London's Fabric nightclub is no stranger to the backyard grown underground sounds of the dubstep movement. With dubstep acts now touting Room1 billings and after the success of Rusko & Caspa's Fabriclive disc from late 2007 as well as the introduction of the new Elevator Music CD series, the club decided to call upon Dutch producer Martyn for their fiftieth Fabric mix CD installment.
Martyn's music has always been impossible to pigeonhole. Seamlessly weaving together the sounds of dub, Detroit techno, funky, wonky, and influences from all over the world into what can be aptly described as 'martynmusic'. As people continue to seek out definitions and genre labels for what exactly it is they're listening to, Martyn continues to stay one step ahead of their ability to lump his music into a pre-existing category.
If the tracklist alone is any indication, 2010 is going to be an incredibly exciting year for music. It serves as a look into the future at the endless possibilities that can exist when producers continue to push the boundaries and break through the constraints of genre definitions.
Fabric50 has a little something for everyone without being eclectic solely for the sake of being eclectic. Right from the very start it catches your attention with the sounds of Hudson Mohawke's 'Joy Fantastic' a tune that could have come straight off an Outkast album from the year 3000. Throughout the mix you'll find hypnotically percussive Funky House from Uncle Bakongo and Roska; some club Autonomic vibes from D-Bridge, Hyperdubbin' lovin' from Kode9 and Cooly G, with little hints of Zomby sprinkled here and there for good measure. Standout tracks include Kode9's 'Oozi' continuing in the vein of his last 12" on Hyperdub 'Black Sun/2 Far Gone', Ben Klock's outstanding remix of the Martyn & Spaceape collab 'Is This Insanity?' and the enchanting illusory sounds of 'Lost on Tenori Street' by Maddslinky (Zed Bias).
As amazing as the track selection is, these tunes would feel disjointed were it not for the execution of Martyn's mixing. Shifting genres and BPMs live in the mix, it retains an organic and human element as opposed to something artificially cooked up and excessively tweaked in a computer program. Fabric50 throws as much new music at you as possible without ever losing the standard cohesion found in all of Martyn's mixes. Be sure to grab this one when it drops in all of the usual outlets January 11th.
“I did the whole mix CD live just because I thought that was more honest than doing an Ableton DJ mix. It is how I would play live - not everything on the CD is perfect, but it’s not meant to be. That goes for my DJ sets and for my music as well; there’s always little bits and pieces that could have been much better or more streamlined or whatever, but that’s the beauty of music to me. I wanted it to be raw and honest. As for the selection, I just wanted to try and make it as varied as possible and get people from all different corners of the globe together on one CD. The idea of it was to bring together all these sounds and vibes, something I would never be able to do on a studio album, just because I’m not able to make all that sort of music. It's amazing music though, I love it, so I want to play it to people."
01 - Hudson Mohawke – Joy Fantastic Feat. Olivier Daysoul - Warp
02 - Alec Wizz ‘Drummin’’ (Louis Benedetti Drumminpella) - Defected
03 - Nubian Mindz – Bossa Boogie – Rush Hour
04 - Maddslinky – Lost On Tenori Street – Biasphere
05 - Altered Natives - Rass Out – One Minute Music
06 - Zomby - Little Miss Naughty – Zomby Productions
07 - Uncle Bakongo - Afar – Roska Kicks & Snares
08 - Zomby - Light Cycle - Zomby Productions
09 - Deepgroove – The Clock (Ben Klock’s Timepiece) - Rekids
10 - DJBone - We Control The Beat – Subject Detroit
11 - Detachments - Circles (Martyn's Round & Round Mix) – ThisIsNotAnExit
12 - Joy Orbison - Brkln Clln - Doldrums
13 - Cooly G - Feeling You - Dub Organizer
14 - Martyn Feat dBridge - These Words (Roska's Speechless Mix) - 3024
15 - Kode9 – Oozi - Hyperdub
16 - Roska - Without It - Roska Kicks & Snares
17 - Martyn – Friedrichstrasse - 3024
18 - Levon Vincent - Air Raid - Ovum
19 - Martyn Feat Spaceape - Is This Insanity? (Ben Klock Mix) - 3024
20 - Martyn - Seventy Four (Redshape Mix) - 3024
21 - Actress - Slowjam – Werk Discs
22 - Zomby - Mercury's Rainbow - Thriller
23 - 2562 – Flashback - Tectonic
24 - Martyn – Vancouver - 3024
25 - Jan Driver - Rat Alert – Made To Play
26 - Dorian Concept - Trilingual Dance Sexperience – Affine
