- Given that fabric has reached an agreement with Islington Council to keep the club open, the proceeds from the #saveculture campaign will now go towards "worthy causes within the industry." But even though fabric no longer needs the money from this compilation for legal fees, #savefabric is still worth your cash. The music within presents as strong a case as any lawyer could argue for fabric's cultural importance.
With 111 previously unreleased tracks contributed from across the electronic community, #savefabric obviously isn't meant to be listened to front to back, even if you did have ten hours to spare. The artists are sequenced alphabetically, and there's no consistent musical arc. The tracklist jumps through diverse sounds, from the drum & bass and bass music of Fabriclive to the house and techno of fabric's flagship Saturdays.
The best way to approach #savefabric is like you would a club night—pick your favourites to hear first, and then work from there. With such a mammoth spread of artists, that's going to be different for everybody, but the club's residents are always worth checking. Craig Richards revives his A Short Run project with Howie B for the queasy "Stasha." Terry Francis's "The Answer" is springy tech house. The rap from The Jungle Brothers' Afrika Baby Bam on "The Music Saves Me," by original Fabriclive resident Ali B, is a reminder that early Fridays at the club were as much about party breaks and hip-hop as the latter years' drum & bass, represented here by Dub Phizix, Optical and Calyx & Teebee.
Then you scan the rest for other highlights, like The Mole's wriggly funk, the taut groove of Smagghe & Cross's "Sam & Jen," Mathew Jonson whipping himself into a full-on rave rage, or Vatican Shadow & Telefon Tel Aviv's "Rejoice" if you need a breather. The tracklist is also a reminder of how many styles have been incubated beneath the Farringdon streets, like Terry Francis's tech house coursing through Matthew Styles & s:vt's "Machine Life," or dubstep's techno cross-pollination personified by Pinch and Skream. fabric is still nurturing fresh sounds here, shining a spotlight on South African gqom progenitor Dominowe.
Few people are going to like everything on #savefabric, and the fact that it was put together in three weeks means some tracks may seem half-finished. Many more, however, seem to have been specifically inspired by the state of fabric at the time. Masters Of Disasters' "The Church Of The Many"—delivered like a pirate radio broadcast berating "gentrifying forces of the universe"—or Mr. C rapping, "Developers move in / To make the big bucks," are the most blatantly political, although the sample and title in Slam's "Government Problem 2" presumably isn't a coincidence. Caspa & Rusko's "Ravers Tears," Shackleton's "The Stitch Up" or Sunset Graves' "Dead City Hymn" also seem to reference the club's plight.
Tracks like Route 94's "fabric" or Mumdance & Logos' "Return Of The Room 2 Lazer" evoke the club's dance floors in both name and sound, while Agoria's "Tribute" sounds even more euphoric now that fabric has survived. In that sense, perhaps the most thought-provoking track is Special Request's "Requiem." Paul Woolford forsakes his project's usual frenetic junglism for sombre ambient, conjuring images of fabric's cavernous rooms lying empty and still. It's a vision that thankfully didn't last, but one that also reminds you quite how much electronic music could have lost.
