Recommended
Fabriclive.73 // Pangaea
Label: Fabric
Format: CD/Digital
Release Date: 20/01/14
Unlike many mixes there is no preamble to Pangaea’s Fabriclive.73; the moment I press play I’m thrust into the theme which overrides its entirety; interesting and considered techno. Things are softened up a bit, yet only partially with tracks by Lee Gamble and Shifted, until Manni Dee’s ‘Romantic Self’ propels forward with a buoyancy that anyone who has ever attempted to submerge a football in a swimming pool will be familiar with.
Following this, Pangaea embarks on a persistently heart-racing series of mixes which are both inventive and impeccably paced. This section culminates with Mumdance & MAO’s, ‘Truth’, an attention grabbing track which leaves you trying to guess what will come next. Here the mixes seem to slacken off a little, the selection doesn’t seem as considered as the previous ones. The good news is that this interval doesn’t last for long and I’m forced to retrieve my iPod (other mp3 players are available) from my pocket in order to check what track has led out of Peverelist & Kowton’s ‘End Point’. Looking down at the screen, I read the words Forward Strategy Group, ‘Clean Neckline.’
The selection from here on is pretty faultless - the Exposure remix of Speedy J’s ‘Something For Your Mind’ being a personal highlight for me. The following final mixes represent a breadth of techno, blended with unusual ease which leaves the listener feeling as if they have experienced far more than the tracklist can reveal.
The series of Hessle Audio Fabric mixes seems complete with Pangaea’s contribution, being the final founder to do so. This is the least diverse of them all, yet should not be over looked for that. It maintains a focus throughout and presents us with an exploration of where Pangaea’s style and tastes lie at the moment, which seems a long way from the early Hemlock releases which first grabbed my attention some years ago.
- Published
- Mar 4, 2014
- Credits
- Words by Theo Darton-Moore