Four Tet @ Hessle Audio, In:Motion, Bristol 05.10.12

The first act to get the crowd moving in the main room is Dutch veteran Legowelt, whose funk-flecked techno precedes Pangaea (one of the three producers at the helm of Hessle). Playing a sturdy, tight set that switches gear several times before handing over to Four Tet, Pangaea shows why Hessle is held in such high regard.

Basically, Four Tet wins every time because he’s got better records than everyone else. He somehow gets away with playing a Samba wig-out to a room that is gurning for techno, interspersing spacious, two-step inflected techno with snippets of his own material from new album Pink. Alexander Nutt holds a respectably sized crowd given that he’s up head to head against Four Tet, with an eclectic set that doesn’t sit still for more than a few minutes at a time. And to round things off, The Kelly Twins – two of Bristol’s better known residents – play a late set of UK garage swingers, bass bouncing off the walls of the tunnel of Motion, producing a suitably frenzied response from the frazzled crowd.

Its always a good sign when you feel like you’re picking greedily from a chocolate box from a big line-up like this, and Hessle’s selection doesn’t disappoint: impressive stuff from a label that’s only five years old, but feels like its been around for much longer.

Hessle Audio