Album Review: Ben Klock - Fabric 66

Ben Klock might not be one of the biggest names to find his way onto the front cover of a Fabric mix disc – he doesn't even have the true test of 'star' status (a Wikipedia page) – but with his ever-growing reputation, now might be the time for the German to emerge from his techno-bunker to claim a wider audience. Enlisting a handful of techno's more renowned names – Robert Hood (as Floorplan), DJ Bone and Josh Wink – but eschewing their 'hits', Klock goes digging through some of his dustier crates, and while failing to find any jaw-to-the-floor moments of staggering brilliance, he nonetheless gathers an enviable slew of consistently high-quality material.

Concentrating on a diligent blend of shifting moods, Fabric 66 is a mix of smooth transitions rather than abrupt chops, combing stripped back techno elements into a journey-like whole. What's most impressive about Klock's technique is his combination of the seemingly opposed virtues of speed and subtlety, as he pours the cream of 24 tracks into 1.2 hours, displaying the discrete touch of a master craftsman. The emotional core of each track is carefully emphasised by it neighbours, such as when the comparatively mellow acid of K.Hand's Stars is showcased on either side by the off-kilter beats of DVS1's Spying and the ghostly sci-fi echo of Octave One's Terraforming. The mix rounds off with the ethereal lunar excursion of Alva Noto's Moonphaser 2, from his criminally under-celebrated Xerrox Vol. 2 album, which if played on a car stereo transitions smoothly back to the fade-in of the opening track.

A mix that deserves to be enshrined alongside those of Fabric's superstar DJs for sure.