Diatribe is Sasha Mijic and Chris Honnery, an Australian DJ and production duo who dabble in eccentric variations of minimal, house and techno oeuvres.
We met Chris in the midst of the summer of 2009. We first encountered him whilst setting up our tents at Melt Festival, he casually strolled across this corn field with just a small bag of clothes and records that he’d just picked up at the Kompakt Record store in Cologne. He politely asked if he could set his tent up alongside ours. We said ‘Yeah sure’ and he got to work assembling his tent, although I don’t think that tent ever actually stood proud, it was more like a giant yellow cow pat in a field. Nonetheless we got to know Chris and started to intricately discuss all different variants of music, clubs, and generally anything else we could say to prove our knowledge. There’s no denying it he is one of the most dedicated music buffs in Australia.
Chris has been a music enthusiasts since a very early age. Diatribe have been involved with some of Sydney’s more deranged underground crews over the years. They’ve shared the bill with many of their idols, with hazy highlights including playing before Slam at Earthdance, they’ve played alongside the likes of Carl Craig, Moodymann, Superpitcher, Theo Parrish and Agoria, and hosted DFA’s Shit Robot at his own ‘Deep Impressions’ party, but let’s curtail the excessive namedropping already eh?!
Chris has selected his top ten releases of 2010.
- Raudive – Brittle
A genuine ripsnorter from Oliver Ho under his ‘Raudive’ alias. The broken beat tantalizes before the track finally explodes in a pulsating sonic orgasm – excuse the coarse analogy but it’s apt! – and dancefloor carnage ensues. - Onur Ozer – Clavichord
You could argue this track disappears up its own behind; I’d argue it’s inspired. Ozer has done some wonderful psychedelic minimal in the past, but this is certainly more home-listening than something you can play out in a club. Still, it’s a gem. - Stefan Goldmann – The Maze
A slice of violent, abrasive techno from the inimitable German producer that’s not for the feint of heart. But in an age where too many tracks ostensibly ‘play it safe’, the visceral impact of ‘The Maze’ is all the more apparent. - Nicholas Jaar – A Time For Us
With this plangent cut, precocious producer Nicholas Jaar announced his arrival. ‘A Time For Us’ is a beautiful piece of music, and one gets the feeling there’s plenty more to come. - RadioSlave – I Dont Need A Cure For This (Kenny Larkin Remix)
The combo of RadioSlave and Kenny Larkin doesn’t disappoint; this is an infectious, ‘big’ tune that instantly grabs the listener and doesn’t let up for its entirety. - Aberrant – Callisto
A twisted combination of Italo disco and techno on Rekids that’s jolly good narcoleptic fun! - DeWalta – Stringer Bell
A slow-burner from Dewalta on the always-interesting Vakant label. Though this might initially sound innocuous enough on desktop speakers, it’s another story when played out on a good system at the appropriate time of night. - Rocketnumbernine – Matthew and Toby (Four Tet Remix)
It was difficult to separate this from Four Tet’s other impressive rework of Bob Holroyd’s ‘African Drug’ since both are inspired remixes, but the brooding bassline gets this one over the line, just. - Caribou – Bowls (James Holden remix)
Caribou’s Swim was one of the best albums of the year, and Border Community main man James Holden delivered a haunting rework that also popped up on his DJ Kicks mix, my favourite compilation of the year. - Cologne Tape – Render 4
The German electronic ‘supergroup’ Cologne Tape, featuring the likes of Axel Willner, Jörg Burger and Ada, crafted an ethereal piece of electronica with ‘Render 4’. I look forward to their debut LP in 2011.
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