Sonic Router at Fabric This Friday

We’re very honoured to be hosting room three at Fabric alongside some of our favourite labels Hessle Audio and Tectonic this Friday. Get down early since the bill is jam packed with names you don’t want to miss. Plus Sonic Router DJs will be kicking off proceedings in room three: MLR 10-11 & Me (jimitheexploder) 11-12.

You still have a little time to enter our competition to win tickets by heading over here.

See you down the front.

http://www.fabriclondon.com/
http://www.sonicrouter.com/

Fabric 45: Omar-S DETROIT

The next instalment for the fantastic and I must say well back on form Fabric mix series is from Detroit native and FXHE owner Omar-S. This guy is all at once a bit of a throwback and a pioneer. His productions hark back to the hay day of Detroit techno with it’s high tech soul edge yet there is something kind of new and refreshing by this approach in this day and age.

All sixteen tracks in the mix are original Omar-S productions from his FXHE Music imprint. I suppose you could compare the approach to Villalobos’ on his Fabric mix in which he pretty much made an original album that would probably be a bit lazy though. Plenty of DJ’s will play exclusives to keep their sets fresh and in demand, and Omar-S has a lot of freshness of his own that really needs some hype.

You really can hear echoes of Chicago house and Detroit techno throughout the whole mix. Tight punchy retro beats play off warm tweaked out synths in a really organic old sounding way. You can hear little quick edits and lo-fi glitches at times that just make the mix sound more human. It sounds like it could have been made any time between Strings of Life and the invention of the Gameboy.

The whole mix is a highlight to be honest but some stand outs have to be, piano led ‘Oasis 13 ½’ which sounds like a long lost E-Dancer number which then blends seamlessly into the brooding darkness of ‘1 Out Of 853 Beats’ with it’s bubbling synth lines and building beats. Tracks like, ‘Psychotic Photosynthesis’ are just irresistible and draw you in with their beautiful melancholic robo-soul chords.

Omar-S really knows how to get you hypnotized in the mix, clicks, bubbles, blips and a whole array of tricks skip around the tracks with a warm minimal sound. Then to throw you out of that collective mass all swaying to the techno beats a soulful vocal comes out of know where like on, ‘The Maker’ and makes you look around and feel that human side to the dance. It’s a living breathing beats he has managed to create here.

Commix – Fabric Live. 44

D’n’B double team Commix mix it up for the next instalment of the Fabric Live series bringing there own flavour of drum and bass to the table. I haven’t really followed D’n’B for a very long time now, I had kind of left it for dead but the recent wave of producers crossing over into dubstep territory and making some of the best stuff I’ve heard in the genre made me want to see what the hell I had been missing. Turns out it’s a lot.

Some of the names in this mix are big, Commix them selves tern in some nice rollers as do a few from the Metalheadz label, dBridge, Calibre, Instra:mental, Photek and my personal favourite Breakage who is one of the crew who has been making some deep dubstep and made me want to rediscover D’n’B.

The mix starts of with some really deep and soulful rollers, the breaks ratel with a warm funk as string samples, the odd vocal snippet and of course some big sub action. Commix really draw you into their world with the first three; they sort of mesmerize you into it with hypnotic grooves before dropping a really big bassline on you and then its still only a tease, they build the tension well.

The track that really grabs my attention first is the mad groove of, ‘The Causeway’ by Data. When it drops into that robotic sub bass percussive loop it’s an eyes down no nonsense skanker. Some of the melodies on here are really dark, moody and beautiful when the samples sooth there way into the middle of, ‘Buried’ by SpectraSoul it’s a really nice moment and it really adds life to the non stop rolling breaks.

The minimal electro funk roller that is dBridge’s remix of Commix’s, ‘Belleveiw’ sounds like an anthem to me that bleeping melody has been in my head for some time now. It gets dropped in the mix about half way through to really perk things up a little and bring you out of the hypnotised bass state. You’re not aloud back in there for a little while either with the grimey bass dirt of SpectraSoul & Ben E then the dub infused, ‘In Denial’ by Calibre brings back that meditation vibe again, all be it with some hyperactive breaks and Zinc Esq basslines.

