Event Review: Refuge at The Transfer

Refuge, put together by Fil Latorre and DJ Javaight aka the Staple crew, featuring Jeno, was a great exploration of "future house and deep techno," though the union of this music with the space of The Transfer bar was less than ideal.

It's always a good sign when you hear two different DJs at the same party play tracks you own, serving as it does as confirmation of your own good taste and that you are indeed in the presence of like-minded individuals. When DJ Javaight laid down Kiki's "Trust Me," and then Jeno later played "You Got Good Ash" by Marek Bois, I had one of those brief moments of feeling not only in synch with what was around me, but that something I had been following for a long time was finally being taken up by others; for the Staple crew I think this would be described in terms of "deepness," a more thoughtful, almost hypnotic approach to techno and tech house that features very smooth mixes and blends between tracks. As much as I love the Kontrol DJs I've always felt that they had something of a tendency toward squonk for squonk's sake, and as they moved on to The EndUp their sound has taken on more of a traditional house sound. In the tracks that Javaight and Fil Latorre laid down you can still hear the house throb, but there were also harder, darker elements that experiment with more artificial, trance-like sonic textures, as well as the occasional saw-tooth bassline, that move you away from the at times almost sacchrine, sleep-inducing feeling of pure deep house.

Unfortunately, The Transfer did not turn out to be the place to really appreciate this music. I arrived with the boyfriend, Kitty, and our friend J around 10 PM, and at that time there was a good crowd around the bar, but the only other place to sit and chill was either on a poorly placed sofa below the windows (where, everytime you tried to lean back, you knocked your noggin on the drink shelf), or back behind the pool table. We settled in and tried to make ourselves comfortable while awaiting for the crowd to arrive, but that never really happened. I would have expected that with Jeno on the bill there would have been a big crowd, and while some dedicated house heads did come through the doors later, most of the action was confined to the bar area. The beats were good enough to get your hips moving, but they didn't even move the pool table out of the way until 11.30, so no real dance energy ever materialized. Even worse, for a supposed gay bar, the crowd was almost entirely straight. I'm not sure what it takes to get gay men out of their musical ghetto, but evidently you can put good music in a cheap, convenient location that's well-known and it's still not enough to keep them from rehashing the same stuff that's been served to them for the past twenty years.

The Staple crew is moving on from The Transfer with their next two events, Sabotage at Anu on the 10th of May, and then a party with Kenny Larkin at the RxGallery on May 11. I'll personally be anxious to see how they carry through with their sonic explorations in a space, and with a crowd, that is more attuned to their vibe.

Your Saturday Guide for April 28, 2007

A couple interesting events out of the ordinary this Saturday, though both present unknown qualities. If you go to either, please hit us back with a report.

UPDATE NUMBER TWO: New stuff just keeps popping up, this time a Burning Man fundraiser at the Porn Palace, but it's on the pricey side:

MONKEY: a banana peelin’, vine swingin’, primal primate throwdown featuring two rooms of boom to shake your prehensile tail ‘til the early morn’! 100% of Proceeds to Benefit “Homouroboros”; Peter Hudson’s next playa masterwork. Everyone involved has volunteered to support the production of Peter’s next stroboscopic zoetrope.

In the Art Barn, you’ll view Peter’s past work and speculate on the scope of homouroboros. You can also buy limited edition homouroboros tees, bandannas, panties and more. Plus, preserve your posterior for posterity. Live ass-casting is back! And with all our favorite Playa sound camps and DJ’s under one roof, this is a rare opportunity for those allergic to playa dust to hear some Black Rock legends.

Monkey Room
Laird, Fred Funk, Shissla, Cut la’What v. Tyler T, An-ten-nae, J9 v. ViaJay, Jive v. Smoove, Ernie Trevino v. Ethan Miller

Guerrilla Lounge
Laird, Aaron Pope, Radio Active, El Papa Chango, Tamo

The Porn Palace 415 Jessie St. (@ 6th)
9PM – Very late
$20 Donation
Burning Man Ticket Raffle! (At Midnight)
COSTUMES encouraged/rewarded: Show me the MONKEY!!!


UPDATE: Just found out about this intriguing party at The Transfer with, of all people, Jeno. The crew behind this party, known collectively as Staple, used to promote parties from 1999 - 2001 at The EndUp under the name of Refuge. These kids have serious House cred, so it's interesting to see them starting up again and incorporating techno into their concept of "deepness." Since The Transfer is only about three blocks from my pad, this is probably the party I'll check out.

Refuge: Future House and Deep Techno
with
Jeno
Fil Latorre
DJ Javaight
at The Transfer, 198 Church Street, x Church and Market
$5 after 11.30
No cover with rsvp: rsvp@staplemusic.net

filterSF presents Fumiya Tanaka at Fat City (formerly known as Studio Z)
The same crew involved with FUK Werk Fridays and the Tabu Sky Bar presents Japanese techno producer Fumiya Tanaka in his first ever live US performance. Sounds cool, I just wish the filterSF kids would stop putting boobies on their flyers - that's so 1999, ya know? Are these parties just about hot babes and those who lust for them, or can anybody come? Really, you'd think they were promoting a gay party.
Deets:
11th Street at Folsom
Limited RSVP $10 guest list before 11:00 PM
info@babd.org or filter1@babd.org
$15 before 11 PM
$20 at the door
$10 after 2:00 AM
Note that this party runs until 8AM Sunday

Aural Therapy 2.0
This just popped up on the old radar, afterhours at an underground location with a host of techno/tech house DJs including Kontrol's Alland Byallo. Starts at 2AM (that's 2AM in the morning on Sunday), location will be emailed by Saturday afternoon after you've bought a ticket online. Says that it's at "the compound."
Deets:
$12 + $2.22 service charge (tix online only)
Doors open 2AM, close 10AM (both Sunday morning)

Drunk and Horny
The reliable, sloppy, gay version of a high school party. Check out my review.
$5 Cover, Underground SF (424 Haight Street x Webster), 9PM - 2AM, DJs Big Red and Sparky.