Ever since our Easter break had finished, the terrible summer exam period of library-confinement and general disappearance of a social life had once again returned. Just as the clouds cleared and sun began shining, I resigned myself to about a month or so devoid of any kind of fun as I was personally faced with two critical exams to conclude what has been a fairly erratic first year university experience. For this period, King's College took a leaf out of our beloved fabric's book for longevity, keeping its library doors open 24 hours. This, however, is where the similarities end as sweaty, ketamine-hoovering Europeans were replaced by stern-faced oriental law students, and the all-conquering Martin Audio system was replaced by a PA to remind everyone to keep their phones on silent. Ok, maybe trying to force some kind of comparison between a university library and a London superclub is perhaps a little absurd, but that is the swap I've had to make recently, which is why (as I hope you would already know) SOTW, which recently allowed its first birthday to pass without celebration, has been distinctly and tragically silent for the last few weeks.

But as I kept telling myself later than 10pm most nights, when I was still sifting through piles of useless lecture notes knowing I was missing so much in pastures East, the end is nigh and 12 noon this morning officially marked the beginning of Summer for me. Chris isn't so lucky, and will continue to be a physics slave for a little while longer... Our hearts go out.

As I hinted at in my previous April chart post, there were still a few essential parties we had to show our face at regardless of the consequences. These I will discuss in further detail, as I will for some very important releases such as SebastiAn's long-awaited debut album, John Tejada's new EP, Ricardo Villalobos's latest collaboration with Los Updates and several others. I also feel it is important to raise awareness of what warehouseland has to offer over the coming weeks. As ever, London and Bristol are littered with some show-stoppers, most notably Boys Noize and Sven Väth this weekend at fabric and Bristol's gargantuan In:Motion Summer Party in June, marking the birth of Chris's Summer 2011 in some style, with Ridha again featuring, alongside Erol Alkan and featuring Art Department.

On that note, I am pleased to announce the return of SOTW, now a little over a year old and still as grateful as ever to those of you that have continued to follow us. I'll begin by bringing you up to date with the few things we've been up to since the last post that isn't school-related.

Part 1: April
Magda at fabric, Steve Bug & Jamie Jones at fabric, Air London presents Nick Curly, Simon Baker, MANIK (live), Half Baked meets Bar 25, Paul Kalkbrenner (live) at fabric, Benoit & Sergio (live), Onur Özer, Marcel Dettmann at fabric

The short synopsis of the month of April would suggest it was far from a studious month, however, for me and Chris it marked the closure of freedom really, before 'knuckle-down' time (as my mother would call it) well and truly kicked in. Technically, the first party that welcomed me back to London was on the very first evening. The CAMP Basement was about to get Perlonized again, very much as it did earlier on in the year when Zip and Baby Ford arrived and I was as good as dead before the clock struck 6am and missed the best of everything. This time my condition was far more sustainable, and I got to observe Thomas Melchior's fine vinyl mixing on what was a fairly thin dancefloor. That was a bonus if anything though, as I really didn't expect to be getting my shoes scruffy anywhere other than fabric the following night where I would finally witness Magda's regal presence in command of Room One.

Alas, some never learn from their mistakes. This old proverb could never have been more relevant for me the following night, when Saturday had come and M-nus's royalty had landed after weeks of anticipation. Maybe I was too excited. Maybe the fairly tame few weeks I had endured prior to this night had hindered my stamina levels somehow. Whatever the reason was, waking up in one of fabric's toilet cubicles at around half eight was one of the lowest points of my year so far. The vastly depleted bottle of Russian Standard that I found when I got home was a clue as to how I ended up in such a way, but the result was that I remember very little of Magda. I do recall her beats being very big, and Magda herself being very, very small. She really is pint-sized, and it's difficult to believe that those immense basslines come from such a dainty figure behind the decks. I'm sure she would not appreciate being described in such a way, but unfortunately I really have very little more to say about her performance on this occasion, and I'm sure that is very much my loss. If there's one thing I did learn though, it's that vodka is overrated.

I decide to write that episode off as a false start. It was a frightful shame and entirely my own fault I didn't see the best of Magda, but it happens to the best of us. The following weekend was the opportunity to redeem myself as Chris, followed by an entourage of Bristolians descended on London for a heavyweight deep house session at fabric, a scene Chris has developed growing affection for. The line-up was roughly engineered from two angles. Jamie Jones and his Hot Creations imprint took over a large proportion of the proceedings, while Steve Bug took the coveted 5-close slot in Room One and Andrew Weatherall along with Slam live represented a typically techno-orientated Room Two. As ever, the Room One line-up was the main showcase, with Craig Richards sandwiched between sets from Jones and Bug and obviously pulling the majority of the crowd in there that night. However, for us the real charm was the Hot Natured takeover of Room Three where Russ Yallop and a live performance from Subb-an promised something special to keep us from hugging the floor downstairs. Upon entry, Jamie Jones was in full swing in Room One and we wasted no time in soaking up the warm, feel-good house vibes he laid down. No complaints about the density of the club or the crowd that had gathered. While techno and its minimal offshoots traditionally attracts a continental crowd that (unfortunately) breeds animosity amongst some of London's more conservative clubbers, the deep house movement of late is certainly a very English development. Damian Lazarus and his Crosstown Rebels crew got the ball rolling, paving the way for label's like Visionquest, and now Jamie Jones's Hot Creations to begin taking London, Bristol, Manchester and beyond by storm. Jones kept true to his signature rolling tech-house style, but his inclusion of Aril Brikha's Berghain although a welcome surprise, was in reality fairly predictable as it Seth Troxler's recent fondness for the classic would prove.

Chris didn't make the journey down just to jostle comfortably in Room One however, and had his sights firmly set on drawing every drop of deep house goodness from upstairs in Room Three where Jones joined Russ Yallop after he had finished his downstairs duties. As Craig Richards took Room One into slightly quirkier territory, Jones and Yallop kept things slow and sexy as the maze of arches gradually began filling as word got round the club that Room Three was where they should be. Subb-an's live set was arguably the highlight of the entire night when he took to the platform facing Room Three's DJ booth. It was the first live set I had witnessed in the room and Subb-an proved why the cavernous little space has so much more potential that it may get credit for. His set maintained the same deep, throbbing house mood, his sumptuous 'What I Do' provided a classic example of feel good vocals in perfect harmony with those resonating 2020 Vision/Hot Creations basslines that the soundsystem handled with remarkable ease.

Inevitably we delved back into the bowels of the club as Room Three began wavering slightly. Steve Bug was already in command of Room One, Julio Bashmore's playful genre-spanning hit 'Battle for Middle You' had the entire room leaping around upon our arrival to the dancefloor before Bug drifted in and out of various other mutations of house and techno. Although I can only applaud Bug's performance at Paramount when I caught him there in early March, his audience and less daring surroundings perhaps inhibited the far more adventurous side he displayed here. Never one to pin himself down to one style in his sets, Bug once again proved his envious knowledge of music and his superior ability mixing it. Old and new was sewn together so smoothly that it took an unusual amount of time for me to recognize Laurent Garnier's immortal The Man With The Red Face slowly filtering in at around 8:30am, shorty before we made a well-timed exit.

One of the greatest things about 2011 so far has been that unlike 2010, it has provided me with an opportunity to enjoy the abundance of festivities that the bank holiday 'season' offers. It is around this time of the year that we are littered with those special little weekends that are every party-goers dream and every barman's nightmare, as I discovered last year. Easter Sunday was the first one to tackle, directly following the previous night at fabric and requiring some preparation before we were going anywhere. As always, London didn't exactly give us an easy decision to make, with Shoreditch and beyond crammed with appetizing line-ups. Despite the competition however, surely a free party, yes FREE party, headed by Nick Curly, Simon Baker, MANIK , Geddes, Glimpse and Alex Cellar at Rivington Studios/The Red Gallery couldn't possibly be ignored? The line-up rivaled any in town, but the extreme rarity of a free party in London tipped us, and hundreds of others over the edge. But before we negotiated that, it was Chris's turn to lose his Half Baked virginity...

