Elefant Traks 10th Anniversary Party DVD

On November 22nd last year renowned Sydney label Elefant Traks put on a one-off show at The Forum. Thankfully for those of us who couldn’t make it on the night, it has been documented in DVD form. It’s a veritable feast, featuring performances from: The Herd, Hermitude, Urthboy, Horrorshow, The Tongue, Unkle Ho, Astronomy Class as well as a couple of special guests: the delectable Gina Mitchell, Senator Jim, John Maddox and Bezerkatron formally of The Herd. It’s heartening to see a label thrive so naturally from humble beginnings to 50-deep releases.

First cab off the rank is Unkle Ho along with the trumpet and theremin talents of Senator Jim. The pair aptly kick off the night with the left-of-centre vibes Ho is known for. His alluring rhythms got the punters, who were scant at that point, jiving. Astronomy Class and The Tongue on hypeman duties are up next with a nice, albeit brief selection of tracks from their set. More tracks from Astronomy Class and Horrorshow would have been great but I guess the parametres of a DVD are what they are. Urthboy and Jane Tyrell’s onstage theatrics and unique costumes provided the type of zeal not seen often enough in Hip Hop shows. Elgusto held it down on the decks with class as always. Horrorshow’s set from their debut album The Grey Space was yet another enjoyable facet of this DVD and the spiel Solo gave about Elefant Traks showed great perspective and nous. Even as the babies of the label, they truly are a perfect fit. The Tongue continued the festivities with some tracks from his EP Bad Education as well as Shock And Awe. The inclusion of The Blues is wonderfully appropriate given the proposition of a battle from the punter in the word association segment. Hermitude’s portion of the night is another dance-friendly selection of songs, Cartridge Kings being a fantastic inclusion although Fallen Giants from Alleys To Valleys would have been a welcome addition especially taking into account the personel present on the night. Luke Dubs takes centre stage on Slychain, rocking the Korg and then invites Elgusto up front for some MPC, button-mashing goodness on Hermit Justice. The lighting really comes into it’s own in the Hermitude set, suitable hectic. Lastly, The Herd grace the stage with a wonderful array of tracks, some classic, some new, most inadvertently on the political bent The Herd is known for, all pure illness. The finale freestyle jam is the cherry, the sugar, the icing on the proverbial cake.

This live DVD probably could have done with some more special features but given the effort so clearly present in all the sets, the unique remixes and the overall quality of the camerawork, it’s forgivable. The Tongue is the obvious, suited candidate for hosting the 10th Anniversary DVD, trying to bring a little flavour to enthusiastic but unknowing punters as well as a good measure of cockiness to the police supervising the event. Perhaps a more even distrubtion of tracks would have been better as by the time The Herd’s set rolls around on the DVD, most of the members have already performed in previously on the night. That said, can’t really front on 130 minutes of highly enjoyable live music on your telly, a highly enjoyable watch. Here’s to another 10 years of releases from Elefant Traks.