FABRICLIVE and fabric have remained among the best-loved, most influential and longest-running DJ mix series of all time. They've remained central to London's club scene for almost 20 years, and after the 100th installment of their fabric series they pivoted to a revamped quarterly mix series, titled fabric presents. The inaugural mix, presented here, was compiled by UK-born electronic musician, producer, and atmosphere selecta Bonobo. While Bonobo may be best known for his sleek production style that harks to his fondness for jazz, soul, funk, and minimalism, his fabric presents mix goes into upbeat house mode, and doesn't disappoint. The first chunk of the mix is an explosive montage of melody and instrumentation, check the opener "Flicker," (an unreleased Bonobo exclusive) "Jacquot," by Poté and "Ibrik" (another unreleased Bonobo exclusive) for the vibe. Other tracks to check out are "Maia" by Durante, "Stargard" by DJ Seinfeld, "The Way" by Nepa Allstar, and "Nia" by Âme. Bonobo seamlessly balances the upbeat with the down-tempo and is able to play house, techno and breakbeat tracks that are grounded by an acute sense of harmonic progression and rhythmic complexity. Fabric's selection of him as their inaugural artist for this new series indicates that the next iteration of the series will continue to look beyond the club’s walls for inspiration. Pressed onto 2 LP's and features 15 of the 22 tracks from the mix (in their original, full versions). Released by Fabric.

• 2 LP's
• gatefold sleeve
• download card included
• music label: Fabric 2019

reviewed by Roberto Pinstripe 3/2019