I had been singing the praises of Half Baked for a long time. My first experience of the monthly Sunday afternoon party was right at the beginning of the year I believe, expecting very little as I ducked and stumbled my way through the low, narrow archways of what was formerly a car park on Fairchild Street, a remote turn off Shoreditch High Street. Ever since I have been well and truly beset by the simple philosophy of the operation. Of all East London's scruffy, heavily European, guestlist-only techno gatherings, Half Baked is without doubt the best. The rumbling stack of Funktion Ones, piss-smelling toilets and the constant shade of French accent in the 'chill-out' area gives the initial impression that HB is like any other of those kind of parties, but as I learned first impressions can be very misleading. Half Baked may have started out in such a way, but today it is a thriving hidden gem with excellent sound and impressive line-ups every time. This time Half Baked 'met' Bar 25, the tragically now defunct Berlin fantasyland party (imagine a cross between a child's playground/circus and Berghain), with Perlon's Matt John enlisted to provide the beats. The 'chill-out' area was appropriately decorated with various props in an attempt to recreate that Bar 25 'fantasy', so manikins, swings and weird 'confession booths' were deployed at the mercy of imagination. If it wasn't for the sweltering heat that resulted from the summery London weather that weekend, it would have been an almost flawless party. Resident Robin Ordell delivered a typically punchy warm-up set with all the Sunday classics (i.e. JJ's remix of Flash), before Matt John finished off with a quirky blend of percussive minimal and dub techno. As always, HB was the perfect way to finish off the weekend once a month, around familiar faces immersed in perfect beats and sound. This time it wasn't to be the final party however, as we made our way on foot to 'Love Not Money', the free party...

It's not like we had anything to 'lose', but the inevitable popularity of a free party with the likes of Nick Curly was always going to make things a little stuffy, but we didn't expect humidity like the Amazon during monsoon season. HB acted as a warning, but Rivington Studios was something else. I could actually feel the heat on my hands as I danced, sweat lathering our entire bodies as we tried our best to make the most of Geddes and Simon Baker's B2B set. I was determined to catch some of MANIK's live performance upstairs and Nick Curly's 4-6 set, but it just wasn't going to happen. It's nights like this when the practicality of warehouse spaces like Rivington Studios is exposed. Sure they usually make perfectly adequate venues for throwing no-frills underground raves, but when the British weather takes an unexpected turn for the better things beneath the streets of Shoreditch can get a little uncomfortable. Without proper air conditioning, ventilation or good access to drinking water, the power of the soundsystem can't ever make up for the simplest lack of utilities in a venue. For this reason we made a quick escape and found ourselves back where we started the weekend. Yes, back at fabric. It wasn't quite what we had in mind, but WYS! really did remind me how much of a great clubbing experience fabric is. Compared to Air London or even Half Baked, fabric was like a refrigerator, and very welcome one at that. Ironic really as that's pretty much what fabric once was.

Rewind back to December last year and it was time for John Digweed's legendary Christmas party at fabric. I can't realistically imagine how it could have been any better, with Diggers commanding Room One for over 6 hours at his peerless best. However, Paul Kalkbrenner was billed to perform live in Room Two but fell victim to the apparently apocalyptic British weather. Had the evergreen German producer made it, he could have somehow prised us away from Digweed's grasp in Room One. It was without doubt a very unfortunate loss, glossed over only by an exceptional English DJ at the top of his game elsewhere in the club. But fabric, always eager to please and seldom disappoint, continued their recent utility of the Thursday night at EC1 by opening up the main room just for Kalkbrenner, after a decent warm-up set from Dominik Eulberg, who would soon release his magnificent album Diorama. Paul Kalkbrenner is one of those figures in electronic music that 'needs no introduction'. Whether it's his prolific record as a producer of pioneering 'techno-pop' on BPitch Control or his role on screen in Berlin Calling, there will be a good reason why his name is at the very least familiar to you. It's also why the night at fabric dedicated to him sold out within a couple of days and was a sea of excitement inside the club. He delivered his three-hour set with all the smoothness and confidence you would expect from such an illustrious artist. There was a breezy, summery narrative to Kalkbrenner's approach, keeping things essentially techno, but never too serious. It was an effortless performance, music crafted by, and in the hands of, someone with an undiminished passion and devotion to the sound he's created. The soundsystem as always made easy work of handling the array of deep, complex basslines that were emitted, and the crowd were an educated army of Kalkbrenner devotees, lapping up every last morsel of bass before time was called shortly after 3am. fabric's recent succession of 'school-day' parties may cause havoc for those with Friday morning commitments, but when they're as good as this the sick notes will have to become increasingly original.

As so often is the case, I ended the month how it started, and usually continues throughout- at fabric. Cast your mind back to my last fabric watch and you will remember I forecast Saturday, April 30th as the pick of what was a string of heavyweight nights. Now I do not regret making that forecast, for I had very good reasons. For example, the main live act of the night, Benoit & Sergio are responsible for one of the cult tracks of the year so far in Walk and Talk; Marcell Dettmann not only claimed tenth position in RA's Top 100 DJ's of 2010, but is also one of Berghain's über-residents and finally, if Onur Özer's previous appearance at fabric was anything to go by then his gifted ability mixing Villalobosian minimal was surely an unmissable element of what would be an epic night? In theory yes, in reality it was far from the spectacle I envisaged. I'm not quite sure what went wrong. We missed B&S, but feedback from trustworthy friends suggest remarkably that it was 'awful', and while we did catch most of Özer's awkwardly allocated set, he seemed hell-bent on avoiding the style he is so naturally gifted at. His two hours of boring tech and deep house maintained little attention on the Room One dancefloor, which was scarily empty at such an early time. Of the people that were actually in the club, the majority collected in Room Two where Dettmann launched his classically German techno assault. If there was something to salvage from the night it was Dettmann's honesty as a DJ. While Özer experimented with a sound that none of his audience wanted, Dettmann did precisely the opposite, supplying a set entirely representative of why his name has become synonymous with the Berghain signature sound, to a crowd who wanted nothing other than that. Admittedly it was a little too pounding for me to hang around for long, but I left with little confusion as to why Dettmann is now such a formidable figure in the world of techno. Despite a rescue-mission set from Craig Richards in Room One to finish, I can't imagine he was spinning anything far beyond 8am.

As of Monday, I will have officially turned 20 years old. The departure from teenage-hood suggests new responsibility, on top of impending exams and three important pieces of coursework. I have also calculated I will be attending fabric at least 7 times in the next 6 weeks.

I'm aware that in my context that is slightly absurd, especially as I only recently vowed to reduce the frequency I visit fabric. The bottom line is I'm piss-poor, and despite the discounts I receive as a member, a night at fabric is never cheap. Add to this a determination to protect my mind and body as well as a general desire to use the club sparingly these days and I'm probably appearing a little foolish and rather hypocritical. But what can I say? fabric's programming this year continues to amaze and seduce in a way impossible to ignore. It's difficult to believe the club was in administration just last year, with its future ominously in the balance. But such is the institutional force of the fabric brand that it has made billing the biggest names in electronic music weekly, look so effortless and routine.

April and May arguably offer the most exciting run of line-ups at the club for quite some time. As usual, Saturdays continue to explore the leading trends of house and techno, especially with the return of Sven Väth and his Cocoon night in May, while Kill Em All is also back for the third time of the year on a Friday, alongside a highly anticipated BNR take over in Room One. There are even a couple of Thursdays and Sundays that are appealing. In short, the fabric programme over the next 6 weeks or so is not to be ignored, and here's our pick of of what's going on.

Saturday April 16th:
fabric with Magda, Sebo K, Kate Simko (live), Taimur Agha, Terry Francis, Ryan Elliott, Barker & Baumecker (live), Maratrax 11-8am, £19 on the door/18 advance/£10 fabricfirst/students
These days it requires something a little bit special for fabric to tempt me if there's no Craig Richards, and the 16th is the perfect example. Room One will be headlined by mighty Magda, who requires no introduction, for what I hope will be an extended set of her famously murky m-nus minimal. After the mind-blowing WYS! appearance from labelmate Gaiser a fortnight ago, I've been itching for more Minus and other than Ritchieeeee, there's nobody better than the pint-sized Pole.

