Young Graeme Sinden has become somewhat of the embodiment of what FABRICLIVE is all about – bass-driven, boundary-crossing music from all over the world that makes people want to party. He plays a likkle of everything and links it altogether with a central theme of hip-hop influence, filthy basslines and mash-up sensibilities.
On this mix, he goes straight for the jugular, wasting no time in getting the party started and grabbing his audiences attention – Juiceboxxx and Dre Skull’s cheesy Centre Stage setting the mood before club staples from Yo Majesty and Sinden & The Count remind us of the B-more and new skool speed garage styles that he’s long been behind. We then go on an international tip, Scottie B & King Tutt’s African Chant giving some rhythmic respite from the first four vocal tracks, and neatly segueing into Sinden’s own, hypnotic remix of Mujava’s Township Funk. Then there’s rowdy desi-meets-bashment from Tigerstyle and a host of awesome international guests on Sinden’s remix of Balle! Shava!. Already you have to admire his skill for spotting tracks from around the world which have or can be given an accessible twist for less globally-aware types.
The African twist continues with Buraka Som Sistema’s rampant Luanda – Lisboa and the bleepy mischief of Radioclit’s Secousse, before we slow down for a grime and dubstep selection. All of a sudden we’re moving treacle-like through wonky, buzzing basslines, such as the crisply-produced, intense, playful sounds of Joker’s Gully Brook Lane, perfectly mixed into the syncopated styles of JME doing his usual braggadocio ting on the electro-infused AWOH. The script is soon flipped once again, with the otherworldy Strange Fruit by Zomby, sounding like a manic piano concerto converted into echoing 8-bit bleepery, and Caper’s speed-garage-bassline-aping Hybrid paving the way for Sinden to take things up a notch again. After being subjected to a deluge of same-same dubstep in recent months, it’s great to hear his fresh selection of invigorating, innovative tracks from the genre which importantly, command you to get up and shake your ting.
It’s then into wonky, fidget house meets speed garage and bassline concoctions, leading into Machines Don’t Care’s Beat Bang - squealing and squeaking all over the place like Sooty & Sweep doing lines of chop. A euphoric finale comes in his own rousing remix of Kudu’s ‘80s-flecked vocal stormer Let’s Finish, in a phat, spiced-up electrohouse vein, M83’s Depeche Mode-style synth beauty Couleurs, and the slo-mo, ethereal hymn of SALEM’s Redlights adding a spiritual flourish to the end of the mix – a perfect send-off.
What could have been a painfully hyperactive and messy mix is held together and structured well, with plenty of variation on some central themes to achieve the tricky task of cohesiveness mixed with variety. A surefire party-starter.
Tracklisting:
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Juiceboxxx And Dre Skull - Center Stage (Vicious Pop Records)
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Yo Majesty - Club Action (Domino Records)
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Aquasky Ft. Acafool - Have A Good Time (The Count & Sinden Mix) (Passenger)
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Armand Van Helden - This Aint Hollywood (Southern Fried)
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Scottie B And King Tutt - African Chant (Unruly)
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Mujava - Township Funk (Sinden Remix) (This Is Music)
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Tigerstyle Ft. Vybz Kartel, Mangi Mahal + Nikitta - Balle! Shava! (Sinden Remix) (Nachural)
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Mixhell - Highly Explicit (Brodinski Remix) (BOYZNOIZE Recordings)
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Buraka Som Sistema - Luanda - Lisboa (Fabric London)
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Radioclit - Secousse (Instrumental Version) (Mental Groove)
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Alan Braxe Ft. Killa Kella & Fallon - Nightwatcher (Show Me) (Instrumental) (Eye Industries)
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Double S & True Tiger - From Day (True Tiger/Always) * Joker 'Gully Brook Lane' (Terrorrhythm)
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JME - AWOH (Boy Better Know)
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Skream - Fick (Tempa)
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Zomby - Strange Fruit (Ramp)
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Caper - Hybrid (Studio Rockers)
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Project Bassline - Drop The Pressure (The Count & Sinden Remix) (Cheap Thrills)
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Piddy Py - Giggle Riddim (Dress To Sweat)
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Roisin Murphy - Overpowered (Hervé And Roisin In The Secret Garden Mix) (EMI)
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Machines Don't Care - Beat Bang (Machines Don't Care)
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Kudu - Let's Finish (Sinden Remix) (Nublu)
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M 83 - Couleurs (Gooom Disques)
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SALEM 'Redlights' (Acephale Records)