Three things that made me and my friends brave a “Brass Monkeys” February night, and had for this party: one was the fact that my friend was involved in it; the other that DeadSilence Syndicate and Jerome Hill were on the bill. And finally, we went because it was held at the Rhythm Factory - one of east London’s friendliest and most accessible, venues. ]]>
Walk the Plank was the latest party organised by Acme Soundz, a London-based collective of DJ’s and producers, who’ve been part of the UK underground party scene since getting their first rig together in 2003. 
After warming up with a few brandies, we headed for the main room, where the music was mainly D&B, with a bit of electro chucked in somewhere in the middle. Without a doubt, it was the best room to be in; the sound system worked well with D&B as it was loud, clear, and with no distortion when the DJ’s cranked up the bass.
And boy did they crank it up! Both JNK and Valentia’s sets were powerful deep, and gutsy –I really did feel those beats. JNK in particular really rocked it with a selection of very upfront, slightly dark, but lively drum & bass tracks.
The crowd really went for it – and what a crowd they were – a cheerful mix of squat party ravers and punks who seemed all out for having a good time.
The music style changed with the first of the live bands on that night. Think Iggy Pop playing electro, and you might get near to describing Organ Donnner’s sound. Unfortunately, after JNK, it was an anticlimax. Time to escape to the other room
The Rhythm Factory has two music rooms; the main one had all the live bands and heavy basslines, and the smaller space was where a more eclectic choice of beats could be found. When I first rolled in there, a very happy DJ was playing a mix of just about everything – punk, pop, disco, rock n roll. He was loving it; dancing around the DJ booth with his friends all out on the dancefloor. It was really nice to see people having such a laugh, and the vibe in there was very friendly. However, I didn’t hang around in there as DeadSilence Syndicate were due on, and, they are in my opinion, unmissable.
DSS play a unique fusion of punk and D&B, for want of a better description, and are now a familiar face on London’s underground dance music scene. The crowd cheered when they heard the intro for what is perhaps their best-known track ‘Suicide Bomber’. They loved it, and the dancefloor became charged with a rush of ravers flinging themselves around. However, at the end the singer told them “This is the last time we’ll ever play Suicide Bomber” Time will tell on that one…
After their set, I checked out the 2nd room while my friend S hung around to hear south London’s premier D&B combo Vicious Circle, who were on great form, “really pumping” reading the crowd well, playing their trademark mix of dark, trippy basslines.
“We’ve banned techno” so I was told by one of the crew. This lack of techno was a surprise, as Jerome Hill, who was headlining in the smaller room, is better known as one half of acid techno duo Groove Asylum.
However, he proved his versatility by playing a twisted and powerful electro set. In fact every time I wandered into that room, it seemed to be bouncing with electro beats.
One of my friends, who wasn’t up for the heavy drum & bass, spent most of the night in there, and she tells me there was some lovely dub played around 4 in the morning.
That was Acme’s first Walk the Plank party.
For more info on upcoming events go to www.myspace.com/acmesoundz
©Minnie Mouse
Someone told me about some new band from Scotland that were going to make it big. The next Franz they said. Some sort of artrock band. I wondered out loud as to what such a Great White Hope might be called. "The Dykeenies!" was cried out in unison. Immediately my mind started to go into overdrive.