Thursday April 21st:
fabriclive presents Adventures in The Beetroot Field with Carte Blanche, Tensnake (live).... 9pm-6am £10/12/10
It's not often you'll see us previewing fabriclive on SOTW, and it's even rarer for us to preview a Thursday, but the Easter weekend edition of ATBF is both. The line-up is extensive to say the least, with 22 acts billed for the three rooms, but there are two in particular that caught my attention. Carte Blanche's (DJ Mehdi & Riton) debut last year at Kill Em All was magnificent, so if that's anything to go by then their set on this night will certainly something to consider if you don't have to be up early on Friday morning. Add to that a live set from Disco-House maverick Tensnake and the weekend could be kicking off early in style.

Saturday April 23rd:
fabric with Craig Richards, Steve Bug, Jamie Jones, Andrew Weatherall, Slam (live), Russ Yallop, Subb-Ann (live)... 11-8am, £15/16/10
Leaving Room One on the 23rd could be difficult. Steve Bug and Jamie Jones on their own would make a night unmissable in most venues, but together alongside Craig Richards in fabric is a seriously hot prospect. Predicting set times has troubled me; It's very possible that Richards may close the night from 6am, with Jones and Bug preceding him- who starts first out of those two is something I'm still unsure of. But if you're brave enough to vacate Room One at all then there remains plenty of choice in the other two rooms, especially as Lee Foss's Hot Natured label takes over Room Three. Subb-Ann and Russ Yallop, who has also released on Crosstown Rebels, will surely tempt me and Chris away at some point.

Thursday April 28th:
fabric with Paul Kalkbrenner (live), Simina and Dominick Eulberg 10pm-3am, £12.50 for all (advance tickets only)
Like me, if you attended John Digweed's annual Christmas rave at fabric last year you were probably very disappointed when you discovered Paul Kalkbrenner was one of the several weather related casualties of the night. Well, to make up for it he's back, but this time on a Thursday (another one) where he will deliver one of his legendary live sets of acquired, chilled-out techno. A word of warning: Despite the night being promoted by and held at fabric, there will be no tickets available on the door, which means even immortal fabricfirst members like myself will have to cough-up the full price of £12.50 before the night. Do not make the same mistake as I did for when Nicolas Jaar performed at London Electronic a few weeks ago and assume there will be at least some tickets on the door. As far as I know there won't, and tickets are running out fast.

Saturday April 30th:
fabric with Craig Richards, Onur Özer, Benoit & Sergio (live), Marcel Dettmann... 11-8am, £19/18/10
By this date, I will have certainly attended fabric at least three times in the space of two weeks so I was actually hoping for mediocre line-up before this night was announced. Alas, it is not mediocre in the slightest, with the return of Craig Richards joined by Visionquest's finest live act, Benoit & Sergio and Turkish minimal maestro Onur Özer, who also happens to be one of my favourite minimal DJ's. Room Two also features Berghain resident and RA's no. 10 DJ last year, Marcel Dettmann- something I will definitely be sampling regardless of what's happening in the main room. I forecast this to be the one to avoid missing over the next 6 weeks.

Sunday May 1st:
WYS! Bank Holiday Special at fabric with Miss Kittin, Stephan Bodzin, Marc Romboy, Sei A, Perc... 11pm-8am, £15/16/10
One of many bank holiday Sunday's premier parties, for this occasion WYS! opens up all three rooms and will be just like a Saturday, going all the way until at least 8am. The main room is headed by French temptress, Miss Kitten who will surely have the gents in awe of not just the beats, while Room Two hosts one of Marc Romboy and Stephan Bodzin's tag-team sessions, accompanied by Turbo's Sei A among others. If you're stuck choosing what bank holiday party to go to, WYS! is a safe bet.

Saturday May 7th:
fabric with Tyrant (Craig Richards & Lee Burridge), Guy Gerber (live), Dave Clarke... 11-8am, £18/19/10
The headline act of which is half comprised of the resident DJ may not light as many fires, but anyone who has enjoyed a night at the mercy of Craig Richards and Lee Burridge will most likely tell you the same thing: they didn't stop dancing. Expect basslines you've never heard before on a soundsystem like you've never felt before- these two incredible DJ's are unstoppable when they're together. If Craig Richards's encyclopedic knowledge of music doesn't do it for you, then Lee Burridge's infectious energy will. The experimental Israeli producer Guy Gerber will also perform live in the main room, while Room Two welcomes the don of techno, Dave Clarke for what promises to be a blistering session of his signature sound.

Saturday May 14th:
fabric with Zip, Craig Richards, Agoria, Jozif, Francesco Tristano (live), Julietta... 11-8am £18/19/10
The fourth consecutively outstanding Saturday sees Perlon co-founder Zip command Room One for what I expect to be a very long, and utterly fascinating voyage of minimal. Perlon is possibly my favourite label, and despite several attempts I'm yet to see Zip. From what I gather, he is unanimously regarded as one of the scene's most intelligent, unpredictable and compelling figures, famous for his vast collection of the most obscure records and his idiosyncratic ability mixing the Perlon brand of minimal. For me, this is unmissable as like Villalobos, Zip represents everything that is brilliant about this beautiful, pared down sub-genre of techno. I'm expecting a late start for him in the main room, so it's just as well that Room Two is for once almost as interesting. Fabric 57's Agoria will showcase his taste for velvety French techno, while fabric regular Jozif will keep things housey. A live set from emerging Italian producer Francesco Tristano is certainly something to consider. His unique blend of classical and electronic music is certainly unprecedented, and could potentially be groundbreaking.

Friday May 20th:
Fabriclive presents Boys Noize Records & Kill Em All with Boys Noize, Housemeister, Shadow Dancer, Djedjotronic, Filthy Dukes and more TBC 10-6am £16/17/10
Ever since I first began my love affair with fabric, Boys Noize remains one of a only a few of my favourite DJ's I'm yet to experience there. It must have been a good few years since he was last booked but now finally the wait is over, as May 20th brings Alex Ridha himself to EC1, along with his record's finest members. Boys Noize is far from a new experience for me, but hearing those searing, sizzling, acid-laced basslines on fabric's soundsytem will be...

Saturday May 21st:
fabric presents Cocoon with Sven Väth, Christian Burkhardt (live), Dorian Paic, Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts (live), Sascha Dive, Craig Richards 11-8am £20/22/15
Last year, Papa Sven landed at fabric for the very first time ever, hand-plucking some of his legendary label's key players, such as Onur Özer and Ilario Alicante, to join his EC1 takeover. Despite dangerous overcrowding during the peak hours, it was a great success, with Väth taking to Room One like a duck to water, and Alicante and Dinky dominating Room Two's aggressive soundsystem. The line-up this year isn't quite as impressive (so far: there may well be more to come), but if Sven's in the house, it's gonna be a special night regardless.

In other fabric news...
While I patiently wait for both fabric 57: Agoria and fabriclive 57: Jackmaster to arrive at my door, a recent email sent out to fabricfirst members has confirmed some more fabric and fabriclive releases in the pipeline, two of which are highly exciting. To my delight, fabric 58: The Nothing Special will be the latest addition to the series mixed by Mr. Craig Richards, who I hope will use the mix to disclose some of those staple tracks he uses that have driven me to near insanity trying to track down. Meanwhile, September will bring fabriclive 59 mixed by Four Tet. To be honest, I couldn't have suggested a better candidate to mix a fabriclive. Kieran Hebden represents everything fabric is about, especially Friday's musical approach there and his mix will surely delight Saturday stalwarts as well as those more in tune with Friday nights.

To finish with, rumour has it that fabric are soon to launch their own brand of energy drink. The news was first broken by Resident Advisor, who quoted Cameron Leslie's thoughts about the surprising new venture, and Terry Francis who described how the DJ's as well as the punters need something to "Keep their heads together". However, confusion and skepticism arose because of the timing of this story's release: April 1st. It was featured on fabric's blog, and there has been no confirmation that is was a joke, so I suppose until we find out otherwise we should believe it. I hear some people aren't too happy with the idea, with accusations of fabric 'selling out', but personally I think it's quite an innovative and interesting concept. I haven't purchased a drink in fabric for about a year I think, but that could change if this is true...

First of all, I must correct a mistake I made in the previous Sorry I'm Minimal post, which was some time ago. That post was titled Sorry I'm Minimal 6, but that was a typo, the post actually being only the 5th. That fairly trivial point aside, I can now dig into the real news in the world of minimal techno that has been raising eyebrows of late, and there's no shortage of interesting developments. I've decided to let the next installment of FABRIC WATCH compliment Sorry I'm Minimal 6, what's happening over in Farringdon recently being inextricably linked to the minimal scene.

