Stasis is death?

2012 has only just begun, but this weekend sees 2 of techno's biggest names playing the subclub. Function and Regis bring their Sandwell District live act to Glasgow again (fingers crossed Function makes it into the country this time) for the very first Animal Farm party of this year and what a party it will be.

There is absolutely no doubting the quality of the 2 artists, when Regis played here in July the recording of his set got mix of the day at Resident Advisor and it is still one of our most popular blog posts, their debut album sold out almost instantly a year ago and goes for silly money on Discogs, Regis' 3 x CD collection of his works sold out before any of us even saw it for sale and with news of an album in 2012 from Function - the hype surrounding them is huge, yet they manage to deliver every time and still maintain their credibility while doing so.

However, the big news surrounding them is that the label is no more - 'stasis is death' apparently. Personally, I think it was a matter of 'when' rather than 'if' they would end SD as a label, but the timing of it has surprised me - it was only in July last year when I put forward the idea of it finishing to Regis and he was quick to dismiss it, but perhaps phase3 didn't carry the same weight as phase 1 or 2. Certainly, towards the end of the year they were releasing music a lot more frequently and with a couple of their EPs being nothing other than standard techno, perhaps they were just another label going through the motions.

You can add to that the more abstract projects from Bob Ostertag & Yves De Mey, which will have certainly appealed to the purist of Sandwell fans, but would have definitely split opinion amongst the more casual techno fan. But, as always with Sandwell, details on their plans will be scarce and everyone will be left to form their own ideas and opinions on what will happen next - but instead of pondering what will happen to techno's most influential label & collective, why not celebrate? Considering it's only a fiver before 12 it would be pretty rude not to. A fiver to celebrate the brief yet distinguished reign of Sandwell District, the first Animal Farm party of 2012 and one of those rare occasions where you can hear techno in the Sub Club. Bargain.