Live Review

A Skillz – Sound Control, Manchester

• 23rd Jun 2010

This is no school disco. A Skillz who can sometimes be seen and heard with fellow break beat maestro Krafty Cuts played on his own. Everyone is on his side though. Punching above the weight of many mash up jockeys there are cheesy classics to deep, dark drum & bass. All is expected with the release of mix CDs, like the ones you tried to make for those that you love. He is accepted and cherished by those in the know. Clearly he would have a reputation to live up to.

When the breaks are crunchier than the sound of thick snow underfoot, then the bass lines are rippling pools of joy when it all melts. Great sounds to the reinvention of chart hits, Queen and classic club anthems, but the greatest moment is served up for home time, the remix of Beatles hits Strawberry Fields Forever (renamed Strawberry Jam Forever) and of course Come Together. English through and through, but not averse to an international heads up for the underground hits of J5 and a-like.

Scratching is frequent, brilliant and excitable like a mouse that can smell the cheese. There is no trap, but for those who are getting grooved up more than his vinyl and do not anticipate the unrelenting pressure and poised drops. Nothing can be taken away from this mastery of trickery. Adam Mills has the ability to keep you on your toes, but not in the sense of a sulky indie kid tapping their foot with a half-pint jar and leather jacket, he really is too hot for them.

DJ Shadow, the self proclaimed “DJ saviour”, and Grandmaster Flash, who was “not the best or the worst, but the first” really brought the DJ culture of sampling to the fore. Whatever your opinion of the Old Skool, there are no such pretentions of grandeur. It is this, which make tonight special. Everyone knows it. The only problem is the worry of dehydration. With sweat blood and tears, this was an ecstasy of love.