Starting with the more specifically Minimal news, Italian Marco Carola has released his first album in 9 years, titled Play It Loud. After a handful of EP's released on labels such as Desolat and M-nus, and following his Groove Catcher EP that preceded the album's release and featured 2 remixes from Martin Buttrich, Carola finally provided us with the most extensive repertoire of his work to date. 15 tracks long and including a complete mixed version of the album, there was certainly plenty to scrutinize, but after how much I enjoyed Groove Catcher, I was definitely optimistic. After giving it a good listen, including the mix, I certainly enjoyed Play It Loud, but I couldn't help feeling very similarly to how I felt after listening to Magda's debut album last year. Play It Loud did everything I expected it to do- provide track after track of loopy, lean beats with bags of funk and muscular basslines. All of this I like, and Carola has built his reputation as a top DJ delivering sets with these characteristics in abundance, but as we so often say, what we want from an album is significantly different from what we want on the dancefloor. Any track from Play It Loud will get bodies moving vigorously in a club, no doubt. The incessant drums, hypnotic percussion and well-placed breakdowns, particularly in Light House are the kind of elements in techno that make people dance a lot, but in Play It Loud, that's all I got from start to finish and I wasn't in a club. Making a dance-orientated album in electronic music has always been a difficult task to pull off. If you're the kind of person who wants just a collection of tracks with great rhythm and tasty material to use in your own sets then Carola's album ticks all the boxes. But I want a bit more from a full length, some kind of narrative or depth that goes beyond the simple realms of a bassline and Play It Loud doesn't really have it. But Carola didn't go about trying to create a melodic masterpiece, the clue is in the title, and as a collection of music designed for the club, I would happily groove to anything on Play It Loud.

Marco Carola - Light House


Play It Loud by Marco Carola is available now on Minus on Beatport

If you can remember, the last Sorry I'm Minimal post centered on Ricardo Villalobos's new two track Peculiar/Zuge 3 EP, which had been released on the Chilean's own Sei Es Drum label. At the time we didn't have it, and it was difficult enough just to be able to hear it somewhere, but we did promise to share it when we got our hands on it and as of yesterday, we have it. Both tracks have cropped up in various DJ charts over the last month or two and it's no surprise why. As you would expect from any Villalobos production, the entire work is stripped down to it's barest bones and layered with flushes of crisp, quivering sonics that only he could craft and weave into something so rhythmic. Peculiar is a 20 minute minimal melody, with contributions from Brito, Weidenthaler and Messelis and is beautiful almost beyond description. Remarkably, the lyrics in Peculiar are as important as the punchy, skeletal beat beneath it is. I'm not sure if this is an accapella of someone far more famous than I'm giving them credit for, but lines like "I know that flowers grow from rain, but how can love grow from pain" are not often found in minimal techno, even in music as colourful and cultured as Villalobos's. Quite possibly a very early contender for the best track of 2011, expect to hear Peculiar played a lot, and Zuge 3 with 3 Phase on the B-side will not be ignored, a less emotive groove but more classically Villalobos with all those pared down, demented dynamics that hit all the right places.

Ricardo Villalobos, Brito, Weidenthaler, Messelis - Peculiar


Ricardo Villalobos & 3 Phase - 3 Zuge


FABRIC WATCH...

It's what we've all been waiting for, fabric have finally announced Ricardo Villalobos's first appearance of 2011. In what promises to be a typically epic, seemingly endless and always memorable occasion, the master of minimal will deliver his exclusive-to-fabric set on Saturday March 12th and not finishing any earlier than 11am on Sunday, but if his appearances last year are anything to go by then all bets are off when the last record will be played...

fabric with Ricardo Villalobos, Craig Richards, Shackleton (live), Applebim, Simon Baker, Ralph Lawson, Glimpse, Chaptal, Nina Kraviz, Terry Francis - Saturday 12 March, 11pm-11am, £19/£18, fabric, London

I've always found it remarkable how the appearance of just a single DJ can create such unequaled excitement and sense of genuine celebration, but wherever Ricardo Villalobos plays, this is the standard reception just his name on a flyer causes. This is especially true in London, where his legendary sets only ever take place at fabric, the first club in the UK to book him, and considering the almost necessary nature of his sets to be without any time restrictions, fabric's unique 24 hour license makes it the only club he would consider playing at in the capital. Of course, there are many other reasons why Villalobos probably wouldn't choose to play anywhere else, such as the unrivaled soundsystem he uses in a way no one else seems able to, but I've said it before and I'll say it again, Ricardo Villalobos and fabric are a marriage made in heaven. The guy loves playing there, and let's be honest he is kind of special so to have the official party hours increased for what is technically just another Saturday night on Charterhouse Street isn't all that surprising.

What will be interesting though is to see how plays after his tragic absence at fabric's birthday weekend last year, when Luciano heroically stepped in. I witnessed his two appearances last year and he took very different approaches in each. In March we had the pleasure of mostly old techno and house classics, such as Ron Hardy's Sensation and Laurent Garnier's Acid Eiffel, with some colourful divergences into tech house. In August, when he notoriously started his set at 9:30, the mood was darker, far more trippy and much more like the signature minimal sound we associate with Villalobos's own work. What will be the narrative of his set this time? I won't dare guess, because literally anything is possible with Ricardo Villalobos is at the helm in Room One. Whatever happens, March 12th is one to put in the diary and will undoubtedly be the highlight of the year for me so far. I feel I should warn those who haven't witnessed fabric with Ricardo headlining before that if you're coming just to catch him, do not come early. Although he was was an hour late, his set time last August was 8:30, which came as a shock even for me after we cruised in at 1am. Back in March, I recall the time being around half five when he came on, so in short, expect a late, late night at his mercy. To make things even more mouth watering, I'm fairly sure not only will Craig Richards precede Ricardo's set in Room One with one of his own perfectly engineered episodes of abstract beats, but also close the night back-to-back with the Chilean, which I can assure you is nothing short of spectacular, especially as the shutters open to allow beams of the Sunday morning light flood into the smokey gloom of the still packed and amazingly frenetic Room One. If you're in a reasonable proximity to London on this date and have a vague interest in dance music, it would be a very wise decision to make the effort and experience arguably electronic music's most important and celebrated personalities entertain for an unlimited length of time at the world's best nightclub. He is a twice yearly resident, but that is never frequent enough after you've witnessed his hypnotic grooves for the first time.

It would be easy to forget there will be so much as another soul in the house while Villalobos is billed, but there is certainly plenty on offer for those in for more than just Ricardo. Prior to his command of Room One, current fabric favourite Shackleton will perform one of his acclaimed live sets, while another techno space-stepper, Appleblim will be the first to take to the booth in what promises to be a bassy first part to the night. Over in Room Two, fabric 33's Ralph Lawson will take care of house duties on that aggressive system along with Simon Baker, while Room Three will surely offer some welcome relief to those wanting to escape the densely packed downstairs, with Nina Kraviz and Terry Francis offering plenty to enjoy.

With that rather supreme matter aside, there's plenty more fabric news to bring, especially regarding their line-ups, as the club continues to book the world's finest talent as we delve deeper in 2011. This weekend, Berlin's Tobi Neumann, who played an integral part in making fabric's 11th birthday weekend so special, will line-up in Room One alongside another one of the birthday's alumni, Levon Vincent, and Patrice Baumel live. Room Two will be taken over by Clone Records, with the most notable guests including Alden Tyrell and Gerd, both performing live. Although I may not make it until quite late thanks to a certain Alex Ridha's touchdown at XOYO, the weekend after welcomes Marco Carola for his album launch (see above) in what promises to be a very busy evening, especially as Robert Hood will DJ under his Floorplan guise in Room Two. Kill Em All returns nice and quick on Friday March 4th with a new Jackbeats fabriclive residency in Room One, where the fidget duo will join one of our old favourites Brodinski, and Trouble & Bass head Drop The Lime. Room Two is the Filthy Dukes', with Aeroplane, Shit Robot live and Punks Jump Up. Hot Chip's Joe Goddard will DJ in Room Three. The next day see's Visionquest land at fabric, a night announced some time ago and will surely have London's underground community frothing at the mouth, especially as Seth Troxler and Ben Klock will join Lee Curtiss, Shaun Reeves and Ryan Crosson. Unfortunately I won't be making it, with Steve Bug 34 floors up at Centre Point's Paramount club having a little more persuasive muscle. But rest assured, fabric on that sort of night will be nothing short of spectacular. On March 19th, Ivan Smagghe conveniently returns after I missed him in early January. All the more exciting is that he's accompanied by Michael Mayer, the individual responsible for one of the greatest mixes of all time, Kompakt's Immer 3. With Steffi in Room One also, there's little chance keeping me away that night. Omar-S and Anja Schneider headline the following week, but interestingly I could well be cruising down to EC1 on a Wednesday on March 3oth, where 19 year old enigma Nicholas Jaar will perform live...

