Club: Coded Rhythm presents Nightmares On Wax / Onra

17th October

Gorilla

8/10

After enjoying a successful first two years with a number of eclectic bookings, I was excited to see what Coded Rhythm would conjure up for their birthday night. The last 25 years has seen Nightmares on Wax put out some of the greatest chill out albums ever produced including Smokers Delight, Carboot Soul and In a Space Outta Sound to name just a few. Standing as the mighty Warp Records’ longest serving signee, the Leeds man has proved himself to be one of the most enduring names in electronic music.

Joining him for the night was Onra, less familiar to me, a French hip-hop beatmaker who has been producing some of the most unique and competent music in his field since the tragic loss of the legendary Dilla, to whom he has frequently been compared to. The promoter had pulled out all the stops for this one—an unmissable line-up.

The Parisian started off playing choppy hip-hop beats with heavy oriental infusions before the words of ODB signalled the move into a heavier boom-bap sound, the heads of the crowd resonating accordingly to the beat. The horns of perhaps his best known tune—’The Anthem’—blasting throughout the venue caused an eruption of cheers from his fans before an acapella of ‘Serial Killa’ by Snoop Dogg saw Onra move seamlessly from 90s G Funk to 70s disco. With the crowd fully warmed up he continued to please dancing feet playing more of his own material including ‘High Hopes’ and his edit of ‘Keep On Lovin’ Me’ by disco legends The Whispers.

Nightmares on Wax took over on the controls and instructed the soundman to crank the volume whilst he simultaneously upped the tempo of the night, diving immediately into a jungle beat. The lyrics of ‘Be, I Do’ echoed over the breakbeats as he brought in Planty Herbs’s remix of the track. Unfortunately my experience of the genius in action was cut short prematurely by the pervasive bouncers of Gorilla, but I have no doubt that he continued to live up to his reputation, earning the reverence of the crowd and inducing euphoria right up until the last beat.