fabric 38

By: M.A.N.D.Y.
Label: Fabric Records
Written by: grahame
Rating: 6/10

M.A.N.D.Y. have only occasionally really grabbed me production wise. If it’s a choice between them or their colleagues and close friends Booka Shade, I’d go for the later on every occasion. They’ve got some fucking cool credentials though – one of them used to work for uber-pop-dance German types Snap!

Anyway, Fabric have always had lots of faith in them, giving them main room slots on a regular basis – so from the off you’re inclined to believe that this may be a stronger mix than those from some of the more “buzzy”, transient trendsetters that crop up in the series. Well truth is, it’s nothing overwhelming – few real standout tracks or memorable moments – but it all hangs together reasonably with warm, throbbing sub-bass chugging along throughout. We kick off with Swiss electronica oddities Yello hinting at the duo’s influences – an arbitrary curveball that seems a touch pointless when the next track rolls us straight into their deep dubby minimal sound and continues so for the rest of the mix. Decimal’s ‘Idiosynkratik’ hints at more energetic tones after the dull start with its gently deranged synth patterns and sinister percussion, with Lucio Aquilina’s sparkling chime-led bubbler ‘My Cube’ following on. The sounds start becoming slightly more deranged in the middle of the mix, exemplified by the quirky, alien noises on Audion’s remix of Dubfire’s ‘I Feel Speed’, and the gruff, gnarled mechanistic snarls of Robag Wrhume als Rolf Osken’s ‘Dopamin’. Unfortunately as things start building to more intense levels towards the end of the CD, the mood drops back down for an – albeit lush – anticlimactic finale. Yes Sebo K & Metro’s rerub of Basic Soul Unit’s ‘Tunnels’ is a tasty bit of deep tech and the Sideshow Dub Mix of Mike Monday’s ‘Bhalobashi’ is a gorgeous, smoky bit of electronic dub – but it just feels like you’re back at the start again. And for me – it just doesn’t quite work.