Fabric Records

Fabric 50

admin — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 08:00:00 +0000

The ever-prolific Fabric series returns with this effort from Dutch producer Martyn. Known for his work in dubstep, the mix starts out perfectly with Hudson Mohawke’s incredibly funky song “Joy Fantastic.” Martyn follows it up with two more drum-heavy tracks designed to get you dancing, and by the end of Nubian Mindz’s “Bossa Boogie,” which has an insanely catchy synth line, I was fully committed to dancing hard to this album.

Many of the tracks have a sound distinctly influenced by African and South American rhythms, like the two Zomby tracks, “Little Miss Naughty” especially. But even as Martyn looks to many places for influence, all of the tracks have a common theme of looking to the future to find new ways to make people dance, and perhaps more importantly, always be interesting to listen to.

Martyn’s track mixing is impeccable, as I hardly noticed when one track ended and the next began because of his subtle and masterful mixes. The songs all bring something different to the album, but they blend to create a perfectly curated mix that is a must have for your Saturday night play list.

Written by: Dana Reinoos, April 7th 2010

Fabriclive 49

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:00:00 +0000

By Buraka Som Sistema

Fabric Records

I recently heard a clip from Fabriclive 49 and wanted to review it. Although I’m not too familiar with techno music (aside from the occasional club visit), I do like it, so off I went. Buraka Som Sistema’s album has a total of twenty-eight short club pieces that are very hard to separate. These songs overlap, interconnect, and pulse. There’s a definite dance vibe to the collection. At the same time, they are rather mellow and spacey in nature. At points, it was difficult to tell where one piece ended and the other started, but maybe that was intentional. The way the songs were put together reminded me of how the colors float together in candy floss, which is how the album needs to be treated—as something light and fun.

One of my favourites is “Machete,” which introduces a more acoustic style with beautiful singing. “Mermaid Dub” is another that stands out with its watery meditation feel, although it is rather long. There isn’t too much to say about its substance, but then again, maybe that too is expected.

Other pieces, like "IC19," are frantic with spinning sirens and a groove that slows down to offer voices only to rise up again. Images of being at once both at a party and floating out among the planets filled my head while listening to the sounds of this album. The dips and surges make the music somewhat more interesting. Another funky track is “Gone Too Far Feat Sizzla,” which is really upbeat.

While the collection overall isn’t too original (it includes remixes from other artists), I’ll definitely be playing it again. It may not have any original sounding bits, but it does have a rhythmically meditative quality to it. Light and airy dance music requires nothing of the listener other than to move to the beat.

Written by: Nicolette Westfall, February 28th 2010

Fabriclive 48

admin — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:00:00 +0000

By Filthy Dukes

Fabric Records

I was excited to review this album because I'm fascinated by the creative endeavor of mixing existing music together to create something entirely new. I'm a musician, but I know very little about being a DJ—I had heard that no one mixes like the Filthy Dukes, and that their albums were the next best thing to being at one of their events. So, I was intrigued—but I have to say that I expected more.

Fabriclive 48 sounds like a night of London clubbing minus the sense of discovery that often accompanies listening to talented DJs mixing it up. These guys are known as DJ demi-gods, but the album lacked the originality I expected from artists who are adept at creating "in the moment." Maybe the guys got a little lost without the dancing crowds to guide them. Or, perhaps the creativity of DJs and the energy of the dance floor share a symbiotic relationship that just can't be replicated on a recorded album.

I was a bit disappointed by the lack of what I consider to be an important aspect of a DJ's craft—discovering deserving underground groups to introduce a fresh sound to the club masses. There's not much surprise here; the Dukes rely on what could be called a "standards" list of the genre. Maybe I'm being harsh, as few would complain about the stellar list of artists included on Fabriclive 48. I just expected a few uncovered gems to be sprinkled among a group of artists that even I—a music fan with an admittedly meager understanding of the new disco genre—am already acquainted with. I was expecting some exposure to some up-and-coming groups or even artists who have created a new sound.

Even though the playlist felt a bit redundant, it does offer a wide variety of artists. From disco to techno, the lineup includes Popof, Zombie Nation, Muzaja, Daft Punk, Aphex Twin, and WhoMadeWho. On a more positive note, the album does provide a studied example of the electronic indie genre. Fabriclive 48 would make an awesome soundtrack to most any party, but the musical adventurer may want to look elsewhere.

Written by: Meg Rayford, December 31st 2009

Beatdown

admin — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:47:00 +0000

By Scratch Perverts

Fabric Records

In my mind, you either love drum and bass or you hate it—or you have no idea what it is. Pretty much indistinguishable from other Fabric mix albums and the Fabriclive series releases, this is the second d&b-heavy Scratch Perverts addition to the Fabric Records discography. Scratch Perverts were last heard on Fabric mixing for Fabriclive.22 in 2005, though they’re also resident DJs at the Fabric club in LDN.

