The Motor City itself may be in a distressing state of urban decay, but the city widely-lauded as giving birth to techno — and to pioneers like the Belleville Three (Jaun Atkins, Kevin Saunderson and Derrick May) and Carl Craig — can still, in 2012, lay claim to blooding some of the EDM scene’s most talented young stars.
Enter Visionquest, comprising the evergreen Seth Troxler, Lee Curtiss, Ryan Crosson and Shaun Reeves, four “Detroit Refugees” who started organising parties across Detroit about ten years ago. The international acclaim has come thick and fast since then, with extended stints in Berlin providing the four with the club scene and inspiration required to hold floors in their own right. It’s been over the past 18 months as Visionquest, however, that the quartet has emerged as one of the house and techno scenes’ most original and progressive collectives.
On the back of remixes completed for the likes of Everything But The Girl’s Tracey Thorn and Kiki, as well as a number of original cuts released on their burgeoning self-titled imprint and labels like Crosstown Rebels, Get Physical and Wolf+Lamb, the lads have drawn well-deserved plaudits for their deep, dark, adventurous and fun take on EDM.
It’s here then, on their stellar Fabric 61 mix, that we’re treated to the full Visionquest experience. There’s plenty of deep, dark, bass bangers here; the eerie ‘Portside Waves’ from STL kicks things off, before offerings from Soul Center and Vancouver’s Konrad Black give way to a little-known remix by Franco Cinelli of Cassius’s 'The Sound Of Violence'.
The atmospheric, almost hypnotic, sounds keep coming, courtesy of more obscure names like Terje Bakke and Kollektiv Turmstrasse. Visionquest aren’t afraid to enlist the big guns either, with Carl Craig chipping in his remix of Catz’n’Dogz 'I’m Free' featuring Paul Randolph.
Pick of the album, however, is Phreek Plus One featuring Mr White — 'Passion' — here given the remix treatment by Frankfurt’s DJ T. This is late-night fare, perfectly suited to one of Troxler or Curtiss’s sets at Fabric or at Ibiza institution DC10 (those who know, know). Elsewhere, Green Velvet’s 'Abduction' sets a spaced-out tone, and Aquarius Heaven’s 'Can’t Buy Love' is a bona fide party starter.
A few choice offerings from the Visionquest label feature too, in the form of My Favourite Robot’s 'Forest Fires', Footprintz’ 'Heaven Felt Like Night' and the absolutely brilliant 'Tale/Foot Break' from Tale Of Us & Footprint. Reinforcing their expect the unexpected playing style, the lads round off the mix with Wildcookie’s ‘Song With No Ending'; if only that was the case.
Fabric 61 stands out from other recent series instalments because you can sense throughout the fun the Detroit four have had putting it together. Their large personalities and playful approach to interviews (this hack has first-hand experience) has long endeared them to music lovers, and it’s this same fun-loving spirit that shines through on Fabric 61; highly recommended.
