Christopher Port - Vetement (12")

Melbourne’s club scene has a knack for turning drummers into producers, and Christopher Port’s debut EP, Vetement, is one of those moments where you can practically feel the sticks in his hands even when there’s no kit in sight. Released through Future Classic and Pieater in 2016, it arrived as a neat four-track statement with a subtle swagger, blending UK garage swing with the clipped precision of footwork. The beats are lean, the textures feel lived in, and the whole thing moves with that pleasing late-night momentum you only get from someone who understands groove from the ground up.

Bump was the entry point for a lot of people, and it still slaps. There’s a bright shuffle to the hi-hats and a rubbery low end that seems to pull the room forward by a half step, like your feet knew the cue before your head did. Port chops the vocals into vapour trails and lets them hang over the drums, never overplaying his hand. It’s a trick that runs through the EP, but he keeps finding new angles with it, so the record never feels like a loop exercise. Rather than trying to fill every corner, he leaves air in the mix. The snares snap, the kicks thud, and little percussive filigrees flicker around the edges before vanishing. That restraint is half the charm.

You can hear the drummer in him everywhere. The swing is human, not quantised into submission, and the drum sounds have a tactile quality, as if they were recorded close enough to catch a bit of room tone. It gives Vetement warmth that separates it from colder, more rigid dance records of the time. There are nods to UK garage and house, sure, but there’s also a soft-focus emotional thread. The melodies tend to be short phrases, almost gestures, that keep the ear engaged without asking for the spotlight. It’s the rhythm that carries you.

Part of the appeal is how Port works within tight constraints. Each track feels like a study in movement and texture, the kind of thing that rewards close listening at home and still hits when someone slips it into a set. It’s not an obvious peaks-and-drops record, which might be why it aged so well. The sound design is punchy but not flashy, and the ideas don’t lean on trendy tricks. Even now, dropping Vetement into a mix next to contemporary Australian club gear makes perfect sense.

When it came out, Vetement got nods from local tastemakers and steady spins on community radio, which helped it find the exact crowd that loves records built on rhythm rather than spectacle. Future Classic’s involvement also put it in front of listeners who might have come in through the label’s pop-leaning roster and stuck around for the grit. If you’re the type who scours a Melbourne record store for the slightly oddball club 12s, this one sits nicely next to other local favourites from that era.

Hunting down Christopher Port vinyl has become a bit of a sport among collectors of Australian electronic music, and Vetement is often the release people mention first. If you’re digging through crates or browsing vinyl records Australia online late at night, keep an eye out for Vetement vinyl. And if you prefer to buy Christopher Port records online direct from indie sellers, it’s worth setting an alert. Christopher Port albums on vinyl don’t exactly flood the market, and this early cut is the one that captures his aesthetic in its purest, most percussive form.

What makes Vetement stick is the personality packed into a short run time. The record doesn’t chase the big crossover moment. It trusts the feel of the drums, the swing of the groove, and a few well-placed melodic fragments. On a good system, the bass wraps around the room, the snare rushes crackle just right, and those ghosted vocal chops add a little blush of melancholy. It’s the sound of a producer who knows his lane and enjoys every metre of it.

Years on, I still reach for Vetement when I want to reset the ears. It’s concise, focused, and quietly confident, the sort of EP that turns a living room into a small club for twenty minutes. If you stumble across a copy while flicking through bins, don’t hesitate. You’ll play it more than you expect, and it slots into sets with the kind of effortless ease only a drummer could design.