If I’m to review turntable/DJ/club music from a feminist perspective, I’d have to say that the name Scratch Perverts rubs me the wrong way. It’s bad enough to be a pervert, but one whose name could also mean to itch? STDs are no joke, kids.

Beatdown is an album I’d send to my queer best pal, who currently lives in Minneapolis and never quite shook off our youthful nights spent at raves in Midwestern abandoned strip malls. My boi Daniel lives for good sushi and drum and bass. On the latter and pacifiers as drug accessories, we have never agreed. Grown up and a continent apart, I think of him as I sample this album.

While Scratch Perverts mix tracks from folks like Diplo, AC Slater, and M.I.A. can be heard under the din of the others, the mix left me a little flat on a Friday night. Maybe it was the end-of-week fatigue of the working class. Maybe my recent penchant for jazz has dulled my clubbing sensibilities. I have another birthday on the horizon, and I always feel older than I am. Whatever the case, I didn’t feel much like heading out for a night on the town when listening to Scratch Perverts. I felt like crawling into bed. Just when I thought the mix would pick up tempo, it stayed the same.

Then again, maybe my friend and I are stagnant in certain ways. Who isn’t? Don’t they say “some people never change?” But if this album isn’t for me, it’s certainly for my friend. It doesn’t really matter if we’ve changed or not; however it went down, we stuck together.

Written by: Brittany Shoot, October 29th 2009

Fabriclive.47

admin — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 08:29:00 +0000

By Toddla T

Fabric Records

From what I hear, Sheffield England is not a bumping metropolis. From listening to Toddla T, though, you’d gain a quite different impression.

Toddla T, the boy wonder known off-stage as Tom Bell, has been DJing since his mid-teens, is a resident DJ at Fabric, and makes frequent appearances on the BBC radio show “In New DJs We Trust.” His debut album, Skanky Skanky, was released earlier this year, and he produces fellow young British DJs and remixes the likes of Hot Chip.

On Fabriclive.47, Toddla T serves up many of his own tracks and remixes. Compared to the numerous other Fabric albums I’ve sampled over time, this came as a surprise—though a happy one. More accustomed to hearing almost-recognizable samples under old funk tracks and ‘90s R&B jams, TT’s blend of electro, house, drum and bass, and dancehall was a welcome change.

Of particular note are the small things: a random hymn sample that brought back days growing up in an evangelical church, singing “amen” in five part cycles, the women’s voices who fill in where beats just wouldn’t be enough.

It would be easy to mistake skinny white boy Toddla T for a large man of color based on his samples and influences alone. But who says race and ethnicity—or even gender—is directly linked to musical style, aptitude, or production? From the voices that boom from the tracks, it’s tricky to tell much about the young man behind the music. Maybe that subterfuge is all part of the plan.

Written by: Brittany Shoot, October 18th 2009

Fabric 47

admin — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 17:10:00 +0000

By Jay Haze

Fabric Records

For the thumping album Fabric 47, Jay Haze, the Pennsylvania-born and Berlin-based teamed up with the series of compilation albums produced by the legendary London nightclub of the same name. Haze is the quintessential renaissance man with experience in running multiple record labels and starting up the online electronic music magazine Textone in 2003, all while producing both collaborative and solo albums. His music has been described as psychedelic, but I didn’t get psychedelic so much as I did sultry and subtly climactic. For instance in “Mellow Dee” Haze (featuring Ricardo Villalobos) takes a melody that, when removed from its down tempo context, would seem almost creepy and ominous, but he turns out a track that slowly builds the musical equivalent of an orgasm. My favorite track is “An Hour to Fly” by Lil Dirty Ghetto Bastard, this kind of galloping tempo is definitely a personal favorite of mine, but when simple piano notes and a drum n’ bass beat are merged, Haze creates one of the most sensual tracks on the album.

Fabric 47 is much less lumbering than the last Fabric album to which I listened. It has natural transitions and is an exceedingly cohesive album with a much bouncier and more accessible recurring rhythm. It was most definitely more danceable, and less exhausting; it could just as easily be played at a low volume for more ambient sound than it could being pulsed through massive speakers in a club. I found it to draw much on creative transitions and other genres and less on heavy-handed electronic clichés.

Haze’s album is welcoming and versatile, a compilation that I imagine even people with rather narrow ideas of music would respond to. One can’t help but react to the throbbing sensual beats with, at the very least, a tap of a foot or the bob of one’s head. His sound could easily be compared to French house DJ Stéphane Pompougnac's Hotel Costes series which cleverly mixes tempos and genres in an inspired and refreshing way.

Without a doubt, in my future I see more Jay Haze. This compilation indicates an aptitude of what makes people move and a mastery of musical devices that make listeners yearn for more.

