Techno stalwart Surgeon (Anthony Child), the DJ and musician behind Counterbalance and Dynamic Tension, is behind the wheel of our latest Fabric Session. It coincides with the release of his Fabric 53 mix and incorporates a diverse selection of quality electronica, dubstep, krautrock and techno. Oni Ayhun, Starkey, Sterac and Lory D all on board.

Here’s a few words from Surgeon himself:

My main plan for this year is to branch out into other music worlds. I’m currently working on a hip-hop, soul project that will be aimed at commercial release. The band is called The Jones’s. It is a labour of love that I’m trying to launch in September. The sound involves a lot of samples and the use of some live players; everything from early 80s sleaze funk to 90s hip hop. It’s the music that makes me tick on a personal level; the music I listened to before drum n’ bass. The fact that I do play a lot of different styles is starting to filter out to the general populous.

Here in the UK, strict genres and the rigidity of DJing are both melting away. Now it’s normal for me to switch tempos in a D&B set, and it’s just as normal for Skream and Benga to play a D&B tune – which is healthy. Hopefully it’s going to turn back into just UK bass music, with tempos being flexible. It really opens you up as a DJ when you can play a good tune at the right time, instead of being obsessed with double drops and stupid timings. That’s what I was trying to do with the mix: to show my sets at a peak time show, but also get really eclectic in the mix later on – with dubstep and old garage classics (such as Wookie’s ‘Little Man’), then some dub and straight up techno, finishing on some jacking Chicago-style house. At the very end there’s this new crew local to my adopted home (N8), it’s basically a hip hop tune that switches into something a bit like Roni Size’s ‘Music Box,’ with twinkly Rhodes and cosmic surfer samples.

I wanted to give an honest representation of what a Zero T set is like, to play tunes that I genuinely love. I also wanted for it to be a CD for people that aren’t into drum & bass. It goes from dark, to more musical, to vocal, to properly minimal and deep stuff. I’ve managed to get all the artists I wanted, who are either heroes of mine or the current people to watch. Some of the tracks will only appear on the CD, they’ll never appear anywhere else – lots of exclusives.

- Zero T

Tracklist

1. Dillinja – Fly Away
2. SPY – Favela
3. Icicle – Rude As F**k
4. Rockwell – My War
5. 8 Bits – So Good
6. Calibre – Untitled
7. System – Position One
8. Zero T – Harms Way
9. Reprazent – Share The Fall [Jeep Mix]
10. Rockwell – Full Circle
11. Total Science – Trespass
12. Commix – Justified [Spectrasoul Remix]
13. Ed Rush + Optical – Lifecrisis [Origin Unknown Remix]
14. Alix Perez + Zero T – Enemy Of Reason
15. Zero T + Mosus – Videodrome
16. Noisia ft. Joe Seven – Hand Gestures
17. Zero T ft. Steo – Close To See
18. Zero T + Beta 2 – North Beach
19. Icicle – Garde
20. Grace Jones – Love You To Life [Mala Remix]
21. Ramadanman – I Beg You
22. Pariah – Orpheus
23. Joy Orbison – So Disrobe
24. Untold – I Can’t Stop This Feeling
25. Bonobo – Eyesdown [Warrior One Remix]

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Here’s what they both had to say to our mates at Fabric about the legendary club night they started back in 1997.

JD Twitch:

“I’d been doing Pure for a few years and I was a little bit bored. It was the late 90s and the whole club scene had got a little bit boring for me, all my friends were bored, we’d all stopped going out. This opportunity came up to do the Sunday night at a club in Glasgow. The owners of The Sub Club had said they were happy for me to do whatever I wanted – so i took the opportunity to literally delve into my record collection and play all the music I’d never really played in a DJ set that I thought might just work on a dancefloor. So I started this night and I asked Johnnie to play with me; I didn’t know him very well but I knew that he had a similar interest in different types of music. And I knew he had an anarchic spirit, which is kind of what I wanted the night to be. Plus he had a lot of friends, and I thought if he’s doing it maybe a lot of his friends would come along too. It was really a private party for all our friends for the first year or so. The first year, almost 80 people per week would come and we’d know almost all of them, and that was fine. We had no plan, no ambition for the night, it was just a kind of outlet for us to do something fun for us.

