- A masterclass in low-slung and functional dance music in its purest form.
- Since rebranding their fabled mix series as fabric presents, the London nightclub has been showcasing just about every sound you're likely to hear across its three rooms: the digger's delights of Danilo Plessow, hardcore heaven courtesy of SHERELLE, golden era house from Chaos in the CBD and '00s nostalgia via TSHA, to name a few highlights. The mixes are as versatile as the venue itself, moving across genres and eras with some of the world's biggest and best DJs banging it out and others refining their storytelling skills. What has been noticeably absent from the mix series, though, is the headsier end of dance music—a key part of the club's history from the Wiggle era to the present. But the wait is over. Saoirse Ryan's fabric presents is a masterclass in low-slung and functional dance music in its purest form.
The mix starts out on a playful note with the mechanical clatter of Duckett's off-kilter drums. Two minutes in and the techy stutter is interrupted by the forlorn chords and syncopated drums of "Yellowtail," by Rinse FM founder Geeneus, come swaggering along. There's been a growing allegiance between new minimal and garage, but this is the first time I've heard weirdo tech house and UK funky work so well together. A minute or so later and Ryan shifts gears again into Luca Lozano's "Identify," which hits like pitched-down prog with menacing bass.
These opening five minutes, moving from tech house to funky to bleepy techno, capture the tone and pacing of the mix throughout. Ryan is unshowy but quick in her mixing, keeping only a couple of minutes of each track before finding some element—whether it's a snare or minor-key melody—that fits neatly into the next track. The mix moves fluidly between moods and tone. For the the middle third, we're treated to a wealth of eerie chords and drums that hit with the force of someone shoving their way onto a subway car. (Nitz's "Mi-au" is a particular highlight.) To balance out these nail biters, Ryan lets loose some tech house belters for good measure from the giddiness of Jacek Sienkiewicz's "The Evidence" to the carbonated spritz of Javier Carballo's "Beat Investigator."
The final act of the mix is spacious and brighter, as she leaves the tracks in for longer and introduces the most memorable melodies, from the undulating IDM arpeggios of Mammo's "Summit" to the trance chords and piano breakdown of "Herzsprung 1." But she saves the absolute best for last: her own "RM 1" and Shanti Celete's "Fluffy," whose title is a red herring. While "Fluffy" starts with light, skippy percussion and pillowy chords, things get darker as a hair-raising synth snakes its way through the track like a razor blade hidden in cotton candy. "RM 1" is the perfect send off. It's a homage to fabric in miniature, blending classic rave and UK garage. The chords are vintage hardcore, while the drums and vocals pop with the indulgence of champagne on a Sunday.
Though it feels timeless, only three tracks on fabric presents Saoirse were released before 2018. But that doesn't mean Ryan's opted for a whole bunch of exclusives—the only two commissioned tracks are from Junes and Celeste. Instead, she curates tracks from boutique, often vinyl-only labels released in the past five years by under-the-radar artists. At a moment when we are inundated with new music daily, the impulse, in Ryan's corner of clubland anyways, tends to be to either turn to the golden '90s or to focus on the newest records. This means that the half-life of a record can be criminally short. Ryan resurrects some of those gems that have been passed over, making the case that we are living in a brand new golden era of dance music.
Tracklist01. Duckett - Flex
02. Geeneus - Yellowtail
03. Luca Lozano - Identify
04. DJ Normal 4 - Transcendental Training Tactics
05. Nitz - Mi-au
06. Caim - Illusion
07. Jacek Sienkiewicz - The Evidence
08. 616 - 369
09. Junes - Pilot
10. Reba - Azimuth Circle
11. Kompo - Function
12. Javier Carballo - Beat Investigator
13. Kosh - Square One
14. Sin limites - Sin Limites
15. Hamatsuki - Shrink
16. Mammo - Summit
17. Caunos - Herzsprung 1
18. Shanti Celeste - Fluffy
19. Saoirse - RM1