Ben Klock's fabric mix begins in mid-sentence. Which makes sense considering how the jock has often said it's impossible to capture the sound and feeling of a DJ set in a mere hour and change. Nonetheless, Klock and Marcel Dettmann have done a pretty good job of fooling listeners over the past few years, between their respective Berghain mixes, podcasts and commercial efforts for other institutions. Indeed, the rate of compilations that the two have put together indicates that they welcome the challenge.
Klock's brand of techno wouldn't be out of place in fabric's main room, but its natural home—and the space he always plays in—is room two. Both rooms are roughly the same size, but the second has doors. When you enter into it, you're going in. Ideally for a while. Klock's fabric mix takes you there immediately, throwing you in the deep end with Truncate's "Ratio 1" and seamlessly building into the deliciously weird riff of DJ Bone's "Gemini." The grimy lead of Trevino's "Forged" seems to be composed from the same building blocks, but takes us into more familiar territory—and by the sixth minute of the mix you're already completely locked in.
It's around this point that the tight bounce that typifies so much of Klock's techno has already kicked in. Whereas Marcel Dettmann is often more straight-ahead in his aims, the beats that Klock prefers often sound like house sped-up really, really fast. Things get up past 130 BPM here quite quickly, but it all seems reasonable because of things like K-Hand's lovely percolating acid on "Starz" and the chirping laughter found between the pounding kick drums on Floorplan's "Chord Principal." This is techno built for big rooms, but it's offered up with a lightness of touch that is altogether inviting.
That may be overstating things a tiny bit. But it's hard to imagine how anyone couldn't get a kick out of hearing Klock's reworking of Josh Wink's rave classic "Are You There?" Or how he expertly nails the landing by dropping another Floorplan track to ease you into the final few minutes of melody-drenched tunes. At 24 tracks and 73 minutes, it may seem condensed to Klock and the legion of fans that follow him until the early morning light in nightclubs around the globe. But as a summation of the varied shades of techno that make up his sonic universe, it's about as good as you're going to get. Until the next one, that is.
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Tracklist: Ben Klock - Fabric 66
 01. Truncate - Ratio 1
02. DJ Bone - Gemini
03. Trevino - Forged
04. Technasia - Final Quadrant (The Cosmic Beats)
05. DVS1 - Spying
06. K-Hand - Starz
07. Octave One - Terraforming (Kraviz / Klock's 66 Interpretation)
08. Wincent Kunth - Another Journey
09. Sagat - Few Mysteries Solved in A Year of Contact
10. Sigg Gonzalez - Penny Pincher (Head High Mix)
11. Floorplan - Chord Principal
12. D-Knox - Mind Calming
13. Burial - Raver (Edit)
14. Marcel Dettmann - Allies
15. Josh Wink - Are You There? (Ben Klock Remix)
16. Truncate - Coaster
17. Planetary Assault Systems - Flat Tire
18. Steve Rachmad - Rotary
19. Staffan Linzatti - In Time
20. Mathew Johnson - Panna Cotta (Edit)
21. Floorplan - Never Grow Old (Edit)
22. Terence Fixmer - When The Sun
23. James Ruskin - Detached
24. Alva Noto - Monophaser 2
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