After doing it for about a year, I think word must have got out and it suddenly became very popular, literally from one week to the next, 75 people one week and the next week it was packed. It just kind of stayed like that; it was almost just like people suddenly got it. It’s the people that made it and we were very fortunate that we got a really great crowd of people that came along, because the music was really quite different to what people were used to and quite all over the place. And because it was on a Sunday you had to make an effort to go, so the people that came really wanted to be there.”

JG Wilkes:

“I remember meeting Keith a long time ago. I used to play at a techno night in Glasgow in the mid-90s on a Saturday but I used to get Friday nights off all the time. I wasn’t travelling as a DJ at the time, I was just kind of DJing around Glasgow, and Keith did a club in Edinburgh called Pure. Pure was the first club Britain to bring people like Richie Hawtin and Carl Craig and artists like that. We used to go through on the bus from Glasgow. That’s when I first met Keith, on the bus going to Pure. It’s quite hard to remember a lot of the stuff that happened back then, for obvious reasons. I think in 1996, we did some parties together in Glasgow which were big parties with various rooms and lots of different elements to them – that was quite unusual at the time because the mid-90s weren’t a good time for techno, it was going into a corner a little bit. There were a lot of manly guys going to clubs and there was a bit of an aggressive atmosphere, and the music wasn’t developing particularly well in my opinion. We were thinking already at that point, ‘Let’s put something together that’s a bit more fun to do.’ We did these parties, a few one-offs, that brought live elements to it, some bands and different people playing in different rooms, and it was kind a more colourful experience, I suppose. And it was the year after that Optimo started, 1997.”

You will be missed but fondly remembered by thousands and thousands at home and far further afield Optimo (Espacio). You loved our ears. We salute yours. Thanks and go carefully.

Tracklist

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optimo.co.uk

Adam Dyment, AKA, The Duke Dumont is behind the wheel of the latest Fabric release. His Fabriclive 51 hits shops on Monday 12 April. Check out this exclusive radio mix he’s put together to accompany the official Fabric compilation.

“My whole philosophy is: don’t just jump in with the latest genre. If you’re wearing a badge of a particular dance music brand you can make a lot of money very quickly, but begin to loathe what you love – the really good stuff comes from the heart and the soul, without any external pressures, and letting your imagination take precedence. Essentially I cannot bring myself to stick to a genre, or BPM. Making music, and listening to music must be an all consuming pleasure, and never a chore.”

“I’m not trying to promote a genre with this mix, the ethos is simply to make something that I’ll still really love in a few years’ time. It’s all good music. The mix is hypnotic, with structure and atmosphere – it represents what I play: groove-based, bordering on the techy side and all with a sense of emotion, which a venue like fabric allows me to express.”

- The Duke Dumont

Tracklist

1. Sooishi – Panther
2. Dj Ringardos – Was Better In ’88
3. Moby – Pale Horses (Apparat Remix)
4. Skunk Anansise – Because Of You (Duke Dumont Remix)
5. Moderat – Les Grandes Marches
6. Redshape – Rorschach’s Game
7. Radiohead – Reckoner (James Holden Remix)
8. M83 – Run Into The Flowers (Jackson Midnight Fuck Remix)
9. Fuck Buttons – The Lisbon Maru
10. Anti-Pop Consortium – Volcano (Four Tet’s Instrumental Remix)
11. Portishead – Machine Gun

Our latest mix from Fabric, comes courtesy of Thomas Koch, aka DJ T to celebrate the release of Fabric 51. The Get Physical co-founder, producer and DJ comes up trumps with the official Fabric mix and this hour of deep and soulful house provides the perfect taster.

