The fabric presents series is one of three series of compilation albums mixed by artists in the broad UK dance scene. The most recognisable of these series’, FABRICLIVE, is well known within the rave scene for its featuring of massive drum and bass artists, including LTJ Bukem, dBridge, Grooverider, and DJ Marky. Additionally, it includes other huge UK dance artists from garage, house, techno, and dubstep, with their last iteration in 2018 featuring Kode9 and Burial. This series ran from 2001 to 2018.

Conversely to the pedigree that FABRICLIVE has within the scene, fabric presents began relatively recently, in 2019, with its first artist being Bonobo. This release was, however, a hit, with a one of its bespoke tracks Ibrik becoming hugely popular despite never having a studio album release. Despite fabric presents relatively recent history, it has still hosted some huge artists, including Chase & Status, Overmono, and Maribou State.

Leon Vynehall is still shimmering from the success of his last album, Rare, Forever, a record that found its way into many of 2021’s end of year lists. A record that saw him move away from the house that defined him, he displayed his myriad of influences from outside his familiar genre, with the first track “Ecce! Ego!” sounding as if it were lifted from an early Boards of Canada album. More possessed by movements and motifs, the album was a refreshing shift in style that built on the experimental tendencies of his previous record, Nothing is Still, that at times felt more of an experimental jazz record than anything close to resembling UK house.

His new single, “Sugar Slip (The Lick)”, is a comparitive return to form, yet still an experimental endeavor with a pulsing beat and stabbing synths. Released by fabric records, the single is to feature on the upcoming fabric presents mix blended by Vynehall.

His last compilation album came in the form of a DJ-Kicks mix, which displayed a stunning variety of artists from distant genres, including Haruomi Hosono, AFX (Aphex Twin), and Ellen Fullman. Heres hoping his fabric presents mix revels in a similar disregard for genre convention.

The surreal music video is a dizzying collection of snapshots; shadows, silhouettes, and crowds meander and duplicate themselves into grids and gauzes. It is hard to tell if Mr. Rakei himself makes an appearance in the video, all the more adding to the music video’s disorienting feel.

Directed by BWTV, the video for “Shadows” emulates their previous video-making styles, comprising of distorted clips in a retro style, though typically such clips will be overlayed on footage of artists. Their video for Man of Moon’s “Strangers” video read like a broken VCR tape, whose real had been sunburnt only in the best, most aesthetically pleasing spots. Their style befits artists like Bonobo, whose staccato deep house drums befit the choppy visual style.

Bonobo’s Fragments album is his first in four years, since 2017s Migration that landed him a number one spot on the dance album charts. Certain album singles that were release prior to Fragments went on to see huge popularity and acclaim, with “Rosewood” alone earning a number three spot on Spotify’s Best Electronic Songs of 2021.

Speaking on the album, Bonobo discusses the sonic influences that went into this project: “It’s all come full circle now — that emotional rave music. I think there’s some really fun stuff happening at the moment; this resurgence of breakbeat, like the slow, deconstructed junglist kind of stuff.” In an interview with DJMag for their cover feature last year, Bonobo praises Overmono with spearheading this new, welcome trend in UK dance: “They’ve done some amazing stuff. I love that approach to it, where it’s stripped down but emotional… it’s almost a throwback to people like Mike Paradinas, that Rephlex era of breakbeats. That was something I was into.” 

Listen to Bonobo’s Fragments below:

The leading single, “You Could Be”, featuring singer George Riley, is the first feature that Anz has had on one of her tracks, itself showing that she is on the rise. See the music video below.

The following track, “Real Enough to Feel Good”, was released as a single last month with “You Could Be” as its B-side. Despite her starting her own label earlier this year, OTMI, these tracks were released on Ninja Tune.

To promote the release, Anz is playing at The White Hotel in Manchester on the 22nd of October, with many other DJs, as well as the Wigwam Basement in Dublin on the 6th of November.

She made a name for herself earlier this year, with the track “Unravel in the Designated Zone” gaining popularity and raising her profile, and “Loos in Twos (NRG)”, released last year on Hessle Audio, becoming a regular feature on many a DJ set. Her meteoric rise could perhaps be attributed by her ability to span numerous forms of UK dance music, not over-relying on one sound to the point of tedium and being able to access as many audiences as possible.

Despite her recent popularity, she is by no means a newcomer, having been consistently releasing tracks since 2017, beginning with Anz EP, released on Chow Down records. It is clear that since then she has found her sound and refined the rougher edges of her production. While still indulging in the occasional bass stab, her sound has since become much glossier and cleaner.

The Manchester-based DJ and producer has had a busy year in releasing singles, EP’s and founding her own record label, OTMI, as well as now releasing physical copies of this release on her Bandcamp, with one including a sticker sheet and another including an exclusive white label, a special treat for the DJ’s and old-school crate-diggers. You can stream All Hours below.

Photo Credit: Melanie Lehmann