drum and bass

Beatdown

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

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

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

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