The FabricLive catalogue encompasses a strange and unique array of artists. It is hardly surprising, then, that Simian Mobile Disco man the helm of FabricLive’s 41st volume. James Ford and Jas Shaw have never erred on the side of conventionality (evidenced by last year’s Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release), and yet FabricLive 41 retains its structure despite traversing bumpy aural terrain. SMD spend the course of 22 tracks mixing up a tantalizing variety of wild electro-house, Balearic italadisco and electronica whose sound can resemble that of an intergalactic Star Wars laser battle played over The Phantom of the Opera. Needless to say, Fabriclive 41 is not for the classicist in each of us.

For all its eclecticism, Simian Mobile Disco manages to weave an articulate tapestry out of ordinarily disorienting building blocks. The album opens with Sisters of Transistors’ “The Don,” an organ-laden track sifted over layers of synthesizers that locks into place the mix’s forthcoming colorful, sometimes tongue-in-cheek nature. The duo waste no time in giving us the galactic electro-funk treatment (Smith N Hack’s “Space Warrior,” Discodeine’s “Joystick”) before diving headfirst into an orgy of bass-heavy techno and tech-house. “Up Tool” and “Miura” ride decibels to dizzying heights, digressing into minimal-tech fusion briefly before taking flight again following “Huncut Hacuka.”

The stuff of Simian Mobile Disco’s live performances, the beloved chunkiness of contemporary electro-house, first drops during “Aemono” and ends only with the disc itself. Tracks both old and new grace this stretch of sound; I would have thought I was listening to performances by John Acquaviva or Roger Sanchez, because SMD’s static style releases electricity enough to level roofs. Jelo & Deadmau5 contribute to the floor-stomping heat prior to an ear-singeing sequence through Simon Baker’s remix of SMD’s “Sleep Deprivation,” Popof’s acidic “The Chomper (LSD Version),” Raymond Scott’s “Cindy Electronium” and Paul Woolford’s fantastically wicked “Erotic Discourse.” Sequences like these never fail to have me moving. “Cameras ready, prepare to flash!” – Green Velvet’s inclusion is an excellent and diverse look into past electronica with a vocal hook nearly as catchy as that of “Percolator.” But a look into the past, according to Simian Mobile Disco, is just what they’ve intended. From the Fabric press notes, “We weren’t aiming to make it the most current mix of tunes. Of course there will be a few new things but a lot of it is us digging back into our record collections, just the stuff that people may have forgotten about, or that went overlooked.”

Having left few genres completely untouched, Simian Mobile Disco wrap up their seventy-two minutes of Fabric fame with The Walker Brothers’ “Nite Flights,” bringing an appropriately offbeat curtain to one of the most interesting FabricLive compilations since Spank Rock’s 33rd. Though not always the easiest type of music to listen to, FabricLive 41 certainly promises to be one of the most sought compilations of the summer.

~ James Woodruff

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