Album Review: Various - Sandwell District: Fabric 69

Sandwell District are a defunct electronic label from the UK, renowned for their minimal austere techno that equally drew on the DIY post-punk aesthetic, noise and elements of everything from industrial to ambient. In short: dark electronic music with gristle. Despite news of their demise, action continues in the Sandwell District, like Sandwell DJ sets from founders Function (Dave Sumner) and Regis (Karl O'Connor) and now this mix from the duo over 12 months since they shut shop.

It's one of the tightest mixes you'll ever hear. And unrelenting. The first eight tracks feel like the same organism, impossible to tell where one track ends and the other begins. This may be due to the use of quick loop edits between and within the tunes, yet it's also because the attention to detail is unparalleled. Everything is tightly controlled, equally hypnotic as they are driving and minimal.

What's most curious is that they've not used any of their label's own material. There's a few Regis remixes, a couple from Function, though the remainder of the tunes carry a similar kind of aesthetic to the Sandwell world.

The mix doesn't call attention to itself until Rrose's Wedge, and even then it's the texture that sets it apart. Later Carl Craig's Darkness unexpectedly adds a touch of synthetic colour. Big names pop up like Craig's alias Plastikman with Plasticine, and Untold's banging Motion The Dance, whilst Basic Channel's Mark Ernestus Meets The BBC feels clean in comparison to the remainder of the set.

It's a highly controlled mix, eschewing crescendos and revelling in the driving darkness, using grit and noise to find a beauty in the bleak.