TuneLab
HAAi
Boiler Room x Sugar Mountain 2022
HAAi’s Boiler Room at Sugar Mountain 2022 is a vibrant, psychedelic trip through techno’s more colorful and inventive corridors. It’s the kind of set that makes you look around at the art installations and think, yes, this is exactly where this music belongs. The Melbourne festival vibe is captured perfectly—playful, slightly unhinged, and bursting with creative energy. On the technical front, HAAi guides us on a 135-154 BPM journey, averaging 137, with a key center frequently in the melancholic yet driving 7A. The energy is beautifully balanced between low and mid (0.37 and 0.48 avg), creating a set that is both physically propulsive and richly detailed.
Her mixing is dynamic, using cuts and blends to shift between driving techno and more broken, atmospheric passages, crafting a narrative that feels both personal and explosive. The tracklist is a showcase of her singular taste. Opening with 'Ishi Vu - This is your Life' is a statement of warped, melodic intent. Her own 'CHONKIBOI' is a distorted, playful peak-time weapon. 'Keep On Believing' offers a more introspective, vocal-led moment.
'Zobocopy - Grow Down' is a quirky, bass-driven oddity, and the inclusion of the classic 'Camisra - Let Me Show You' is a pure, unadulterated rush of UK tech-house nostalgia. 'Pariah - Caterpillar' provides a lengthy, textured descent. The journey is vividly painted: it starts with the dreamy scramble of 'This is your Life', hits its chaotic, joyful peak with 'CHONKIBOI', and winds down through deeper grooves to the atmospheric closer 'Ben Prophet - Telepathy'. A full tracklist that proves techno can be both brainy and a riot.