Fabric 57

Recording information: Le Théâtre Du Châtele, Paris (11/29/1971).
The French producer and DJ Sebastien Devaud (aka Agoria) has created a mix album with a difference with his contribution to the Fabric series. While on the surface Fabric 57 may sound like a more-or-less conventional continuous mix of techno selections, beneath the surface there is something less obvious going on. For example, although the album consists of 20 tracks (some of them incorporating multiple sub-tracks), there's a smaller core of material that is woven throughout the length of the 65-minute program. Listen carefully and you'll hear threads and snippets of classic jazz and Afro-beat from the likes of drummer Tony Allen, singer Ella Fitzgerald, and even Sun Ra, sometimes buried and sometimes peeking coyly out from behind featured tracks by the likes of Carl Craig, Blacmale, Zodiac Free Arts Club, and Cottam. The beats themselves are mostly fairly predictable in their general structure -- a house-derived four-on-the-floor thump prevails -- but there are some well-placed departures, such as the faintly reggae-flavored backbeats on the opening track (which itself consists of three tracks by Vainqueur, Ensemble Economique, and Zodiac Free Arts Club), or the grumbling, rockish bass guitar and cheesy vocoder that spice up Mark E's "Belvide Beat," or the African polyrhythmic complexity of Agoria's own "Heart Beating (Argy Tension Remix)." The album ends on a rather strange note, with a straight recording of Ella Fitzgerald singing "Night and Day" with the Buddy Bergman Orchestra: no beats, no remix wizardry, just Ella's lovely voice and a fine orchestra. It's a curious but certainly enjoyable end to a generally impressive album. ~ Rick Anderson