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Music

Hudson Mohawke Threw the Most Insane Warehouse Project Yet

One of the most electric, eclectic nights we've had all year.
All photos by Sebastian Matthes.

"Been waiting years to finally bring hardcore to warehouse project yussssss", tweeted Ross Birchard aka Hudson Mohawke a few hours before his massive self-curated Warehouse Project shindig kicked off. The hype around 'special guests' had been building up for some time, and then HudMo let slip how the slot would be filled: a 35-minute back-to-back set from happy hardcore heroes Dougal and Gammer acting as the icing on the cake of one of WHP's most eclectic line-ups this season, or possibly ever. PC Music's head honcho A. G. Cook, Lucky Me's Eclair Fifi, elusive Montreal rapper Little Baby Angel, Scottish hyper-pop producer Joseph Marinetti, moshpit-friendly grime MC Novelist, Numbers man Spencer and even Mark Ronson headed up the bill so, expectedly, there was never a dull moment.

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HERO OF THE NIGHT: HUDSON MOHAWKE (& MARK RONSON)

It's got to be Hudson Mohawke because, in true acceptance speech fashion, without him none of this would have been possible. Making two appearances on the night, the first, live show, is second to none. As everyone flocked into the strobe-filled main room to catch it; sing-a-long "Ryderz" created the moment of the night while "Scud Books" spiralled out of control and "Higher Ground" sent everyone, quite frankly, mad. That set alone was a massive triumph, but HudMo wasn't done. Later in the evening, he returned for a huge back-to-back with Mark Ronson. The two bounced off each other's energies effortlessly, with HudMo spinning tracks from Kanye and Travi$ Scott, Baauer's "GoGo!" and Lunice's "Can't Wait To" to great effect. Ronson also threw out a few curveballs, with Addictive Truth's "Hurts" and Britney Spears' "Toxic" (which we're pretty sure has never been dropped in Store Street before), Fetty Wap's "Trap Queen" and Kendrick Lamar's "Backstreet Freestyle" all featuring strongly. "You've been an amazing crowd" Ronson declares as 4.30am closes in, with "Uptown Funk's" trumpets and Bruno Mars' vocal echoing throughout the room, all igniting an unashamedly fun sing-a-long.

TRACK OF THE NIGHT: HUDSON MOHAWKE - "RYDERZ"

See for yourself…

THE SECRET WEAPON: A. G. COOK

There aren't many artists who'd be brave enough to drop Korn's heavy metal remix of Rhianna's "Bitch Better Have My Money" at a Warehouse Project, but A. G. Cook doesn't really fit the 'most artists' category. Instead, bopping around behind the DJ decks in his trademark oversized red jumper and giant glasses, the founder of PC Music experiments with how far he can push us. Sort of like a mad scientist constantly searching for the perfect formula, he bubbles the crowd until overflowing point. From Chinese superstar Chris Lee's "Only You" (the next track to come from the PC Music/Columbia partnership and produced by Cook) to his own massive production, the PC Music mastermind works his way up to eventual set closer 'Hey QT', which builds and builds before evaporating away.

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THE NEXT BIG THING: LITTLEBABYANGEL

Montreal rapper Littlebabyangel (who only has 252 Facebook likes at present) stalked the stage, chased by strobes, and staked a serious claim as one-to-watch for 2016. He's only put a pair of 2-minute tracks up on his SoundCloud, one of which, "Cartier", was the brutal standout on the night, but the crowd remained on board throughout his set. Jumping in the crowd a bit later on he happily takes photos with people while bouncing around and rapping. "This is nice, Manchester's fuckin' vibing man," he says near the close, "you know how to throw a party."

THE SPECIAL GUESTS: DOUGAL B2B GAMMER

They may have only played for half an hour but what an insane half hour it was. We were right down the front during Dougal and Gammer's set, and when they warped TNGHT's "Higher Ground" into an even heavier hitter HudMo made his way to the front of the stage to record them playing the track while they were videoing the crowd. Seriously, we've never seen a group of people look so happy—even the security guard was finding it hard to keep his feet still. Dougal & Gammer's B2B, veering from Sigma's "Nobody To Love" to their 90's rave collaboration with Danny Styles, "Stay Young", had the crowd running around like lunatics. The night bows out with HudMo himself joining the crowd for the final ten minutes. Truly, a night to remember.

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