Austrian tech titan Martin Schober (a.k.a. Mefjus) has taken the drum ‘n’ bass world by storm since he gravitated in 2009 from engineering machines designed to replace human workers to causing mayhem on dance floors.
Known for crafting brutal, breakbeat laden anthems for top labels like Critical, Neosignal, Vision, Virus, Ram, Hospital, Eat Brain, Blackout and Shogun Audio, Schober zigs when other producers zag. His array of collaborations and exploits have led him to helm FABRICLIVE 95. Due out on November 17, the sprawling 39-track album/DJ mix is overflowing with full-on bangers from Schober as well as brilliant collaborations with kindred spirits including Noisia, Kasra, Phace, Misanthrop and Camo & Krooked.
Ahead of FABRICLIVE 95‘s release and launch party at fabric on November 24 featuring the Room 1 Critical Sound takeover with Mefjus joined by a very special guest (TBA), Emperor, Kasra B2B Enei, Sam Binga B2B Chimpo, Foreign Concept B2B Halogenix, and Hyroglifics, we connected with the d’n’b master and asked him to school us on five tracks dominating his DJ sets.
Misanthrop – Short Stop
I’ve always been a big fan of Misanthrop’s work. With his new Blurred EP he once more shows that he is one of the most technically skilled but also varied producers in the d’n’b game. “Short Stop” and “Blurred” are my favorite songs of the EP and it was hard to pick my number one. I ultimately chose “Short Stop” because of its minimalism and just the way it drops.
Halogenix – Blej
Halogenix, who is also one-third of Ivy Lab, is a super versatile producer. When you read his name on a release it can be anything — a super deep roller, a halftime beat, or even a massive club banger. “Blej” is the latter. I remember hearing the song first when touring the USA with Kasra late 2016. He already had a playable demo of this song and it went off!
Camo & Krooked – Passion
“Passion” is probably my favorite song from their fantastic new album, Mosaik. Super vibey track with a nice triplet groove and Markus Krooked’s vocal on top of it. It’s very original and for me it captures the Camo & Krooked sound of 2017.
Upbeats – Say Go (Memtrix Remix)
I love the original so I was curious to hear what Memtrix did with this fantastic song. He absolutely delivered. This remix stays true to the original vibe but adds another dimension of groove to this emotional roller. It’s one of those few songs I play from start to finish in a DJ set.
Noisia & Former – Pleasure Model
I remember the Noisia guys showing me a demo of this a while ago when I visited them in their studios in Groningen. Additionally to their amazing homage to the original Bladerunner‘s character Pris, this song is a sound design masterpiece with an amazing musical progression.
Gives me goosebumps every time!
