Fabric/Fabriclive mix cd series S/D

Been listening to the Carl Craig one a lot lately

why is flava d getting to do a fabriclive? im sure it wont be bad, but its like, in 2016, why have they not had slimzee do one yet? or spooky? spooky would be incredible. something a bit off about it really.

the EZ one is top 5. maybe THE best fabriclive. makes a mockery of the competition.

Now that this is officially a historical archive we should probably have another go round at repping for the best ones.

Has it been confirmed that the mix series will end?

if it does, there's some sort of sale on their back catalog again. not that I need the physical objects at this point in the game, but... I don't know, I'd like something.

back in the mid-2000s I subscribed to the cd series. being in the middle of the US there were limited possibilities to actually go to a club where I'd see acts like those that played fabric. even the mixes obviously made more for home listening made me feel like I was getting a glimpse into something. the design/artwork and music selection was variable but I always got something out of it. I can't remember when I started... probably shortly after that fabric 13 michael mayer mix.

it's a weird time for released mixes in physical format, or even mixes that are purchased at all. that the fabric ones are still running seems like a throwback at times

many, if not most, of the fabric mixes are on some of the streaming services, though

for a short while i was on the fabric promo groove.
even the promos has a good look and feel to them.
simple basic coloured covers in heavy cardboard.
my faves : omar s, john tejada, commix, noisia,
and when in the mood for an old school hip hop set, dj spinbad.

I'm not sure if it's still out there, but the fabric promo materials (just the press releases and promo images/materials, not music) website was public but relatively un-googleable. I remember grabbing some of the original art in really high resolution, which was excellent for background images.

I don't think it's been confirmed either way but that's hardly going to be at the forefront of their mind right now. I guess they're promotional loss-leaders in any case, they can't possibly make their money back off releasing a whole run of, say, Jesse Rose CDs.

Commercially-released mix albums do feel anachronistic in the age of hundreds of free mixes a week but I think I still engage with them in different ways. Like a mix CD still feels like a DJ releasing an album. A great podcast can be better and a great radio set can be much better but they have that looser, live feel to them. I like the implied permanence of a mix album (also they're usually in better sound quality and you can actually see track titles, which matters to me).

I'm listening to the Glimmers one right now which is the best of the mid-00s bloggy ones (except the James Murphy/Pat Mahoney one which is all time).

Otherwise my top 10 from both series, in no particular order:

Fabric:

Michael Mayer (everyone says this but its true)
Carl Craig
Ellen Allien
Andy Weatherall
Agoria
Claude Vonstroke
Zip
Omar-S
Luciano
Marcel Dettmann

Fabriclive:

Jacques Lu Cont
Bent
The Glimmers
James Murphy & Pat Mahoney
Jackmaster
Toddla T
Elijah & Skilliam
DJ EZ
Flava D
Logan Sama

There are so many terrible-sounding ones I've never bothered to go near, and nearly every DJ has turned out a better mix album for someone else (Mayer's Immer, Pearson's and Luciano's Sci-Fi-Hi-Fi), but I'll sort of miss them if they do stop dropping off the conveyor belt.

I forgot the Optimo/Metro Area/Tiefschwarz/Monki ones which are all also excellent.

the Death in Vegas fabriclive one is good

Shackleton and Sandwell District ones are more artist album/mixes than anything else but I'd endorse them

I was a huge huge fan of the Radioactive Man one back in the day. Don't know how well it's aged, probably come back round in terms of style. Pure full-frontal electroclash fun.

Oh god yes the carl craig one

the villalobos one was great for having all unreleased - at the time - villalobos, including primer encuentro latinoamericano which is one of my favourite ever villalobos tracks - not so great as a mix cd.

The John Peel one.

many, if not most, of the fabric mixes are on some of the streaming services, though

― dr. mercurio arboria (mh 😏), Thursday, September 8, 2016 7:27 PM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

there's only 1 on spotify where i am :(

i have been contemplating getting the sandwell district mix as i have no chance of ever getting their vinyl stuff, but the constant use of 'dark' in various descriptions puts me off as i dont actually know what that means in regards to dance music, as to me it means foetus/front242/industrial etc.
that said, i have just heard a sandwell district vs the black dog remix, and so that 'buy now' option is a lot close than it was.

Just bought the Ellen Allien and James Murphy/Pat Mahoney CD's on Discogs

The John Peel one was ridiculous but it introduced me to so much interesting music, as any John Peel session should I guess. That Capris' song singlehandedly got me into doo-wop and that insane gabba track (Identify The Beat) towards the end was a firm party favourite among my friends for years.

ricardo's is may favourite definitely

zips was a bit disappointing for me, despite the (second half) tracklisting, still good though

been meaning to go hear to the Pure Science one for a long time...so many good records...and so many really bad ones

from his discography, i mean

The Sandwell District one bangs, you should listen to it.

Like it's dark but in the way clubs lit by one lightbulb with everyone going mental are dark, it's not especially screwfacing or gothy or anything.

i.e. perfect for me.

ta Matt DC .. ordered .

question : why is the jamie jones fabric mix so much cheaper than any others !?!?

is it really that bad ?

(i have ordered it as i love the REKIDS groove).

FTR : of the promo stuff i heard, the mark farina mix was the one i really hated.

once i tuned into the beat that was consistent throughout i could not hear anything else.

I think I'm in the ilm minority in enjoying the loopy, self-consciously "dark" sandwell-style stuff but it's got its place. glad to know Matt DC is a fan.

I thought Sandwell District in general were reasonably highly rated on ILM?

