Minus and Kompakt at Fabric

Minus and Kompakt at Fabric

16 November, 2009
by: Nuria

I'm queuing outside Fabric on a Saturday night, looking forward to a line-up headlined by techno's new 'it' girl, the Berlin-based Polish-American Magda (of M_nus label fame). Being at London's most well-known club on the biggest clubbing night of the week, the atmosphere is predictably abuzz as all types of people – European tourists, East Asian party kids, hipsters, glammed-up girls, fresh-faced students, seasoned ravers, regulars, one-timers and the rest – excitedly gear up for an all-night dance session.

The trick with Fabric is to go relatively early and actually hang out in the club. With three rooms of music, an ample outdoor smoking area and plenty of chill-out spaces, it's easy to avoid boredom. Furthermore, sleazy pests and too-cool-for-school types aside, I've never had a night at Fabric that didn't involve random chats with friendly people. Tonight is no exception, and my friend and I end up making a bunch of 'single-serving friends', to borrow the term Edward Norton's character in Fight Club uses to describe flight companions.

To kick off we head to Room Two, hosted by the Kompakt label, where we catch Tobias Thomas' set. I'm not too familiar with the Cologne native, but I'm digging his brand of tech-house, varied in its beats and breaks, if a little restrained. Just when I start to think he's slipping into repetition, Thomas takes it up a few notches, blasting out an electro-tinged riff that riles up the crowd. The surge continues for about ten minutes, until it slowly mellows back to a steady rumble. We decide to head off when some jazzy horns enter the mix, as I have an inexplicable aversion to brass.

After wandering around, we come back for part of Matias Aguayo's live set. This is the guy best known for a track called 'Minimal' which facetiously mocked techno's trend du jour by proclaiming that it has 'no groove [and] no balls'. In line with this stance, Aguayo is dishing up tech-house with a twangier flavour, but he's also doing live vocals which sound like cat wails (or is it just the reverb?). Either way, we head off to Room One for the end of Hobo's set. Ahh, this is more like it. One of the newer additions to Richie Hawtin's M_nus family, the young Canadian is winning the crowd over with danceable beats – shame we've missed most of them.

After a detour to Room Three, a cool little enclave perching above the main bar which is unfortunately showcasing uninspired percussive house, we head to Room One for Marc Houle's live set. Wading through the crowd proves a hassle – I invariably find myself wedged between one person's ass and another's crotch. Still, the Berlin-based Canadian and M_nus wonderboy is worth it. He's onstage with his Mac pumping out all sorts of weird sounds and tinkering with the pitch and tempo. Unique as it is, it never strays into inaccessible territory.

Afterwards it's Magda's turn in the limelight, and judging by the dozens of clones in the crowd, she's what everyone's been waiting for. As a stream of techno blares out, a lot of people look at the empty stage in bewilderment, not realising she's encaged in the poorly-illuminated, non-elevated DJ booth on the opposite side. Those more in the know are already gathering around, holding up phones and cameras and grinning like placated children.

Magda's monster three-hour set is a celebration of her Fabric 49 release, a dark mix that challenges the listener with sudden transitions and samples of 1970s Italian film music. I'm relieved that her DJ style is on the opposite end of the spectrum: bass-y and very danceable, just what you need at 5am to expend all remaining energy. That said, it's also imaginative, and there's not a single segment that's looped twice without some break or alteration.

Parts of the dance floor have thinned out, but the atmosphere is kicking. Ignoring the slightly nutty antics of the overly star-struck and the utterly strung-out, it's really a perfect climax to the night. Three cheers to dancing till daybreak – and two enthusiastic thumbs up to a DJ who deserves to rank with the best of them.


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Nuria