★★★★☆
The first half of Fabric’s 65th expo from Ibiza resident and man behind Moon Harbour Matthias Tanzmann is serious. He delivers bass-driven, eyes on the prize, hostile and hard funkin’ house, switched to a 24-hour bug of garage sickness through Tanzmann’s “Konoa,” minimal but with veins bulging from its temples, faced with being boxed in but using its fists to drive its way out. Quite the dating profile. It’s time to shine is naturally when the kick and bottom end have blown every light bulb in the building, and is the end of the week sound for when you feel like taking out some anger on the futility of your day job. Even the off-the-wall lyrics to Monkey Maffia’s “Sources from the Past” won’t stop the sense of aggravation on the tip of Tanzmann’s tongue, and the only answer to Shenoda’s “The Question” is mean mugging to a tech snarl sheathed in Bucketheads percussion. It’s not full blow vitriol, but wisps of steam are evident exiting from the spinner’s ears.
When Davide Squillace’s “Do Somebody” takes its place, the funkiness is upped but the tension has eased, Tanzmann indicating it’s time to re-button the shirt and straighten the tie. It’s hard to penalise the German for playfully lightening the mood of the party, replacing the thrust and throwing of haymakers with deep house’s marked trudge and tribalism’s ceaseless throb. The best of both worlds then, albeit a little begrudgingly.
File under: Maya Jane Coles, Alexis Cabrera, Daniel Stefanik