All full line-ups with details can be found on fabric's website

Finally, I can happily inform you that the individual responsible for mixing fabric 57 will be French producer and DJ Agoria, who recently released his excellent album Impermanence, featuring that unforgettable Speechless collaboration with Carl Craig. I was also fortunate enough to catch him early in January when he played at fabric and thoroughly enjoyed every minute. I expect high standards then, with plenty of delicate house soul to come from the latest installment.

I had meticulously planned the weekend just gone, with Friday, Saturday and Sunday all promising a particular party to redeem the long, turgid week I had endured. As often is the case though, a pre-packed weekend didn't yield exactly what I expected. The intention for Friday involved Funkyzeit's 1st Birthday with Deniz Kurtel and Jozif at some unannounced warehouse in Aldgate. Unfortunately, I didn't spend the early hours grooving to Wolf + Lamb's finest, ultimately making it no further than the pavement of Brick Lane without a phone or a clue where I or my friends were. Saturday was slightly more productive, at the very least because I retrieved my phone, but also because I made it through the night with some recollection of my whereabouts, which ironically was back on Brick Lane. I had intended to check out the Lo*kee Loves Harry Klein gig at Crucifix Lane, but for certain reasons that became difficult, so a slightly quieter night at The Big Chill was in order.

Sunday went exactly to plan, and thank goodness because WetYourSelf's birthday bash at fabric was one of the most thrilling, if surreal events I've had the pleasure witnessing for some time. Sundays at fabric have been in the hands of the WYS crew for 4 years now, providing those of us desperately clinging on to the weekend with one more dose of extreme hedonism before we retire to the mundane routine of the week. Now in all honesty, I usually retire after the antics of Saturday, which are usually sapping enough if they have followed a well-spent Friday. But with M-nus's Marc Houle headlining, Sunday night in my dressing gown, sipping tea as I aimlessly think about the last 24 hours would have to be postponed. Sure I was physically drained, even though the previous two nights had been far from epic standards, but the prospect of finishing off the week in fabric, in the solitary Room One with one of Richie Hawtin's pupils providing the tunes was one I couldn't turn down. I was aware of WetYourSelf's reputation as fabric's 'polysexual' night, but if there's one thing I've learned from my time immersed in London's underground community it's those dancing around you are no different from yourself. Broadly speaking they are there for very much the same reasons as you and the notion of a 'gay night' is entirely academic with regards to your enjoyment. Sure, if you looked hard enough you could tell the crowd was perhaps slightly more left-field even for fabric's standards, but the majority of those who packed out Room One were just the long-stayers of London's loyal techno followers.

Until around 7am on Monday morning, as suited City workers made their way through Farringdon to begin their week number crunching, the WYS residents, alongside a top-form Houle who couldn't keep away from the decks, even after his 2 hour slot at around 3am, kept a feverishly excited crowd rocking, despite the physical restraints of 3 successive nights of partying which was the case for most in there. The music was phenomenal. Although labeled as the same music policy as Saturday, there was noticeably more electro influences, expertly whipped-up with the underlying minimal narrative of the whole night. Houle began his set with Butch's adrenaline-soaked Quiet Storm', which set the pace perfectly, the omission of bass keeping everyone on their toes before the floor began rumbling away with more regimented, bassy minimal. Around mid-way through his set, Houle's own brilliant Borrowed Gear was undoubtedly the climax of his knotted journey of bass and bleeps, bouncing in with all that M-nus hazy minimalism.

The WYS residents, Cormac and Jacob Husley seamlessly took the ropes after Houle with more demented, skeletal beats as Room One still simmered with the same level of excitement and enthusiasm as when we first entered, right until the end when the those left to their remarkable demise finally had to kiss the weekend good night. Sunday nights in London are unique and fascinating on several levels. There are a handful of underground venues that don't just throw Sunday night parties, but take a considerable amount of care and dedication in making them special, rather than just a noisy bass-pool for the sleep deprived. WetYourSelf had a far more intimate, friendly ambiance than your average Saturday night at fabric. Sure, with only the one room open intimacy would always be enhanced to some extent, but the jovial, carnival-like flavour of the night owed more to the crowd than just to the small size of the dancefloor. Sunday night revelers all share the desire to just have fun and a limitless passion for music and the glory of underground culture. It is this what gives Sunday nights all over London, but specifically WetYourSelf, such a lovable identity. I could may well make a habit of this, especially considering I have Mondays off...

As 2010 draws to a close, fabric is predictably still electronic music's most vital organ in terms of programming, innovation and integrity. There is quite honestly always something new and important to discuss about fabric at any time of the year, but at this particular time when the weather turns unforgivably bleak and we enter the festive period, it's also the time of reflection. We plan on piecing together some kind of end of year review soon, where notable nightclubs such as fabric will be acknowledged in more depth, but after what was most likely my final chapter for 2010 at EC1 on Saturday, where the legendary John Digweed blew my mind for over 5 hours, I can't help shed some premature appreciation for what has been a simply incredible year.

Starting with Saturday, an appearance by John Digweed at fabric is always going to pull a crowd. His name on a flyer carries a similar degree of celebration and fanfare as you would expect from Ricardo Villalobos, Sven Väth and the other serious heavyweights of underground electronic music. Despite the ominous weather forecasts, advance tickets sold out weeks ahead, always an indication of a particularly special night. But the rest of the names were not just mere decorations- Paul Kalkbrenner live in Room 2 would be a highlight for any night, as would Cari Lekebusch, who from experience I can guarantee is one of techno's genuinely gifted players. Unfortunately, both couldn't make it, a setback reasonably foreseeable for anyone considering the debilitating weather and the subsequent closure of Heathrow airport. Luckily this didn't effect John Digweed, who is conveniently domestic. Israel's Guy J, one of Digweed's frequent associates somehow managed to dodge the travel restrictions, but as usual our late arrival meant we missed his slot in Room One, where Diggers was already in command of that ruthless soundsystem. The night was as educational as it was utterly thrilling for me in that it opened my eyes to just how phenomenal a DJ John Digweed is. His almost mandatory top 10 residency in Resident Advisor's annual top 100 DJ poll now makes complete sense, not that I doubted his credentials before. What he did so well in Room One on Saturday was confidently ebb in and out of various styles of house and techno without the slightest whiff of confusion, indecision or uncertainly. Every record he selected worked perfectly. Despite his association with the progressive house sound he is so respected for shaping, his 6 hour session (at least) explored both dangerously maximal and microscopically minimal techno, as well as the occasional squelch of acid house and other abrasive, synth-heavy mutations. All of this was mixed in such a flawless, exciting, unpredictable way that it soon became clear to me why this 40-something bloke from Hastings is held in such high-esteem. The Room One soundsystem is so unique and impressive, unlike any other I've ever heard (or seen) before, that it so often isn't fully taken advantage of by those given the power to use it. The most acclaimed audiophile of all, Ricardo Villalobos is often cited to be the first one to really do this, but John Digweed showed remarkable appreciation of just how awesome this facility is. Many on the dancefloor cowered in overwhelm at some of the higher frequencies emitted from above, and the ground-quaking vibrations from below. By the time we made our way out at around 8:30am, I personally felt privileged to have experienced one of English dance music's most illustrious talents in the worlds best club. A gloriously fitting tribute to fabric, and a more than satisfying way to conclude my own 2010 love affair with the club.