トラックリスト01. _Unsubscribe_ - FFS, R (Loop Mix)
02. μ-Ziq - Bumshit (Vox)
03. 18+ - Holes
04. 2020 Soundsystem - No Order (Ralph Lawson & Rui-Z Remix)
05. A Short Run feat. Howie B & Craig Richards - Stasha
06. Abul Mogard - Patterns Of Our Own Times
07. Addison Groove - Equal Lies
08. Agoria - Tribute
09. Akkord - Scalar Wave
10. Ali B feat. Afrika Baby Bam - The Music Saves Me
11. Appleblim - Fabrication
12. Audion - Fun House
13. Broken English Club - The Gentle Art of Murder
14. Bruce - Cables
15. C.A.R. - Voodoo Moon (Thomas Von Party Cover)
16. Calyx & Teebee - Loose Ends
17. Caspa & Rusko - Ravers Tears
18. Clams Casino - Time
19. Clark - Shadow Banger
20. Coldcut Feat. Roses Gabor - Donald's Wig
21. Cosmin TRG - Dens
22. Curses - A Face In Smoke
23. Dasha Rush - Sweet Monster
24. dBridge - Modern Submission
25. DJ Tennis - Magrelian
26. Dominowe (Gqom Oh!) - Just Dance
27. Dub Phizix - Beatroot
28. Dusk & Blackdown - 110 Not Out (2011)
29. Dusky & Todd Edwards - Holiday In Holloway
30. Enei & Kasra - Basic Instinct
31. Exercise One - All These People
32. Fake Blood - Reflections
33. FiS - DMT Usher VIP
34. Future Beat Alliance - Sleaze Bag
35. Guy Andrews - Procession
36. Hamid - Untitled 02
37. Heartthrob - Scott's Teats
38. House Of Black Lanterns – Lost
39. Howie B - Space Trip
40. Ikonika - Miracle Whip
41. IVVVO & Aïsha Devi - Eros Plexus
42. Jesse Rose - Suck It And See
43. John Tejada - Ucbtron
44. Justin Drake, Lil Mark and Matt Tolfrey - Freedom
45. Kangding Ray - Summerend
46. Kate Simko feat. Amunet Shah - All Heart
47. Kirk Degiorgio - Shadow Of A Solitary Being
48. Kiwi – Throw Down (Latin Freestyle Radio Edit)
49. Kuedo – Bismuth
50. Lakker – Tuc Tuc
51. Laura Jones & Karousel - Find A Way
52. Letherette - Stabz
53. Lucy - The Juggler
54. M.A.N.D.Y. - Berry And North
55. Machinedrum - Stronga
56. Marc Houle - Broken Wing
57. Marquis Hawkes - Redemption Radio
58. Masters Of Disasters - The Church Of The Many
59. Mathew Jonson - Decompression (MJ Ghostforce 12" Remix)
60. Matthew Styles & s:vt - Machine Life
61. Max Cooper, Satirist - Grit
62. Michael Mayer - Auld Lang Synewave
63. Mike Shannon Feat. Dave Aju and the LCC All Stars - Can't Take My Love Away
64. Mr. C - Stand Up (Club Mix)
65. Mr. Jones - Heavy Eyes
66. Mumdance & Logos - Return Of The Room 2 Lazer
67. Nathan Fake - Laluna
68. Neville Watson - Fight On
69. Nightwave – Speakeasy
70. October - Anna's Acid Hour
71. Om Unit - Pop Lockin' Hieroglyphs
72. Optical - Shape The Future VIP
73. Overmono - U-Plastics
74. Paleman - Sore
75. Paula Temple - You Cannot Kill A Soul By Killing The Body (Live At Moogfest)
76. Perc - Foto Real
77. Peter Van Hoesen - Into A Fortification
78. Pinch – Skylines
79. Planetary Assault Systems - Twelve (L.B. Dub Corp Meets PAS Rework)
80. Radioactive Man - Craig's Trousers Flap In The Bass Wind
81. Roger van Lunteren - Hills, I Want You (Gerd Janson Edit)
82. Roman Flügel - Jam The Jam
83. Route 94 - fabric
84. Rrose - Glands
85. Second Storey - The Last Record
86. Shackleton - The Stitch Up
87. Shaun Reeves & Tuccillo - Clouds
88. Sherwood & Pinch - Retribution
89. Shift Work - LA (S.L.O.W.) (Health & Safety Mix)
90. Simian Mobile Disco - Balloon Takes A Holiday
91. Skream - Munk
92. Slam - Government Problem 2
93. Smagghe & Cross - Sam & Jen
94. Snow Ghosts – A Moment
95. Soft As Snow - I Adore (Troy Gunner Remix)
96. South London Ordnance - Arc
97. Special Request - Requiem
98. Stanton Warriors & Cause n Affect - Never Let It Go feat. Janai (VIP Mix)
99. Sunset Graves - Dead City Hymn
100. Tasha - Lost And Found
101. tqd - Vibsing Ting
102. Terry Francis - The Answer
103. The Mole - Glide Down
104. Throwing Snow - One For The Booth
105. Tiefschwarz - Wegekuckuck
106. Tom Demac – Unchained
107. Trevino - Fractured
108. Tuff City Kids - Edlost
109. Untold - This Is How I
110. Vatican Shadow & Telefon Tel Aviv - Rejoice
111. Vex'd - Gravity (2004)