Written by: Erin K. Murphy, October 8th 2009

Detroit /Fabric 45 and Fabric 46

admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:41:00 +0000

By Omar S and Claude Von Stroke

Fabric Records

These two albums are the products of London’s Fabric nightclub’s monthly CD series. Fabric’s musical offerings span the electronic dance spectrum, and while they are super club with three distinct dance spaces, the sounds of Omar S on Detroit/Fabric 45 are refreshingly minimal. Referencing the famed early 1980s Detroit House scene, the album’s beats are loaded with reverb and recall the work of groups from the 1980s such as Liquid Liquid and ESG. It’s hard to imagine the tracks of this record reverberating on a huge dance floor, as the beats are accented with melodic electronic bleeps that sound like they could have been produced by a Nintendo Gameboy circa 1990.

In contrast to Omar S’ minimalism, Claude Von Stroke takes a more upbeat approach with his remixes, combining vocals and a variety of instrument and percussion samples which he layers over simple, danceable house beats. The album’s tracks flow together seamlessly, and each carries Claude Von Stroke’s distinctive techno touch. The disc could be a club-worthy dance party in itself if one wanted to recreate the Fabric experience at home. While neither album appears especially innovative, they are solid samplings of what is happening in contemporary, electronic dance music. As part of Fabric’s CD series and its FabricFirst program, where members get the monthly CD’s weeks before they arrive in stores, as well as discounts on club entry and a chance to skip the queue, club–bound Londoners should take note.

Written by: Eleanor Whitney, June 17th 2009

Fabriclive.40

admin — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 18:27:00 +0000

By Noisia

Fabric Records

Sound aficionados who venture forth on the Fabric path will discover music that is progressive, exciting, and out of this world. If you’re not a fan of drum n bass, break beats, and electronic music, you have to make the commitment to listen, but if you love sound and the evolution of human creative expression, that commitment is not hard to make.

Noisia is the Dutch trio of Nik Roos, Martijn Van Sonderen, and Thijs de Vlieger. They have been involved in the drum n bass music scene since 1998, and own two record labels: Vision and Division. They have performed across the world, working with major artists like Robbie Williams and Moby.

Fabriclive.40 is a mixed CD, which includes many of Noisia’s own tracks. As long as you enjoy robotic beings from the twenty-fifth century's outer space blasting back to our timeframe to teach us new and different things, Fabriclive.40 is incredible!

The first song sets the listener up for the experience. It is the only song with words, and those words are: “Ladies and Gentleman, can I please have your attention. I’ve just been handed an urgent and horrifying news story. I mean all of you stop what you’re doing and listen.” How can you not pay attention after that?

The music, at times, is harsh, disjointed, and dark. The drumbeat is relentless. Fabriclive.40 is shadowy future trek where you have to leave your mind at home to listen.

Some folks might think this music is just noise. However, if you make that commitment to listen, you’ll discover the melodies in this album that are like having veins of solid gold.

Written by: Patricia Ethelwyn Lang, August 1st 2008

Fabric 40

admin — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:58:00 +0000

By Mark Farina

Fabric Records

Mark Farina, a San Francisco-based DJ, is a mainstay on the electronic scene. What began as an exploration of the house genre has now become Farina’s inimitable musical echo. The globetrotting performer is known for his genre versatility, but also his distinctive cocktail of Chicago urban, jazzy reverberation with San Francisco sound. While he’s also known for his down tempo grooves, Fabric 40 is nothing of the sort. Fabric is a series of compilation albums produced by the eponymous London nightclub, with the most recent mix by Chile’s Luciano.

I am sucker for anything that presents itself as a non-stop party, and Fabric 40, initially, is a generally bouncy invitation to dance, but I found a few of the transitions clumsy and forced. Farina’s compilation possessed a slightly anti-climactic feel to it, making it perfectly suitable for ambient music, but at times, I felt uninterested, or, unfortunately, like I had just tuned out 10 minutes of heaving drum n’ bass.

I grew weary about half-way through, and I wish that it better showcased the DJ’s versatility and musical creativity. Farina clearly didn’t strive for this compilation to be tuned out, but to excite the dancing shoes of his loyal fans. Regrettably, it fell short of his intent to keep the party bumpin’.

Written by: Erin K. Murphy, July 28th 2008

FabricLive 39

admin — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 05:22:00 +0000

By DJ Yoda

Fabric Records

This record is sick. By 'sick' I mean off the charts wicked, all night booty-shaking, dance party-inspiring, screaming while you crash down the rollercoaster of noise sick. Woah.

