BEN SIMS - Fabric 73 - Fabric Records

 Prolific, eclectic, and always evolving, Ben Sims' name has been synonymous with quality techno for nearly two decades. His enviable career path mirrors the history of twenty years of popular music in the UK, drifting from hip-hop and reggae into the early days of pirate radio, the peak of acid house, and pummeling hardcore. Sims has always been a precocious listener – in his early teens he would DJ his school's disco parties prior to gaining a reputation as an advanced talent on the rave and club circuit – and his experience is reflected in the timelessness of the selections on Fabric 73. Beholden to no specific era or genre beyond the power of their pure transportive grooves, on Fabric 73 Sims showcases the restlessly creative selections that continue to make him an essential and inspiring DJ for advanced techno listeners worldwide. Born in Essex, Sims' childhood was soundtracked by reggae, ska, and radio chart music. After being exposed to electro and hearing local kids dancing to a ghettoblaster in a nearby park, Sims got hooked on hip-hop and bought his first turntable setup at the age of 10. Even now, his DJing is influenced by the sampladelic energy of hip-hop, frenetic cutups plucked from their surroundings and repurposed in enhanced form. The ideal of a swaggering MC and the voice as percussive instrument also remains an influence, evident in his canny deployment of exhilarating microsamples in typically instrumental templates. Fabric 73 is full of this vocal detail, with samples folded, creased, and crammed into the spirited techno in a way that suggests a raucous party inside the tunes themselves, and not just occurring amongst those listening. Sims' molecular mixing has a piercing immediacy that doesn't lose sight of musicality, making for an engrossing and impressively fluid listening experience. Heavily influenced by what Sims calls the “perfect and elusive” environment of Fabric's Room 2, his long-awaited contribution to the Fabric series matches that industrial setting and the depth of experience possible in a dark, sweaty, peaktime room. "Fabric already plays a special role in my life as an DJ as it's one of fave places to play but now the mix CD takes it to the next level. I'm very happy and excited to be a part of the series and cement our relationship further. "
Ben Sims Fabric 73 was mixed live in sections, with Sims then poring over details, adding edits, and stitching the various parts together in Ableton to form a master mix. Sims' longevity reflects familiarity with a vast trove of techno's musical history, but this mix showcases his ever-evolving tastes, containing predominantly new and unreleased material as well as favourites from 2013. Fabric 73 is a cratedigger's dream, with no fewer than eighteen unreleased tracks and a number of Sims' famed edits, used as transitional bridges but delivering an emotional and percussive wallop that far outstrips their simplicity. In an attempt to make initial listens as immediate as possible, Sims has even refrained from playing out certain unreleased tracks until the CD's official release date. The beginning of the mix suggests a hush falling over a packed room, Sims taking the decks to the sound of twinkling arpeggios before catapulting into slinky techno. There is an immediate emphasis on granular shifts in tone and timbre, reflecting Sims' superhuman mixing prowess (the mix was recorded on three Pioneer CDJ2000s). Alden Tyrell's “Wurk It” is a jacking and disorienting early peak along with Sims' forthcoming remix of Floorplan, the alias of techno legend Robert Hood. Sims' world is one where the jittery club workouts of L-Vis 1990 rub comfortably against the psychedelic techno of Truncate, and his own Fokus Group alias project sits sandwiched between an unhinged Surgeon remix and newcomers Clouds. Sims allows the mix to artfully disintegrate and rebuild, delving into percussive detail and chordal warmth rarely heard in such assaultive techno. Taking cues from his heroes Jeff Mills and Robert Hood, Sims' mixing is thrusting and minimal without sacrificing thick detail. The tunes are foreboding but also plain fun, as in Sandrien's snide and funky “I Left My Girlfriend In A Club.” There are numerous spiralling rabbit holes and gnashing elemental minimalism, whether it's the 303 purity in a Sims edit of Donnie Tempo's “Tazmanian Virus” or any variety of disembodied whoops, coughs, come-ons, and other vocal tics. A series of Sims' edits and unreleased originals bring the mix to a storming end, with Paul Woolford's “Broken Dreams” establishing a connection to Fabric's in-house Houndstooth label. Drawing on a rich and unparalleled musical history, Ben Sims' Fabric 73 is as much autobiography as it is vision of an uncompromising musical future.

