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Well it's finally available after technical hitches with the [ms] downloads and a hectic new year schedule delaying my write up ... trust me, the two hours from last October at Pacha NYC are definately worth the wait 
After a fantastic 2009 round-up last week we celebrate 2010 (and the start of a new decade) with a bang !
John Digweed has a great affinity with New York ever since those heady days of jet-setting across the Atlantic via Concorde for the biggest monthly residency in the business at the legendary Twilo, where a roadblock was always guaranteed. The venue may have changed, but make no bones about it, Diggers in the Big Apple is still a major event that has the forums buzzing weeks in advance.
Date : 9th October 2009
Co-ordinates : Lat. 40° 45' 2" N and Long. 74° 0' 13" W
Country : USA
City : New York
Venue : Pacha NYC
Location : Manhattan, Hells Kitchen
Address : 618 West 46th Street, New York, NY 10036
Status : opened December 2005
www.pachanyc.com
Located in the middle of a bustling Hell's Kitchen district and flanked by the Hudson River, Pacha is situated in a decadent four storey mansion, with each 30,000 square feet space having it's own character and customised decor.
The powerful sound system is a teutonic German-imported Dynacord alpha concept speaker system with intelligent,LED and concentional lighting plus fully integrated visuals. The club itself is split into four key parts:
Pachita - "Little Pacha" is an elegany attic hideaway with a 400 capacity.
The Funky Room - 500 capacity and comes complete with shower booths where beautiful bikini clad girls get sopped in sprinkling water while bathed in colored LED lights. BTW if you get to notice the decor the bar is hand-crafted by Spanish artisans.
Mezzanine - 1200 capacity and encircling the main room this is where the celebs hang out
Main Room - Pacha's beating and booming heart, a wide open 1200 capacity dancefloor space complete with the obligatory large disco ball.
Pacha
Pacha is a major brand in global clubbing ,having gone from modest roots in ibiza and mainland Spain to world domination. Following changes in music policy in ibiza towards very mainstream dance music embracing the elements of "lifestyle" clubbing Pacha Nyc is a shining beacon for the brand, with its reputation intact amongst clubbers for playing some serious serious music.
Pacha nyc hosts the likes of Carl Cox, Hernan, Cattaneo, Steve Lawler, James Zabiela, Danny Howells, Jeff Mills, Dubfire, Nick Warren, Dave Seaman, Sander Kleinenberg, Lee Burridge, James Holden, Danny Tenglia and whole host of trance DJ's as well as leaning heavily towards house with US heavyweights Roger Sanchez and Erik Morillo etc.
Nights don't come much more serious than a Digweed night, with him having appeared at Pacha nyc in 2007 (twice) and 2008, even bringing [ms]'s very own Chloe Harris along on opening duties (Sept 2007) - for this October 2009 visit there was the significant 40oz undercard of Chris Fortier.
