches Bar & Nightclub, Wellington, NZ
Saturday 08th September 2012
For those not in the know, ‘Modus
Operandi’ was a 1997 LP by Photek (aka Special Forces, aka Aquarius, aka Rupert
Parkes) that represents a high water mark in sophistication and production
values for the entire drum & bass genre.
Not that Mr. Parkes has ever
adopted the moniker. Interestingly, he still refers to what he does as simply
‘jungle’.
Overall, despite several forays
into other genres (the massive 2000 house hit ‘Mine To Give’ with Robert Owens)
and his (albeit less well received) hip-hop project ‘…Presents Do Or Die’)
Parkes is a giant in drum & bass terms. As the MC on the night said, “One
of the true, original drum & bass pioneers”.
In my record collection, I think
you’d be hard pushed (Total Science, maybe) to find as many records by a single
producer. (Be they house or drum & bass).
The night was a meshing of old and
new, with Parkes performing a mutant set (utilising two CDJ’s and Ableton Live)
to recreate the LP, meshing component parts of tracks rather than playing the
LP by rote.
In addition to LP tracks, he mixed
other productions including his classic (and my favourite drum & bass tune
of all time) ‘Ni Ten Ichi Ryu’.
If I sound gushing, I am. I’ve
seen Photek DJ before (circa 1997 and 2003) so was understandably excited about
this show. (Indeed, my girlfriend noted that our “early bird” tickets were
numbered ‘0002 and ‘0003).
If you show me another example of
another underground mackdaddy of the whole show re-imposing his absolute
mastery of the genre – I’m all ears. Quality.
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