OAK really lets you sink into that bass state again it’s a sublime roller with bird samples and some inventive drum programming under some beautiful synth pads. It then melts seamlessly into Jonny L’s ‘Common Origin’ this final section of the mix is where it all happens for me. You can really feel the original D’n’B spirit. This is well reflected in Breakages aptly titled, ‘Old School Ting’ that really smashes it with a big break, bass and chopped female vocal rave samples.

The last few Instra:metal tracks that bookend the excellent jazz tinged shunter ‘Yendi’ by Photek are some of my favourite tracks on here they just have a really minimal vibe to them that adds space and beauty to the mix. Oh yeah his recent dubstep adventures on the 10” split with Breakage on Naked Lunch really is special as well, you have to check that. Final track, ‘Photograph’ just seals the deal and Commix exit in sublime style.

Over all Commix put in a storming mix for the Fabric Live series that really flows and rolls, it has an old school D’n’B feel to it like it could have been made at any point within the history of the genre really. It’s just quality breaks, bass and atmosphere all the way.

D’n’B double team Commix mix it up for the next instalment of the Fabric Live series bringing there own flavour of drum and bass to the table. I haven’t really followed D’n’B for a very long time now, I had kind of left it for dead but the recent wave of producers crossing over into dubstep territory and making some of the best stuff I’ve heard in the genre made me want to see what the hell I had been missing. Turns out it’s a lot.

Some of the names in this mix are big, Commix them selves tern in some nice rollers as do a few from the Metalheadz label, dBridge, Calibre, Instra:mental, Photek and my personal favourite Breakage who is one of the crew who has been making some deep dubstep and made me want to rediscover D’n’B.

The mix starts of with some really deep and soulful rollers, the breaks ratel with a warm funk as string samples, the odd vocal snippet and of course some big sub action. Commix really draw you into their world with the first three; they sort of mesmerize you into it with hypnotic grooves before dropping a really big bassline on you and then its still only a tease, they build the tension well.

The track that really grabs my attention first is the mad groove of, ‘The Causeway’ by Data. When it drops into that robotic sub bass percussive loop it’s an eyes down no nonsense skanker. Some of the melodies on here are really dark, moody and beautiful when the samples sooth there way into the middle of, ‘Buried’ by SpectraSoul it’s a really nice moment and it really adds life to the non stop rolling breaks.

The minimal electro funk roller that is dBridge’s remix of Commix’s, ‘Belleveiw’ sounds like an anthem to me that bleeping melody has been in my head for some time now. It gets dropped in the mix about half way through to really perk things up a little and bring you out of the hypnotised bass state. You’re not aloud back in there for a little while either with the grimey bass dirt of SpectraSoul & Ben E then the dub infused, ‘In Denial’ by Calibre brings back that meditation vibe again, all be it with some hyperactive breaks and Zinc Esq basslines.

OAK really lets you sink into that bass state again it’s a sublime roller with bird samples and some inventive drum programming under some beautiful synth pads. It then melts seamlessly into Jonny L’s ‘Common Origin’ this final section of the mix is where it all happens for me. You can really feel the original D’n’B spirit. This is well reflected in Breakages aptly titled, ‘Old School Ting’ that really smashes it with a big break, bass and chopped female vocal rave samples.

The last few Instra:metal tracks that bookend the excellent jazz tinged shunter ‘Yendi’ by Photek are some of my favourite tracks on here they just have a really minimal vibe to them that adds space and beauty to the mix. Oh yeah his recent dubstep adventures on the 10” split with Breakage on Naked Lunch really is special as well, you have to check that. Final track, ‘Photograph’ just seals the deal and Commix exit in sublime style.

Over all Commix put in a storming mix for the Fabric Live series that really flows and rolls, it has an old school D’n’B feel to it like it could have been made at any point within the history of the genre really. It’s just quality breaks, bass and atmosphere all the way.