John Digweed - Transitions 279 (Kiss100) 3rd January 2010
------ Recorded Live at Pacha NYC (Friday October 9th 2009) ------
Hour 1
01. Guy J - Ballroom (Ed Davenport's Tribute Remix) [Bedrock BED84]
02. King Roc - The Beginning (Jericho Dub) [Process Recordings PRCS116]
03. Giorgos Gatzgristos - Binary Star Systems [Bedrock Bed11Vin4]
04. Vince Watson - A Very Different World (Funk D'Void Epic Remix) [Bio BIO020]
05. Theodor Zox - Fading (Vincenzo's Phantom Image Mix) [Ransom Note US RNPT 04]
06. Robert Babicz - Remote Kiss [Babiczstyle Records Promo]
07. Rowdent - Found It [Bedrock Bed11Vin6]
08. Guy J - Ballroom (Original) [Bedrock BED84]
09. Moonface - Futurized Fears (Guy J Remix) [Bedrock Bed11Vin3]
10. Erphun - The Little Rascal [Bedrock Bed11Vin5]
Hour 2
11. Northern Lite - Cocaine (Timo Maas Remix) [Armut 24 ARM013]
12. Alex Dolby & Santos - No Walls [Bedrock Bed11Vin2]
13. Dappled Cities - The Price (King Unique Dub Remix) [Dangerbird Records Promo]
14. Timo Maas - Bite The Dust [More Music TIMORE 001]
15. John Digweed & Nick Muir - Aquatonic (Unreleased Dub) [Bedrock Bed11Vin3]
16. Rodriguez Jr – Lila (Kollektiv Turmstrasse Remix) [Boxer Recordings BOXER073]
17. Cagedbaby - Hello There (Radioslave Remix) [Southern Fried Records ECB96]
18. UNKLE - Heavy Drug (King Unique Smoke Nest Mix) [Surrender All SURR 014D]
19. Nude & Lowkey - Easter (Jamie Stevens Tech Dub Mix) [East Point Sounds EPSS008]
20. Marco Bailey - Watergate[Bedrock Bed85]
The music
John's visit to Pacha took place just before the 11th Birthday party at Matter and coincided with the release of Bedrock 11. Although some of the tracks are from 11 (and still sounding pretty darned good) there are a whole host of others to get excited about as we see how JD crafted his sets and integrated the 11 material he'd been roadtesting since spring.
A few ID's are still needed (kudos and thanksc to the board-members that pm'd me and have helped us get to this stage ) - so please get train spotting to fill in the gaps !
We join the set briefly with one of 3 versions of Guy J's latest release. Tougher and more twisted than the usual Guy J productions, "Ballroom" is a sign that the Bedrock protégé is growing and diversifying as an artist. UK born/Berlin based producer Ed Davenport takes on remix duties with an edgy and bouncy version that we get a brief glimpse of, before heading into King Roc's infectious "The Beginning" - which has been a firm favourite for both John (at Arma in Moscow and Matter London) and Sasha.
The sublime "Binary Star system" leads us into one of the most stunning tracks of 2009, with Soma producer extraordinaire Funk D'void (aka Lars Sandberg) giving us an "epic" remix of Vince Watson as featured as one of John's weekend weopons:
John Digweed on Vince Watson - A Very Different World (Funk D'Void Epic Remix) [Bio BIO020]
"What can I say, this is the sort of record that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Lars has really delivered a truly great remix - search this one out and you will not be disappointed."
"A Very Different World" is one of those productions that really galvanises a club (a la fabric at Christmas) as everyone stops what they are doing and gets lost in the music as the whole place is filled with energy. Funk D'Void holds a firm place in my heart when the Atmo mix of the outstanding "Emotional Content" heralded the return of John's show to Kiss after a brief hiatus in 2004 and is one of my favourite opening Transitions tracks.
Next it's Denmark's Theodor Zox with "Fading", Vicenzo Ragone on remix duty (Vincenzo's worked w. John Selway with "Dream Stealer" featuring on GU36 Bogota). Musical and electronic genius Robert Babicz gives us a new production forthcoming on his own label Babiczstyle Records in Feb 2010. After that the resurgent Rowan Blades gives us "Found It" (be sure to check our Rowan and musical partner Dennis White's "Rowdent" guest mix from T277) it's the original mix of the effervescent "Ballroom", with hissing and crackling sounds based on drum patterns rather then melodies open up the original edit and spirals of atmospheric loops weave against melodies that pan over the canvas of sound as the track builds to Moonface (aka Bedrock stalwart Phil Thompson), with Guy J appropriately remixing. The B11 theme continues as we get a brief hit of Erphun before the break.
Hour two starts with a great uptempo remix from Timo Maas of Nortern Lite's "Cocaine" before we get another mainstay of Bedrock 11, with talented producers and now dynamic combo Alex Dolby and Santos's "No Walls". Then it's a great remix by the very talented King Unique, with his dub of Dappled Cities' "The Price" - modern progressive music of the highest order. Next up is another Diggers "weekend weopon" with Timo Maas again (damn he's been on fire of late) with "Bite The Dust":
John Digweed on Timo Maas - Bite The Dust [More Music TIMORE 001]
"Timo gave this to me at the start of the summer and it has been a mainstay in my set ever since, He is really back on form with his productions, and Nick and myself were lucky enough to get to remix this for him as well."
