Vancouver Got Hacked

Get Together's recipe is basically make local DJs both the opener and the headliner, reduce cover and beef up the sound system. The final product is a party so enjoyable that everyone will leave in a state of bliss and be back next month more. Since starting up on New Year's, they've gone off every month except June and each party that has stayed true to its mandate has been heaps of fun. So fun that I don't just leave in a state of bliss but utter disbelief and complete exhaustion.

Sometimes, though, Blueprint decides to mix it up by bring an out-of-towner. The third edtion of Get Together featured Metro Area's Darshan Jesrani. He sucked like none other. You had to be there to really believe it. He was so bad that even when the other two rooms shut down for the night his was still empty. It was an awful thing to see and hear. This was the same feeling I had when Luke Fair headlined. The main room was full of people enjoying his set but to me was dismal. I told myself never again would I go to a Get Together party that had DJs other than my hometown superstars.

But then Blueprint had the balls to bring The Hacker to town. THE HACKER!!! When I found out I almost died. I never knew that a relatively unknown (to Vancouver that is) French techno idol could even be considered as being feasible in Vancouver even if he was one of the pioneers of today's electro and played heaps himself. But Blueprint did and thankfully so because it was a show of a lifetime and I wasn't the only one who thought so.

That's part of the brilliance behind September 10th's party. All the kids in the electrohouse room were going off to techno as if they were seasoned Soundproof ravers. Mind you, this was no run-of-the-mill techno. It was all laced with electro and had so much rhythm and soul - kind of like the techno I heard at The Rex Club (not surprisingly as The Hacker is in cahoots with Millimetric) but regardless, it was fast and rough and sometimes acidy and all the while the room kept on moving and cheering. I still can't believe it.

Most of the time, though, I couldn't have cared less about the people around me. The Hacker got me so excited I found myself dancing off beat. This has happened only a few times and never because of the music.

He played a few tracks from his latest, Reves Mecaniques (Masterplan, Flesh & Bones) and he indulged us with some old tunes from the 'The Hacker & Miss Kittin' days (1982, Life on MTV, Stock Exchange Woman). He played a rad remix of some Kraftwerk track and Aphex Twin's Windowlicker. But of course, these are less than a handful of tracks. Everything else was killer - the music and the way he was putting it all together. It had been ages since I had last heard a set composed so perfectly, totally not linear just this one big masterpiece blossoming within my eardrums making me yell out 'FUCK!' more than I've ever yelled out before. I just couldn't believe what I was hearing.

It just got better and better and then it ended and I was so happy and so exhausted all I wanted to do was go home and sleep. But of course I didn't and everything thereafter was boring because nothing could be better than The Hacker. I fear I may have fallen in love.