Remember, remember, the Fifth of November. That’s the date, in 2001, when fabric entered the compilation market via the decks of resident DJ Craig Richards, and the mellow strains of Gemini’s ‘At That Café’. And here they are, over eight years later, letting of their own fireworks to celebrate a century of compilations in the company of D-Bridge & Instra:mental, bringing drum ‘n’ bass into the second decade of the 21st century.
Now is a good time to pause and take in that achievement. While the club have eased into the compilation business at the healthy rate of one a month, more record companies and clubs have gone under than hot dinners served, if the delighted broadsheets are to be believed. Many scribes at said newspapers were out with their angry pens in the middle of the decade, condemning dance music to an early death and dancing on its grave. Yet in reality the only thing that died was crap dance music – while the stuff worth saving simply went back to its roots, regrouped, and defied the bringers of doom.
Throughout its hundred releases, fifty each to fabric and FABRICLIVE, the idea has been to blend up and coming names with established and exceptional international talent. This explains why a set of cracking New York disco from LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy might turn up one month, followed by some blitzkrieg dubstep from Caspa & Rusko the next. And if you cast an eye down the names of contributors to both series, it’s something like a ‘who’s who’ of important DJs in the last decade.
Even in the first few dozen releases that much was becoming clear, with noted mixes from John Peel and Tony Humphries. Since then some real luminaries have dropped by to represent their genre – so we’ve had techno with the manic laughter of Carl Craig, drum ‘n’ bass with LTJ Bukem and minimal with Riccardo Villalobos, his release something of a first as it included all his own new material. Individual genres are well represented, and drum ‘n’ bass weighs in with Fabio, DJ Hype and Marcus Intalex among others. Hip hop does pretty well, with DJ Format, Howie B and The Herbaliser, while stretchy US house is well represented by Mark Farina and Claude von Stroke. There aren’t many introspective moments in the hundred, but Aim is one artist in particular who steps up to soothe the fevered brow.
Of course, not everyone is going to like all of the hundred mixes. Those who like the deep West Coast house of Doc Martin might be less likely to respond to the vitriol that runs through DJ Hype’s mix – while the smooth contours of John Digweed will sit quite differently with a listener wanting to jump up and smash the ceiling with Sinden.
But there have been so many wonderful moments in the hours of listening. In writing for DMC Update, Resident Advisor and Notion magazine, I realised I have reviewed no fewer than 53 of these buggers – and heard a good number more besides. So in an act of sheer foolishness, I’ve attempted to pick five favourites, to try and show just why these two compilation series have proved so vital, and why they continue to fire the imagination. So, in no particular order, here goes…
FABRICLIVE 9 – Jacques Lu Cont
One of the givens for a DJ mix is that apart from making you dance it should inspire you to go out and buy some of the music played. So where do you start with Jacques Lu Cont? He has put together one of those mixes that brings the sublime and the ridiculous together, leading out of the theme music to 2001 with Eurythmics’ ‘Sweet Dreams’, or moving seamlessly from Crazy Penis’ ‘Give It Up’ to Steve Miller’s ‘Abracadabra’. This is truly les rhythmes variables!
FABRICLIVE 25 – High Contrast
High Contrast indeed, for this set of drum and bass takes the rough with the smooth in a fast paced, energetic mix. The smooth – such as it is – is best illustrated by DJ Marky and Bungle & DJ Roots, the rough is taken on by Sparfunk & Joe Solo amongst others. Along the way there are several Hospital crackers, and a fizzing undercurrent of adrenalin runs through the whole set – an early indication of his potential as a DJ.
fabric 43 – Metro Area
Early on in this mix, the vocal promises ‘your own disco experience’, and that proves to be the case – with the mid 1980s the point of reference. The New York duo bring a new string to fabric’s bow – well, quite a few strings, actually – though the synths are out in force too, as several tracks here feel the funk. In the course of 23 tracks Metro Area work up some real good feeling amongst the chunky beats.
FABRICLIVE 43 – Sinden
One of the great things about the fabric series is its ability to jump from one genre to another without breaking step. And ‘jump’ is the word here, as that’s what you’ll be doing a lot with this mix. It’s unashamed, up for it party stuff, with bouncy basslines, quick stepping house beats and a feel of genuine risk taking that is often sadly lacking in mix compilations. The only regret is that it’s a CD length rather than several hours – though finishing off with M83 and Salem winds things down a bit to counter that. Original and forward thinking, with beats that tend to take from early rave and mid-90s UK garage, but still sound fresh and pumping.
fabric 48 – Radio Slave
This eagerly awaited mix delivers on all counts. Mixed in one take by Matt Edwards, the set is an organic, steadily building animal that lives and breathes percussion – put together with acute attention to detail on one hand, but allowed an instinctive room to breathe on the other. There are several exclusives here, including the incredibly spatial ‘I Don’t Need A Cure For This’, one of Edwards’ best tracks to date, while the blending of Nina Kraviz and DJ Boola really ups the stakes as the tempo builds, the roomy sound giving the listener the impression of being out there on the dancefloor. From there it’s a rush of big drums, underpinned by solid bass, which do justice to an outstanding mix that takes house music back to its first principles of rhythm.
So that’s just five of my favourites – but that leads to the inevitable question of what would yours be? And who would you like to see offering their services to the series? Plastikman? Hybrid? London Elektricity? Answers on the back of a tin…
Ben Hogwood
