Fabric 18

Electronic music has long been both strengthened and weakened by its regionalism, usually manifested in a "sound" and coinciding label that find a limited number of peers pushing their slimly classified style into every possible crevice until it overloads and implodes upon itself. Like everywhere else in England, Hull had its own scene centered around the Pork record label and its marquee artists, Baby Mammoth and Fila Brazillia. But just as London's Fabric club has built its weekly lineup and ongoing mix CD series as a gathering of all the various tribes under one roof, this particular clan does well showcasing its sound as played by Brazillia's Steve Cobby, Mammoth's Mark "Bliss" Blissenden, and Robert Ellerby, better known as Beige. The disc's limited track selection chooses three Mammoth records and five cuts (albeit unreleased cuts) from Ellerby's Momma Gravy project, as well as a Brazillia cut and three cuts from the group's post-Pork Twentythree label. But this in no way limits the music's appeal, a clever mix of nu-jazz, dub, and weird house, disco, and rock that is all too easy to fall into. So chock another up for Fabric. Their global all-star team is still batting close to 1000.