TECHNO  Richie Hawtin DE9/TRANSITIONS
(MINUS/FUSION III)
Hot off his Canadian tour for DE9/ Transitions, Richie was awarded the 12th spot on the acclaimed DJ Magazine Top 100, rising a whopping 32 spots up the chart from last year. Our congratulations to him! A pioneer for the Final Scratch program, DE9/Transitions epitomizes the true potential of the software, going far beyond the concept of spinning vinyl to a total live PA. The track list is comprised of original Hawtin material as well as unreleased tracks from the likes of Ricardo Villalobos, Daniel Bell and Alex Under, and some classic bits from Robert Hood, K. Alexi and Pan Sonic.The tracks are spliced, sampled, edited—ultimately transformed from their original state, some fading in and out over long periods of time, as each transition is completely seamless. On the DVD there’s a clever onscreen read-out that demonstrates his composition; which tracks are currently being used in some way, at times four tracks are visible, as they fade in and out at the appropriate cue. Next to Sasha, there’s really no one out there taking it to this level. —AZ
 Carl Craig Fabric 25
(Fabric London/Fusion III)
Back in Detroit, almost 20 years ago, three godfathers of techno—Juan Atkins, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson—were paving the way for a musical phenomenon. An apprentice of Derrick May, Carl Craig quickly became part of the Detroit techno infamy that launched a thousand parties, and sold millions worldwide. With his record label Planet-e and his successful Innerzone Orchestra and Paperclip People projects, Carl was appointed creative director for the massive Detroit Electronic Music Festival in 2000. This mix represents Carl’s quirky and innovative nature with electronic music, engaging a wide variety of house and techno sounds with his usual added touch of live effects and vocals. —SA
 Rob Da Bank Fabric 24
(Fabric London/Fusion III)
Once a journalist and assistant editor with the late Muzik Magazine; a club owner/promoter with Sunday Best club that ran for seven years (spawning a record label that introduced acts like Groove Armada and Lemon Jelly); creator of the music festival ‘Bestival’; and presently holding two shows on Radio 1 in England (plus filling in for the late John Peel on “The Peel Show”); it would be fair to say that Rob Da Bank is definitely qualified to be part of the Fabric London series. This is a brilliant mix performed by Rob while using Ableton Live, starting off with broken house beats of N.O.H.A.’s “Balkan Hot Step” which became famous from Nike’s infamous runaway hotdog cart commercial; flawlessly slips to atmospheric, deep pulsating techno like Michael Mayer’s “Lovefood” and James Holden’s remix of “The Sky Was Pink’ by Nathan Fake; followed by grinding techno-punk and synth core like Phones remix of indie-rockers The Futurehead’s “Hounds of Love” or Vitalic’s “Poney Pt. 1”; and thus winding it all down nicely with classics like “Can You Feel It” by Mr. Fingers and “Your Love” by Frankie Knuckles. —RN
 Death In Vegas Fabric Live 23
(Fabric London/Fusion III)
Richard Fearless, a.k.a. Death In Vegas, made quite a name for himself with his debut album Dead Elvis, going on tour with the Chemical Brothers back in ’97. In that time, he has managed to successfully turn Death In Vegas into a crossover electronica/rock act, with follow-up albums The Contino Sessions, Scorpio Rising and Satan’s Circus. His Fabric mix starts off slow, with melodic electro that soon finds a pulse in minimal acid-house, then turning to breaks, and finds sanctuary in deep, atmospheric techno. It’s very thoughtfully programmed and mixed, and demonstrates why he’s one of the Chem Brothers’ favourite DJs. —SA
 Marco Bailey Positive Disorder
(Elektronics/Fusion III)
Belgian techno whiz Marco Bailey flexes his skills with this double-mix disc, on his own imprint label MB Elektronics. Currently hanging to the 99th spot on DJ Magazine’s Top 100, Marco’s still riding on a high from his 2004 album release Rude Boy, which emulated the Clash’s London Calling album cover. Disc 1 finds a softer Marco spinning more bouncy and funky techno, only to find his true rude boy colours by disc 2, executing a rougher and darker set. —SW
|
