Live mixes by name DJs have become an increasingly lame clichT, with many of them sounding basically alike: mellow, loungy grooves suitable primarily for drinking mojitos in the bars of trendy boutique hotels. Which is fine, and actually a nice use of what
Erik Satie termed music as furniture, but it does mean that once you've heard a couple, you've pretty much heard them all.
Fabriclive.29, a live mix by
Dan Whitford of the Australian dance trio
Cut Copy, is more inventive than most, tempering the usual Euro-disco suspects with unexpected inclusions like
Roxy Music's "Angel Eyes," the
DFA remix of
Goldfrapp's "Slide In,"
the Faint's new wave revivalist "Your Retro Career Melted," and, most surprisingly,
Ciccone Youth's howling 1988 deconstruction of a
Madonna hit, "Into the Groovey." The interpolated pop songs not only work well alongside the more standard club tracks (as do the three
Cut Copy originals
Whitford drops in), they help create a more dynamic and enjoyable listen. Other DJs should listen and learn. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide