Luciano – Fabric 41 Review

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 | Album Review

The quality line ups continue at Fabric this month with the turn of the cheeky Chilean Luciano. Luciano’s productions and DJ sets have seen a meteoric rise in popularity in recent times. His combination of South American rhythms and melodies with the mechanical and electronic elements of house and techno brought new dimensions to the sound, breathing in soulfulness and an air of sensuality. Tracks like ‘Father’ and ‘Yamore’ have a minimal and techno edge, yet they sound so full and organic, as does much of the output on his own label Cadenza. His DJ sets follow in a similar sense by being raw and hypnotic but still with plenty of warmth and feel. It will be interesting to see if Luciano can capture that atmosphere which has made him a world renowned DJ. There has also been a slight Luciano backlash with some people over the past year, mainly due to his sets becoming tired with the same usual suspect tracks of Freaks Come Out, M83 Church and that Rose Rouge remix, so all eyes are on this CD to see if he can hit back with something fresh and innovative.

The mix starts lively with an array of beats and percussion from new find Rhadoo on his Cadenza track ‘Slagare’. Through his ever effective use of the filters Luciano is already stepping up the percussion and heat by dropping into D’Julz’s ‘Yo Momo’. Both tracks are simple percussive loops but Luciano plays and teases with the tracks before settling down with his remix of Getting Late. This track is sure to divide opinion with its sing along vocal but personally I think it works. Its kaleidoscope of synth lines and quirky percussion gives the track individuality and lightens up a consistent 4/4 beat.

The mix dips and climbs in and out of hypnotic percussion to more soulful and colourful reaches. Reboot’s ‘Be Tougher’ lays down the hypnotic foundation before allowing a clear house vibe with Alex Picone’s ‘Floppy’ and Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts excellent mix of Mogane. Mogane brings back an old US house feel with its African American vocal sample and dare I say funky bassline. The funk continues through with piano stabs and soulful vocal samples combined with ass shaking percussion on Johnny D’s Chicago-esque OrbitalLife, before Luciano skilfully layers in Jungle Beatz which allows the mix to reduce down.

Dropping the mix back allows Luciano to dig out one of his most favourite and overdone set pieces, the classic M83 Church euphoria moment. He simmers the Jungle Beatz down to just bird chirps as the epic organs of Church soar high, giving you that sunrise ecstasy moment. He then takes it all away and brings back the Jungle Beatz to complete the moment. I criticise for it being over done, but I got to give it to him, it is rather effective.

The mix continues along a quirky route through Tiefschwarz’s mix of ‘Rise from your Grave’ and the massive Schneider/Galluzi collaboration ‘Albertino’. From here we see a glimpse of the old style Luciano and his party technoness which is unfortunately cut short for the need to wind down for the CD’s outro with Kenny Larkin’s ‘You Are Original’. However Luciano does have a skill in using beautiful pieces music which he does here by ending the mix on Chymera’s ‘Arabesque’. Epic comes to mind.

Having seen what Luciano has done in the past, I and many others had high expectations for this CD. Unfortunately it’s not as groundbreaking and out there as we were all hoping for. But quite often with most things, if you hype and build it too much you will most likely come away disappointed. If you don’t let any preconceptions cloud your judgement about this CD, you’ll find that Luciano has come up with a great mix which shows his technical flare of layering tracks and percussive elements brilliantly. It’s a fun and enjoyable mix which has been receiving repeat plays from me. And every time it grows that little bit more on me. A solid effort and it will give you an insight into a Luciano live set. So hopefully it will inspire you to check him out as recent reports have been saying the man is back to his usual self.

Buy Luciano’s Fabric 41 on CD

Tracklisting (Follow links to buy tracks):
01. Rhadoo – Slagare – Cadenza Records
02. Brothers’ Vibe – El Baile [Acapella]– Som Underground
03. D’Julz – Yo Momo – Intacto Records
04. Los Updates Ft. Luciano – Getting Late [Luciano’s Getting Late Remix] – Candenza Records
05. Reboot – Be Tougher – Cadenza Records
06. Alex Picone – Floppy – Cadenza Records
07. Sety – Mogane (Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts Remix) – Circus Company
08. Johnny D – Orbitalife – Oslo Records
09. Julien Jabre – Jungle Beatz – Defected
10. M83 – In Church – Gooom Disques
11. Inner City – Good Love [Luciano Remix] – KMS
12. Phuture – Rise From Your Grave [Tiefschwarz Remix] – Strictly Rhythm
13. Schneider, Galluzzi – Albertino – Cadenza Records
14. D’Julz – So You Know – Ovum
15. Kenny Larkin – You Are Original – Planet E
16. Chymera – Arabesque – Tishomingo

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