Anyone can construct a track, and lay out its elements in all the right places – have the bassline kick just here, or the percussion build right there – but only a select few can actually design one. It comes as no surprise that Matt Edwards is a graphic designer and artist by trade, as a visual thread runs colourfully through his sonics, rhythms and arrangements. Shaped by the groove, and ever leaning on an uplifting hypnotic lilt, every production that falls under the spell of Edwards becomes certified dancefloor gold. But success has never taken away from his prolificacy, nor his endless sense of reinvention – over the last eight years, Matt Edwards has been morphing and expanding under a variety of names: Quiet Village, Sea Devils, Matthew E, Rekid and of course his most famed name, Radio Slave.

“I love doing the Radio Slave stuff, it’s a real passion for me: the night clubbing culture and the perfecting of making music for clubs. But it’s good as a producer to be able to switch between different aliases, because you can’t write the same tracks all the time, it’d drive you mad. You learn a lot of things from working at different tempos, it’s a good learning process, and one thing can influence the other.” – Radio Slave

Growing up in an artistically led family in South London, Matt Edwards’ taste buds initially whetted when exploring the vast record collection of his father (who happened to design record sleeves as a profession), which makes sense of his schizophrenic, and voracious, musical appetite. In fact, all of his aliases seem to be tied by this same motif of imagination and experimentation. In his 20s, gaining a background education in playing downtempo tracks and Balearic beats, Edwards’ first forays into DJing were at the future-forward ‘Open All Hours’ night at Ministry of Sound in 1992. Perhaps his downtempo upbringing provides the explanation behind his Quiet Village project with partner, and fellow vinyl-obsessive, Joel Martin. And the poppy feel of Quiet Village, meanwhile, lends to the pop dance grooves he creates as Sea Devils, his work with celebrated musician Caged Baby. As Matthew E, he creates jackin’ house beats that groove and pulse under the most unexpected colour spectrum, which is the flipside to the soul-led and more articulate pull of Rekid, whose gold run of 12″s set the underground radar alight. His ‘Made In Menorca’ album (on Soul Jazz Records) as Rekid was a righteous success by critics and fans alike, breeding house beats that truly set a new precedent.

As Radio Slave, a name which originally started out as a temporary venture (tongue firmly in cheek) as he attacked remixes of more mainstream-focused and radio-friendly tracks, he started off best known for his techy remixes of some of the biggest names in pop (including Kylie Minogue, Gwen Stefani and Sir Elton John, to name but a few). Remix after remix, 12″ after 12″, and Radio Slave’s teched-out sound has since managed to find its way into an incomparable globe-spanning career, creating productions and compilations that are both exploratory and accessible. His ‘No Sleep’ EP series – launched in 2006, and now on its 6th edition – has become one of the most sought-after and eagerly anticipated set of 12″s in the 4/4 world.

But there’s yet one more crucial, and perfectly tuned, string to Edwards’ ever-expanding bow – Rekids, his hugely respected imprint shared with businessman James Masters. Kicking off in 2006 with Radio Slave’s anthemic ‘My Bleep EP’, the label has since gone from strength to strength, incorporating artists as far reaching as Luke Solomon, Toby Tobias, Spencer Parker and Mr G, among others. Rekids continually sets the blueprint for big-room grooves and hypnotic house and techno beats.

“We’ve got a number of album projects coming up from some new artists; an artist from Canada, from Montreal called James Teej, who we’ve been working with. The Jjak Hogan album is finished; we’ve been mixing and mastering that. We’ve been trying to broaden the label; with different projects, especially with the album projects. We’ve also got a girl from Russia called Nina Kraviz who’s a singer/songwriter and multi instrumentalist, she sounds like a Russian Moodymann; it’s very Detroit inspired. She’s getting a lot of props from American producers, she’s just been working with Jus-Ed. We’ve got a few compilation projects that James and I have been working on, we’re doing a “best of” Radio Slave remixes compilation which, because of the fabric compilation, will be coming out in November. We’ll also be doing a Quiet Village compilation of “best of” remixes.” – Radio Slave

On fabric 48, like any Radio Slave production, the devil is in the details. Unlike a typical DJ mix that crams as much as possible into a relentlessly full tracklist, Radio Slave strips back and grooves with only 13 productions, each as incandescent and hypnotic as the next. This is no quick-fix mix, fabric 48 slow-burns each beat and sizzles with a crisp sense of timelessness. All tracks are elegantly drawn out and pulled in directions unknown, creating drama through the smallest effects and bringing back the feel of classic DJ experimentation from the heyday of Larry Levan. Designing soundscapes that breed rich, deep tones and colourful percussive builds, the mix tours tempos and glows with Cadenza’s Michel Cleis, the tech-laced grace of 2000 & One, plus exclusives and re-edits from Radio Slave’s own unstoppable Rekids imprint.

“It’s a mix of new and old tracks, something that people outside of the dance music snoberity would enjoy! I just wanted this mix to be a true reflection of my DJ sets, so I tried to capture the vibe of what I’ve been playing over the last year, and expose listeners to the kind of sets that I play at fabric. The club has the best sound system in the UK and this gives me the opportunity to really stretch out tracks and experiment with different sounds and atmospheres. Tracks like ‘La Mezcla’ have been in my record box for well over 6 months but it’s still a track that’s a great pleasure to play, plus there’s two new tracks from me, an amazing track from Boola and Nergu and an unreleased song by Rekids latest signing Nina Kraviz. All in all, a modern mix of electronic sounds from around the globe!” – Radio Slave

Bold reflects Exclusive & Unreleased track.

UK/R.O.W. Retail: 14th September 2009
USA: 20th October 2009