The ill-ec-tro-nic

In celebration of their latest two (Saturday night) mix CDs and the fact that the curators of said mixes (DJ T. & Optimo) are both playing at Fabric next Saturday we have one of each mix plus a pair of guestlists for the night up for grabs.

Both mixes are pretty tasty although it will probably come as no surprise to anyone who's been following the ill-ec-tro-nic for a while to hear that it's the Optimo mix that really sets our pulses racing. Optimo's proven track record of throwing seemingly incompatible tracks together but managing to make them gel so well and create a near constant party vibe is without doubt what's made them such heavyweights on the electronic scene and why their sets are the stuff of legend. Fabric 52 is no different and includes their usual mix of everything from punk-funk to techno; taking in disco, house and pretty much everything in between too.

All good DJs pride themselves with an ability to pick out tracks that other jocks aren't playing but Twitch & Wilkes must surely push these exploratory boundaries further than most; showing their tastes are not just vast and eclectic but that even when they select cuts that don't really stand up on their own, they still manage to find them a perfect place in amongst the stone cold killers.

So, in order to stand a chance of getting your mits on this tidy little package, just mail us at illectronic.blog(AT)gmail.com with your answer to the following question.

Q) What is JD Twitch's real name?

The competition closes at midday, Friday 7th May. If you are entering from abroad or are otherwise not able to attend the actual club night, please let us know in order that we can split the prize and give the tickets to someone who can.

The full lineup for next Saturday is available here and you can pick up the mixes direct from Fabric's website (the Optimo one isn't actually out yet but drops soon).

Labels: DJ T., Fabric, Optimo

Apologies for the radio silence over the last couple of weeks - Langer and I ended up going on a very last minute snowboarding trip and tools were downed almost instantly with scant regard for our adoring public. Those of you with a similar passion for the white stuff may wish to keep your eyes on this - a project being run by the people Langer and I stayed with while we were away.

Anyhow, back to the music!

Easter weekend will soon be upon us and just as much of a tradition as over-indulging in chocolate is the UK's (and I'm sure numerous other countries') passion for indulging in some dancefloor mayhem over the Easter break.

As ever, Fabric has lineups to die for and not being content with being host to a killer beat-laden party on the Friday (including our mate Goodhand and his Numbers collective), Saturday sees Detroit legends Robert Hood and Kenny Larkin hit Room Two with Cassy, Daniel Bell and some other prominet house and techno stars also being on the bill. Check out the full weekend lineup here.

It's been a while since the last one, but Fabric has once again been kind enough to offer us some freebies to give away. We have two pairs of tickets up for grabs and to be in with a chance of winning just e-mail us at illectronic.blog(AT)gmail.com with the answer to the following question.

Q) Which legendary Detroit techno / electro collective was Robert Hood an early member of?

Entries by midday this Thursday please.

For those of you otherwise engaged this weekend here's a little taster of what you may be missing out on.

First up is a Robert Hood live set from last year - It think this was pretty soon after Hood started performing live - I didn't witness it first hand but to be honest the recordng didn't blow me away like I thought it might do. It's got plenty of his trademark tough and incredibly stripped productions and therefore there's some great moments in it but I was expecting the flow to be a little better - the gaps in the recording certainly don't help this - I assume these were filled with whoops & hollers as the crowd on the night lapped it all up. I keep meaning to edit the gaps out...

Robert Hood (Live) // Jan 2009

Next up is a couple of stone cold classics from Mr Larkin. he's always been one of my favourite Detroit producers but he never seems to get quite as many press inches as some of his peers (presumably not helped by him taking a sabbatical from techno at the turn of the century to pursue an alternative career in comedy). Some of his early productions are simply mind-blowing and when I saw him DJ several years ago I enjoyed it immensely too.

Dark Comedy - War of the Worlds // Art of Dance (1992)
Kenny Larkin - Metaphor // R&S (1995)

Labels: Cassy, Daniel Bell, Fabric, Goodhand, Kenny Larkin, Robert Hood

The Fabric and Fabriclive mix series have just reached their half century each and continue to push the envelope exploring new sonic territories. Fabric could have easily sat back and ploughed the same old furrow as other so-called 'superclubs' by putting out generic mixes from the scenes trusted big hitters. However they have gone the other route and keep on championing rising talents.