“At 13, I discovered break-dance; funk, soul, hip-hop, old school electro and Miami bass became the soundtrack to my heavily dance-influenced life. I had my first brush with electronic music in 1988, in the acid house-drenched summer of love, when Sven Väth opened Frankfurt’s seminal club Omen and kicked off a previously unknown flood of euphoria and get-up-and-go spirit in the local club scene. I fell for this sound straight away; hip-hop and broken beats were relegated to the sidelines. The following 15 years, I spent every single weekend on dancefloors.”

“This Fabric 51 mix is definitely drenched in the spirit and musical vibe of my recent global tour. Right now, I am digging up all my musical roots – disco, soul, funk, early house and plenty of vocals. I play more vocal tracks than I have touched in ages and I don’t think I have ever whipped up a mix with so many vocals, either! While I usually mix from a more “functional” DJ perspective, this mix is the product of my current super-positive emotional state and definitely not your average dancefloor fodder – at least half of these tracks would never find their way into my DJ bag. Aesthetically speaking, it is more of a shimmering, sparkling disco funk concoction, a nod to the old school, but also 100 per cent in the here and now!”

- DJ T (2010)

Tracklist

1. Kink – Bitter Sweet (LiebeDetail)
2. C.J. Jeff – Got To Be (Souvenir)
3. Mugwump – Stanza (Eskimo)
4. dOP – Dein Verlangen [Kalabrese Remix] (Eklo)
5. Luna City Express – Mr. Jack (Moon Harbour)
6. DJ Assassin – A Face In The Crowd (Cross Section)
7. Loco Dice – Definition (Desolat)
8. Ike – Diskadenz (Philpot)
9. Mathew Dear & Seth Troxler – Hurt [Martinez Remix] (Spectral)
10. Mr. C, Sycophant Slags & Adult Napper – Keep Off  [Wighnomy Brothers Remix] (Pokerflat)
11. Riva Starr – Tribute (Made To Play)
12. Sis – Barbarossa (Cecille)
13. Ultramarine – Hooter v1.25 [Carl Craig Rmx] (Reel Soon)

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“I’ve been buying music for as long as I can remember really, as soon as I got a weekly allowance I spent it on 7” singles and albums. When I was studying I went clubbing a lot and I just got drawn to the music, really. In the early 90s, I heard Chicago house and Detroit techno for the first time in a club; from then onwards that was kind of my thing, but I kept following bands as well, so for me not all music was electronic.  I never thought I would play a role in music myself.

When it came to house and techno I loved it. All the DJs that I saw playing were older, so I could appreciate the music as a follower but it wasn’t my generation. When I encountered drum & bass around 94/95, it made a huge impression on me, and I just felt at home in that style; I was like, ‘This is my generation, so maybe I can play some sort of part in this.’ So I started buying more and more music and that’s when it started to kick off.  I started DJing, and because no-one wants to book you when you’re just starting out, I started throwing my own events.

Straight after the official Fabric 50 mix CD I’m starting my second album. That’s going to be my main thing for next year and obviously there’s going to be smaller projects here and there and remixes and who knows what – I’ll just take it as it comes.

I’ve been doing some things for a movie director in Holland, wrote music for him. We’re doing a short movie in January and  who knows what comes after that – i’m excited about it, but let’s talk when there is actually something to talk about!”

Martyn 2009

Tracklist

1. Om Unit – “Lightgrids” (Fat City)
2. Martyn – “Bridge” (3024)
3. Gil Scott-Heron – “Where did the night go” (XL Recordings)
4. Levon Vincent – “These Games” (Novel Sound)
5. Wulf N Bear – “Raptures of the Deep” (2020 Vision)
6. DJ Killer – “Pound” (4 Sure Productions)
7. Pattern Repeat – “Ofetriade Ben Klock remix” (Echocord)
8. Renaissance Man – “Aloha” (Sound Pellegrino)
9. Jeva Du – “I Zebra” (Platzhirsch Schallplatten)
10. Dudu – “African Woman Instrumental” (Choc’s Pro Sound)
11. Mosca – “Nike (club edit)”  (Night Slugs)
12. Roska – “I Need Love” (Tempa)
13. Redshape – “Dirt One” (Delsin)
14. Art of Tones “Call the Shots Motor City Drum Ensemble mix” (2020 Vision)
15. Doc Daneeka – “Drums in the Deep” (Fabric)
16. Deadboy – “Ifuwantme” (Numbers)
17. Martyn – “Miniluv” (Ostgut Ton)
18. Gucci Vump – “Sha! Shtil! (L-Vis1990 mix) (Sound Pellegrino)
19. Martyn – “Seventy Four Redshape mix” (3024)
20. Martyn – “Brilliant Orange” (3024)
21. Martyn – “Brilliant Orange Illum Sphere’s no 14 mix” (3024)

