Atom™ x Peter Van Hoesen (SYNC.) recorded live at C12

We are pleased to share an excerpt of a four hour live performance by Atom™ and Peter Van Hoesen under their joint SYNC. alias.

This unique project focuses on live techno improvisation and performance. A SYNC. show can run anywhere between four and eight hours, depending on the setup and the occasion. The core of the performance is a musical dialogue between both artists, their machines and the audience.

This performance was presented at C12, Brussels on May 14th 2022.

Peter Van Hoesen · SYNC. Live at C12, May 14 2022

A clubber in a beautiful Japanese kimono walks in the main room of C12. The dj plays an unrushed ambient track, a beautiful vocal sequence echoes through the concrete structure. The space is barely lit, light strips in blue and red spread a dreamlike haze. In control of the music tonight is Floating Points – a British musician, professor and adventurous dj – who will play for six hours straight. It’s been ten minutes since the first track started and he’s in no hurry, the next track saves the room from silence at the very end of a fade out. This is the beginning of a long night and the golden hour of a party, when expectations and energy levels are high..

A group of three clubbers jumps around the room. One of them cries out “Je suis chaud!”, with enough decibels to overpower the towering sound system. Several meters away a couple tries to imagine the first kick drum, still absent in Floating Points’ atmospheric opening tracks. They soft-shoe on a square meter in the middle of the room and are officially the first dancers of the night.

Positions are being assumed on the dance floor, drinks passed around. Two spectators opt for the front row, as close as they can get to the DJ booth, in order to carefully study the dj’s movements. They don’t move an inch, gently leaning their arms on the metal fence that is protecting the hardware-loaded table from the dance floor. Behind them two dancers pirouette around the room in a criss-cross pattern. They move elegantly through the vacant space, stretching an invisible wire about the clubbers and gradually tightening up the crowd through the course of the night.

Floating Points brings in a kick drum, slowly but surely. A beautiful soul voice sings over it, the bassline starts to groove, the majority of the clubbers is now moving and shaking. The night, with its own logic and standards, is taking off. The thick walls, encapsulated in a hidden space of the mighty Brussels central station, protect its inner soul from the normative outside world, camouflaged in space and time. Tens of thousands of commuters who use the corridor during weekdays rushing to their daily trains, have no clue of the community occupying it during long weekend nights.

Hours later and C12 is still filled with energetic bodies moving in an incomprehensible yet graceful rhythm. The night’s futuristic soundtrack pumps from the enormous sound system. Everyone shares the same route to an unknown destination, happening now and not tomorrow. It’s in this space that we celebrate rave culture, based on a half-century-old tradition, with a unique Brussels flair. Our weekend home: C12.

Author: Koen Galle (KONG DJ)
Editor: Dana Kuehr
Picture: Jeremy Gérard

The cosy record shop in the heart of the Marollen in Brussels is three years among us. Saturday we celebrate with a double bill curated by Crevette.

Crevette founders Pim and Jakob explain who they have invited and why.

Jakob: “In the main room we are very proud to present AS ONE live as headliner. Having released on world-renowned labels like B12, R&S, Planet E and New Electronica, Kirk Degiorgio revives his AS ONE alias after 14 years for his new album ‘Communion’. It is released on the Belgian De:Tuned label, certainly a favorite of ours.”

Jakob: “In 1992 Degiorgio founded the ART label (Applied Rythmic Technology) releasing early material by seminal artists such as Carl Craig, Aphex Twin, Stasis, and The Black Dog.”

Jakob: Cecilio & Laurine are co-founders of the Slow Life collective and known for their ever positive vibes and the excellent curation of their label. On Saturday the duo is taking care of the closing of C12 with a 4 hour set!

Jakob: “Gwennan is a resident at London’s Pickle Factory and a regular guest at our beloved Basic Moves’ parties, so we are delighted to invite her over for the peaktime slot at our birthday party.”

Pim: “Jakob himself will be on warm-up duties in C12, while I play in C11. For this room we have invited two of our favorite label bosses. First of all Paramida is coming over, who is known for her stellar label, Love on The Rocks. She has managed to carve out a globe trotting DJ career based purely on her skills as a party starting DJ.

Pim: “A Crevette records favourite, Zaltan (founder of Antinote) is not to be missed during the birthday celebrations. has gathered thousands of dancefloor-friendly tunes of all eras and from all over the world. He’ll surprise us with a mixture of french proto-house, dark electro fantasies and god knows what else he’ll take out of his bag !”

Pim: “After 9 months of wandering the globe finally stranded back on the Brussels’ shores with a lot of weirdo Records and CD’s.. Crevette Records affiliate and in-house dog-sitter Aroh couldn’t be missed during the birthday celebrations!”