Various Artists – Fabriclive 77: Erol Alkan – (Fabric)
DMC World Magazine
For his contribution to the Fabriclive series, Erol Alkan really did picture himself in Room 1, playing to a crowd whose hands reach into the DJ booth, or those who dance behind him alone in the corridors. It sounds obvious but it’s clear that some of the people chosen to mix for Fabric don’t approach their mixes for the club in that way, preferring to use their own material or doing a mix they might play anywhere else. That’s fair enough, of course, but Alkan sees this as a love letter to a place he clearly can’t do without, and as Fabric hits 15 years it helps to have DJs who feel that way. This is the raw edge of dance music, with sweat literally running down the walls as Alkan puts down a firm marker with Carisma’s rocking ‘Talento Matemático’, enhancing the experience with the dazzling light of his own track ‘Sub Conscious’. Boot & Tax’s ‘Acido’ shows off that classic combination of booming vocal and 303s, while Zongamin’s remix of Manfredas’ ‘Square Lights’ gurgles beautifully, but Alkan saves his ‘coup de grace’ to the end, a great recasting of Saint Etienne’s ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’ with his ‘A Hold On Love’. It’s a cracking way to bring the lights up.