DJ Yoda, the mastermind behind this collaboration, hails from the UK and focuses on hip-hop turntablism, making a name for himself since the late 1990s with his How to Cut and Paste album series. Joining the ranks of Fabric DJs, he’s outdone himself. The Fabriclive series, on a whole, is a stellar mix of internationally celebrated DJs spinning their best collectibles and own work. But despite the number of these albums that line my shelf—well over a dozen as of this writing—DJ Yoda’s skills may have surpassed them all. Have you ever heard a remix of “Sexual Healing” played by brass band? Mix in some old Jurassic 5, Salt N Pepa, Bell Biv Devoe, and Run DMC, and you have a serious party on your hands, even if you’re all alone in your room while you break it down.

Despite the record’s greatness, the first two tracks don’t really kick such an incredible album off right, so skip to Skilbadee’s “Tika Toc” to throw down from the jump. I’ve been doing so all month, and even though that means missing a “Blister In The Sun” mix, you’ll get right into Ice Cube, Chemical Brothers, and Gang Starr. I’m telling you, this record is gold. Go find a copy. Now.

Written by: Brittany Shoot, June 14th 2008

Fabric 39

admin — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 01:47:00 +0000

By Robert Hood

Fabric Records

Robert “Noise” Hood is one of the original members of the Detroit collective Underground Resistance (UR) and a solo DJ with an incredible discography. His work is informed by militant politics of music as a tool for social chance, and coming out of Reagan-era inner city Detroit, his radical views are personally informed. Solo after leaving UR in 1992, Hood still focuses on minimalist techno and has since also started his own label, M-Print, on which he continues to release collaborations with other UR artists.

On Fabric 39, we find Hood remixing disco samples and focusing on heavy repetition. In terms of this record as part of the ongoing Fabric and FabricLive series, I think it’s safe to say this album falls outside what some have come to expect from the collection. But this departure is in no way a negative thing. It should, instead, push people’s expectations about what a techno or dance album has been and will be in the future.

Hood doesn’t use mainstream samples in heavy rotation, and his music can seem a bit obscure in that sense. You don’t catch a ten second beat you know from your childhood and jump up to dance, but the album grows on you, and its fast repetitive beats, which are not immediately catchy, become mesmerizing the longer you listen. It also reminds me of the DJs on my more youthful days in the Midwestern rave scene, so despite the album’s lack of initial appeal, it holds a soft spot in my former ravergrrrl heart.

Written by: Brittany Shoot, June 12th 2008

Fabriclive.36

admin — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 19:37:00 +0000

By James Murphy, Pat Mahoney

Fabric Records

If you want to get the party started, here is the album to get the job done. Fabriclive.36 features James Murphy and Pat Mahoney on this release of electronic disco to minimal disco. The Fabriclive.X repetoire features a new artist release on a regular (if not monthly) basis out of the Fabric night club in London. These works are compliations of artists spun up for the night club dance crowd. Fabric is the brainchild of founders Keith Reilly and Cameron Leslie—featuring three separate rooms totaling over 25,000 square feet, independent sound systems, and a body sonic dance floor.

Murphy and Mahoney are a couple of American born and bread boys from Wonder Breadland America who learned at tender ages what music was all about. Moving through the “my dad wanted me to play sax” and the garage bands, these two guys now share a spot on the DJ listing at Fabriclive. The music is dance, dance, dance, and more dance. That’s not a bad thing when you really need a great dance disc to get folks moving. The high energy mix was well received by everyone in the house; these guys do a great job of generating sonic energy and moving it right through. And it sure made Saturday morning chores go a heckuva lot faster too!

Written by: Mary O'Hara, January 20th 2008

Fabriclive.33

admin — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 23:11:00 +0000

By Spank Rock

Fabric Records

Plenty of famous (and not so famous) DJs have contributed to the FabricLive series: James Lavelle, Jacques Lu Cont, Diplo and even the late John Peel. So Baltimore “dirty rap” superstars Spank Rock had a lot to live up to with their mix, the thirty-third in the series. And while other albums may have been better mixed, or contain more unknown tracks, there is almost no competition when it comes to plain old danceability.

Spank Rock are, by their own admission, all about the debauchery that comes with partying, so they know what they’re doing with a mix CD. The bring ultra-hip new electro and rap together with some of their own remixes and idols to make something really fresh. From more straightforward tracks like Daft Punk’s “Technologic” and Miss Kittin & The Hacker’s “Stock Exchange” to more oddball picks like Yes’ “Owner of a Lonely Heart” (you read that right) to some of their own remixes of bands like Best Fwends and Brazilian bangers Cansei de ser Sexy and Bonde Do Role, this album is pretty much a party in a cardboard sleeve. So if you’re looking for a dance mix that’s less Euro-house and more debaucherous and nasty (in the best way possible), check out Spank Rock’s FabricLive effort. It’ll make your booty shake, or you don’t have a pulse.

Written by: Dana Reinoos, June 2nd 2007