Ageha Summer Festival 2006

Darren Emerson and stablemates Mutiny anchor a weekend of beats

Darren Emerson Courtesy of Ageha

Only time would tell how the public treated Underworld and DJ Darren Emerson after Emerson’s departure from the pivotal UK dance music trio in 2000. Enough water is under the bridge now to make a reasonable assessment, and the answer seems that both have passed the separation test with flying colors.

Rick Smith and Karl Hyde are still filling halls worldwide, the most recent instance in Japan being their headlining gig at last fall’s Electraglide rave, while Emerson commands top dollar at dance clubs from London to Sydney.

At the time Emerson was introduced to brother-in-law Smith in 1990, he was already a fast-emerging UK DJ. After giving a cutting-edge gloss to Underworld’s dance-pop compositions and pressing one of the rave era’s definitive albums in the form of Second Toughest in the Infants, Emerson has continued to be a key dance (if not pop) music tastemaker.

His Underwater imprint has evolved into one of the UK house scene’s most respected labels, issuing a stream of edgy dancefloor anthems by Emerson and a number of other producers. As a DJ he also remains much in demand, as shown by the invitation extended by bayside superclub Ageha to anchor both nights of this weekend’s Summer Festival event.

On Saturday, Emerson will be manning the main Arena dancefloor alongside domestic techno veteran DJ Tasaka and Okinawan dance duo Ryukyu Disko, with hip-hop turntablist Hasebe and drum and bass banner waver DJ Aki providing flava in Ageha’s other spaces.

Sunday sees Emerson joined by kitsch-house stylist Tomoyuki Tanaka, aka Fantastic Plastic Machine, and emerging young house producer Sugiurumn in the Arena, with the other rooms manned by the Shangri-la gay-mix team and a performance by “Tokyo’s hottest go go boys” in the cards...

UK house will also be the focus at Womb next weekend when sometime Emerson collaborators Mutiny get behind the decks for their fifth “Yada Yada Night” at the cavernous Shibuya club.
A duo of Dylan Barnes and Rob Davy, Mutiny emerged from Brixton in 1996 and have been a fixture of dancefloors worldwide ever since. They made their first mark with the house classic “On Yer Way” a decade ago, and released their first track on Emerson’s Underwater in 2002 in the form of the irresistibly casual “Ya Self” in 2002. They followed this up with an Underwater compilation in 2003, Underwater: Episode 2, then topped it off with a tour de force of dance styles, Yada Yada in 2004.

Ageha Summer Festival 2006@Ageha, Aug 12-13. Mutiny@Womb, Aug 19. See club listings for details.

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