Fabriclive 66: Daniel Avery (continuous DJ mix) - (1:16:34) 122 BPM
Review: The rise of London producer Daniel Avery has been little short of staggering. Less than two years ago, he was relatively unknown beyond the confines of blogland. Now, thanks to a string of acclaimed productions and a blossoming DJ career, he's been afforded the opportunity to mix the latest instalment of the FabricLive series. Musically, FabricLive 66 offers a snapshot of where he's at now, delivering a tough but flowing mix of fuzzy electronic rhythms, stripped-back techno, gnarled acid house and tactile, next-level electronica (see Gatto Fritto's superb remix of JR Seaton's "Way Savvy"). There are also occasional forays into electroclash-ish territory (Miss Kittin, Raudive) and a smattering of Avery's own productions, making FabricLive 66 a formidable proposition.
Review: This could be a match made in heaven. On one side, rising star Daniel Avery (aka Stopmakingme), on the other, veteran producer, DJ and all round legend Justin Robertson (here appearing under recently-adopted Deadstock 33s pseudonym). Musically, "Nylon Icon" and "New Moon" are typical of Robertson's recent work, offering a dark but addictive fusion of bubbling electronic disco, vintage dark wave synth-pop and analogue house. "Eric Zann Revisited" flips the script slightly, touching on Italo whilst retaining a bouncy electronic groove. Remix wise, there's an acid-flecked tweak of the latter track by Filthy Dukes, whilst People Get Real deliver an off-kilter, cowbell-heavy version of "New Moon".
Review: New material from UK producer Daniel Avery has been scarce of late - is he living in the shadow of Drone Logic? On the strength of Sensation / Clear, this would appear not to be the case. The former is a mid-tempo, teased out groove, wrapped in trance synths and underpinned by plodding drums. It shows that Avery is master of crafting slow-building grooves, but it only plays a supporting role compared to "Clear". Faster and more tranced out, its warbling bass and whooshing melodies sound inspired by classic Juan Atkins and Derrick May, but fashioned in the blurry metropolis that is London.
Review: The romping stomping Daniel Avery, is back on Phantasy Sound with a new two-track 12" which doubles up as the label's 50th, and continues the English producer and DJ's path down a streamlined, hard-edge techno path. Unsurprisingly, "Sensation" is a total juggernaut, a heady techno track that slithers its percussion sway amid huge mounds of delays and atmospherics. Over on the flip, "Clear" sticks to a techno formula insofar as its mid-to-fast tempo, but the melodies and chimes emanating from its underbelly are something wilder and altogether more ethereal. Conniving DJ tools!
Review: Riding high after the blanket success of his debut album, Daniel Avery is back on Phantasy Sound once again with some dangerous remixes from his album, collected from several vinyl releases. Audion returns Avery's previous remix favour with the messy mind games of "Need Electric", which find Matthew Dear's alias reaching a previous peak of dark and freaky sound design fit for the more deviant dancers. Matt Walsh takes on "Free Floating" with a curiously dualistic interpretation that flits between sweet natured piano chords and off key acid paranoia, all set to a slow and immersive thud of understated drums. In addition to the album's title track, where an old school progressive house bassline is chewed to pieces by bursts of electronic feedback, Factory Floor's Gabe Gurnsey provide a fine remix that sounds remarkably restrained for a member of the inheritors of Throbbing Gristle's throne; like Avery's original Gurnsey keeps things mid-tempo but strips everything back to basics, with a simple analogue arpeggio which adds an early industrial quality.
Review: Having given keen listeners a healthy preview in his Fabriclive mix last year, the artist formerly known as Stopmakingme delivers his full-length album for Erol Alkan's Phantasy Sound. It's a limber brew that channels a strong dose of analogue trickery through smart and snappy beat constructions, all bubbling, aquatic synths and troubled delays propelled by unfussy drum patterns so that the melodies can do the talking. Primarily this is a dancefloor album, moving from peppy breakbeat driven numbers to gently bumping house, but always the playful, ineffably warm synth work sets the tone, from "Naive Response"s robotic charm to "Drone Logic"s soaring grind. It's an album brimming in confidence and nailed with precision, and it's packed full of incredibly usable floor rockers to boot.
