Cashmere Cat – Shot by Hector Vasquez for FUXWITHIT.
Last Sunday, Cashmere Cat and a few of Toronto’s best up-and-coming DJ’s delivered an unforgettable show at Coda. My first time visiting the venue I wasn’t sure what to expect. After ascending a steep flight of stairs I was met with hallways of all black that eventually opened up to a dimly lit room with a loungey atmosphere. Booths surrounded the dance floor with a few tables scattered towards the back. PK speakers lined the floor under the stage with more hanging from the ceiling, creating an impressive visual and even more astounding sound.
HRMXNY – Shot by Hector Vasquez for FUXWITHIT.
HRMXNY started the night off with a laidback feel dropping bass heavy instrumental hip-hop and chill trap. Rinsing out Stwo’s ‘Syrup’ definitely made me a fan and blunted downtempo reworks of 00’s rap records kept the vibe flowing. As the venue began to fill, he took the tempo up a bit readying the crowd for OBESØN.
OBESØN – Shot by Hector Vasquez for FUXWITHIT.
The transition was buttery smooth considering the DJs’ complementary styles. Building off the established energy, OBESØN opened with a drawn out futuristic intro that lead into some powerful trap bangers. Mixing in some of today’s hottest rap tunes (‘6 God’, ‘No Flex Zone’) with mellow tones, he had everyone rapping along while bopping to the less familiar beats. Ending the set with some serious feels, OBESØN played out the new Jack U x Beiber to a strong reaction from the crowd.
Pusher – Shot by Hector Vasquez for FUXWITHIT.
As Pusher hit the stage everyone in the venue was primed to party. Opening with Keys N Krates ‘I Just Can’t Deny’ he kept the feeling rolling with hard hitting trap tunes, getting gritty with ‘Chinchilla’ and ‘OMG’. When he dropped ‘Angelina’ I was elated (first time hearing Josh Pan in a live set). Mixing things up Pusher played out a few of his own tunes; drenching the crowd with a sea of synths. Closing the set off, Pusher dropped his stellar remix to Jack Ü ‘s ‘Take U There’ which absolutely killed. A brief break in the track and a quick look of panic tricked the crowd into thinking the deck had stopped. After a short second or two the final drop hit and everyone knew it was done intentionally. The hard hitting set along with Pusher’s strong personal energy and incredible production make him one of the top up-and-coming DJ’s in the Toronto scene.
Cashmere Cat – Shot by Hector Vasquez for FUXWITHIT.
At about half past midnight the time had finally come. As Cashmere Cat walked up to the CDJs, his demeanor was overtly calm. After giving a quick head nod to the crowd it was time to get down on the decks. The introduction was absolute perfection, opening with a beautiful key pattern while slowly adding dark worldly sounds for a true calm before the storm (you could practically see the dark clouds floating above his head). The Cat tweaked and bent the sounds with expert precision building immense anticipation before dropping into the familiar sounds of ‘Kiss Kiss’, which nearly blew the doors off the venue. From there, the Norwegian turntablist expertly moved from his signature sound to raw Jersey club cuts including Dj Sliink’s ‘Nxwxrk’ remix and Vices bootleg of ‘Hannah Montana’.
Cashmere Cat – Shot by Hector Vasquez for FUXWITHIT.
Watching Cashmere spin is a true pleasure. Each transition is expertly blended. Tracks are dissected live to highlight and reduce instrumentation. Instead of drop after drop the tracks are drawn out, reworked live and slowly blended into one and other, creating truly seamless transitions. Unsurprisingly, a large portion of his set was composed of his stunning originals. Tracks from Weddings Bells all got huge reactions from fans as they hummed along loudly to the muted vocal tones on ‘Rice Rain’ and ‘Pearls.’ The fierceness of ‘No Lie’ had the club turnt to it’s fullest levels of the night.
Cashmere Cat – Shot by Hector Vasquez for FUXWITHIT.
Taking the energy down, Cashmere played out his recent production for Yeezy (‘Wolves’). The vibe may have been mellow but the reaction was immense. Keeping the excitement up, fans were met with ‘Do You’, Cashmere’s most anthematic work to date. Flexing his skills on the decks, the track was reworked live looping the “kitty, kitty” sample and building it into the drop, then bringing in a pitched more melodic version.
Nearing the evening’s climax Cashmere brought some bounce with the DJ Mustard assisted ‘Ice Rink’ which had everyone dancing. In a time where DJ sets are often interchangeable, Cashmere’s Cat is stark contrast to the sea of similarity. The set was one of the most unique and technically impressive performances I’ve ever experienced. Cashmere Cat is the future and it’s beautiful.