Out tomorow aka 9th Feb...

John Tejada – Fabric 44

Minimal and techno have been around for what seems like an age now and come to think of it so has John Tejada and Fabric. Even when sometimes as with all genres over time a formula starts to appear, Tejada has always managed to stay fresh and skip around tempos and styles at will as a DJ and producer. So a full mix from him in the excellent Fabric series is an interesting prospect.

John takes tracks new and old from all over the genre and mixes them with a hell of a lot of his own productions and material from his label Palette. This gives the mix a really cohesive sound that is unmistakably Tejada.

The mix opens with subtle and musical Detroit vibed minimal techno that builds with lush pads and creaking synth tweaks. It’s pretty hypnotic stuff for the most part but you can snippets of what’s to come as a sort of jacking European electro sound creeps in.

There is a warm timeless feel to a lot of the tracks here, it sounds like it could be mixed at anytime since techno’s inception in the 80s. It’s got all those lush, melancholic soul feelings that the early stuff had but with a really contemporary electro or minimal undertone. I guess it’s just quality in the end.

Some of the stand out tracks for me are the more subtle minimal affairs, such as the simple yet effective, ‘WAX10001’ by WAX. It just pumps along with drums not to dissimilar to old Trax On The Rocks material from Daft Punks Thomas Bangalter. But instead of kind of looped out funk vibe there is a nice dub synth hook that makes you want to move. Another track from the same label Hardwax also makes my ears prick up in the mix, this one by EQD called ‘Equalized001’ it has a similar kind of tone.

The tracks from Palette All-Stars pick the pace of the mix up a little and take it into freaked out acid state of mind with a growling bottom end and those mad acid tweaks that techno does so well.

Throwing in the Orbital classic ‘Fahrenheit 303’ is a nice touch as not only had I not heard it in a long time but it gives the mix a really old skool euphoric rave feel, which is never a bad thing.

Apparently Tejada heavily edited a lot of these tracks to make the Fabric mix a more solid flowing piece of work compared to his in club mixing. He wanted it to come across as a whole. I think he achieved this very well indeed. By the time your half way through you really locked into the vibe of it all and ready to get taken where ever Tejada feels, and he doesn’t disappoint with the final third which is maybe the best. Tejada himself with Arian Leviste kill it with the subtle raver ‘Forbiden Planet’ before a nice Shed remix brings it down a bit in his own wonderful dubbed out style.

Fabric mixes are always quality and John Tejada really doesn’t disappoint, grab this if you’re a fan of the more subtle end of electro, techno and minimal. I doubt very much you will be disappointed.

Radioactive Man – Growl

Radioactive Man has been on my radar for quite some time I have a nice selection of his 12” records they are full of excellent slabs of crunchy, break-beat, electro, rave, techno music with fat baselines and a bright, funky edge. This is the first album I have heard from him and it’s full of more of the same beastly dance floor numbers. Radioactive Man is the brainchild of half of the excellent Two Loan Swordsman. Not Andrew Weatherall the absolute legend but the other one Keith Tenniswood. I understand this album has been a long time coming because of his hard work with the aforementioned group and DJ commitments. I’m not at all disappointed though Growl is a really good album. The sound is aimed right at the dance floor but is also a pleasure for home listening there are even some vocal tracks with Dot Allison. I love her voice on electro and techno records she has also worked with Vitalic before to great effect. This is a grate record that reminds me of summer for some reason, maybe it’s the warm baselines and bouncy style. Growl is one of the more accessible bits of music I have heard from Radioactive Man, compared to the last slice I heard which was a massive rave style banger. We don’t quite reach those heights here in terms of intensity but the album is still spot on and very catchy indeed. The synth motifs should get you moving with ease, the crunchy beats really punch hard and make Growl infectious. Radioactive Man even manages to steer away from the 80s revival sound that far to many dance acts go for, Growl sounds pretty modern just like electro should. Go and check it out, its one of the best dance style records I have heard all year.