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Next in line in our Fabric Sessions series comes from Buraka Som Sistema on the run up to their official Fabriclive 49 release.

Buraka Som Sistema have always liked throwing curveballs. From their first DJ residencies, where off-the-cuff sets were “pretty much rehearsed live…mixing for people at raves, that was our practice – kinda like shock therapy” to incorporating unusual material into their songs, recording shattering glass, or throwing an orange at the wall and using the sound as a snare…”

Their sound is the result of a thoroughly modern post colonial cultural exchange between Portugal and Angola, a former Portuguese colony. It started out as kids trying to make techno music in Africa on old analogue equipment. By the time it hit Lisbon, European dance music had been added to the mix and things were set to go off. After working on a few genre-smashing kuduro re-edits, Buraka kicked off the night from which they later took their name.

Now, after a year of touring their devastatingly good debut album Black Diamond, the guys are taking things back to the beginning. Fabriclive 49 recaptures the same explosive dynamism, and ebullient enthusiasm of the original Buraka Som Sistema parties in Lisbon on disc.

A vibrant reminder of the idea behind the name of the group, Buraka Sound System. Their Fabriclive 49 CD encapsulates Buraka’s love for the lost art of the remix album, with a stackful of re-rubs of their own records, putting the emphasis on talent over big names. The same goes for this exclusive mix from the Buraka boys.

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Tracklist

1. Gala Drop – Ubongo – GD Records
2. A1 Bassline – 8oh8 – Southern Fried
3. Rye Rye featuring MIA – Bang (BSS Carnival mix) – CDR
4. Noob & Brodinski – Peanuts Club (Beautaucue remix) – CDR
5. DJ Gant Man – Juke That Girl – Fool’s Gold
6. DJ Jesus – Salacuda –  unknown
7. DJ Furioso – Activate/Missy Elliot – Pass That Dutch – Elektra
8. KU BO – Kaggua/DJ Du Marcel – Soweto das Raves – Man/CDR
9. Stone Roses – I Am The Resurrection – Silvertone
10. Simian Mobile Disco – Cruel Intentions (Joker remix) – CDR
11. Octa Push – Ai Nadia – Steakhouse
12. Major Lazer – Jump Up (Gengheis Clan vs Riva Starr remix) – Mad Decent
13. KU BO – And You (DJ Manaia remix) – Man
14. LGB – Don’t Stop The Music – (Bart B More Dub Mix) – CDR
15. Spencer and Hill – Cool (Afrojack remix) – Tiger
16. Major Lazer – Keep It Going Louder (Diplo mix) – Mad Decent
17. DJ Znobia – carga dos Calgos/Os Bongos – Kazakuta
18. Kery Hilson – Turning Me On – Mosely Music
19. Roulet – Kitamanda – CDR
20. Fever Ray – Now’s The Only Time I Know – (J WOW remix) – CDR
21. Lighter – Skanker – CDR
22. MC Flipside – In The Zone (Bart B More mix) – CDR
23. DJ Malvado – Puto Mekie vs Jovi Rockwell (Switch mash up) – CDR
24. DJ Du Marcel –  Tribal Sound – CDR
25. Hello Seahorse – Bestia (Toy Selectah remix) – CDR
26. Buraka Som Sistema – Restless (Julio Bashmore remix) – Fabric
27. DJ Gregory Salto – Con Alegria (Solo More Cowbell mix) – CDR
28. DJ Neo – Guacharaca del Llanero Solitario – CDR
29. Vybz Cartel – Yuh Love – Mixpak

This month’s Fabric excursion comes courtesy of Magda. Her Fabric 49 mix comes out out today and she’ll be gracing The Sub Club with her presence at Sensu on Friday 27 November. Being a key member of the worshipped Minus family, Magda is used to being propelled into the fast moving, cutting whirr of the hype machine, but she doesn’t really pay it any mind.

