Fabric 59: Jamie Jones

Jamie Jones
Fabric 59
FABRIC

Over the course of these last 3 years, few people can claim to have had as powerful an impact on house music as Jamie Jones. Together with Lee Foss and their ever-extending posse, Jones has been at the forefront of a popular revolution, spreading dance music to the global masses. Nevertheless, however far and wide the Hot Natured pull may stretch, nowhere quite captures the essence, or truly understands what they do, like London. Like hard techno in Berlin or 'ed banging electro in Paris, the London scene has become synonymous with sexy, all inclusive house music. To be present at one of the recent Hot Natured takeovers at London's Fabric was, so I've heard, to witness something truly special. No surprises then, that Jamie Jones was consequently asked to record Fabric's 59th edition of its prestigious mix series.

Jamie wastes no time in contextualising the mix; Ali Love and Kenny Glasgow's intro readying the listener for an hour of current, dancefloor sound. Segueing effortlessly into the first bumps of Metronomy's mix of Sebastian Tellier's La Ritournelle, Jones' presence suddenly looms large, locking the listener instantly in. From there the pace is diligently increased over the course of each record, from the relaxed, rolling groove of James Teej's Don't Appear to the more upbeat, dancefloor thump of Jamie's own edit of Coat of Arms Is This Something. Two records later and Murk's timeless remix of Karen Pollack You Can't Touch Me has the mix in full swing; close your eyes and you can almost taste the atmosphere in room 3. A significantly slowed version of Felix Da Housecat's classic Madame Hollywood caps off an effortless first twenty minutes, leaving the listener in expectant awe of what possibly could be next.

Unfortunately, people may find themselves disappointed. The middle section of the mix veers away from its original energetic old-skool flavour, towards a more modern, typical Hot Natured sound. As is the case with any popular style, especially one with such definable characteristics, many of the records released can begin to sound similar and contrived, even formulaic in their composition. Sadly this is the case here; Body Shiver from upcoming British duo Waifs & Strays sounds gratingly similar to Forward Motion, while Hot Natured's own Assimilation featuring the vocals of Ali Love and Kenny Glasgow, doesn't quite live up to the hype. Thankfully however, Jones ends the mix on a high. Moving first into techier territory, featuring The Lows, a promising cut from Jamie's forthcoming LP on Crosstown Rebels, he then closes proceedings in the only polite way, with a couple of choice, slow-mo house tracks; Get Up Disco from NYC duo Soho 808 a particular highlight.

Let's not get it twisted; brilliantly executed and well thought through, this is a good mix; but then Jamie Jones is a good DJ, with access to a lot of very good records. As a result, good doesn't feel quite 'good' enough. It's hard to pinpoint why. Maybe it's because his effort is overshadowed by the pressured combination of Fabric prestige and Hot Natured hype or maybe it's because now, as opposed to previous years, Jones has less to prove - in other words, perhaps he's achieved what were his once distant goals. Consequently, the Fabric CD was never going to have the impact of his early East London sets or his Essential Mix, because, for the time being, Jamie is busy simply enjoying and revelling in what he's created. Musically, he's arrived. That is, until he gets restless again.

Tracklisting:
01 Hot Natured feat. Ali Love & Kenny Glasgow - Time Intro [Hot
Creations]
02 Sebastien Tellier - La Ritournelle (Metronomy Mix) [Record
Makers / Lucky Number]
03 James Teej - Don't Appear (Redux) [My Favorite Robot]
04 Coat Of Arms - Is This Something (Jones Fly Edit) [Futureboogie]
05 White Lions - DePalma [My Favorite Robot]
06 Karen Pollack - You Can't Touch Me (Murk Remix - Jones Fly Edit) [Slip N Slide]
07 Cajmere feat. Jamie Principle - God Sent ('10) [Cajual]
08 Felix Da Housecat - Madame Hollywood [Rude Photo]
09 Waifs & Strays - Body Shiver [Hot Creations]
10 jennygoesdirty - Amoureux Solitaires [Kill The DJ]
11 Hot Natured feat. Ali Love & Kenny Glasgow - Assimilation [Hot Creations]
12 Crazy P - Open For Service [2020Vision]
13 Panthers - Goblin City (Holy Ghost Mix) [Warner]
14 Oppenheimer Analysis - The Devil's Dancers [Minimal Wave]
15 Jamie Jones - The Lows [Crosstown Rebels]
16 soho808 - Get Up Disco [Dikso]
17 Footprintz - Fear Of Numbers [Visionquest]