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Fabric 53: Surgeon | Album Review

Saturday, August 28th, 2010 | Album Review | No Comments

Things have been a bit quiet on the fabric front these last couple of months with the club and record label briefly going into administration. But funding was secured and everything is now right with the world again. So what better way to bounce back by dropping fabric 53 mixed by UK techno veteran Surgeon. I don’t use the term veteran lightly. Surgeon has been there from the beginnings of UK techno, bringing Birmingham out of the doldrums in the early 90s with the city’s first techno night as well as creating some of the most forward thinking music out there. His sound has always been left of centre, but always intense, with no thoughts about keeping a finger on the pulse. He simply does what he does regardless of the tide of popularism. So with such integrity how does his Fabric mix flow? › Continue reading

Tags: Al Tourettes, Al Tourettes & Appleblim, Ancient Methods, Appleblim, Ben Sims, Fabric, James Ruskin, Mark Broom, Orphx, Ritzi Lee, Robert Hood, Starkey, Subeena, Surgeon

Plenty of Basement Action for the Weekend!

Thursday, February 18th, 2010 | Event Preview | No Comments

For your consideration – a few things happening this weekend, and they’re all underground quite literally in basements.

Warm at Plastic People with Steve Bug (Info)

London just can’t get enough of the Bug at the moment. He’s been popping up all over the place of recent times. This Friday sees him in the intimate surrounds of Plastic People for Warm. Steve Bugs mix of electronic house will be perfect for the  low ceilings of the plastic people basement. However this perfect match of DJ and venue has caught the eye of many. So if you haven’t got one of the few tickets that went on sale you › Continue reading

Tags: 3 Channel, 8Bit, 8Bit Records, Akufen, Alex Jones, Billy Nasty, Cable, Catz and Dogz, East Village, Fabric, Fred Everything, Hypercolour, INXEC, Mark Broom, Maurice Fulton, Metro Area, Mono Cult, Morgan Geist, Parallel, Plastic People, Quentin Harris, Red Bull Music Academy, Sammuel L Sessions, Sosho, Steve Bug, T-Bar, The Camp, Tobi Neumann, Vera, Vita Luna, Warm

Soma Compilation 2008 | Album Review

Saturday, December 6th, 2008 | Album Review, Music | No Comments

Soma helps us to reminisce about the past year with their annual Soma Compilation. It’s a pretty simple concept; Soma put the highlights of the past year on a small disc of plastic. If only life was as simple.

Unfortunately the compilation isn’t mixed. It would have been interesting to hear the full coloured spectrum of Soma mixed together in a multicoloured epic journey. Instead they’ve plumbed for the unmixed variety which in a way is useful for all the DJs out there catching up on tunes in one big go.

So what’s the track selection like? It’s a bit hit and miss, although it is more hit than miss. Prime examples being Adam Beyer’s mix of Slam’s Staccato Rave is a stuttered orgy of whirring noises; enough to kick start any CD, whilst Orlando Voorn’s remix is a beautiful unravelling track of blossoming electronic layers. On the other hand Robert Hood revives the Black Dog track Train by the Autobahn Pt2 by violently shaking it so all the reverberating synth stabs echo out at the pace and rhythm of a train. And new boys Xpansul and Massi DL have a jittery new school techno workout with their track Nerd Soul. So some great hits there.

Then there are the nearly hits. Mark Broom’s version of Lets Go Outside Girls Don’t Like Me isn’t a bad reinterpretation its just a bit too conservative whilst I think the Mr Copy remix would have been more interesting on this compilation. Also nearly a hit is Onionz remix of Funk D’Void’s Ginebra. Whilst raw and heavy with its spacious percussion and growling bassline its still doesn’t hit home for me.

Which brings us onto the not so great. There’s only really two tracks I’m not particularly feeling. First is Vector Lover’s Raumklang. Its spacey synths and excessive layers is just too flowery in its approach. This maybe a personal thing though as I’ve never been the biggest Vector Lovers fan. Second is the noisy Minerva by My Copy. Basically its too noisy with its wobbly alarm come buzz. Noisy is not necessarily a bad thing, its just this is clichéd noisy techno.

Apart from those two gripes this is not a bad package. It’s a great way to catch up on Soma tunes and pick up a good package if you don’t have many of the tracks on there.

Buy Soma Compilation 2008 on CD, MP3

Tracklist (Click for MP3 Release):
01. Slam – Staccato Rave (Adam Beyer Remix)
02. Octogen – The Journeyman (Orlando Voorn Remix)
03. Beroshima – Horizon (Funk D’Void’s Hope Remix)
04. Funk D’Void & Sian – Ginebra (Onionz Corrosion Remix)
05. The Black Dog- Train By The Autobhan Pt2 (DJ Remix By Robert Hood)
06. Vector Lovers – Raumklang
07. Let’s Go Outside – Girls Don’t Like Me (Mark Broom Remix)
08. Xpansul + Massi DL – Nerd Soul
09. Mr Copy – Minerva
10. Decimal – Eleanor
11. Harvey McKay – 69
12. Silicone Soul – The Pact (Bassline Dub)

Tags: Adam Beyer, Beroshima, Decimal, Funk D'Void, Harvey McKay, Let's Go Outside, Mark Broom, Massi DL, Mr Copy, Octogen, Orlando Voorn, Silicone Soul, Slam, Soma, The Black Dog, Vector Lovers, Xpansul