Robert Hood - Fabric 39

I like this mix, track selection was very good i think HOWEVER, something has to be made clear about this mix: this is absolutely NOT minimal, even in the broader sense, and believe me, the term has become quite flexible and now is used even to describe slower techno that just doesn't follow the banging 140bpm 90's-style techno. I suppose you could call very few tracks in this mix "minimal", but the overall feel is more like techno and tech-house. But this doesn't prevent it from being a very interesting mix, with that dance feel to it. Good stuff!

The man himself does it again. Robert Hood's Fabric 39 DJ Mix is right up my alley. It hits the spot so many times I'm afraid to even start counting.
While he's not taking the art of mixing to a new realm, or igniting revolutions, mr. Hood is doing just what you need to hear, rather than giving you what you want. The selection of 32 tracks displayed throughout the mix hits it on the nail as well. In fact, there is virtually nothing here that doesn't.
The music is great. The whole thing has more of an old schoolish Detroit techno touch, with a twist of modern minimal, a clash of which is then morphed with some melodic and soulful tunes. The whole CD is pretty much upbeat, and provides great party, "stompy" material, with an undeniable groove to it.
Long, repetetive, and frequently monotonous minimal tracks, with often two to three sound effects being intertwined and applied over and over again are out of the question here. Most of the material here is very heavy on the bass, and forged for the hands and feet- basically, what a proper DJ mix should be all about. Robert takes each track, takes its essence and its heart, squeezes the most out of it before quickly letting it flow into yet another killer tune without too much ado. The mixing itslef isn't on a surgical Hawtin/Villalobos level, but it's raw and quite refreshing in today's sea of subtle and low key track transitions. I really get this great impression of Robert throwing it back to some past times, and mind you, it sounds fantastic. The final result here beat my expectations. Fabric 39 is already in my top five of the label's extensive series. Get it, especially if Detroit techno is your thing. Some more recent releases that pop up into my mind and that you'd might want to check out if this was to your liking are Kevin Saunderson's "Ekspozicija 07: The Detroit Connection" and Carl Craig's "Sessions" release and Cristian Vogel's "The Never Engine". Enjoy, as there is quite a lot of that to be found here!