We can get a very cool update on Aquatonic before an older track from, but a bloody good one, Cagedbaby's "Hello There" given a Radioslave makeover before we are lead brilliantly and seemlessly
into King Unique's spaced out mix of UNKLE's Heavy Drug - absolutely massive and one of the big (and many standout) tunes of 2009 ... I can only imagine the vibe in Pacha at this stage - this is the magic of Diggers live he builds things up in the previous hour, and then hits you with it ... before taking it all back down a little as some nifty footwork and a more pinpoint jabs set you up for another smack in the chops. As the [ms] banner says, this is why we go out ! Things end with Nude & Lowkey - Easter (Jamie Stevens Tech Dub Mix) before we get a sneak preview of "Watergate" - due out on Bedrock January 25th
As John says at the end of the show, 2009 was a great year for music - hopefully you've all made a new years resolution to make sure you check out what Transitions has in store for us in 2010.
As ever, this set is are available now in the [ms] downloads section, and the Kiss100 rip always seems more superior than the Proton rip + this one's a keeper
Bonus Bits
Here's a very nice interview that John did for Pacha tv which covers a fair bit of ground (including his thoughts on Twilo) :
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRrBaQO_Qmw[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzYjTd_rCOs[/YOUTUBE]
40oz Warmup
If you want an even bigger flavour of what was played on the night go over to Chris Fortier's Soundcloud site where you can download two hours of his set
http://soundcloud.com/chris-fortier
Bonus Pics
John must have done a great PR job during the Pacha tv interview, as the odd celeb came out of the woodwork to check out what was being played !
Of course, Sasha may have had other things on his mind and other parts of the club to go to.
You didn't think I was going to mention Bikini clad girls getting sprinkled with water without providing suitable photographic evidence did you ?
After a fantastic 2009 round-up last week we celebrate 2010 (and the start of a new decade) with a bang !
John Digweed has a great affinity with New York ever since those heady days of jet-setting across the Atlantic via Concorde for the biggest monthly residency in the business at the legendary Twilo, where a roadblock was always guaranteed. The venue may have changed, but make no bones about it, Diggers in the Big Apple is still a major event that has the forums buzzing weeks in advance.
Date : 9th October 2009
Co-ordinates : Lat. 40° 45' 2" N and Long. 74° 0' 13" W
Country : USA
City : New York
Venue : Pacha NYC
Location : Manhattan, Hells Kitchen
Address : 618 West 46th Street, New York, NY 10036
Status : opened December 2005
www.pachanyc.com
Located in the middle of a bustling Hell's Kitchen district and flanked by the Hudson River, Pacha is situated in a decadent four storey mansion, with each 30,000 square feet space having it's own character and customised decor.
The powerful sound system is a teutonic German-imported Dynacord alpha concept speaker system with intelligent,LED and concentional lighting plus fully integrated visuals. The club itself is split into four key parts:
Pachita - "Little Pacha" is an elegany attic hideaway with a 400 capacity.
The Funky Room - 500 capacity and comes complete with shower booths where beautiful bikini clad girls get sopped in sprinkling water while bathed in colored LED lights. BTW if you get to notice the decor the bar is hand-crafted by Spanish artisans
.Mezzanine - 1200 capacity and encircling the main room this is where the celebs hang out
Main Room - Pacha's beating and booming heart, a wide open 1200 capacity dancefloor space complete with the obligatory large disco ball.
Pacha
Pacha is a major brand in global clubbing ,having gone from modest roots in ibiza and mainland Spain to world domination. Following changes in music policy in ibiza towards very mainstream dance music embracing the elements of "lifestyle" clubbing Pacha Nyc is a shining beacon for the brand, with its reputation intact amongst clubbers for playing some serious serious music.
