British DJs to Save Lives at Solyanka

In "Last Night A DJ Saved My Life," a 100-year history of the art of the DJ, Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton argue that mixing records, matching beats and keeping a crowd moving is an art in its own right. In their analysis, the loft parties in 1970s New York, ecstasy-fuelled raves in Ibiza and massive outdoor sound-system battles of Jamaican dub all share a common creativity. Padded Cell, a duo of DJs and producers from London, seek to channel the energy of the past and present turntable cultures, and this weekend they'll be saving some lives themselves at Solyanka.

"Nowadays, most DJs are not very good; you can sit in front of your computer and get any track you ever wanted," said Richard Sen, who met his partner in Padded Cell, Neil Higgins, many years ago when the two of them worked at a secondhand record store. "DJing isn't about how many tracks or how obscure they are, it's about putting a selection of tracks that mean something to you together creatively to create a mood."

In addition to the countless mixes of funk, disco and old-school hip-hop available for download on multiple blogs, Padded Cell have their own recordings, which have been described as "devils' disco." Full of menacing synth lines, scratchy beat samples and plenty of hand percussion, their debut album, last year's "Night Must Fall," combines the heydays of NYC disco with the creepy soundtrack aesthetics of 1970s Italian b-movie horror flicks. Tracks like "City of Lies" pulse with menace as cheesy synths eke out a theme that wouldn't be out of place in a Charles Bronson movie, while "Savage Skulls" melds the Talking Heads' droning funk with a downright magisterial chorus that incorporates layers of keyboard chords and a robot voice.

Saturday's gig in Moscow will feature almost three hours of music from the duo: an hourlong set of their own music followed by a lengthy session of "playing tunes by other artists," said Sen.

Sen, a former graffiti artist who has served multiple stints in jail for tagging public property, is a vinyl purist who holds strong opinions about the art of the DJ.

"I can go and play the top 10 pop tunes in the charts, and it will sound better than most of the so-called 'DJs' out there," he said. "To be a DJ, you have to have built up at least 20 years of knowledge and be passionate about the music you are playing and, most importantly, know how to be creative."

Padded Cell plays Solyanka Sat., April 25, with DJs Sandra, Kompaniets, Rob Dirton and more. 11 Ulitsa Solyanka. Metro Kitai-Gorod. 221-7557. Entrance 500 rubles.