M.A.N.D.Y Fabric:38 Review

The last few Fabric releases have been pretty star studded. Pokerflat head honcho Steve Bug compiled the last one, Villalobos did an artist DJ hybrid release and before them Ewan Pearson and Ellen Allien. The trend continues this January in the form of M.A.N.D.Y. Despite having quite an annoying name to type, the Berlin duo has been at the forefront of the ongoing “German” trend for over the past 4 years. Their co-owned label Get Physical has had a meteoric rise in popularity, not to mention the numerous releases and remixes they’ve produced on their own and with label mates Booka Shade. And the last time M.A.N.D.Y put tracks to CD for a compilation back in 2006, I saluted as they brought together techno and house in a percussive, funk fuelled and eclectic manner over two CDs for the At The Controls series. So I and probably many others were intrigued to see how M.A.N.D.Y would fill one single CD.

After a bizarre bananas based intro the duo fall into the atmospheric and eerie Darkslide by Minz, setting the scene for a mix of dark electronic grooves. The mix shifts into some bright percussion before dropping into the driving, melodic tones of the Crowdpleaser mix of Quarion’s Karasu . The CD continues to twist and turn along a road of sinister grooves and eerie haunted synth stabs, always continually building. M.A.N.D.Y do an excellent job of bringing the mix in to many crescendo points making the listener expect a step up in gear but instead is teased like a kitten with string.

Rewards are reaped with the fantastic Magic M by Lucio Aquilina whose intricate chimes move the mix into the next phase of dark pulsing grooves and futuristic melodies. Again the mix just continues to shift and glide through these different moods arriving at a glimpse of Robag Wruhme’s Dopamine followed by the glitchy but not twitchy Claude Von Stroke mix of War Paint before moving on with its urging groove. The mix plateaus out into a wash of bright pads and strings through Sebo K & Metro’s take on Tunnels and Julian Ganzer’s funk driven mix of 2 Fast 4 U, which completes the mix and for some reason conjures up images in my mind of Disney’s 1933 animation, Father Noah’s Ark.

Imagery aside, this mix is great. Its dark driving groove throughout makes a night time drive or walk home seem epic. If you like the dark and sinister stripped back grooves, then this CD is definitely a recommended buy. M.A.N.D.Y do an excellent job creating an atmospheric mix and whilst I still think their At The Controls CD is better, this effort is not far off from that. 8/10

M.A.N.D.Y will be playing at Fabric on 26th Jan 2008

Tracklisting
01. Intro;
Franco Bianco - Noches De Superacion - Italo Business
Robag Wruhme als Rolf Oksen - Rolf auf seinem Auskukk - Freude Am Tanzen
02. Yello - Bananas To The Beat - Mercury
03. Minz - Darkslide - Perspectiv
04. Guillaume & The Couto Dumonts - Mederico - Oslo
05. Quarion - Karasu [Crowdpleaser Remix] - Drumpoet Community
06. Gui Borrato - Tipologia [Lucy Remix] - Parquet
07. Mark-Henning - Sicknote - Cynosure
08. Decimal - Idiosynkratik - Enemy
09. Lucio Aquilina - My Cube - Cocoon
10. Booka Shade - City Tales [Dub] - Get Physical
11. DJ Yellow & Astrid Suryanto - To The Top [Guy J Remix] - Project
12. Dubfire - I Feel Speed [Audion Remix] - SCI+TEC
13. Martin Eyerer and Toni Rios - Chorizo - Kickboxer
14. Robag Wruhme als Rolf Oksen - Dopamin - Freude Am Tanzen
15. poxyMUSIC Ft. Gina Mitchell - War Paint (Claude Vonstroke Remix) - Hussle
16. Djinxx and X-Pansul – Spanish Kebab - Ovum
17. Matchbox - U Can Get Sonar - Kindisch
18. Deadset - Farm House (Deadset Dub Tool) - Front Room
19. DJ T. - The Dawn [Nass Remix] - Get Physical
20. Simon Flower - The Whisper Had It [Mark August Remix] - Pokerflat
21. Raz Ohara and The Odd Orchestra - Kisses - [Kabuto & Koji Carnea Remix] - Get Physical
22. Basic Soul Unit - Tunnels [Sebo k & Metro Remix] - Mule
23. Lopazz - 2 Fast 4 U [Julian Ganzer Remix] - Get Physical
24. Mike Monday - Bhalobashi [Sideshow Dub Mix] - Simple
25. M.A.N.D.Y. - Don't Stop - Get Physical