Pacha nyc hosts the likes of Carl Cox, Hernan, Cattaneo, Steve Lawler, James Zabiela, Danny Howells, Jeff Mills, Dubfire, Nick Warren, Dave Seaman, Sander Kleinenberg, Lee Burridge, James Holden, Danny Tenglia and whole host of trance DJ's as well as leaning heavily towards house with US heavyweights Roger Sanchez and Erik Morillo etc.
Nights don't come much more serious than a Digweed night, with him having appeared at Pacha nyc in 2007 (twice) and 2008, even bringing [ms]'s very own Chloe Harris along on opening duties (Sept 2007) - for this October 2009 visit there was the significant 40oz undercard of Chris Fortier.
John Digweed - Transitions 279 (Kiss100) 3rd January 2010
------ Recorded Live at Pacha NYC (Friday October 9th 2009) ------
Hour 1
01. Guy J - Ballroom (Ed Davenport's Tribute Remix) [Bedrock BED84]
02. King Roc - The Beginning (Jericho Dub) [Process Recordings PRCS116]
03. Giorgos Gatzgristos - Binary Star Systems [Bedrock Bed11Vin4]
04. Vince Watson - A Very Different World (Funk D'Void Epic Remix) [Bio BIO020]
05. Theodor Zox - Fading (Vincenzo's Phantom Image Mix) [Ransom Note US RNPT 04]
06. Robert Babicz - Remote Kiss [Babiczstyle Records Promo]
07. Rowdent - Found It [Bedrock Bed11Vin6]
08. Guy J - Ballroom (Original) [Bedrock BED84]
09. Moonface - Futurized Fears (Guy J Remix) [Bedrock Bed11Vin3]
10. Erphun - The Little Rascal [Bedrock Bed11Vin5]
Hour 2
11. Northern Lite - Cocaine (Timo Maas Remix) [Armut 24 ARM013]
12. Alex Dolby & Santos - No Walls [Bedrock Bed11Vin2]
13. Dappled Cities - The Price (King Unique Dub Remix) [Dangerbird Records Promo]
14. Timo Maas - Bite The Dust [More Music TIMORE 001]
15. John Digweed & Nick Muir - Aquatonic (Unreleased Dub) [Bedrock Bed11Vin3]
16. Rodriguez Jr – Lila (Kollektiv Turmstrasse Remix) [Boxer Recordings BOXER073]
17. Cagedbaby - Hello There (Radioslave Remix) [Southern Fried Records ECB96]
18. UNKLE - Heavy Drug (King Unique Smoke Nest Mix) [Surrender All SURR 014D]
19. Nude & Lowkey - Easter (Jamie Stevens Tech Dub Mix) [East Point Sounds EPSS008]
20. Marco Bailey - Watergate[Bedrock Bed85]
The music
John's visit to Pacha took place just before the 11th Birthday party at Matter and coincided with the release of Bedrock 11. Although some of the tracks are from 11 (and still sounding pretty darned good) there are a whole host of others to get excited about as we see how JD crafted his sets and integrated the 11 material he'd been roadtesting since spring.
A few ID's are still needed (kudos and thanksc to the board-members that pm'd me and have helped us get to this stage
) - so please get train spotting to fill in the gaps ! We join the set briefly with one of 3 versions of Guy J's latest release. Tougher and more twisted than the usual Guy J productions, "Ballroom" is a sign that the Bedrock protégé is growing and diversifying as an artist. UK born/Berlin based producer Ed Davenport takes on remix duties with an edgy and bouncy version that we get a brief glimpse of, before heading into King Roc's infectious "The Beginning" - which has been a firm favourite for both John (at Arma in Moscow and Matter London) and Sasha.
