With the nights drawing in, the weather turning nasty and the Christmas bombardment already kicking off, Notion was on the look out for a suitably arresting line-up to welcome in the cold dark months of winter. 

Following their packed out party with Danny Tenaglia in September, Clubclass returned to Ministry for the final chapter in its quarterly beat-fest with a stellar cast of house, electro, breakbeat and techno DJs providing the perfect soundtrack to ward off the winter chill.

The main draw for the night was the exclusive appearance of electro-dub maestro Anders Trentemoller performing live.  With Trentemoller’s sensational debut ‘The Last Resort’ being a revelation for this particular reviewer, as well as a regular fixture on the Notion office stereo, we approached the night with anticipation of good things, if a little apprehension over how Trentemoller’s dub-heavy sound may go down with the typically up-for-it crowd. With four rooms to choose from and over 18 DJs playing out to the heaving club, we were spoilt for choice. The bar was being held down in typical fashion by Breakpoint, with two of breakbeat’s heavyweights, The Drumattic Twins and General Midi, serving up a rapid delivery of dubbed-out, Fingerlickin’ styled beats and breaks.Progressing to the packed out main room, resident Paul Woolford was working up the crowd for Mr Trentemoller with a selection of minimal electro-tinged cuts that kept everyone moving.

Trentemoller took to the stage at around 1am, and immediately showed the crowd just why he’s been feted as one of the defining talents of new electronic music.  By keeping a fine balance between the layered minimalist sound that has recently become popular in many of the cities clubs, whilst providing epic sounding dramatics in the form of climatic breakdowns, Trentemoller satisfied lovers of both styles.  Though maybe lacking the harder beats of some of his contemporaries, Trentemoller layered his set with some of the deepest bass, firmly rooted in the dub tradition, which created space in the set without drifting off into lesser atmospherics.

The crowd seemed to love Trentemoller’s mix of darkness and light, and with the accompaniment of DJ T.O.M. the place was rocking, with both artists receiving a hearty round of applause after the end of their lengthy set. 

Following such an absorbing act would be a hard task for any seasoned DJ, but John Acquaviva pulled out a brilliant set, continuing the techno-infected sounds that Trentemoller had touched upon and keeping the crowd going until close.

Text: Louis Cook