December also brought us the 55th fabric mix, courtesy this time of the mysterious Shackleton, who has been causing quite a stir of late. Ever since his debut performance live in fabric's Room One all the way back in July of this year (a frighteningly long time ago considering it feels like it was only last week that I gave the heads-up on this blog when his appearance was announced), fabric, and more probably more specifically Craig Richards, the club's music programmer, have been utterly infatuated with the future-dubstepper. Not only did they book him again for Room 2 fairly soon after, but the real mark of fabric's respect is of course the offer of mixing fabric 55, a challenge Shackleton embraced gratefully, and delivered exceptionally.

Despite his categorization as a producer of dubstep in the strictest conceptual meaning of the word, Shackleton's sound is undoubtedly suited far more to a fabric Saturday night, rather than a Friday where dubstep is traditionally exhibited. His resounding appearances at Berlin's Berghain further demonstrated his adeptness in pleasing a crowd that wouldn't typically be receptive to dubstep, so recognition from fabric's Saturday night team was only a question of when. The breed of dubstep Shackleton is making is so interwoven with minimal techno influences that it could only ever be fascinating at the very least. His close relationship with Ricardo Villalobos is no secret; various remixes of the master's minimal grooves such as his Minimoonstar provide ample clues to Shackleton's stylistic tendencies, and the comparisons with Villalobos himself don't stop there. Fabric 55 is a mix consisting entirely of Shackleton's own material, in exactly the same way as Villalobos' inspirational fabric 34 mix. A dangerous and controversial concept yes, but like Villalobos, Shackleton has pulled it off with aplomb.

From start to finish the mix illustrates perfectly what Shackleton is about. Dark, claustrophobic and murky, it is every bit as atmospheric and compelling as his live performances deep underground in the club. Every drum pattern, every snap of a snare drum, every ghostly vocal is engulfed with enough floor-shaking sub-bass to become seismic, while the relentless clatter of bongos gives the work that seasoning of Villalobos making it all the more interesting. It's difficult to find fault in such a strikingly different mix, in both concept and execution. Every track is layered with so many strange, hypnotic, tribal sonics that at times it becomes disturbing, much in the same way as the mysterious but ingenious Burial's music. Evoking this kind of emotion in electronic music is not easy, but Shackleton's approach to music looks as if he produces to disturb as well as dance, something vividly evident live and in this outstanding mix.

Shackleton - Come Up


fabric 55: Shackleton is available now for £10 now on fabric's website

NEWS: Sources suggest that the next installment in the fabric series, fabric 56 will be mixed by American DJ and producer Derrick Carter.

Fabric's line-up for New Years Eve was announced in full some time ago, but I had to give it some acknowledgment here nonetheless, even though we won't be attending. Anyone expecting an all-star line up will be disappointed, for there's no Richie Hawtin, Luciano, Seth Troxler and like, but look a little deeper and it's a classically intelligent assembly or sounds and personalities by fabric. Forums and and networks etc. seem to tell me that many are indeed disappointed, but anyone doubting fabric's knowledge of what will make this NYE at Ec1 sizzle, or their ability to attract the biggest names are seriously mistaken. For starters, Steve Bug remains one of electronic music's most influential and revered DJs, as is Jay Haze and Cassy, while M-Nus's Heartthrob is regarded by many as one of minimal techno's brightest producers. Add to this Matt Tolfrey, Jozif, Paco Osuna and of course, the magnificent Craig Richards who will always make any night at fabric special and you've got the recipe for quite a good party. Fabric's music programming is always at least one step-ahead of every other club, that is simply a fact that I took time to discover, but since I have, I have never doubted it and never been disappointed.

fabric NYE: 9pm-9am, Tickets: £35/£20 (Students & FabricFirst Members)

To round up this rather extensive Fabric Watch installment, I thought I would give a brief summary of what's happening in January, where the full line-ups have now all been confirmed. As ever, it's predictably exciting, with the first Saturday featuring the return of French maestro Ivan Smagghe. The following week on the 15th, Sascha Dive is the pick of the bunch while Friday 21st welcomes back the Filthy Dukes and their eclectic mash-up night, Kill Em All, which is always fantastic. Just like last year, Erol Alkan is back in Room One for what promises again to be a packed out night. Paul Chambers joins him live, while in Room Two German electro/techno duo Hey Today! will no doubt have the place rocking with their searing beats. BNR's Shadow Dancer will also perform live. The following night, Lee Burridge is back, teaming up with Craig Richards for another epic Tyrant session. Concluding January on the 29th is a mouthwatering line-up which includes Tiefschwarz, Slam, MMM live and Maya Jane Coles in Room 3. Full listings and line-ups are up now on fabric's website.

With fabric's full club listings for November and December recently announced, of all the nights I eagerly scrawled my diary, this wasn't one. Sandwiched between Luciano the week previously and Mathias Tanzmann next weekend, and also because I had only just seen Âme perform last month at the birthday weekend (Ok, Luciano was there too, but exceptions can be made), I thought I may be able to get away missing this one. As it turns out, I didn't make it to Luciano or Perlon (Zip, Baby Ford, Alex Smoke etc.) at fabric the week before, two nights I was very keen on attending, so this turned out to be my consolation. I should know better by now than to see any night at fabric as merely a consolation, whatever the alternative, but I left EC1 at about 8:30 with that great, satisfying feeling of having just enjoyed an entirely successful night.

Âme would headline for the closing set in the perfect slot of 5-8, after Craig Richards and Guillaume and The Coutu Dumonts live. Room 2 looked surprisingly tempting too, with Terry Francis joined by Heiko Laux and Steve Rachmad, who have previously collaborated to make some exceptional productions, such as one of my favourite trippy house numbers to date, The Boatshow. If their production skills were anything to go by, it would hopefully not be so intense in the second room as it so often is, the reason I typically avoid lengthy spells in there. We actually headed to the fascinating confines of Room Three first, where James Priestly, Delano Smith and Brawther collectively delivered a well assembled and well executed jam of upbeat tech house to a surprisingly well-filled space. One thing which is becoming increasingly obvious to me is how unique and refreshing that third room of fabric's is. It offers a welcome break from the sweaty, crowded and often overwhelming atmosphere of Room's One and Two while still maintaining the true fabric personality- formidable sound system, rugged brickwork (with the original arches to add extra character) and the same uncompromising sonics that we step through the front doors for in the first place.

Downstairs, house was definitely the word. Craig Richards had already started spinning at the early time of 2am. Although slightly more playful than usual, his set remained ever funky and exciting, blending fun house, stitched together with sprinkles of quirky, frolic sounds that were as bewildering as ever on that system. Immediately after followed a dazzling live performance from Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts. His fervent session of his own unique style of house genuinely rocked what had become an almost full room. Combining punchy basslines with simmering synths and manually produced bongo effects, it was a great hour to witness, and that's coming from someone not usually that fussed about live sets.

Despite the tempting line-up over in Room Two, the relentless pounding that seeped from the arches of it's entrance made our mind up that we were to once again stay put in the main room where Âme's DJ half commenced his 3 hour set at just after the expected time of 5am. Âme's live set at fabric's 11th birthday weekend, performed by the other half of the duo, was undoubtedly one of the highlights- their reputation as producers is obviously and deservedly highly revered, but personally I felt it wasn't the most danceable of sets. In the booth on the other hand, it was a phenomenally groovy session. Their trademark deep house style was in full, glorious flow from beginning to end. It was the perfect demonstration of how good house music can be, exploring some slightly more minimal flavours at times, tech house at others and even some squelchy acid, to the frenzied delight of those on the floor. The set peaked when Lee Jones' twisted house groove Yoyo was dropped, then soon after Art Department's huge disco-seasoned anthem Without You. From the trend of the set, it seem more likely than not Without You would be melded in at some point. The sexiness of the bassline is the kind of thing you could see Âme being slightly envious that they didn't come up with first, and the vocal element went unsurprisingly down a treat with those familiar to it. For me however, the real pleasure came in the surprise inclusion of Ferrer & Sydenham's legendary house hit Sandcastles, which caused an eruption of euphoria at around 7am. In what had been such a consistently melodic amalgamation of relatively new house sounds, such a classic was what fabric is made for, and what Âme appreciate more than most other house DJs.

It's that time again!

Details of November and December's line-ups at our favourite club have been released and of course, there are some predictably appealing mornings on the radar. Full details including pricing, times and all the other important info you may want can be found at fabric's website, but we've picked out what we believe is the best to come over the next couple of months. Names in bold print are Room One's spinners on the night.

