This September, BASEMENT presents its second ever day-into-night full venue takeover, running from the afternoon straight through past sunrise. Starting outdoors in The Ruins before heading inside, this special marathon run brings together a mix of residents, collaborators and some of the best artists in electronic music today.
D.Dan headlines The Ruins. One of the most impactful and important DJ/producers of the current generation, D.Dan’s marriage of deep, hypnotic techno and tectonic low end ruptures is singular. Few artists make techno feel as cutting edge and modern as D.Dan; his sets are laser focused, futuristic and decoupled from any sense of the retro or nostalgic. As a resident of Mala Junta and in his growing solo discography, D.Dan is rewriting the rule book and charting a path forward for techno. Mos and Elle Dee represent NYC. Two BASEMENT stalwarts, each artist has carved their own special niche within the genre. Mos captures the elusive, icy power of techno. Homing in on cerebral minimalism, crafty loop techno and occasional breakthrough moments of emotional poignancy, Mos’ sets are fully-realized journeys. Mild Fantasy founder Elle Dee weaves deep, hypnotic electro, driving, groovy techno and twisted jack into a pumping, cohesive whole.
Resident Freddy K takes the helm in BASEMENT. One of Italy’s foremost masters of classic, psychedelic techno, Freddy K is a rare artist whose work shaped the genre in its primal phase and who continues to move in stride with the times. Since the ‘90s, he has been a force in his home country, but in recent years he’s undergone a creative renaissance. Freddy K harnesses a lifetime behind the decks, distilling techno to its essence. Ron Like Hell steps away from their usual spot at Wrecked, bringing one of their singular techno sets to BASEMENT. No one plays like Ron; twisting, tripping, throbbing. They are a font of creativity and one of the best examples of dyed-in-the wool, to-the-bone DJ that the world has ever seen. cotton returns to do what only she can. The Renegade boss embodies the paradox of the NY underground: her music is both exploratory and no-BS, experimental and utterly decisive. cotton takes dancers into the darkest waters with a mixture of raw urgency and a steady hand.
The spirit of disco seeps into STUDIO. Massimiliano Pagliara headlines. The STUDIO resident is a truly transcendent talent, harnessing the pure essence of foundation dance music forms and alchemizing them into something new. As he once said, “Music, more than anything else, can say things that words cannot say, so it is a very deep inner experience. In this sense, I am less interested in trying to create something new. I just want to be myself and create something that people can listen to and they can go like: oh yes, this sounds like Massi.” In this mission, we can say he is unequivocally successful. Pagliara has built up a body of work that is all his own which continues to offer a refreshing and unique take on classic themes. UK-born, LA-based Heidi Lawden is one of the great purveyors of thumping, languid house and chugging, cosmic disco. On her Dublab show Magic Roundabout, Lawden submerges the listener in deep, subtly-slowed grooves that tease out a psychedelic depth and a sweaty intensity. Kim Anh’s rapturously decadent productions capture the evocative sheen of the ‘80s at their peak. On tracks like “House of Virgo” and “Dream Lover,” Anh celebrates the lineages of queer dance with a sultry edge.
