Mixes On The Internet & Mixes On Real CDs That You Can Buy

Posted by secretdangersociety on September 17, 2011 · Leave a Comment

It’s been a pretty fertile month or so for mixes. Here’s a round up of the ones that we’ve had on rotation.

1. Four Tet – FABRICLIVE.59

Probably the best contribution to either of the fabric mix series since ‘Fabric 45 (2009)’ by Omar-S and ‘Fabric 36 (2007)’ by Ricardo Willawobos, this is just as much of a ‘statement’ as those two. But while Mr. Detroit and Mr. Plinky Plonky Spoons stood out from the pack by turning in sets of just their own productions (the lazy gits!), Kieran Hebden achieves just as much by simply (and effortlessly) capturing a sound that has pretty much defined most of the producers coming out of the UK in the past few years. It feels like a culmination of sorts, for an artist who has moved closer and closer to the dancefloor of late, although it’s kind of ironic that it comes in the form of a fabric mix, when Plastic People has surely been his home-away-from-home and the club that most associated him (and his support for other DJs close to the club) with. But anyway here is an ode to fabric, complete with lovingly edited samples of people chatting in the toilets. The only tracks the majority of the people buying this are likely to have picked up on release day are the Floating Points, Burial, STL and (yes) Villalobos numbers, oh and the two new Four Tet tracks, already sold out at a record store near you. The rest covers mid-to-late-1990s / early-2000s UK Garage/Funky/etc, special mention goes to Crazy Bald Head’s ‘Born’, both original and Four Tet remix, and Youngstar’s bonafide Grime classic ‘Pulse X’. He also manages to shoehorn in some more ambient / Musique Concrète fare in the form of David Borden and Michael Redolfi. Fun for all the family, basically.

2. Dixon – Robert Johnson Vol. 8

Everyone’s favourite footballer-turned-DJ has turned in the latest and final mix for the famed Frankfurt Club owned by a man with better taste in music and food than you. Dixon has also shocked the world by announcing that this is also HIS final mix, as he feels the commercial mix format has run its course. I’ve been using the promo CD as a coaster for the past month or so so maybe he’s right. The mix itself is probably my favourite Innervisions effort since fabric 42, feeling far less forced than ‘Temporary Secretary (2009)’ and the impressive yet all-too-painstakingly-stitched-together-in-the-laboratory ‘The Grandfather Paradox (2009)’. The first half weaves effortlessly through ambient and kosmiche pieces, with a kick drum first making an appearance on track 6 (half way through the mix!), and fantastic cuts from Cologne Tapes and Roman Flugel subsequently making welcome appearances. And that remix, obvs. The whole thing honestly feels like a kind of effortless, romantic flourish, a masterclass in German “wibes”.

3. Joy Orbison – NTS Radio Mix

Joy O turns in a mix for NTS which features loads of great stuff not by Joy O alongside some really great unreleased stuff that is by Joy O. Dear Mr. O’Grady. Please release the following: