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Metro Area – Fabric 43 Review

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 | Album Review, Music | 1 Comment

Disco in London seems to be making a bit of a come back these days with nights like Disco Bloodbath and Horse Meat Disco popping up in packed backrooms and main rooms all over the capital, it really seems to be down with the kids these days. You might think that there is little room for disco down at Fabric in amongst the basslines and electronic noises. Well you’d be wrong. Tucked away upstairs in the little room 3 you’ll find the playground for the leftfield and more often not you’ll hear those classic NY disco sounds pumping out its speakers. So it makes sense for Fabric to explore the flowery side of dance music. We got a taste from James Murphy and Pat Mahoney’s efforts on FabricLive 36 and I have to say it might have been the best Fabric release this year.

For Fabric 43, Metro Area has the fortunate or unfortunate task of following the LCD Soundsystem duo in the disco stakes. Hailing from Brooklyn, Morgan Geist and Darshan Jesrani should know a thing or two. They’ve been producing and DJ’ing since the 90s and were affectively ahead of the curve with their seminal release Metro Area 1 fusing the delights of early Detroit and Chicago music with their native Harlem disco.

On this CD they set out themselves the task of doing a mid 80s mix with emphasis on the not so obvious disco. And true to their word they have, about 90% of the tracklisting is circa 1985 and I don’t recognise a single record. The closest I come is knowing who Devo and that said I don’t even know any of their music.

So what can I tell you about this mix from my obviously lacking knowledge of disco music? Probably not that much. But I can tell you that this mix is crafted quite beautifully from start to end. They explore organic and synthesised sounds, they ooze funk, groove with a great sense of urgency and they get inside your mind with so many different hooks.

They effortlessly glide between the laidback grooves of Disco Four’s Move to the Groove and the luscious RnB infused You Should Have Known Better through to the urgent funk of italo disco I love with tracks like Swede’s Scandal’s Atmosphere and Mascara’s Baja. If the hooks don’t get you the percussion sure will.

But its not just pure disco throughout, tracks like Ray Martinez’ The Natives Are Restless provides a great tribal interlude before being followed by the Chicago and Detroit influences through Dreamhouse’s I Can Feel It and Plez’ I Can’t Stop. There’s even a head nod to French synthpop’s Poupee Flash. They’re completely different genres but one thing that unites them all is that they have this groove flowing through them.

There are some real gems on this CD, but then there are some tracks which stray into the dubiously cheesy disco territory. Souvenier’s Voyage stands out in particular. It has a strange resemblance to the theme tune of Love Boat a 70s TV show which aired 14 odd years before I was born. The way the funk bass jogs along before a crescendo into a flurry of clichéd strings and horns. As clichéd as it is however, it does just work, like the rest of this CD.

It’s great to see Fabric taking the series in a completely different direction and I think with Metro Area it’s paid off. For those not wholly into disco this is great journey through some of the great music that came from that era. It’s well put together and has great progression. However for me this still doesn’t top the FabricLive:36 effort from the LCD SoundSystem boys.

Buy Metro Area – Fabric 43 on (CD)

Tracklisting:
01. Babla’s Disco Sensation – Ghar Aya Mera Pardesi (Intro)
02. World Premiere – Share the Night (Breakdown Mix)
03. Ministry – Work for Love (Dub Mix)
04. The Disco Four – Move to the Groove (Instrumental)
05. Skratch – You Should Have Known Better (Instrumental)
06. Barbara Norris – Heavy Hitter (Dub Version)
07. Gary’s Gang – Makin’ Music (Dub Mix)
08. Voyage – Souvenirs
09. Five Special – Why Leave Us Alone (Long Version)
10. Ray Martinez – The Natives are Restless
11. Dreamhouse – I Can Feel It
12. Mascara – Baja (Instrumental Dub Version)
13. Play by Numbers – Cloud Nine (Ready Mix)
14. Midway – Set it Out (Funky Breakdown Mix)
15. Heaven 17 – Penthouse and Pavement
16. Data – Blow (Remix)
17. Atmosphere – Swede’s Scandal
18. Wiretap – X-Rated Man
19. Plez – I Can’t Stop (Acid Rainforest Mix)
20. Baby Oliver – Feelings2
21. Jean Luc Ponty – Open Mind (Special Dance Mix )
22. Premiere Class – Poupée Flash
23. Devo – Freedom of Choice

Tags: Disco, Fabric, Fabric 43, Metro Area