Saturday, November 6th (this weekend...)
fabric: Luciano, Ernesto Ferreyra, Craig Richards, Wiggle (Terry Francis & Nathan Coles), Eddie Richards, Maetrik (LIVE), Inland Knights...
Just weeks after his controversial but highly entertaining 4 hour appearance at fabric's 11th birthday weekend, Cadenza boss and notorious party king of the underground Luciano returns for more wild hedonism in Room One, joined by fellow electrolatino spinner Ernesto Ferreyra. Room Two sees Terry Francis join forces with Nathan Coles as Wiggle and fabric 16 man Eddie Richards for what is sure to be some delightful tech house sessions. Spaniard Maetrik is also lined-up for a highly anticipated live set- something we certainly are looking forward to.

Saturday, Novermber 20th
fabric: Matthias Tanzmann, 20:20 Soundsystem (LIVE), Craig Richards, Louis Guilhelm, Jeremy P. Caulfield, Seph (LIVE), Cesare vs Disorder, Pure Science, Terry Francis...
Circo Loco and general tech house maverick Matthias Tanzmann is ready to stir up some serious sonic mischief in the main room after 20:20 Soundsystem's exciting live performance and an interesting offering from Louis Guilhelm. Room Three is also of interest, with a night dedicated to Swag Records, the Croyden Record Shop where Terry Francis cut his chops before fabric.

Saturday, November 27th
fabric: COCOON - Sven Väth, Oner Özer, Matt Tolfrey, Dinky, Ilario Alicante, Marcus Fix, Craig Richards, Jozif
With no matter to house the legendary Cocoon night, Sven Väth's crew have had to vacate to EC1 in what promises to be a simply incredible night. Papa Sven is joined with Turkish wizard Oner Özer and Matt Tolfrey in what promises to be a relentless session of pounding techno. House jockess, Dinky will keep the groove rolling over in Room Two with Ilario Alicante's latin techno vibes. Room Three is a separate attraction altogether, with Craig Richards and exciting new kid on the block, Jozif taking over to demonstrate how good their newly found Fist of Finger label is. Expect to hear their awfully elusive release Beats in Space which was reported on here some weeks ago and has been destroying soundsystems ever since.

Saturday, December 4th
fabric: Claude VonStroke, Justin Martin, Catz N Dogz, M.A.N.D.Y, Heidi, Emerson Todd, Art Department, Terry Francis
Claude VonStroke's Dirtybird label takes over in Room One with the boss delivering what will be a hugely hyped set along with some of his label's finest acquisitions. M.A.N.D.Y live will no doubt fill up Room Two and rumble that notoriously aggressive system along with Get Physical chums Heidi and Emerson Todd. Once again, Room Three is another hidden treat where Art Department, the geniuses behind the recent underground hit Without You, will orchestrate the third room groove with Terry Francis.

Saturday, December 11th
fabric: Radio Slave, Guy Gerber (LIVE), Craig Richards, Frequency 7, Shackleton (LIVE), Brett Jonson, Terry Francis
You look at line-ups like this, just another Saturday night, nothing particularly special and you can't help but think only fabric could do this. Radio Slave's intelligent minimal-house and a live performance from tech house main player Guy Gerber in Room One, as well as Frequency 7- Ben Sims and Surgeons electro/techno project and Shackleton live, for what will most likely be his launch party for his impending fabric 55 mix. This could be quite a night, one that I will certainly be doing my best to attend.

For full line-ups and the rest of November's and Decembers listings for Friday's too (if you insist), then head on over to fabric's website, if it's not on your bookmarks bar already....

I recall seeing Drop The Lime, early this year in Bristol at one of the channel 4's free Skins' parties. He was there at the same time as Kavinsky, who inevitably was the only real reason we were there. Despite a magnificent performance from Kav, I don't remember being too impressed with DTL who was on some time earlier. Maybe it was the truly abysmal crowd that had flocked to The Old Firestation that night- a melange of high-heeled girls and boring looking indie-kids who had come in the hope of seeing a cameo from Nicholas Hoult. Either way, I don't think we hung around for long during his set. Since then it's fair to say I haven't really paid much attention to the Trouble & Bass boss, but then all of a sudden fabric started paying attention, and in true band-wagon style I started doing the same. He was chosen to mix FabricLive 53, and after a series of irritating fabricfirst delays, I finally got to hear it just yesterday. It's actually awesome, a thrilling mash-up of electro, fidget, house and almost everything else inbetween, with contributions from AC Slater, Zombies for Money and Autoerotique among others. If you're like I was, and perhaps aren't so swayed by DTL's abrasive style, I would recommend giving him a second chance here.

Buy FabricLive 53: Drop The Lime at fabric's website now for £10

It's the ravers worst nightmare- The headliner has canceled. It's happened to us all at one point, you get to the venue, pretending you're not clock-watching while the preceding sets rumble away before the main attraction sheds his coat and dons his headphones, only to then be notified some way or another that this will not be the case tonight. There's no getting away from the sinking feeling we all felt when this has happened to us, but sometimes it's just a little more difficult to swallow than usual.

Arriving at fabric at midnight Saturday to pick up our weekend wristbands and observe the highly speculated set-times for the dozen or so names lined up over the 30 hour extravaganza, we, and probably everyone else in Farringdon were greeted with that familiar sinking feeling; signs were liberally dotted around outside the nightclub gingerly informing all that due to 'severe illness', Ricardo Villalobos won't be playing at the party. His 'love' sent from his sickbed was no consolation for anyone.

This wouldn't have been so awfully disappointing had it literally been anyone else. Famed for his notoriously epic sets, Ricardo Villalobos in essence is fabric. Although I wasn't there when he headlined fabric's legendary 10th birthday, it's no secret that he played one of his best parties yet. Free from the time-restraints a 24 hour license and fabric's bravery permits, the Chilean stole the show with several magnificent sets, even in Room 3 at one point. We all expected something similar this time, at least Ricardo leading the way in his beloved Room 1 for a couple of memorably hypnotic sessions, perhaps concluding B2B with Craig Richards? It was not to be. Talks of an ear infection spread around the club, but the bottom line is that if Ricardo Villalobos cannot play at fabric's birthday party, it's for a good reason. Hang on, who's this replacing him last minute? Luciano!

There is arguably only two other DJ's who's individual profiles could perhaps come somewhere near filling the void of Ricardo Villalobos' at fabric's birthday party. One of them is a certain Canadian whose small-room club days do appear to be only a distant memory, the other is another (almost) equally controversial jock who ironically also has his roots in Chile (and also emigrated to Europe later on). The slightly highly-strung Villalobos aficionados will have their conspiracy theories, but to make such a swift substitution with such a high-profile name as Luciano is certainly impressive to say the least. I don't think any fabric-goer, including myself would rather have anyone over Ricardo by choice, but with his absence completely out of any of our hands we needed something special to raise our bruised spirits. Fabric certainly did very well. Ricardo's 'love' sent from his sickbed may not have been any consolation to us, but an unexpected 4 hour set from Luciano on Sunday afternoon went some way.

After the initial shock and obvious disappointment, the required attitude for anyone still intending to step foot into the underground abyss had to be 'Get Over It'. As crudely unhelpful that may sound, it's pretty much all you could do unless you wanted the most eagerly anticipated event in London all year to be savagely compromised. The professionals that we are of course, we instinctively embraced this mentality and eagerly made our way back in properly at about 3am, gliding past the admirably committed queue that could have possibly been touching the barriers of Farringdon Station. Our first impressions? This is a birthday party. Silly hats, masks, fancy dress; in an underground backdrop of exposed brickwork, steel piping and the relentless thump of techno, it was a delightful contrast and a welcome break from the usual characters waiting at the bottom of those stairs. Âme had already begun his live set in Room One, which was predictably packed. Instantly noticeable was a new visual addition to that legendary cave of a room- to the left of the stage where Âme tweaked and fiddled a powerful session of their deep, minimal beats, a stunning rainbow laser sprayed multicouloured beams into the feverish entourage on the dancefloor. This made an immediate impact- If there is one thing Room One lacked it was perhaps a few more visual elements. No longer the case.