Tracklist:


01 Joton GS
01 [Mastertraxx]
02 Kryptic Minds & Paul Mac Icon
[Tactical]
03 Kirk Degiorgio Dread
[Machine]
04 Alden Tyrell Wurk
It [Clone Jack For Daze]
05 Ben Sims The
Little Jam (Edit) [Theory]
06 Floorplan Higher
(Ben Sims Remix) [MPlant]
07 Gingy & Bordello All
Day (Robert Hood Remix) [Turbo]
08 Dimi Angélis & Jeroen Search Monopole
(Sims JFF Edit) [A&S]
09 Tripeo Kienokki
(Edit) [Theory]
10 Benjamin Damage Recursion
[50WEAPONS]
11 Ben Sims Raise
Your Hands (Mr G Remix) [Theory]
12 Mark Broom 133
[Beard Man]
13 MDL vs JR Belmont
(Edit) [Theory]
14 Marcel Dettmann Corebox
(James Ruskin Blueprint Mix) [MDR]
15 Mark Ambrose Shooting
Stars (Fokus Group Remix Edit) [Theory]
16 Robert Hood Moveable
Parts (Untitled 1 Mark
Broom Edit) [MPlant]
17 Ben Sims Break
Glass (Sims Remix Edit) [Theory]
18 LVis
1990 SDS5000
[Clone Jack For Daze]
19 Sandrien I
Left My Girlfriend In A Club (Edit) [Theory]
20 J Tijn U
U U [WNCL ]
21 Nphonix Tactix
(Sims JFF Edit) [Audio Culture]
22 Mike Dehnert Eigenzeit
[Fachwerk]
23 Ben Sims Break
Glass (LVis
1990 Dance System Remix Edit) [Theory]
24 LVis
1990 Wires
[Clone Jack For Daze]
25 Donnie Tempo Tazmanian
Virus (Sims JFF Edit) [moreaboutmusic]
26 Chicago Skyway Fall
Down (Sims JFF Edit) [unreleased]
27 Chicago Skyway Ride
3 (Sims JFF Edit) [unreleased]
28 Truncate Room
Mode [Truncate]
29 Truncate Model
1 [Truncate]
30 Paul Mac Grind
Returns (Ritzi Lee Remix) [Stimulus]
31 Ben Sims Samurai
(Edit) [Theory]
32 Julien H Mulder Symmetric
Timeline (Sims JFF Edit) [Färden]
33 Rod 90'
s (Edit) [unreleased]
34 Ben Sims Something
(Sims Beats Mix Edit) [Theory]
35 Terrence Dixon Minimalism
A1 (Ben Klock Remix) [Sino / Technorient]
36 Ø [Phase] Distracted
[Token / N.E.W.S.]
37 Ben Sims Dream
State (Edit) [Theory]
38 Ben Sims Raw
Hide [Theory]
39 Pfirter Ahora
(Sims JFF Edit) [Mindtrip]
40 Ben Sims Neurosis
(Surgeon Remix Edit) [Theory]
41 Clouds Chained
To A Dead Camel [Overlee Assembly]
42 Fokus Group Nut
Nut [Pennyroyal]
43 Ben Sims Joyrider
(Trevino Remix Edit) [Theory]
44 Special Request Broken
Dreams [Houndstooth]

SPECIAL REQUEST - Soul Music - Houndstooth

This autumn marks the release of Paul Woolford's debut full-length album as Special Request. Following a run of four incendiary 12-inches on his own imprint that drew attention from right across the dance music community, the UK producer and DJ will deliver Soul Music - diving even deeper into the raw energy of UK pirate radio influences that informed his previous EPs - via fabric's recently established label, Houndstooth.
Using a studio built almost exclusively from vintage hardware and boosted by industrial-strength EQ and an FM transmitter, Woolford constructs what he refers to as "false memories" broadcasting his material in order to sample and re-incorporate it in a myriad of different ways. The outcome of this unorthodox method is an album of considerable weight. This debut will be released in two stages: 7th October sees the album released on a triple vinyl LP; whilst the CD and digital versions, released on 21st October, include a bonus volume featuring the Special Request VIP of Tessela's Hackney Parrot (already played 5 times on BBC Radio 1 across 3 different shows) alongside the remix of Lana Del Rey's 'Ride', further tracks from the previous 12- inches, plus unreleased reworks from Detroit's Anthony Shakir, New York's Anthony Naples, Leipzig's Kassem Mosse & Mix Mup, Chicago's Hieroglyphic Being and London's Lee Gamble. Not for the faint hearted...