The sublime "Binary Star system" leads us into one of the most stunning tracks of 2009, with Soma producer extraordinaire Funk D'void (aka Lars Sandberg) giving us an "epic" remix of Vince Watson as featured as one of John's weekend weopons:
John Digweed on Vince Watson - A Very Different World (Funk D'Void Epic Remix) [Bio BIO020]
"What can I say, this is the sort of record that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Lars has really delivered a truly great remix - search this one out and you will not be disappointed."
"A Very Different World" is one of those productions that really galvanises a club (a la fabric at Christmas) as everyone stops what they are doing and gets lost in the music as the whole place is filled with energy. Funk D'Void holds a firm place in my heart when the Atmo mix of the outstanding "Emotional Content" heralded the return of John's show to Kiss after a brief hiatus in 2004 and is one of my favourite opening Transitions tracks
.Next it's Denmark's Theodor Zox with "Fading", Vicenzo Ragone on remix duty (Vincenzo's worked w. John Selway with "Dream Stealer" featuring on GU36 Bogota). Musical and electronic genius Robert Babicz gives us a new production forthcoming on his own label Babiczstyle Records in Feb 2010. After that the resurgent Rowan Blades gives us "Found It" (be sure to check our Rowan and musical partner Dennis White's "Rowdent" guest mix from T277) it's the original mix of the effervescent "Ballroom", with hissing and crackling sounds based on drum patterns rather then melodies open up the original edit and spirals of atmospheric loops weave against melodies that pan over the canvas of sound as the track builds to Moonface (aka Bedrock stalwart Phil Thompson), with Guy J appropriately remixing. The B11 theme continues as we get a brief hit of Erphun before the break.
Hour two starts with a great uptempo remix from Timo Maas of Nortern Lite's "Cocaine" before we get another mainstay of Bedrock 11, with talented producers and now dynamic combo Alex Dolby and Santos's "No Walls". Then it's a great remix by the very talented King Unique, with his dub of Dappled Cities' "The Price" - modern progressive music of the highest order. Next up is another Diggers "weekend weopon" with Timo Maas again (damn he's been on fire of late) with "Bite The Dust":
John Digweed on Timo Maas - Bite The Dust [More Music TIMORE 001]
"Timo gave this to me at the start of the summer and it has been a mainstay in my set ever since, He is really back on form with his productions, and Nick and myself were lucky enough to get to remix this for him as well."
We can get a very cool update on Aquatonic before an older track from, but a bloody good one, Cagedbaby's "Hello There" given a Radioslave makeover before we are lead brilliantly and seemlessly
into King Unique's spaced out mix of UNKLE's Heavy Drug - absolutely massive and one of the big (and many standout) tunes of 2009 ... I can only imagine the vibe in Pacha at this stage - this is the magic of Diggers live he builds things up in the previous hour, and then hits you with it ... before taking it all back down a little as some nifty footwork and a more pinpoint jabs set you up for another smack in the chops. As the [ms] banner says, this is why we go out ! Things end with Nude & Lowkey - Easter (Jamie Stevens Tech Dub Mix) before we get a sneak preview of "Watergate" - due out on Bedrock January 25th As John says at the end of the show, 2009 was a great year for music - hopefully you've all made a new years resolution to make sure you check out what Transitions has in store for us in 2010.
As ever, this set is are available now in the [ms] downloads section, and the Kiss100 rip always seems more superior than the Proton rip + this one's a keeper
Bonus Bits
Here's a very nice interview that John did for Pacha tv which covers a fair bit of ground (including his thoughts on Twilo) :
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRrBaQO_Qmw[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzYjTd_rCOs[/YOUTUBE]
40oz Warmup
If you want an even bigger flavour of what was played on the night go over to Chris Fortier's Soundcloud site where you can download two hours of his set
http://soundcloud.com/chris-fortier
Bonus Pics
John must have done a great PR job during the Pacha tv interview, as the odd celeb came out of the woodwork to check out what was being played !
Of course, Sasha may have had other things on his mind and other parts of the club to go to.
You didn't think I was going to mention Bikini clad girls getting sprinkled with water without providing suitable photographic evidence did you ?
Top stuff, as always.
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