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Some Reasons Why Not to Waste Your Time on Clapham Common this Bank Holiday

Thursday, August 6th, 2009 | Event Preview | 2 Comments

All things exciting seem to point to Clapham Common on the bank holiday weekend. But in all honesty, it’s not really all that it’s cracked up to be. Here are some reasons why not to waste your time on the common and some canny alternatives.

Rubbish Soundsystems

Being stuck in the heart of Clapham means you’re in the middle of a massive residential area. Residential area equals people with dogs, children, twitching curtains and a massive thirst for pissing on any parade. Call me crazy but these people hate it when their windows are vibrating during afternoon tea. Unfortunately they also pay taxes and actually have a say in how the world is run. So despite the soundsystem probably having tens of thousands of watts bottled up at its disposal, you can probably expect that the local council has it capped to a dreary cesspit tap drip. So the only way you’re going to hear anything of worth is if you’ve camped out inside the bass bin like some free party crusty.

What you need is some grotty warehouse space where you can crank it up a few notches. It just so happens that Eastern Electrics will be holed up in some grotty warehouse space › Continue reading

Tags: anja schneider, Ben Klock, Circus Company, Clapham Common, Claude Von Stroke, Damien Lazarus, Danny Howells, Detroit, Digweed, Dixon, Doc Scott, Eastern Electrics, Glimpse, Guillaume and The Coutu Dumonts, Hawtin, Henrik Schwarz, Innervisions, James Zabiela, Marcus Worgull, Mulletover, Need2Soul, Oslo, Patrice Scott, Resident Advisor, Richie Hawtin, Sasha, Sasha & Digweed, Secretsundaze, Steve Bug, Trevor Jackson, Warm

Omar S – Fabric 45 | Album Review

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 | Album Review | No Comments

For the past few years Omar S has been releasing his unadulterated music across the world with the kind of swagger and disregard for everything else that only Detroit musicians can do. With Omar S there are no techno cliques, he’s just a guy that works at the Ford factory by day and at night he produces his own brand of luscious deep music at the same rate as a factory. His label FXHE is completely independent, releasing and distributing his music across the world from his lowly basement in Detroit. All this makes Omar S a definite character. God, he’s so out there he doesn’t even known who Ricardo Villalobos is.

For Fabric 45, he goes and does a Villalobos by mixing up a compilation of self penned works. But lets not worry about the technicalities of whom done what first, the real question is, is it any good? I’m happy to say the answer to that is a resounding yes. His Fabric 45 drifts you away on a sea of electronic synths following a natural current which casually floats you from one track to the next.

The mix weights itself around the focal point of Omar S’ synonymous Psychotic Photosynthesis. Each track from the very beginning edges towards the pinnacle in a fluid and organic manner. In the opening moments Strider’s World combines a haunting organ with 8bit gameboy sounds sets the mix up with an edgy tension before allowing the flood gates to open up to the warm deep synths of Detroit. The luscious melodies of Oasis Four, Crusin Conant and U are tightly intertwined and all reservedly controlled leading into 1 Out of 853 Beats which strips back to bare beats to set up the phenomenal release of Psychotic Photosynthesis’ resonant bassline. Its plunge into the emotive melodies is definitely the pinnacle of the mix.

From there the mix unravels out through various flavours, dicing between soulful numbers such as Set Me Out and the brilliant Day through to the spooky spaced out Blade Runner. And before you know it you’ve arrived at the end.

It’s such a strange mix; the progression is so gradual that any other mix would be considered boring. Yet with this mix the minute details keep you tied in, with wave after wave of intricacy and a build of so much purpose it just never gets tired. I’ve already listened to it countless times and I reckon you will too.

Buy Omar S – Fabric 45 on CD

Tracklisting:
01 Omar-S – Polycopter – FXHE Music
02 Omar-S – Flying Gorgars – FXHE Music
03 Omar-S – Strider’s World – FXHE Music
04 Omar-S – Oasis Four – FXHE Music
05 Omar-S – Crusin Conant – FXHE Music
06 Omar-S – U – FXHE Music
07 Omar-S – Oasis 13 ½ – FXHE Music
08 Omar-S – 1 Out Of 853 Beats – FXHE Music
09 Omar-S – Simple Than Sorry – FXHE Music
10 Omar-S – Psychotic Photosynthesis – FXHE Music
11 Omar-S – The Maker – FXHE Music
12 Omar-S – A Victim – FXHE Music
13 Omar-S – Oasis One – FXHE Music
14 Omar-S – Blade Runner – FXHE Music
15 Omar-S – Day – FXHE Music
16 Omar-S – Set Me Out – FXHE Music

Tags: Detroit, Fabric, FXHE, Omar S, Villalobos