After the fireworks have cleared and the countdown has passed, reality sets in. You’ve been had – again. Every damn year. The same pitch, the same routine, the same combination of swarms of people and harbour views, blinding you of the underlying lack of substance slowly corroding your soul. Surely this year you should have thought differently, of beginning the year by tapping into something more authentic, more visceral… but it’s too late, you think, glancing at the clock in the early hours of New Year’s Day. Fortunately for you maestro, all is not lost, as there is one fifteen-hour party option on New Year’s Day that is decidedly disconnected from the predictable routines of other despairingly choreographed new year’s celebrations. A techno degustation celebrating individualism and strange fruit, of all varieties, crowned by the long awaited return of techno survivor/auteur Luke Slater after fifteen years of waiting. NYD 2013 at The Abercrombie gives you your retribution.
One of the few UK producers to emerge during the early 90s whose output remains relevant (read: cutting edge) today, Slater regularly throws down at some of the world’s foremost techno dungeons, such as Berghain and Fabric, and is responsible for one of the better instalments in the venerated Fabric compilation canon.
Slater’s back catalogue comprises a the windswept ambience of his seminal 7th Plain pseudonym – encapsulated in the classic Four Corners album from the mid-90s – through the nosebleed severity of his X-Tront releases and the widescreen techno of his Morganistic project to his more recent dubby outings as LB Dub Corp. However Slater is arguably best known for his work as Planetary Assault Systems, releasing his most recent album under the moniker, The Messenger, on Ostgut Ton at the end of last year.
Ever since the release of debut Planetary Assault Systems album The Electric Funk Machine back in that acid-washed summer of ’94, Slater has used the project to create ‘all-purpose’ techno that has a sufficiently strong thematic unity so that it can be appreciated in any context. While the club cognoscenti celebrate Slater’s mastery of dynamic, futuristic techno, his command of the ambient genre is something that is not as commonly acknowledged.
Slater’s classic Four Corners album, released under his 7th Plain moniker in the mid-90s, is a must for anyone curious in electronic soundscapes that diverge away from the dancefloor. “I love to inject art into techno, going avant-garde obscure in places, because when it comes down to it, that’s what I find interesting,” our man Slater elucidates. “I have always tried to keep my head down and get on with it, try not to sell techno so much. You can dress it up and give it an image, but people will find their own way to it if they are interested.” We have no doubt you will find your way to The Abercrombie on New Year’s Day. The route is easy – travel against the tides of people drifting obsequiously in the currents of fickle trends and naff fads, and listen for the raw reverberations of your New Year’s awakening.
Supported by:
Defined By Rhythm
Ben Dunlop
Jordan Deck
Raffi Lovechild
Trinity (Live)
MSG
Marcotix
Mark Craven
Methodix
Kate Doherty
Nick Belshaw
Chris Honnery
Glitch DJ's
Jay Smalls
Jamie Lloyd
lus more TBA
Tickets available soon through Resident Advisor!
1st Release: $25
2nd Release: $35
On the door: $40
This success comes as no surprise, anyone who manages to release on the labels of artists such as Ricard Villalobos (Sei es Drum), Sven Väth (Cocoon) and Radioslave (Rekids) within a year and gets voted “producer of the year” (2010 & 2011) by the GROOVE magazine readers for two consecutive years, has doubtlessly worked his way up to the small circle of artists which pack the most renowned clubs and festivals as headliners. 
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