Hobbes Music x Noetic Rhythm: DJ Gregory, Ricardo, Hobbes + more

For its November session, Noetic Rhythm welcomes a bona fide heavyweight of French house culture, a proper legend of the 90s/00s scene (aka the 'French Touch'), as Gregory takes control of Bongo’s Danely Labs on Saturday 7th November.

Gregory has released countless hits, evergreen records which still get rinsed regularly by top tier house and techno DJs the world over... He transcended the French Touch scene by some distance as his sound matured beyond the 'filtered disco' style that was popular in the mid/late 90s.

Starting the Africanism project alongside the equally legendary Bob Sinclar, they championed an innovative interpretation of House, bringing Carribean, African and Latin influences to the sound of the era and releasing a slew of crossover hit records in the process.  But Sinclar was keen to pursue a more commercial route, so Gregory soon broke off and started his Faya Combo label, staying true to his underground roots. Tunes such as Block Party, Tropical Soundclash, Damelo, Attend, Elle, Don't Know Malendro and Canoa bear testament to this man's hit-making studio skills.

The new Hobbes Music series is built around a simple but powerful idea: “bringing people together and elevating consciousness through a shared dance-floor experience built on collective energy, connection and the unifying power of rhythm.” Few things embody that philosophy quite like a great DJ set, and Gregory has been refining that particular art for decades.

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One of France’s most respected house DJs and producers, Gregory Darsa emerged from Paris’s early-90s underground before becoming closely associated with the Africanism project and establishing his own Faya Combo label. His production history is extensive, with records appearing on influential imprints including Yellow Productions, Defected, Versatile and his own Point G label.

There are plenty of reasons to revisit the catalogue. Elle remains one of his most enduring productions, while Canoa, made with Gregor Salto, became a defining slice of his Afro-inflected house sound. His Paris Luanda collaboration similarly demonstrated his ability to fuse deep house with Brazilian and African influences without ever losing the essential groove. And then there’s Attend 1, a beautifully stripped-back, hypnotic cut that captures the more heads-down, late-night side of Gregory’s sound, with its insistent rhythm and subtle, dubby propulsion doing exactly what a great club record should.

His arrival at Bongo feels particularly on-point. Now three decades into its existence, the club remains a home for Edinburgh’s independently minded music community, a place where the curious, the leftfield and the downright groove-obsessed can still find common ground. Add the Bongo’s Danley Sound Labs system and Gregory’s deep catalogue to the equation and things are sure to get exciting.

The night continues the remarkable Hobbes Music and Club_Nacht lineage that has previously welcomed Crazy P, Bradley Zero, Hammer, Auntie Flo, Session Victim, Etienne de Crécy, Austin Ato, OOFT!, Anish Kumar, MiNNA, Kirollus, O'Flynn, Barbara Boeing, Wallace, JD Twitch/Optimo (RIP), Michelle Manetti, Nightwave, David Jackson, Lezzerquest and Yogi Haughton.

With Noetic Rhythm’s second vinyl release from George T, aka one half of Accident Machine, out at the end of September (following Leonidas’ 'Love For Black Lives', which sold out in under a month earlier this year), the label’s next phase is already taking shape.