They're pretty monochrome and warehousey but not in the posturing way you get with more EBM-influenced acts. Maybe not quite the time of year yet though - I always seem to dig the album out in November.

my goodness, this nina kraviz mix >>>>>>

she's done some really interesting & weird things with her label lately

Yeah I was given that one a listen the other day, REALLY great. What was even better was that my girlfriend and fellow music fiend came back from an errand while it was playing and instantly recognized it was her by her style and approach -- talk about a sign you've arrived.

yeah i totally get that - haven't seen her play out in years but must rectify

Have to look into this... I've liked her previous material, and any mix released in 2016 that includes Air Liquide's "Revelation" can't be bad.

So it's good then? Her DJ-Kicks is very murky and never really takes off, so I was going to skip this one.

...no to mention Kirlian, Namlook, and even Drax's "Amphetamine"! Looks like she's been heavily into classic '90s bangers, which should be a good sign for an oldie like me.

(xmessage)

really wish I had picked up her album on REKIDS when I saw it in hmv a few years back ..

I love her album but I didn't think the DJ-Kicks was up to much and the Bjarki stuff I've heard from her label is bewildering in its popularity to me. I'll need to investigate this.

I really like the Gerd Janson entry.

It has a great energy (that so many mix cd's are lacking). Good on her.

this rules a lot

I think her DJ-Kicks was the tail end of that particular sound for her.

She's seemed to veer into a more wide-reaching approach to DJing. First indication of that for me was her dropping 'No Good (Start the Dance)' at Dekmantel this year.

Haha I have actually fantasised about being a prestigious DJ at a prestigious club or festival and dropping "No Good (Start The Dance)".

i'm curious what other people's top 10 fabric mixes are. my own lists don't overlap too much with matt dc's but there is some.

as far as the fabrics go i really like tyler stadius and swayzak from the early run. carl craig and global communciation did a great little thing mixing up broken beat and detroit techno. i recall luke slater's was excellent early early example of the berghain / sandwell axis thing bubbling up. ame's is a great blend of deep house and dub house. martyn's was really amazing, kind of sounds like nothing else. agoria's was very emotional, expansive classic techno and house with some neat tempo tricks happening (ableton?). i would probably round out my list with shackleton and levon vincent. very tense listening.

overall i probably prefer fabriclive to fabric. i think a lot more of them are just more interesting, and the good ones have held up really well. jacques lu cont, bent and bugz in the attic still sound really great and fresh. aim's is really lovely pastoral hip hop. death in vegas is very dark and cool in an unusual way, holds up better imo than a lot of similar dark rock-techno-disco entries from the time (say, andrew weatherall or ivan smagghe, both of whom i think are great but turned in not so great mixes). i still listen to james murphy's. the autonomic one nicely sums up that moment. pearson sound, four tet and ben ufo round out my ten.

i do think i forget how many bad blog house and drum and bass mixes were under the fabriclive banner. i still think i prefer the fabriclive mixes i listed to the fabrics but i don't think i'd say the latter series is better than the former.

there are quite a lot i think that are passably good representations of what that person does while not being the best example you can find of what that person does: omar-s, villalobos, dj ez, jackmaster, etc

need to relisten to mumdance and illum sphere, i remember those sounding pretty good but i barely got a chance to listen. and metro area. i haven't checked that one out in a while but i remember thinking it was pretty weird.

This is one of the best mixes of the year for me. Makes me feel jealous how she's not only very physically attractive but great at her craft. She also keeps getting slightly weirder without losing her style which is usually a good sign in any artist for me. The ambition to expand.

Is there a Fabric/Fabriclive mix poll? This is 91 right? There's enough for two or three polls if we do 30 mixes per poll.

The Eats Everything mix also released this year is good.

i'm curious what other people's top 10 fabric mixes are. my own lists don't overlap too much with matt dc's but there is some

i'd struggle to fill 10 i think, unfortunately!

there are quite a lot i think that are passably good representations of what that person does while not being the best example you can find of what that person does

This being one of the main reasons! There are certainly DJ's i like that have released fabric mixes, but most fall in either 'passably good representation' category, or often "disappointing and flat". i think ricardo's is actually one of the ones that doesn't though, i think thats one of the few where it does do justice

i dont know if its the cd format that is the issue, or if Fabric is sometimes.....a bit late in booking, there's an argument some of the contributors have gone well off the boil by the time they got to do one

Mmm I think I could do it but I haven't listened to all of them. Favorite ones I remember top of my head:

Shackleton
Villalobos
James Lavelle
Four Tet
Nina Kraviz
Levon Vincent
Sandwell District
Ewan Pearson
Daniel Avery
Petre Inspirescu
James Murphy & Pat Mahoney
Erol Alkan

Scratch Perverts

i dont know if its the cd format that is the issue, or if Fabric is sometimes.....a bit late in booking, there's an argument some of the contributors have gone well off the boil by the time they got to do one

the concept of a cd mix has felt archaic for years now - when i see a dj i like is lined up to do a fabric cd i just shrug because i can and have heard any amount of mixes/sets by them whenever i choose, usually, it's not a special occasion. but from talking to them a lot of them do feel it's a special occasion, or at least they put pressure on themselves to...represent themselves fully, i guess? which is bad when they try to cram too much stuff in, or over-think their selection when their forte is spontaneity (jackmaster is prob exhibit a here).

so as wanky as the auteurist approach is, i guess the djs who can pull this off are those, like villalobos or levon vincent or omar-s, who craft it almost like an artist album, and who have enough quality material to do it themselves.

as for timing, rather than too early or too late per se, a fabric cd commission often comes when a newish dj is cresting a wave and is simply incredibly busy (and also feeling pressure to justify themselves while simultaneously trying to evolve in general). nina kraviz is an example where late timing works in fabric's favour - technically they're super-late given how long she's been around but she's obviously gone up a level and has been doing some super-interesting things with her label this year, so it's the right time for an auteurist approach (though not with her own stuff) to work.

Think there's a core of a good piece here, Lex!