The Bunker's 8 Year Anniversary With Donato Dozzy and Optimo, Dec. 7

Eight years, wow. I actually had no idea that techno mainstay the Bunker had been around that long, defying the tail end of Giuliani and becoming one of the last sanctuaries for fringe electronic music. According to its history, the party started out in subTonic, which was inevitably shut down, before springing for its current home at Public Assembly, formerly known as Galapagos. Serious props to the folks behind Bunker for continuing to book amazing DJs and for keeping it true to underground roots.

For the very special night, they enlisted Italy's Donato Dozzy to hold court in the back room and British duo Optimo to take over the front. There's a very particular vibe to these events: dense, dark rooms and, for the most part, completely unrecognizable music (someone did play "Rej" once, which was great). For me, it's more about general atmosphere, and on this night, it was really special. There's often a relentless minimalism, but instead, we were treated with melodic, relaxed beats, and even when things peaked, there was a lovely sort of restraint. It was definitely one of the best Bunkers that I've been to.

The next Bunker is on Jan. 28.

Check out RA for an illuminating feature on the dark wave of Italian producers following Dozzy, and more crowd shots at the official site. Rest of my photos after the jump.