“I’m not really into this hype thing; I think it’s kind of silly. What really matters is to develop your own ideas and not make any compromises against yourself. Even if there’s big hype – or if it isn’t cool anymore – as long as I’m happy and stay interested and things inspire me, then it doesn’t matter.”

All overblown hype and needless gender stereotyping aside, she remains one of the most respected artists around the electronic spectrum, and she shrugs it all off with unpretentious charm.

“The official Fabric 49 mix is inspired by Italian horror film soundtracks from the 70′s. I included the band Goblin, who made some very interesting dark disco, with trippy and drawn out psychedelic elements. I wanted to create something dark and groovy with a soundtrack feel to it, where sounds emerge and disappear, creating a spooky atmosphere. I chose tracks which were somewhat experimental along with dance tracks I like. I was very happy to be able to use “Heavy Whispers” by Yello because they are one of the most interesting bands for me. They had the ability to combine very different sounds and make some of my favorite new wave/electro/disco tracks ever. I also used a lot of unreleased tracks from producers whom I’ve met online and received demos from. It’s nice to be able to support younger artists and their sound when I can.”

- Magda

Tracklist

1. Ronnie Tyler – Nicer Things – Unreleased
2. The Seekers – Freckles – Unreleased
3. Andy Martin – Gecko – Unreleased
4. ADCL – Hear The Wall – Railyard
5. Madato – 3031 – Unreleased
6. Butane – Adaption – Crosstown rebels
7. Heartthrob – Loop 101 – Minus
8. Gaiser – mfnstmp – Minus
9. Leo Choi – Paradox – Unreleased
10. Christian Burkhardt – Eye Shadow – Unreleased
11. Bruno Pronsato – We Were – Philpot
12. Robotman – Do Da Doo – Definitive
13. Hobo – Dimension – Unreleased
14. Tim Xavier – Yellow Corvette – LTD400
15. Run Stop Restore – Suck My Christmas – Logistic
16. Clickbox – Bad Fish – Unreleased
17. Sin Salida – DJ Poty (Louis da K Remix) – Nopreset
18. madato – Night Rumours – Unreleased

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The latest exclusive Fabric session comes courtesy of London synth-pop disco dons, Filthy Dukes on the run up to the release of their official Fabriclive: 48.

Here’s what the Dukes, themselves had to say about the forthcoming Fabriclive mix.

“With the mix we tried to capture the energy of one of our DJ sets and reflect our night Kill Em All. When we book Kill Em All, we think about it like a DJ set, booking acts that reflect our taste in music and creating a night that builds. We start off with disco sounds, some live bands, move into house and techno and different sub-genres of both, getting a bit darker and heavier the later it gets. The mix reflects this and, like our DJ sets; it’s also quite unpredictable with tracks by artists like Mr Oizo next to Jack Penate. We have always been passionate about new music and new bands but also fun, so this is a proper party mix – a true reflection of both Filthy Dukes & Kill Em All. A lot of the artists on the mix have performed at Kill Em All: Emperor Machine, Phenomenal Handclap Band, WhoMadeWho, Discodeine, Braxe & Menace, Aeroplane, Popof, Brodinski, Joakim, Zombie Nation, Proxy. So it feels like a representation of the ultimate Kill Em All night in one mix.”

