Review: ‘Fabric 70 – Apollonia’ (Fabric)

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★★★★☆

If you think the club music of today has absolutely zip to say, Fabric 70 is compounding matters by barely offering you as much as a jack to obey. Mazi’s “Scene Shifter” musters a ‘just feel it’ for those feeling lost. That’s because the vibe circling is screaming volumes; gritty, hard shuffling grooves riding the Chicago expressway to Detroit and the new wave of techno, fresh out the box from the late ’80s and early ’90s.

Actually it’s not quite as old as that, despite French threesome Apollonia commendably reaching out to the back of their record bags. As they champion the upfront, the mood is of when the music had little ID —certainly without any offshoots or splinter factions — and was just recognized as what was coming out of the darkest of anti-discotheque areas.

Witihin these rules, Apollonia’s “Trinidad” bears the unmistakable bassline dive of Doug Lazy’s hip-house superpower “Let It Roll,” while the pendulously po-faced bass to Dyed’s sternly sexy remix of Daze Maxim is the essence of looking backwards to speed forwards. Little breakups of security, through glider synths on Nail’s “I’ve Been There” and the unusual occurrence of lavish strings from Funk E, are equivalent to a hit of house inhaler, with Mood II Swing’s jazzy street sway continuing concentration on core values. A mix that paints a thousand words in blue, white and red that need shouting from the rooftops.

File under: Louie Vega, Chris Carrier & Hector Moralez, Todd Terry

RIP Ibiza Mogul Samuel Guetta

Samuel Guetta, head of Cadenza Records since 2008, creator of Freak n Chic managing and booking agency with Dan Ghenacia and a major force in the Ibiza clubbing scene, died in his home in Ibiza on July 19. Guetta was 40 and leaves behind a wife and two children. Details about his unexpected death aren’t known at the moment.

In addition to running Cadenza, Guetta, who relocated from France to Ibiza in 1997, also co-founded music website Ibiza Voice. Among his many ventures he also managed Luciano and helped develop the successful Vagabundos party.

Ibiza Voice’s staff posted a heartfelt tribute to Guetta, saying that “he adored drama. ‘Hype, lies and gossip’ wasn’t just a tagline: it was a way of life.” They added, “Samuel was a walking exclamation mark who whirled through rooms trailing cigarette smoke and superlatives.”