I must confess, my memory becomes a little hazy after this, for one reason or another. I can only estimate who, and what, I remember next up until about 1pm Sunday afternoon. I'm sure I'm not the only one with such symptoms (in my case, distinguishing between business and pleasure is not always so simple). I'm fairly certain sets from Craig Richards and Lee Burridge followed, but separately, not as Tyrant. We would have to wait for the pair's B2B session until sometime on Sunday afternoon/evening. The first helping of Richards was predictably inspiring. After only a little over a week since I experienced him manipulate the rough edges of Bristol's Motion, closing SMD's Delicatessen night, he was back at home and draining everyone in Room One of all reality with his unique and utterly compelling taste for electro-tinged minimal house vibes. One thing I have discovered about my (approximately) 1 year long love-affair with fabric is that although Craig Richards is something that you might not come to appreciate fully at first, in time you will begin to realise how absolutely remarkable this little guy from Bournemouth is, and then start to religiously cherish every mesmeric set in his hands. Ok, maybe that's a slightly over-subjective opinion but that's sort of how it went for me. And now, with the added convenience of living a stones throw from EC1, I feel like capping every Saturday night off with a bit of Craigy. There is just something just undeniably addictive about his style and he certainly didn't disappoint with his first session of the birthday- but then if anyone would want to do a fabric anniversary justice, it would be their original resident and music director, surely?

Lee Burridge inherits many of Craig Richards' traits. Unsurprising as the pair together have become synonymous as Tyrant for many years. On his own, Burridge is another master of the fabric soundsystem, testing it to it's inconceivable limits with dubby, breaky house sounds piercing the smokey air of Room One. It takes more than just that though to keep a dancefloor so fervent at such a time of day, and Burridge has very much a similar ability to Craig Richards in being able to select, and mix, in such a way that everything seems so unpredictable. So when the Kink remix of Marc Romboy & Blake Baxter's Muzik crashes down with that famously dense bassline, Room One's dancefloor erupts as if it was the very first time the tune had been dropped anywhere, despite being almost a staple of Burridge's and Richards' sets for some time now. Ironically, together as Tyrant, it was dropped to explosive reception later on that day in what was unquestionably one of the finest sets of event. More and more ever-funky, quirky basslines that you associate with both legendary jocks.

Without meaning to skip on too far (although chronology is far from paramount importance here), before Tyrant (I think) we had the pleasure of a turbulent live set from zany French trio dOP, and a, lets say 'controversial' 4 hour groove from Mr. Villalobos' replacement, Luciano. Now, I'll confess I'm not usually all that fussed over live sets. I won't go into why but I just prefer the energy and unpredictability of DJ sets, depending on the DJ of course. So I wasn't particularly excited for dOP's slot in Room One on Sunday evening. But credit when credit's due, they did put on one helluva show. Demonstrating why they've titled their first album 'Greatest Hits', it was a thoroughly surreal and exciting exhibition of the idiomatic vocal house style they've become notorious for. There was champagne, liberal doses of black-label vodka drip-fed to the front rows and the lead vocalist stripping off his shirt to the slightly disturbing delight of so many people that crowded Room One. All of this underpins their character and musically what they're all about, and they did get the place rocking with some thumping basslines and delicious synth work by the duo behind the tables.

But before dOP, while most of London moved onto the supplements of the Sunday newspapers or sat down for Sunday lunch, we descended back deep underground after a short, but essential break to catch Luciano's set. The expectations were naturally enormous, unreasonably big considering this was a relatively spontaneous session for the Chilean. But that's life as a 'superstar DJ', precisely what Lucien is. Rarely does any performance from a very high-profile DJ go without criticism from at least some. Music's most scrupulous jock-Nazis have to find some terrible spinning crime (you have to question the position these people are in to make such outspoken judgements), whether it's bad looping etiquette, slightly-off cueing, or in Luciano's case here, DJing like an Oceana jock, apparently.



A 4 hour set starting at 1pm on Fabric's 11th birthday party- who really could deny Luciano having his fun. From the moment we stepped through the doors at the foot of that stairwell we could sense a considerably more fun atmosphere- Kids In The Streets' Keep On Turning pounded from Room One where the fancy dresses and strange props seemed to be intensifying in regularity everywhere you looked. Even Luciano himself could be seen sporting one of the many masks which appeared to have been handed out to all at one point. As the sunlight flooded in through those shutters, all these quirky elements made me remember where I was. This wasn't just any fabric Saturday night. This not only was actually Sunday afternoon, but also a celebration of 11 years of nothing but the best deep, underground techno bellowing from beneath the surface of central London. All the more reason to keep it rigidly loyal to that sound? Perhaps, but Luciano being Luciano felt like lightening the tone a bit, a welcome divergence many would agree. There was Old Sunshine, Tim Green's colourful Tech House number, there was even Cassius' The Sound Of Violence, all of which kept everyone dancing frantically. So what was the problem? Ok, Luciano did seem to have the amusing infatuation with using outrageously inappropriate acapellas over his groovy basslines. We're talking Whitney Housten and Kings Of Leon here. Shocking? Yes! Destructive? No way. And while the purists plotted their cyber-revenge on the post-rave forums, the vast majority of us in there laughed it off and continued to enjoy a deliriously enjoyable afternoon. Sure the purists can have their say, but I can guarantee they were grooving too.

From thereon, things started to get weird, even for fabric's notoriously bizarre standards. The party had been rocking for 18 hours solid and that was only just past the half-way point. Tyrant, dOP (both discussed above), Dixon, Damian Lazarus and Craig Richards/Tobi Neumann all still had highly anticipated sets to play. We tried out the vibes of Rooms Two and Three, but every time we felt the irresistible pull of Room One, which is where we conceded to spend the vast majority of the next 12 hours. We began noticing the physical and assumed mental decline of many other long-stayers whom we recognised from early Saturday night. Resurfacing to the club's smoking area was a constant psychological challenge for myself and most others who began questioning what on earth the time actually was, and on what day. This, however, was very much the point of such an event and back inside though, whatever time it was, the party was still rocking.

By about 8pm, many who now swarmed around the pulsating core of the club that was Room One and the surrounding suburbs were those who's night had just begun, having just entered for what would be one of their most surreal Sunday evenings ever. To join those who had obviously been there for what was approaching an entire day, must have been to both their amazement and slight disturbance. Dixon took the helm in the main room and was simply magnificent. The Innervisions head delivered an exceptionally eclectic mix of slick techno and house but sharpened with various other electronic flavours, even rock at one point- a solitary guitar-driven record which many will know the name of, unlike me, could have made the floor crack open at one point. Those kind of frequencies on that soundsystem was something I hadn't experienced previously, and it was quite memorable.

After a ruthlessly pounding Terry Francis session, as the clock hit 11pm and the party had been officially swinging for 24 hours, Damian Lazarus was already on and entertaining. The fanfare of the event as a whole probably overlooked the fact this was also an opportunity for Lazarus' to launch his newly mixed addition to the fabric CD series, not that it made any difference whatsoever. When it seemed Dixon couldn't be topped, Damian sure gave him a run for his money. A sonic impression of how to spread dancefloor happiness, even for those who had been grooving for a whole day. He simply would not let anyone stay still. Imagine the humour of his album Smoke The Monster Out, blended with the energy of a Sven Vath set and the intelligence of Tiefschwarz and your somewhere near this 2 hour ride. It was at this point that me and my companions then began to realise how easy doing this was. Ok, dancing for going on 18 hours takes it's toll on your body inevitably, but even I questioned at the beginning how sustainably stimulating it would be to just keep on going for so, so long. Believe me or not, I didn't want to leave- I felt as excited as I was when I first stepped inside all the way back on Saturday night.

As we effortlessly grooved into Monday morning, it was time for Craig Richards and Tobi Neumann to close the show. What a treat. While Neumann joined in the party antics, donning in a pink wig and then orchestrating poorly received birthday wishes for fabric, occasionally rummaging around for the odd "12, Richards got on with business. As I lingered around the booth, a region of Room One that was blissfully uncluttered at that time, I observed Richards as he gently mixed in the Audiojack remix of Cash The Chord by H.O.S.H. What struck me was his demeanor behind the decks. The guy has been doing this for 11 years exactly, to this demographic of half-zombiefied aficionados every week, yet he dances around with such feverish enthusiasm you would think it was his first night there in that legendary box, with all those toys to play with. But then that is what fabric is all about- longevity and passion. And no night there has ever encapsulated it better.