'INCOGNITO RADIO: COSMIN TRG; HIGHLIGHTED JUST HOW FAR THE UNDERGROUND DANCE MUSIC COLLECTIVE HAVE COME'

 

                                                                                                     

Although Reading is the UK’s largest town and has a lot to offer; it has never been renowned for having much of an underground dance music scene. In fact, there isn’t really any club in Reading which will provide a regular dosage of the best house and techno tunes for the many who crave it. Luckily, the town contains a lot of passionate students, whom possess an obsession with good music, and this has led to them organising their own events to satisfy their needs, and meet the high demand for it. This is exactly how Incognito began. In a short space of time, the Incognito team have rebelled against the quiet underground dance music scene, and have become identified as a passionate project; uniting and inspiring great artists and music lovers. The project so far seems to have been a great success. It has evolved from house parties, to selling out venues all over Reading; and has now found a suitable home at the very underrated, intimate space that is the After Dark Club. Here, Incognito have hosted a range of artists over the last few months. Some of the most talented, young British DJs have been given full control of the After Dark, delivering some scintillating nights. On Friday the 12^th of January, Incognito welcomed the exciting and iconic DJ/Producer that is Cosmin TRG, for their biggest event yet.

Incognito kitted out the After Dark with some great equipment to give the Berlin-based, Romanian electronic talent a suitable reception. As often seen at Incognito’s recent events, mannequins were scattered around the club; watching on as the night unfolded. Incognito’s own resident DJs Bertie Coyle and Ned Townsend were in control of the vibes for the first couple of hours as the techno ravers flooded in filling the club. They were playing a variety of acid and stomping techno tunes to fulfil the crowd’s desires. A notable track that was played during their 2 hour b2b set which stands as a good example of the pounding grooves they were providing was Helena Hauff and B Traits favourite ‘No Call From New York’ – Transparent Sound (2016). The team really upped their visuals game for this one. There was a fantastic lighting display behind the decks which, accompanied with music; transcended viewers into an alternative techno reality. Hard hitting tunes were blaring out of a great soundsystem in the central room; which had a dark, moody feel to it. The scene was set for Cosmin TRG to unleash his power from behind the decks.

Cosmin TRG is often described as a man impossible to pin down. Inspired by film, fashion, photography, music and art in general, he is constantly experimenting and looking for new sounds to transgress normal boundaries. This has led to him creating his own brand of 90s era leftfield electronics inspired - warehouse techno. He has released some serious productions, which have varied over his career, across several well respected labels. Beginning by releasing old school Dubstep with Hessle Audio, his style and attitude has changed throughout his career, where he began to produce records such as ‘Liebe Suende’ via Rush Hour Records, which fit more into the category of house music. His recent releases have all been techno records, such as the thumping tune ‘In Your Body’. He has built a diverse catalogue and earnt a solid reputation amongst music lovers, artists and critics worldwide. His DJ sets have taken the most respected dancefloors worldwide; from Fabric to Berghain by storm. This has also resulted in him securing regular Boiler Room slots and Podcasts/Mixes with heavyweights such as Resident Advisor.

The After Dark had met its match. Cosmin delivered an immersive clubbing experience, with his captivating approach of Acid House and Techno. It was a very progressive set, which just kept on building and building. Every track had a slightly more electrifying buzz to it than the previous one. One thing that was particularly noticeable for me was how involved the crowd seemed to be. Cosmin drew everyone into a 3 hour techno trance. He taught the After Dark how to techno, starting with some intriguing, rhythmic sounds to invite everyone in, before delivering some astonishing pounding, outer-space sounding stuff; such as a dub remix of Nina Kraviz’s ‘Ghetto Kraviz’ and one of my favourite tracks of the night; unreleased until a week before the event and sounding like it landed from another dimension - Jasen Loveland’s ‘Epoxy’ (Space Mix). His obscure selections were a real treat for the people of Reading, and were met with a great reception as he played his final rare techno gems. There are plenty of unreleased/untitled tunes that I and everyone that attended will be chasing for a while. The end of the night was a special moment. The community of music lovers packed into the After Dark applauded the genius in control, as the lights came on and we all returned to reality.

Luckily, I managed to catch Cosmin briefly after his set to ask him what he thought of the night and Reading in general. He replied saying that the event was really cool and Reading was so much better than he expected, with some very welcoming people. This is a real credit to Incognito as they have single handedly put Reading on the map in the undergound dance music scene. So much so, that artists such as Cosmin leave with a good experience, potentially wanting to come back in the future, and spreading a good word. Hopefully this means that more DJs will be intrigued to check out what Reading has to offer. This event in particular seems to have highlighted just how far the Incognito team have come. They hosted their first international artist, gained a shoutout on Benji B’s show on Radio 1, and made it into DJ Mag’s ‘Top 15 UK club events’ for January 2018. Incognito have come a long way, and underground dance music lovers like myself will be very grateful for the work they are doing, in an otherwise quiet scene.

                                                               (The After Dark at the end of the night.)