Assigned the unenviable task of following Sherelle's blistering entry in the series, Leon Vynehall constructs a Fabric Presents mix that impels movement more often than his 2019 DJ-Kicks volume. Where Vynehall's DJ-Kicks seemed snapped together at times, like he challenged himself to use only recent purchases and exclusives, Fabric Presents comes across as more deliberate and purposeful. At the same time, it still seems evident that the DJ/producer simply strings together some tunes that give him a thrill, and these are ...
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Assigned the unenviable task of following Sherelle's blistering entry in the series, Leon Vynehall constructs a Fabric Presents mix that impels movement more often than his 2019 DJ-Kicks volume. Where Vynehall's DJ-Kicks seemed snapped together at times, like he challenged himself to use only recent purchases and exclusives, Fabric Presents comes across as more deliberate and purposeful. At the same time, it still seems evident that the DJ/producer simply strings together some tunes that give him a thrill, and these are just as bound to prevent him from being known as a genre specialist. The 33-track sequence has an exploratory feel that reflects the selector's insatiable curiosity. A siren-like piece off a cassette by cellist Louise Bock bridges Mute's twilight downtempo groove and Or:la's clattering battle drums. Piero Umiliani's quasi-samba proto-techno corker "Produzione," easily the oldest selection (1973), doesn't sound a day older than Gaunt's juddering "Raw Cartoon" or Commodo's heady dubstepper "Scabz," contemporary tracks that surround it. Odder yet, a stretch with turn-of-the-millennium dub techno gems by Pole and Rhythm & Sound integrates private-press new age circa 1982, Woo's skanking "Wah Bass," roughly comparable to Cabaret Voltaire's "Seconds Too Late" if transformed from dread to delight. There's also woozy ambient techno, sullen trap-soul, bristling vintage U.K. garage, and hard percussion workouts with elements of gqom, baile funk, and Afro-Portuguese house. The variety of sounds, and the similar elevations of the crests and troughs, ensures repeat listening that yields surprises well beyond the first couple plays. Vynehall is aided by a wealth of commissioned exclusives -- Or:la's and Gaunt's bright spots among them. He helps the cause with one of his own, the euphoric "Sugar Slip (The Lick)," with all three nouns in the title serving as descriptors. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi
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