Fabric 51: DJ T. (Published in Felix, Issue 1458, 19/03/2010)

The press release for DJ T’s Fabric mix informs me that “there are very few who can be fairly categorised as a true music lover more than ... DJ T.” and his CV is impressively filled with owning club nights, setting up labels with self confessed electronic music obsessives and creating and editing a seminal dance music magazine. The dark ambience and oppressive lyrics of the opening track provide a beautiful start to this obviously eclectic mix. The mix develops tantalisingly slowly, with more beeps, bass notes and drums being introduced in the next few tracks. Eventually, DJ T brings in a sunnier, more open ambience and at times I felt I had literally been transported to the Mediterranean via the use of tasty Mezze-style mixes of funk and Middle Eastern singing.

Continuing into this record, the audaciously named “Jesus Was a B-Boy” introduces a hip hop element while still managing to keep the flow and ambience of a house mix. Unfortunately, like most fabric mixes, the vast eclecticism of collected sounds is the record’s downfall. I found myself wanting to keep listening to songs of a particular style. The constant changing of styles and ideas makes feeling the groove of a house set or being transported to Brooklyn for a Hip-Hop extravaganza difficult. DJ T is obviously an awe inspiring musicphile and has picked some groovy, funky and occasionally chilling tracks and this mix works well as an introduction of new artists to anybody wanting to find some chilled, ambient music. As a dance mix, however, I would prefer something with a little bit more identity.