– Filthy Dukes

Tracklist

1. Woolfy vs Projections – Neeve (Tropical Heat Mix) – Permanent Vacation
2. Shit Robot – Simple Things (Work It Out) (Todd Terje edit) – DFA
3. Metal on Metal – Damn (Mercury remix) – Skint
4. Retrograde – Moda – CDR
5. Alan Braxe and Fred Falke – Most Wanted – Vulture
6. Sebastien Tellier – Kilometer (Aeroplane remix) – Record Makers
7. Popof – Serenity (Noob remix) – Form Music
8. Audio Soul Project – Reality Check (Vincenzo remix) – Dessous
9. Boy 8 Bit – Baltic Pine – This Is Music
10. Simian Mobile Disco – 10000 Horses Can’t Be Wrong – Wichita
11. Erol and Boys Noize – Waves – Boysnoize
12. Brodinski and Noob – Peanuts Club – Turbo
13. Joakim – Watermelon Bubblicious – Versatile
14. Zombie Nation – Worth it Part 1 – UKW
15. Filthy Dukes – Tupac Robot Club Rock (Wiley Sort It Out remix) – Polydor
16. Riton and Primary 1 – Who’s There? (Dub) – Phantasy Sound

The DJ and producer behind Quiet Village, Sea Devils and Rekids, Matt Edwards drops the latest exclusive Fabric mix on the run-up to the release of his Radio Slave: Fabric 48 mix.

“After an upbringing which included playing the piano from a very young age, I was lucky enough to be around when the whole electro scene broke, I think around 1982, so that really influenced me when I was growing up.  Growing up in south London is so multicultural; I was exposed at school along with my friends to electro and hip hop and that kind of thing.

As a teenager I was always really into collecting music – this started when I was about 12 or 13,buying a lot of records and listening to lots of music. I was already into electro music when I was 11 or 12, but it wasn’t until I was 19 that I really fell in love with it, One night I went clubbing and that was it, I was completely hooked. I think it was Danny Rampling, one of my friends was already a good friend of his and we went to ‘Pure Sexy’ which was on a Wednesday, I was already into dance music but not the nightclub culture, I just got completely hooked.

I got involved in music production in the early nineties with friends in South London but  I found it really frustrating; they were the hands-on engineers and I was more in the directors seats, I stopped doing that and it wasn’t until 2000 that I got back into it.  I’ve got a background in design and the use of computers from a very young age so I took to it pretty quickly.

I love doing the Radio Slave stuff, it’s a real passion for me; the night clubbing culture and the perfecting of making music for clubs, but its good as a producer to be able to switch between different aliases, because you cant write the same tracks all the time, it’d drive you mad.  You learn a lot of things from working at different tempos, it’s a good learning process, and one thing can influence the other.

In terms of remix work, I take each job as it comes really, I wouldn’t like to repeat myself with the music I make.  Remix work is really fascinating as it gives you the chance to dissect how other people have made a track, from getting the parts and midi, and listening to each section., some of the major label stuff I’ve done is incredible as you get 80 or 90 parts for one band, all this multi-layering of vocals, but it depends, if I could I would like to experiment more and make some of the remixes more experimental.

In the near future I’ll be working on more singles, and there will be a new album project which we will be announcing around the same time that the fabric CD will get released. It’s going to be a concept album of around six tracks, and we’re having a film made to accompany the album, I’ve got some friends doing some artwork,its going to be a bit more art-based; my friend is making a sculpture, its going to be quite different for me which is a good thing.”

-Matt Edwards (Radio Slave)

Tracklist

1. Radio Slave – Koma Koma [Steve Lawler Remix] – Rekids
2. Radio Slave – The Morning Song – Cabin Fever
3. Radio Slave – DDB – Cabin Fever
4. Spencer Parker – The Beginning [Michel Cleis Remix] – Buzzin Fly
5. Loco Dice – X – Desolat
6. Dance Disorder – My Time [Radio Slave's Rekid Tribe Remix] – Eskimo
7. DJ Sneak – Bongosonic – Magnetic
8. Sebo K & Metro – Saxtrack [Reboot’s Twisted Fist Remix] – Cecille
9. Dop – Vsop – Eklo
10. Spencer Parker – My Heart [Daniel Sanchez Remix] – Rekids
11. Radio Slave – I Don’t Need a Cure for This – Rekids