The Fabric nightclub in London is one of the capital’s hottest venues. Many international DJs hit this club, which prides itself on its very broad music policy. The range of music played inside can be sampled by perusing the FabricLive Mix Series selection of releases, of which this is the 39th episode. DJ Yoda is in the house this time, and he takes full advantage of the huge palette afforded him.

The London-born DJ Yoda has carved a reputation over the years for his eclectic and slightly comic style. He is the self-proclaimed “DJ Shadow with a sense of humour”. From his early How to Cut and Paste mixes (volumes one and two), DJ Yoda has eschewed the regular turntablist rules in favour of a diverse, surreal, and sometimes downright silly set list. This release is no exception. On FabricLive 39 DJ Yoda ferrets through a dust-covered music library at a feverish pace, leaving no dust jacket unturned. On this ultimate party record, we are treated to a bunch of old school and modern rap “choons”. Interspersed with these are such diverse gems as a brass version of Marvin Gaye’s “Sexual Healing”, the Violent Femmes’ “Blister in the Sun”, and the ubiquitous “E.V.A.” by Jean-Jacques Perrey.

There are so many places where DJ Yoda could slip up due to his rediculously mixed-up mix, but he only really stumbles in the opening round of this particular set. The pompous overture of “Intro/Requiem” doesn’t set the scene. There is no sense of fun here. This opener is overly grandiose and its unnecessary additional beats in “Blister in the Sun” are jarring. The mix into Skibadee’s “Ticka Tock” comes over as amateurish, largely due to this superfluous drum track. When they meet, the three parts just don’t go. However, after this slightly bumpy start, the album is a real treat.

FabricLive 39 is not quite up to the same comedy standard as the How to Cut and Paste mixes but it is a damn fine snapshot of a party night out. If you need a CD to just throw on and forget about during your summer soirée then you can’t go far wrong with this one. Unless, of course, you wanted to go into the back catalogue of DJ Shadow, particularly his work with Cut Chemist. This release doesn’t really stack up if compared with the likes of Product Placement or even any of the How to Cut and Paste volumes.

Unless you are using such releases as a mix tape for a party, they have a sort of “you had to be there” factor. This can sometimes be a bit difficult to translate into a listenable album in the cold light of day. That said, this release is a record in the truest sense: a record of an event. Like a photograph, it allows you to relive the event if you were there, and live vicariously through others if you weren’t. If you just want to pretend that you are a superstar DJ, then slap this CD into your player, stand behind your decks, and dream away.

The review was originally posted on popmatters.com

The review was originally posted on popmatters.com

https://www.popmatters.com/dj-yoda-fabriclive-39-2496119358.html

Optimo is a Scottish DJ duo: Twitch and Jonnie Wilkes. Or, perhaps more accurately, Optimo is a club in Glasgow, Scotland that seems to pride itself on its musical eclecticism, if this release is anything to go by. This mix CD offers a motley assortment of acid house, psychedelia, experimental tracks, rare grooves, and Simple Minds.

From Psych Out seeps a stinky, dark, sweaty nightclub. If 10 or even 20 years ago, like me, you felt the need to go to cheap student clubs in search of a good time, or even just a late drink, you would have found yourself treated to the sort of musical delights found on this release. Listening to the CD brings back memories of a damp, beer-soaked carpet, a smoke-filled room, and toilets that refuse to perform their most basic duty.

How these guys can maintain a straight face as they mix Mr Fingers into Chris and Cosey is a mystery to me. Quite how they came up with the idea of mixing The Temptations classic “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone” into a hard house track is perhaps best left a mystery. Suffice it to say, any record that includes Hawkwind and Simple Minds within the same frame of reference deserves some kind of accolade. I’m not too sure whether it is a good thing, but I am glad that they did it nonetheless. All of this is packaged in a horrible pink-and-blue Day-Glo cover that is, frankly, impossible to read. So psychedelic and whacky.

Psych Out works on a number of levels. It’s a cool introduction to some lost gems (the Silver Apples’ “Oscillations” should be played to children as part of their history lessons), and it will serve as a reminder to those funky kids that frequent this Glasgow venue, as well as for those like me who are too old to get into these places any more (aah, poor me). All in all, it should be worth the price of admission.

Except it isn’t. Something is not quite right in the land of Optimo. The sound quality just does not stand up to scrutiny. In a dark, smelly, smoke-filled club, after you have had more than your fair share of the intoxicant of your choice, everything just sounds cool and groovy. However, when you take these songs from various decades (from the ’60s, ’80s, and so on) and put them together, you begin to realise that that production values have changed somewhat over the last 50 years. A little bit of warble here and a volume drop there just make you think that you would rather be in the club itself, rather than listen to an approximation burnt on to CD. After all CDs and digital media in general are much less forgiving of sound inconsistencies than your beer-addled memory. That said, there are some great tunes on here that still manage to excite more than 10 years after their original release. It is always good to hear Simple Minds’ “Theme for Great Cities” on a relatively new release, even if it is mixed with a lesser-known acid house tune.

The bottom line is, if you are looking for a mix CD in the vein of 2 Many DJs, then forget it. Optimo’s choice of songs is not as cool, the mixing ain’t really up to much, and the sound quality of the some of the recordings is very poor. However, if would like a musical history lesson where you’ll be introduced to a bunch of tunes that you would not stumble upon normally, then this one is for you. Just get yourself some dark glasses before you look at the cover.

This review was originally posted on popmatters.com

https://www.popmatters.com/optimo-psych-out-2495695816.html