Review: On New Energy, an impressive cast of artists remix UK producer Daniel Avery's original material. Representing German house music is Roman Fluegel, whose dubby, expansive version of "All I Need" fuses jittery keys with blissed out vocal samples. Surprisingly, Volte Face from the BleeD club delivers a similar deep house take on "Platform Zero", its chiming keys unfolding over sweeping filters. There is also an unexpected remix from Token's O [Phase], whose version of "Naive Response" favours a blissful, percussive workout rather than his usual, abrasive sounds. Silent Servant's take on "Spring 27" is one of the few real techno remixes with an insistent, stabbing chord and a rumbling bass prevailing, while Factory Floor's version of "Drone Logic" is a mutant disco dub, laced with bubbling acid and detached vocals.
Review: Phantasy Sound serve up another pair of remixes from Daniel Avery's world-beating Drone Logic LP, and this time they've turned to Roman Flugel and Ricardo Tobar to deliver the goods. Flugel takes on "All I Need" and rustles up a startling peak time burner full of earworm synth shimmers that show the German producer in his most club-ready mode, while keeping a healthy dose of the low-key moody tones of his own recent output humming away in the calmer moments. Ricardo Tobar meanwhile takes "These Nights Never End" into a leftfield headspace full of fractious rhythms, heavy layers of melody and noise, and an all-round rousing atmosphere.
Review: Hot on the heels of the album that has cemented his presence on the house and techno circuit, Daniel Avery has been foisted up onto Phantasy Sound's mast one more time with the All I Need single providing a few useful alternative cuts to the original long player tracks on Drone Logic. "All I Need" comes in a clean form that sounds largely like that on the album, all bold punches of synth and solid drum machine hits. Danny Daze takes a radical new route with his version of "Naive Response" that takes the playful bleeps and blurps of the original and strips away the warmth to leave a cold and grubby roller in its place. The "Club Edit" of "Free Floating" does well to keep the wistful qualities of the original intact and simply work some extra limber beats into appropriate junctures.
Review: According to those behind the label, Toy Tonics' Mushroom House compilation was inspired by "the new wave of weirdo house" that's inspired by "ethno, Afro and psychedelic music". The collection's 15 tracks include a swathe of new or previously unheard cuts from the likes of Auntie Flo, Daniel Avery & Justin Robertson, Daniel Haaksman, Hyenah and Drrrtyhaze. With such a strong line-up, it's no surprise that the music is uniformly excellent. Highlights include, but are not limited to, DJ Koze's superb Hudson River Dub of WhoMadeWho's eccentric "Keep Me In My Plane", the epic build-ups and trippy, dubbed-out riffs of Munk and Rebolledo's "Surf Smurf", and the psychedelic acid attack of Massimiliano Pagliara's remix of Barotti's "She Once Knew".
Review: For 'BORIV' read 'Best Of Relish 4', as Headman's label serve up another best-of collection, this time drawing mostly on the years 2009-2011. Featured artists include Daniel Avery, David Gilmour Girls and JR Seaton, as well as label boss Robi Insinna in both his Headman and Manhead guises, and the album comes packed with exactly the kind of angular, new wave-y nu-disco and electro you'd expect, complete with some new mixes to tempt long-term fans. What's most interesting, though, is that these tracks don't sound half as experimental or out-there as they did 10 years ago, which speaks to just how influential a label time has proven Relish to be.
Special Request - "Codename Turbo Nutter" - (5:38) 85 BPM
Source Direct - "Vigilante" - (7:23) 113 BPM
J. Majik - "The Lost Tribe" - (5:14) 162 BPM
Shackleton - "Drawn And Quartered" - (8:09) 136 BPM
Pinch & Trim - "That Wasn't It" - (2:43) 128 BPM
Daniel Avery - "Whilst We've Got Metal In Our Blood" - (4:00) 144 BPM
Mantra - "Embers" - (5:22) 127 BPM
B.Traits - "Mameya" - (6:06) 126 BPM
Groove Armada - "Wesley Nightshade" - (6:09) 118 BPM
UNKLE - "Catch Me When I Fall" (Fabric Club mix) - (10:46) 115 BPM
Review: Take a look down the tracklist of Fabric 20th anniversary release and you'll be met with a generation of artists that have helped shape the institution in all manner of ways, be it legendary DJ sets or residencies to previous releases to the FabricLive mix compilations and so on. Inside you'll find a who's who of genre influencers, be they Margaret Dygas and Marcel Dettmann with their European minimal and techno connection, to the more left field and UK-centralised club sounds from Pinch & Trim, Call Super and Special Request. Classics have been leafed from Source Direct, UNKLE and Shackleton, with B.Traits, Maya Jane Coles and Daniel Avery rankable alongside Sascha, Nina Kraviz and Groove Armada in filling a most influential time capsule of club music and DJ culture history.
