Guy Gerber: Fabric 64
Fabric

Guy Gerber takes full advantage of this Fabric opportunity to promote his own work. All sixteen of its new and unreleased tracks are authored or co-authored by the Israeli producer. That's not a bad thing, either, when Gerber's work is so consistently strong and when the recording presents such a homogenous and cohesive portrait. He composed the material over a two-month period, at times collaborating with fellow producers Deniz Kurtel and Footprintz member Clarian North, and attempted to create an album experience that would play like a long-form Steve Reich composition.

So how does it sound? To start, the mix achieves immediate liftoff with “Store-House Consciousness” and “The Golden Sun and The Silver Moon,” both tracks dreamy and emotive in character and both establishing the recording's gleaming, resolutely synthetic sound. Transitions between tracks are smoothly effected, resulting in an atmosphere-heavy mix that exudes a strong sense of fluidity and flow. The material is subtly melodious and the overall approach widescreen, almost shoegaze-like in its textural density and richness of colour; it's interesting that he apparently counts My Bloody Valentine as an early influence, as his own sound is as dynamic if stylistically different. In general, Gerber's music isn't raw and funky (though there are exceptions, such as “The Rhythm” and “One Day In May”), but it is driving and buoyed by subtle build-ups (“A Blade Through My Piano” one example of many), and contrast often emerges in the occasional appearance of ethereal vocals, even though they're generally used as part of the overall fabric (sorry) of the material. Ten tracks in, the tempo slows and the beats drop out during the Gerber-North collab “Running Through The Night” before the slamming “Lady Falkor” (the muffled speaking voice presumably belonging to the titular personage) gets us off and running again. A deep, late-nite vibe sets in during the closing tracks, with Gerber easing the listener out gently and bringing the intensity level down before the Gerber-Kurtel cut “Just Wanna See You Happy” ends the mix on a note of beatless reverie.

July-August 2012