House Is A Feeling

So it seems Fabric are wheeling out the big guns for their comps this year, with Ewan Pearson, Steve Bug, and Ricardo Villalobos mixes all on the way.

It’s a pretty appetising lineup, even if Resident Advisor shows a weird mix up where the same cover is shown for both the Bug and Villalobos CDs. I can see this one coming to blows as both major league minimal house moguls fight to be given that dynamic and eye catching lump of mud encrusted bricks as their cover rather than the usual electricity pylon or animal with red bits splashed all over it.

Still, ignoring my proud artlessness for a minute, spare a thought for the cover (below) given to early Fabric mixer Tony Humphries. He in fact used this afterwards to promote a dating agency he started where people just fill in their favourite 90s house records instead of any questionnaire (this is actually how most minimal DJs have girlfriends, though few admit to meeting their lovers through a shared passion for “Encore Une Fois”)

“Of course I love you Tania…but house music is my life!”

Seriously though the covers have evolved hugely since the early days, someone should do an evolution of man style diagram! I tried for about 10 minutes but I haven’t got great photo editing skills. Do the changes in artwork reflect the musical landscape? Or just the fact that Fabric probably increased the budget gradually over time.

I suppose Fabric mixes face serious competition from the likes of the RA podcast these days, as well as all the live mixes out there, but they still retain prestige and are a great crossover point for minimal house and techno. It should be fun to hear the new ones, and of course to see the unique and singular artwork!