OMAR S - FABRIC 45 (Fabric Records)

So far, only Pure Science and Ricardo Villalobos have submitted a Fabric mix CD made up exclusively of their own material. Enigmatic FXHE boss and white label scribbler Omar-S joins them with 80 minutes of House and Techno exposing a richness of sound apparently overlooked by the majority of clubbers and many of his contemporaries back home in Detroit.

Much vaunted for his almost retro-like underground approach to promotion, the same ethos cannot be applied to his music. This is a collection of forward thinking tracks from balls out Techno to jacking House music, and all have a distinctly futuristic edge to them gradually bringing Omar’s distinctive style to the listener’s ears.

Mixed purely with vinyl, his no nonsense blending takes some getting used to and, in places, is a little abrupt and hard on the ears but it’s refreshing to hear some humanity and a crackle after so many digitally enhanced releases in the Fabric series.

Opening track Polycopter whirrs us into the mix with a flurry of syncopated “fuck-you-this-is-the-future” noises underpinned with a chunky warm bass synth, mixed quickly (if a little roughly) into the slowly building electronic piano house of Flying Gorgars. From here we’re pushed into the urgent chords and four bit bleeps of Strider’s World which crescendos gloriously into Oasis Four, a calm, blissful piece of stripped down Techno.

Cruisin Constant gradually layers the beats before a chuggingly insistent bassline and a tough-as-old-boots kick drum draws the pace back up to some more chilled, introspective Techno, this time with a haunting male vocal on U. Oasis 13 1/2 snaps us out of our reverie with a cheeky, bouncing collection of bleeps with lovely old-school piano chords and a seriously coquettish kick, chucking us headlong into the deep, brooding delays and clicks of 1 Out Of 853 Beats. Next up, the smoothest mix of the album brings in the sound of minimal clicks turned on their head in Simple Than Sorry - a hypnotic, mutating slab of Tech-House that is, for this reviewer, the stand out track.

Psychotic Synthesis follows, bringing some Electro to the table with a big reverby bass gradually layered with lush complex synths, growing and growing before being rapidly shoved aside for the vocal House of The Maker. A Victim makes its mildly clunky entry next comprising a bumpy kick holding together a monotone synth being harmonised with varying degrees of discord and a female vocal sample making an unsettling arrangement. Omar keeps the sinister atmosphere going with the tribal Oasis One building into the tougher ravey stabs and cinematic fury of Blade Runner.

The mix takes one final twist with the last two tracks, Day - a jackin, summery, rootsy house number with a filtered female vocal sample providing a nod to Chicago, and Set Me Out, an achingly beautiful soulful House joint closing the session and reminding us how, despite the technological advances, this music is deeply rooted in emotional, vocal soul and disco.

With moments of sheer genius on this mix, Omar S has proved himself to be one of the most prolific and proficient producers out there. He delivers post-heyday Detroit techno at it’s very best and despite some structuring misfires and breif flashes of ego, Fabric 45 stands tall amongst the greats of this epic series.

Words by Chris Lawes.