On the first LCD Soundsystem 12”, James Murphy riffed off the idea that the kids were coming up from behind and the “better-looking people with better ideas and more talent” were going to overtake him. That seems a long time ago now. Murphy and LCD drummer Pat Mahoney’s entry in the Fabric series is the type of mix you make when you no longer give a shit whether you’re losing your edge. FabricLive.36 isn’t future-facing at all. Bar the David Byrne and Arto Lindsay downtown art-punk bookends, it’s wholly concerned with the most nostalgic of the dance genres: straight disco, and the type of house music we may as well call disco anyway—the stuff with real percussion, or samples of, and non-synthesised textures. This is a CD that includes a (late-ish) Chic track and what could be a clearer signal of purpose?
As well as Chic, from the “real” disco camp we get a couple of tracks each from the Ze, Salsoul and Vanguard labels. The Isaac Hayes-produced electronic funk of Donald Byrd’s ‘Love Has Come Around’ loops ecstatic falsetto around cavernously reverbed snare and cymbal. The bizarre and glorious ‘I Need You Tonight’ by Punkin’ Machine shifts giddily from a restrained verse to an addictive-as-a-video-game chorus before a kettledrum and handclap breakdown.
Among the best of the more contemporary tracks are the expertly looped sampler detritus of Daniel Wang’s much comped but always welcome ‘Like Some Dream (I Can’t Stop Dreaming)’ and Baby Oliver’s take on the evergreen discoid subject matter (stretching back to Kraftwerk) of the endless glide of the train ride. ‘Primetime (Uptown Express)’ is perfectly pitched electro-disco laden with Art of Noise airy gulps and belches.
Whilst canny in the contrasting of the past and present, FabricLive.36 feels off the cuff—sometimes more like a guest mix from Beats in Space than a Fabric mix. It’s sweaty, goofy, good natured, sexual, daft and one of last year’s best mixes.
Published /
Fri, 04 Jan 2008
Buy James Murphy & Pat Mahoney – FabricLive.36 at
Tracklist: James Murphy & Pat Mahoney – FabricLive.36
01 Peter Gordon and Love Of Life Orchestra – Beginning of The Heartbreak – Lust/Unlust
02 Baby Oliver – Primetime (Uptown Express) – Environ
03 Donald Byrd and 125th St, NYC – Love Has Come Around – Elektra
04 Instant Funk – I Got My Mind Made Up – Salsoul
05 Chic – I Feel Your Love Comin’ On – Atlantic
06 Was (Not Was) – Tell Me That I’m Dreaming – ZE
07 GQ – Lies GQ
08 Mudd – Adventures In Bickett Wood (Layne’s Head Stash Re-roll) – Rong
09 Elektrik Dred – Butter Up (Gimme Some Bread) – Sounds Of Florida
10 Lenny Williams – You Got Me Running - Geffen
11 Daniel Wang – Like Some Dream (I Can’t Stop Dreaming) – Daniel Wang
12 Gichy Dan – Cowboys and Gangsters – ZE
13 Still Going – Still Going Theme – DFA
14 City Of Women – Tablakone – Sähkö
15 Babytalk – Keep On Move – Stickydisc
16 Love Committee – Just As Long As I’ve Got You – Salsoul
17 Mouzon’s Electric Band – Everybody Get Down – Mouzon
18 Punkin’ Machine – I Need You Tonight – JC Records
19 LCD Soundsystem – Hippie Priest Bum-out – DFA/EMI
20 Junior Bryon – Dance To The Music (Dub) – Vanguard
21 JT – I Love Music – Vanguard
22 Jackson Jones – I Feel Good Put Your Pants On – Jackson Jones
23 NYC Peech Boys – Life Is Something Special – Island Def Jam
24 Peter Gordon and Love Of Life Orchestra – Don’t Don’t - Lust/Unlust | 