The two new mixes come from Martyn and D-Bridge & Instra:Mental. Martyn can be considered now to be a big name, however Fabric is still the first label to release mix by the artist and to give him the honour of number 50 says something about their attitude. Although considered to be a Dubstep artist, Martyn has always incorporated many more influences than straight up Bass music. His mix starts off with the Prince/Outkast R&B of Hudson Mohawke then drifts through 2-step to Dubstep to Techno. It's a varied mix of beats which would normally be reserved for the Fabriclive nights but it shows just how much the House and Techno community has opened up to dubstep that they can now sit side by side on Fabric's main Saturday 4/4 centric night.

Martyn - Hear Me (Zomby Mix) // 3024 Buy

Fabric 50 mixed by Martyn is out now. Buy

EDIT - Martyn has also done a promo mix to accompany the official release - check it out here.

The real revelation for me though came when listening to D-Bridge & Instra:Mental present Autonomic. After being mesmerised by the emotive 'Watching You' by Instra:Mental from last year, this mix just blew me away. What Instra:Mental & D-Bridge have created is a new take on Dubstep fused with a half-step minimal Drum & Bass tempo to create a brand new sound for the 2010s.

“There was no space in drum & bass, it was just running twenty breaks on top of each other, so we thought about what we could do, because what we were making was quite minimalistic in some ways; we decided to not fill the gaps." - Instra:Mental

The mix contains many tracks from the artists themselves but also many of Dubstep's leading lights working at a Drum & Bass tempo. Tracks from the likes of Scuba, Skream and Distance slot perfectly in the mix.

This will be a mix that is going to get caned all year and is a breath of fresh air from the D&B scene which I personally though had lost it's creativity long ago. Highly Recommended.

Instra:Mental - Watching You // Nonplus+ Buy

Fabriclive 50 will be released on February 15th (USA March 23rd)

Labels: D-Bridge, Fabric, Instra:Mental, Martyn, Zomby

Labels: Fabric, FXHE, Omar-S, Scott Grooves

This Saturday sees Steve Bug and his Poker Flat crew heading to London for a right old cockney knees up to celebrate the label's 10th anniversary.

Joining him round the Old Joanna will be Martin Landsky and D'Julz and their chosen venue of choice will be Fabric.

To help celebrate this prestigious occasion, we have some birthday treats to give away in the form of a pair of tickets for the night plus a Poker Flat 10th anniversary t-shirt and a pack of Poker Flat 10th anniversary playing cards.

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is e-mail us at illectronic.blog AT gmail.com and tell us the the artist and title of the first Poker Flat release.

The competition is open to everyone and if you want the full package you're most welcome to it (assuming you win of course) but please let us know if you're not able to attend the club night and are only entering for the merchandise as we can split the booty if needed.

The winner(s) will picked at random and notified on Friday.

Full details of Saturday night's lineup can be found here.

Labels: Fabric, Poker Flat Recordings, Steve Bug

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

I've been meaning to do a post on a bunch of mixes for a while now but having sat down with the intention of covering five different mixes in one sitting it's dawned on me that a lengthy review of each including a track by track blow of the contents is not only going to take me rather a long time but will also probably bore you all to death. Consequently I'll keep things brief and leave just a few highlights.

Despite having a sizable list of productions under his belt and being well known in his home country, Dutch DJ / producer Michel De Hey has never really made it big in the UK. Having seen him at Brussels' techno mecca Fuse, a few years back, I was expecting his latest mix CD to be a fairly hard and loopy affair but it appears this preconception was wrong. No Nonsense is in fact a melodic and rather pleasant mix of techno flavoured house with the only real lowpoint being the hideous euro trance of the Secret Cinema track near the start. No Nonsense is out on Michel's own label Hey, and you can pick up a copy at Juno.

In addition to their club, the people at Fuse also put their name to a mix series released through Music Man Records with previous offerings including strong outings from the likes of Hell, Dave Clarke, Technasia and Steve Bug. Their latest mix has been put together by Switzerland's Sam Geiser aka Deetron. I used to be quite into Deetron's own productions a few years back but as my tastes slowly moved away from the fairly uncompromising techno he was producing at the time I kind of lost touch with his work. Couple this with the fact that some of the previous Fuse mixes have been pretty much heads down techno I again found myself rather surprised when I came to check this one out. At 75 minutes long and consisting of 24 tracks, the mix moves through various flavours of house and techno with a brief excursion into dubstep along the way and manages to include everything from uplifting vocals through to straight up loopy minimalism. Strangely for a mix that includes so many tracks that I really wouldn't touch on their own, the end result is simply superb and by not sticking with any one sub-genre for too long the mix truly feels like a journey and is without doubt one of my favourite CDs of the year! Do yourself a favour and buy a copy!

