Joe Ransom FabricLive 20

[Fabric; 2005]

Styles: hip-hop, breakbeat, dancehall, garage
Others: DJ/rupture, E-Z Rollers, 2 Many DJs… I guess


Although he's been a resident for several years at the club from which this series takes its name and last year opened for Basement Jaxx and the Plump DJs, this is the first commercially available release from Joe Ransom. He's obviously put that dues time to good use, as FabricLive 20 is mighty impressive. Building steadily from but never really leaving, the 20th installment of FabricLive contains the absolute cream of UK hip-hop, featuring the likes of Dizzee Rascal, Ty, The Nextmen, Rodney P, and Dynamite MC. But knowing the sound of UK hip-hop, you shouldn't be too surprised at how well Dizzee's garage beat freestylings flow into 5th Suite's ghetto-funk breaks rocker "Una Funker" care of Ransom's flawless mixing. Hip-hop is widely accepted as the most difficult genre to throw down, but Joe knows his tracks and employs several methods to bring this to you seamlessly and with peak interest, carrying smoothness all throughout the transition from rap to breakbeat.

You get a good sense of the crowd energy that night, despite Fabric recordings containing no outside sound, as well as Joe's feeding off of and reciprocating that energy. This mix is absolutely perfect for those of you with an hour drive or wait before a party. It's thoroughly captivating building from the stuttering bassline audio-instructional "Turntable Technology" by Pablo to the Stanton Warriors remix of "High Score" by which point you have a pretty good idea of what you're up against. If your head isn't bobbing and your feet aren't itching by then, skip the party and check yourself into a mortuary cause nothing is ever going to get you up again. Currently, Joe is in the studio working on his own stuff which, if DJ/rupture's mix and release path is anything to go by, makes me very excited to see what he comes up with.

1. Pablo - Turntable Technology
2. Keith Lawrence feat. Seanie-T - Muzik-Ed Special
3. Rodney P - The Nice Up
4. Ty feat. Roots Manuva - So U Want Morre? (Refix)
5. Evil Ed feat. Yungun - Nico Suave
6. Ali B Presents Plan B - No New Styles
7. Luv Lite Massive - Bun De Wikkid (Pressure Drop Version)
8. M.I.A. - Galang
9. The Nextmen - High Score (Stanton Warriors Remix)
10. Cane Matto - Ain't Nuttin To It! (Part Two)
11. Dizzee Rascal - Stand Up Tall
12. 5th Suite - Una Funker
13. Rennie Pilgrem - Coming Up For Air (Koma & Bones Mix)
14. Tayo Meets Precision Cuts Downtown - Breakbeat Girl
15. Shut Up And Dance - Reclaim The Streets (Move Ya! & Steve Lavers Remix)
16. Zinc - Go DJ (Remix)
17. Dynamite MC - Industry

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