TuneLab
HAAi
Boiler Room x AVA Festival 2019
HAAi’s Boiler Room at AVA Festival 2019 is a controlled demolition of a dancefloor, a set that proves techno can be both brutally effective and wildly inventive. The Belfast warehouse feels charged, a sea of determined faces ready for the onslaught. This is hard, driving techno with a psychedelic edge, averaging 133.9 BPM and predominantly using the 12A key to create a relentless, hypnotic tunnel.
The energy is powerful and focused (0.60 low, 0.25 mid), with strategic bursts of high-end (0.16) used for impactful peaks and breakdowns. HAAi’s style is assertive and cinematic, building tension through layered percussion and then releasing it with cavernous bass drops. Her own productions form the spine, with the ominous opener ‘Don't Flatter Yourself Love’ and the jungle-break deconstruction of ‘I Never Cared Too Much For Jungle’ showcasing her range.
The rework of ‘Azzido Da Bass - Dooms Night (Timo Maas Remix)’ is a devastating, peak-time weapon. ‘Ben Sims - Gamma Ray Subway’ injects pure, loopy funk, while ‘Bjarki - 7 Fila Karamellur Lion Bar’ is the kind of bizarre, brain-melting track only a true digger would play. The journey is a linear ascent from the opening dread of her own track, through the mid-set carnage of ‘Dooms Night’, culminating in the raw, industrial euphoria of the closing ‘999999999 - Rave 4 Love’.