Much as I do indeed love techno, I've never actually made it along to Belgium's festival of the same name. Each year's festival is accompanied by a mix CD and as techno is perhaps the most multi-faceted and constantly evolving of dance music's many genres so it's only logical that the sounds of the festival and indeed the mix series bearing this name should move with the times. 2008's offering has been mixed by Boys Noize and is probably best described as dirty jump up party music similar in style to the likes of Housemesiter. For a change, I find this kind of stuff ok but if I'm truthful, a little hard going for repeated listening. Clearly not all our readers are as long in the tooth as myself though so if this kind of thing's your bag then you can pick up a copy here.

The next mix provides a good counterbalance to the previous one as it's a much lighter affair with a melodic disco and house feel. It's delivered by Metro Area and is number 43 in Fabric's Saturday night mix series. Again, this isn't something that I'd have on heavy rotation but as a breather from dirty basslines or stark minimalism it provides a refreshing change. Pick a copy up for a tenner over at Play.com

The final mix to be featured in this slightly long-winded roundup is by someone the vast majority of you are unlikely to have heard of as it's a mix that's been sent to us by one of our readers. Joee Irwin hails from Missouri but has recently moved to New York and is also a fellow blogger; writing for Palms out Sounds. The mix is entitled Decks, Box & MBP and is an ode to Richie Hawtin's classic 'Decks, EFX & 909' mix having being put together in a single take using the set-up he DJs with live: Turntables, Serato & a MacBook Pro. The mix is fast paced and in terms of technical ability is damn near flawless. Starting with minimal techno and ending with dubstep there's plenty of variety in there too although it does get a bit hectic for my tastes about two thirds of the way through but if you start to feel the same I urge you to stick with it as the sudden, and rather skillful, move into dubstep rescues things and makes it all worthwhile.

Check it out and if you like what you hear, head on over to Joee's Myspace to keep up to date with his antics.

Joee Irwin - Decks, Box & MBP

Tracklisting:

1. Gurtz - "Spok"
2. Claude VonStroke - "Scarlet Macaw Unstrung"
3. Marco Carola - "Get Set"
4. Daniel Dreier - "Ice Bear"
5. Marc Houle - "Sands"
6. Todd Bodine - "Closer"
7. Joseph Capriati - "Oasi"
8. Preocoop - "Ohrwerk" (Ritch & Collins Remix)
9. Philipp Wolgast - "Rudimental" [Alpaca]
10. Boris Brejcha - "Push To Play"
11. Funkagenda and Paul Thomas - "Thrapp"
12. D-Unity - "Shake It" (D-Unity's Shaker Mix)
13. Colin Hobbs - "Coming Up" (Christian Hoff Remix)
14. Beckster - "Hallo"
15. Zoo Brazil - "Technik"
16. TC - "Where's My Money" (Caspa Remix)
17. Dial M - "Remedy"
18. Ramadanman - "Offal"
19. Loefah - "Disko Rekah"
20. Roommate - "Natty Music" (Noah D Remix)
21. Graphic ft Beans - "I Am Metal" (Starkey Remix)
22. BAR 9 - "Pussyhole"

Labels: Boys Noize, Deetron, Fabric, Fuse, I Love Techno, Joee Irwin, Metro Area, Michel De Hey

Just a quickie today as Fabric are offering a pair of tickets to give away for this Saturday again. Highlights this week include Mike Shannon, Cassy (check out her remix of Mikkel Metal's Peaks & Troughs btw) & the legendary Larry Heard. Details of the full lineup are available here.

Time is short so if you want to be in with a chance to go just mail us at illectronic.blog[AT]gmail.com with 'Give me the damn tickets!' in the subject field.

A winner will be picked at random on Friday lunchtime.

Labels: Cassy, Fabric, Larry Heard, Mike Shannon

It's competition time again folks and we've got another pair of tickets to give away for this Saturday at Fabric.

Highlights for this week include, Jay Haze and DJ T plus some Detroit house in room 3 from Rick Wade and Mike Huckaby. You can check out the full lineup here.

To be in with a chance to win, mail us at illectronic.blog(AT)gmail.com with your answer to the following question:

Q) Which one of his labels did Jay Haze release his 'Love & Beyond' album on earlier this year?

The winner will picked at random and notified on Friday.

Labels: DJ T, Fabric, Jay Haze, Mike Huckaby, Rick Wade

Luciano & Quenum - Orange Mistake // Cadenza 2003

Luciano - Amelie on Ice (Remix 2) // Mental Groove Records 2002

Buy Fabric 41 at Phonica and the usual outlets.

