Photos: Oorutaichi and Groundislava, or: Big In Japan—and WestCo

While you were getting crunk at Senior Cocks on Friday, WestCo Cafe was alight with the flame of two experimental beatmaker wizards: Oorutaichi and Groundislava. The former, Oorutaichi, was totally unfamiliar to me previously, but managed to throw together one of the most engaging and utterly fun electronic sets I’ve seen in a while. Backed by goofy visuals, the DJ lurched around the cafe manically, shouting into his microphone like an overjoyed Dam Suzuki, without straying too far from his mixing boards and distinctly Asian-tinged backing beats. Above is a photo of occasional Wesleying blogger John expressing his appreciation. I didn’t manage to grab video, but this is a pretty accurate indication; though little known in the states, Ka Ya Lee ’13 tells me Oorutaichi’s a pretty big deal in Japan:

I was so glad that everything went great and that a lot of people there were truly enjoying Oorutaichi’s music:) Oorutaichi also LOVED Wesleyan students’ reaction to his music. He was also very impressed by this school in general. Oorutaichi was a very humble, nice person. We hung out and talked about music a lot after the show in my house! I still can’t believe he was there!

Wedidit Collective character Jasper Patterson, otherwise known as Groundislava, rounded off the night with a set of chilled-out, beat-heavy post-dubstep. Groundislava has collaborated with our old friend Baths a bunch, and it shows—D. Nassty ’13 would probably call it ‘post-tubstep.’ Photo gallery past the jump. [nggallery id=230]