Back in December I wrote about the remix competition that Greek production duo Fabrics were running in conjunction with label From A Tree Records. The results are in and the winning entries have been compiled and last month saw release.

Taking the many entries down to ten, Fabrics and from a tree have chosen a range of styles spawned from the original IDM compositions of their debut album; Refabricated is the result. These results are mixed but that is partly due to picking some electronic styles I struggle to find much to really get into in a general way.

What I do like are the following.

Skarf’s remix of Elbow Room works the original into a deep downtempo smokey track with Halftribe’s version of the same piece taking it down a similar path into a downtempo place but into a different abstract. Fragile Room’s version of original album opener Autofriend is worked into a more ambient drone experiment, removing the machined grind of the original.

Cosmic Box’s version of Attractor keeps much of the original vibe and electro drive though it rounds of the edges giving a smoother and spacier ride. The remix of Dark Entry by One Arc Degree goes into psy-inspired progressive tech which as a style I can easily take or leave, in this case I’ll take.

It’s quite likely that my favourite cut on this comp is Dama “Jen”‘s remix of Raw. Going into a spaced out electro landscape that is for late nights and early mornings. The original track was a harder ride but there was a landscape within it and Dama has worked to bring it out and interpret in their own way.

With an album as good as FABRICS was and is, a remix album was always going to be a tough call. Opening it up as they have has resulted in some interesting and varying results. Others will like different tracks and for different reasons and in that maybe that was the point. I’m not going to fall in love with everything I hear and neither should I. Refabricated is a mixed bag but one that won’t put you out of pocket to find out as it’s available for free download.

Fabrics – Refabricated
DOWNLOAD

–
Fabrics – Autofriend (Fragile Balloon remix)
Fabrics – Elbow Room (SkarF feat. Lunarmare remix)
Fabrics – Attractor (Cosmic Box remix)
Fabrics – Deconstruction Yard (Genuss remix)
Fabrics – Dark Entry (One Arc Degree remix)
Fabrics – Raw (dama “Jen” remix)
Fabrics – Attractor (Jimi Luckum remix)
Fabrics – Dark Entry (Camelorg remix)
Fabrics – Sad Modem (The Zars “Stupid Wanker” remix)
Fabrics – Elbow Room (Halftribe remix)
FATDIGI016