Labels: Cadenza, Fabric, Luciano, Mix

The Langer reviewed Radioactive Man's latest album, Growl, way back in February and now I've had a chance to listen to it too, I'd have to agree with the glowing report he gave it. The official release was only a couple of weeks ago and as is customary with such things, Keith Tenniswood is about to embark on a live tour to promote it.

The launch party takes place at London's Fabric this Saturday where his performance will also incorporate live vocals from Dot Allison. So, for an extra special Bank Holiday treat we've not only got a pair of tickets to give away for this Saturday but also two copies of the album!

A couple of people told me that I made the last competition a little too hard so this time lets go for something ridiculously easy:

Q) Who is Keith Tenniswood's production partner in the Two Lone Swordsmen?

Send your answers to us as illectronic.blog(AT)gmail.com and please indicate whether you are entering for the tickets, the CD or both.

The winner for the tickets will be notified on Friday but we'll leave the album comp open a little longer and the notification for these will be next Tuesday.

Saturday's Fabric lineup also includes techno legends Dave Clarke and Sterac as well as a Kompakt-themed Room 1 - full details available here.

Growl can be purchased from all the usual places including here.

Labels: Dot Allison, Fabric, Kompakt, Radioactive Man, Steve Rachmad

This Saturday sees the launch of Craig Richards' new night 'The Nothing Special' at his long term residency Fabric. The idea behind the night is to showcase live acts and to start things off he's got a couple of corker's lined up in the shape of Deepchord / Echospace and Convextion. I've waxed lyrical about Convextion on these pages before and Echospace's Coldest Season LP was one of my favourite albums of last year. Large sections of the album are indeed very ambient and unlikely to whip up any kind of dancefloor frenzy but by all accounts, the boys turn things up several notches for their live performance and even rocked Berlin's mighty Berghain.

As ever with Fabric, Room 2 is far from an afterthought and this week includes Joris Voorn and Par Grindvik. The full lineup is available here.

Fabric has once again given us a pair of tickets to give away so for a chance to win them send an e-mail to us at illectronic.blog(AT)gmail.com with your answer to the following question and the lucky winner will be picked at random and notified on Friday:

Q) Which seminal Convextion track was remixed by both Deepchord and Echospace last year?

And for those of you not able to make it down this weekend or not sure why I'm blabbering on about these guys, here's your usual helping of musical treats:

Echospace - Celestialis // The Coldest Season LP (buy)
Joris Voorn - Resident Advisor Podcast (RA062)

Labels: Convextion, Deepchord, Echospace, Fabric, Joris Voorn, Par Grindvik

Labels: Axis, Fabric, Jeff Mills, M-Plant, Minimal, Peacefrog, Robert Hood, Techno, Underground Resistance

It's competition time again folks as Fabric have provided us with another pair of tickets to give away for this Saturday night.

Labels: A Guy Called Gerald, Fabric, Mark Broom, OST and Kjex, Radioactive Man, Tobi Neumann

Given their length of service and the number of releases under their belts, Soma's importance to the history of dance music is unquestionable. I've found their output to be a bit of a mixed bag over the years but they've had some undoubted highlights such as putting out early Daft Punk and Surgeon tracks as well as the obvious wealth of quality Slam releases such as their all-time classic, Positive Education. Recent years have been more though, due largely to Alex Smoke's extensive output as well as quality releases from Repeat Repeat, Lee Van Dowski & Quenum plus some superb Black Dog reissues.

One of their newer signings that had escaped my notice until now was Let's Go Outside (not the catchiest moniker I've ever heard!). However, I recently got hold of a live set and also tracked down his two singles releases and am suitably impressed by my findings. For those that have yet to hear his work it's basically solid techno beats with a variety of different ideas scattered liberally on top. Whether it be blending sultry female vocals, acid synths or dirty basslines, Let's Go Outside seems to have found a winning dancefloor formula - I'd expect nothing less from a man who cites his primary influences as being "techno, techno, techno and Tetris"!

I've posted a live set below as well as the title track from his Speak My Language 12" which is available for free in it's entirety from the Soma shop. His debut album, A Picnic With The Hunters is out this week so given the number of freebies dished out already, and the fact that there's even more on his website, I strongly urge you to give the man the respect he deserves and buy yourself a copy.

You can also see him in action at Fabric this Saturday alongside a typically stellar lineup which also includes Andrew Weatherall, Ame, Dixon and Henrik Schwarz! - check out the full lineup here.

Let's Go Outside - Speak My Language // Soma

Labels: Fabric, Let's Go Outside, Soma, Techno

Labels: 2020 Vision, Fabric