JD Twitch and JG Wilkes, better known as Optimo, have been tapped to mix Fabric 52.
The Glaswegian duo are known for their wide-ranging and atypical track selection, which often mixes up post-punk, disco and experimental music with contemporary house and techno, as heard on their 2007 mix Walkabout. But for Fabric 52, the pair chose a slightly different tack, focusing more than usual on club tracks.
"We've been fortunate enough in the past that labels have let us experiment a bit and put together selections that make really diverse and sometimes quite difficult mixes," says Wilkes. "With Fabric 52, we were really excited by the idea of a dance floor-centric mix of tracks."
JD Twitch says the experience of DJing at fabric helped guide the creative process behind the mix. "At fabric we’ve played all the different rooms but quite often we play in Room Two, so that was the initial idea of how we approached the mix," he says. "It's our idea of what we'd play solely for when we want to get people dancing, when we’re not trying to freak people out. It’s all about the dance floor, with maybe a couple of curve balls thrown in there along the way."
Nonetheless, the tracklist for Fabric 52 is still more diverse than your average commercial mix fare. In addition to cuts by Levon Vincent, Oni Ayhun and Thomas Brinkmann, the mix features under-the-radar gems like Fad Gadget's "Lady Shave" and Roni Griffith's "Spys."
News of the mix comes just weeks after Optimo announced the demise of their residency at Sub Club, the gritty Glasgow nightspot where Twitch and Wilkes played almost every Sunday night for thirteen years. Following the final date this April, the duo will begin promoting a new night at Sub Club called "Optimo Presents... Shake It Up," which will feature guests selected by Optimo as well as the duo themselves. "[Twitch] and I will play together, and individually, at it occasionally (maybe once per month), but we're going to invite other people to play. When we started Optimo, we used to pull in a lot of different people from around the city to do different things, and we're interested in doing that again."
Tracklist
01. Fad Gadget - Lady Shave
02. Discodromo - Cosmorama (Prins Thomas Discomiks)
03. Basic Channel - Q1.1
04. Spencer Parker - YOGOTO
05. Locussolus - Gunship
06. Rebolledo - Amigos Cómeme
07. The Minister - Jack Your Bodey House Your Mind
08. Altz - Get It Down!
09. Thomas Brinkmann - Walk With Me
10. Rheingold - Dreiklangsdimensionen
11. Capablanca & T Keeler - La Konk Fiesta
12. Roska - Feeline
13. Cumbia Moderna De Soledad - Shacalao
14. The Tyrell Corporation - Together Alone
15. Roni Griffith - Spys
16. Levon Vincent - Love Technique
17. Oni Ayhun - OAR003-B
18. Desire - Don't Call
19. Crazy Cousinz - Inflation
20. Matias Aguayo - Walter Neff
21. Nakion - Heartbit
22. Xex - Heartbeat
Fabric will release Optimo's Fabric 52 on May 10th, 2010.
