The ill-ec-tro-nic

I don't really know much about Circlesquare so when Fabric sent us a mix through, I wasn't really sure what to expect. Opening with an excerpt from a 'This Mortal Coil' track the mix soon moves into tasty synth territory but then we're back with another section of the TMC track before moving onto a touch of techno (incorrectly listed as an October production on the tracklist below as I'm pretty sure it's by Emptyset). The repeated use of the excerpts continues throughout the mix and everything from Drexciyan electro through to psychedelic folk is thrown in along the way. Calling this a mix isn't entirely accurate though as the eclectic track selection means that nothing more than segues are possible in several parts. However, the track selections have been carefully thought out and despite the disparate genres the 'mix' flows well and the minimal amount of beat matching does little to detract the overall enjoyment of the end product.

Circlesquare - Flavour Mix

1. Thais II (excerpt) – This Mortal Coil
2. Lovin Machine (Iko) – Glass Candy
3. Thais II (excerpt) – This Mortal Coil
4. Doxa – October
5. Dancers – Circlesquare (Konrad Black remix)
6. Thais II (excerpt) – This Mortal Coil
7. Lather – Jefferson Airplane
8. Mookid – Aphex Twin
9. The Sailor in Love With The Sea – The 6ths
10. Let Me Be Me – The Other People’s Place
11. Rain – Tones On Tail
12. De Papel – Matias Aguayo
13. Listen, Move, Dance – October
14. Up The Hill Backwards – David Bowie
15. Thais II (excerpt) – This Mortal Coil
16. Music For Satellites – Circlesquare
17. Thais II (excerpt) – This Mortal Coil

As if by some remarkable coincidence, Circlesqaure happen to be playing live at Fabric this Saturday as part of K7!'s showcase in room 2. They're accompanied by Swayzak, Trevor Jackson and Terry Richards and other acts on the night include Dave Aju playing live which is no doubt going to be something quite special to behold. You can check out the full lineup here.

Fabric's long running mix series is also making a flying start to the year, with installment no. 44 being one of the best I've heard from them in a while. Mixed by John Tejada, it's a serving of minimal(ish) techno containing several of his own productions as well as a healthy dose of other releases from his Palette label. The mix has a strong Berlinesque sound aesthetic with white noise percussion and thick slabs of analogue synth being present throughout. This theme is exemplified through the inclusion of two anonymous cuts from the Hardwax camp that came out last year, namely WAX10001 and Equalized001. While the artists behind these productions remains a mystery, this hasn't stopped both of these records gaining significant praise and while I don't disagree with this, Equalized001 is just a little too repetitive in my book and its usefulness is limited to a short sharp burst as exhibited here by Tejada.

I'm not sure if it's intended to promote his Fabric mix but Tejada has also just done a mix for FACT which in many ways is like a shortened version of his new CD, containing as it does, two of the key ingredients from Fabric 44. This time however, it's Equalized002 that's being used and a different cut from Orbital's back catalogue.

John Tejada - FACT Mix 24

You can pick up the tracklist for the FACT mix here and buy a copy of Fabric 44 here.

Labels: Circlesquare, Fabric, John Tejada