Tracklist:

01 - Forbidden
02 - Undead
03 - Cold Blooded
04 - Body Armour
05 - Lockjaw
06 - Ride Vip
07 - Soundboy Killer
08 - Broken Dreams
09 - Black Ops
10 - Capsules
11 - Deranged
12 - Descent

SPECIAL REQUEST - Hardcore Ep - Houndstooth

C'era una volta l'Inghilterra delle radio pirata, dell'energia, del ballo smodato a ritmo della proto-house e dei beat jungle più hardcore, dei fatiscenti ruderi post-industriali occupati da ruggenti soundsystem, del Big Beat anni 90. Quel movimento e quello scenario che, all'epoca, rappresentava la voglia di evasione e rivoluzione che la musica (come sempre) spontaneamente offriva a masse di giovani nate e cresciute nel pieno della crisi economica inglese, oggi, passata la prima decade XXII secolo, è invece un cliché, un insieme di loghi che, nell'ultimo periodo, in molti hanno assorbito e riproposto, per così dire, in chiave "light", svuotandolo dei contenuti di protesta e mantenendo gli elementi dal maggiore appeal. Alle volte presentando un prodotto valido e coinvolgente, a volte no. C'è un signore, tale Paul Woolford, che forse molti di voi già conoscono. Si, ricordate bene, nel 2005 fece uscire su 20:20 Vision "Erotic Discourse", hit che quell'anno - e sfido chiunque, cultori e non, a dire di no! -, con la sua synth-line carica di una tamarragine nemmeno tanto rara per i tempi, fece letteralmente il delirio. Ebbene, il signor Woolford, dopo anni di release su etichette del calibro di Planet E, più o neno un annetto fa decide di aprire un suo personalissimo progetto, Special Request, che fonda le sue radici proprio in quella scena made in UK che tanto ha influenzato la clubbing scene dei primi anni 90 e che oggi si ripresenta, qui, in tutto il suo splendore. Qualche 12" whitelabeled, tracce incendiarie, remix da gente come Kassem Mosse: un anno di releases col botto (finite chiaramente nelle borse di molti top dj) conclusosi con l'EP "Mindwash / Vapour", che vi consigliamo di recuperare assolutamente. Etichetta e progetto musicale, dicevamo. Oggi Special Request aka Paul Woolford si ripresenta invece su Houndstooth, etichetta dal roster interessante e dalle sonorità davvero raw, con questo "Hardcore EP". Stare a discuterne non rende sicuramente l'ascolto, possiamo però dirvi che i due original mix sono due bomboniere da tenere per i momenti di splendore. "Wall to Wall" è semplicemente una mina techno, nuda e cruda, che senza remore sfodera una rabbia e un groove fuori dal normale, mentre "Broken Dreams" è un inno a tutta quella scena a cavallo tra il big beat e la jungle che poco fa abbiamo richiamato alla memoria. Fidatevi, se cercate break con gli attributi sotto, avete trovato pane per i vostri denti! Anthony Naples e Lee Gamble firmano i due remix dell'EP. Ecco, già qui ci potremmo fermare, visto il valore sulla scena di due remixer di questa portata. Naples mette, per l'occasione, le mani su "Mindwash", enfatizzandone i connotati jungle e trascinandoci tutti quanti insieme in un vortice di distorsione acustico-temporale che ribalta lo stomaco al contrario, mentre Gamble, quasi a far da contrappasso, sfodera un lavoro raffinato e ricercato, profondo ed intenso, confermando una volta di più, attraverso il suo remix dalle sonorità molto "meditative" di "Capsules", il suo talento. Un progetto così, con dei richiami così ed un lavoro così curato, va supportato, ascoltato, acquistato, suonato, amato e tutto quello che volete voi. Rave on, guys!

Andrea Thelonious

Tracklist:

A1. Wall To Wall
A2. Mindwash (Anthony Naples Eternal Mix)
AA1. Broken Dreams
AA2. Capsules (Lee Gamble Remix)