textura

Albums
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Ada
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Winged Victory For Sullen

Compilations / Mixes
116 & Rising
Our Little Prayers
Craig Richards
Henry Saiz

EPs
Absent Without Leave
Abyss
Simon Bainton
BNJMN
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Dead Leaf Echo
Go Hiyama
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DVD
Barbara Lüneburg

Jamie Jones: Fabric 59
Fabric

Dave Clarke: Fabric 60
Fabric

Being so pop-oriented, Jamie Jones' Fabric mix would seem to be a perfect way in for those resistant to mixes in general. Sure, it's groove-heavy, but many of its selections are vocal pop songs first and foremost that also feature a strong body music dimension. If the mix seduces—and many times it does—, it does for the potency of its hooks as much if not more than for its beats. Consider Cajmere's “God Sent (‘10),” for example: it's got an irresistibly skanky groove, yes, but even more memorable are the effervescent vocals and the tiny whistling motif that shadows them. Cuts such as Coat Of Arms' “Is This Something,” the pulsating Holy Ghost mix of Panthers' “Goblin City,” and soho808's silken “Get Up Disco” are just as hook-laden.

The presence of Ali Love and Kenny Glasgow gives Hot Natured's “Time Intro” an Art Department twist before the first of many vocal pop treatments appears, in this case Metronomy's mix of Sebastien Tellier's “La Ritournelle.” After settling into a soul-funk feel via James Teej's “Don't Appear (Redux),” things get seriously trippy with Jones' aptly named fly edit of Coat Of Arms' “Is This Something.” The tune's soulful vocal hook is hard to shake, especially when delivered with such fervour, and Jones serves up another edit almost immediately thereafter in the form of Karen Pollack's soulf-funk throwdown “You Can't Touch Me.” Though not a new track, Felix Da Housecat's “Madame Hollywood” nevertheless fits seamlessly into this context, what with its bouyant bounce and deadpan vocal treatment, while a French voiceover lends jennygoesdirty's “Amoureux Solitaires” an air of cosmopolitan charm and sophistication. The mix takes a few left turns when it moves into its second half. Crazy P's “Open For Service” and soho808's “Get Up Disco” are fundamentally disco tracks, with the former oozing soulful euphoria and the latter a dreamy, string-based slow-jam. Oppenheimer Analysis's “The Devil's Dancers” and Footprintz's “Fear Of Numbers” are synth-heavy cuts, with the latter channeling ‘80s New Wave with OMD in the verses and Depeche Mode in the choruses.

Jones contributes a few of his own tracks to the mix, including “The Lows,” which offers a preview of his forthcoming second album on Crosstown Rebels, and “Assimilation,” a track issued under the Hot Natured name and featuring Ali Love and Kenny Glasgow, a move that anticipates the release of a Hot Natured album (with Jones joined by Lee Foss, Ali Love, and Kenny Glasgow) scheduled for Jones' own Hot Creations label. The mix's “afterparty” vibe is warm, funky, and soulful, with the material armed with chunky house chords, fat bass lines, and grooving pulses. Fabric 59 is anything but one-dimensional, as Jones liberally works multiple styes into the mix—pop, funk, soul, New Wave, disco, et al.—with all of it infused with enthusiasm, personality, and imagination.

October 2011