Martijn Deijkers' particular strand of bass defies genres or adjectives - to his fans and admirers, it's known simply as 'Martyn Music.' With a sound that became a cornerstone for dubstep in 2009, and a debut album ('Great Lengths') that became one of the most stylistically fierce long players the scene has produced to date, Martyn pushes a rebellious, out-of-the-box mentality into his every artistic venture. Commanding dancefloors with a strong sense of timing and attitude, his music revels in its relative simplicity - synth lines lounging atop swung drum patterns, all in turn massaged by warm low frequencies - a trait he's reinforced with fabric 50, his first mix CD to date.

With this Martyn intertwines the essential elements of what makes his own style so pristine and easily recognisable, fusing dancefloor ready percussion with that element of raw soul - whether it's vocal led or simply inferred with emotive chords - and synthesizers that harbour those distinct frequencies that positively shimmer. Anyone who has witnessed Martyn meticulously construct one of his DJ sets over the tail end of 2009 can testify to the pitch perfect, unfathomably smooth beat and vibe matching. Whilst the mix is loaded with welcome surprises like Hudson Mohawke's 'Joy Fantastic' and Levon Vincent's 'Air Raid' - tracks that might not work on every dancefloor - it's an honest and healthy glimpse into the Dutchman's current DJ perspective. 



"I did the whole mix CD live just because I thought that was more honest than doing an Ableton DJ mix. It is how I would play live - not everything on the CD is perfect, but it's not meant to be.  That goes for my DJ sets and for my music as well; there's always little bits and pieces that could have been much better or more streamlined or whatever, but that's the beauty of music to me. I wanted it to be raw and honest."

www.fabriclondon.com
www.myspace.com/martyndnb

Polish-born, Detroit-raised and Berlin-based Magda Chojnacka has been working her way through the underground electronic circuit since the early 90s and is now a key member of the worshipped Minus family.

Currently residing in Berlin, a relative stone's throw from her home town of Zywiec in Poland considering the nomadic existence of her childhood, she seems to have finally found a city that mirrors her own attitude to life - no restrictions and certainly no compromise. It's a philosophy that also flows through Magda's music particularly during her after hour sets. The ability to guide her audience through the dark recesses of contemporary minimalism before delivering them back safely into the light means her name is never far from the lips of discerning clubbers and fellow DJs alike.

It's easy to see why she's one of the most exciting prospects to breakthrough in recent years. Magda makes things happen. Always has done, always will do.

The first lady of Minus has become the third woman to join fabric's mix legacy with fabric 49.

www.fabriclondon.com/label/fabric/49
www.m-nus.com

Anyone can construct a track, and lay out its elements in all the right places - have the bassline kick just here, or the percussion build right there - but only a select few can actually design one.
It comes as no surprise that Matt Edwards aka Radio Slave is a graphic designer and artist by trade, as a visual thread runs colourfully through his sonics, rhythms and arrangements. Shaped by the groove, and ever leaning on an uplifting hypnotic lilt, every production that falls under the spell of Edwards becomes certified dancefloor gold.
Matt also runs the highly influential Rekids label releasing high quality music from artists such as Spencer Parker, Toby Tobias, Mr G, Audiofly and many more. Matt resides in Berlin but is famed the world over for his long hypnotic DJ sets blending stripped back house with percussive techno and minimalism.

He has just mixed 'Fabric 48' which is available now, and here's his new mix & interview - enjoy!

www.myspace.com/rekid
www.fabriclondon.com

As a preview to the new Fabric compilation put together by one of drum and bass' greatest Danny 'LTJ' Bukem we present a profile of him along with a mix that gives you a taste of the album. Here's an introduction in his own words...

"With the mix I really wanted to highlight what I'm doing as a DJ. I could've sat there with a computer and done what a lot of people do: a computer mix, which is great fun as you can do what you can't do live. But for me personally, I wanted it to be exactly what I do on a Friday night, strictly dubplates and records. I also wanted to represent people on the mix that I am working with on Good Looking, who I have a strong belief will have some longevity in what they are doing, and are going to be prolific artists in their own right. For me, it doesn't matter who the artist is, it's just about good music. That's been my ethos since day one"

www.goodlooking.org
www.fabriclondon.com

Sometimes life moves in mysterious ways. Take, for instance, Barclay Crenshaw, aka super-producer and dirtybird/mothership boss Claude VonStroke. How could he, as a rap-obsessed 16 year old dreaming of an engineering job at Metroplex (Juan Atkins' studio) in Detroit, expect that someday he'd end up headlining gigs alongside Atkins. The same could be said about his days as a frustrated creative working in post-production houses, when he began creating an electronic music documentary by interviewing internationally-renowned DJs. He never could've predicted that one day, rather ironically, he'd be in the opposite chair: the world-famous DJ being interviewed.

"Everything is really tailored; the tracks aren't really the tracks, it is all cut up, chopped and twisted. It's challenging to do a project that has to say everything in such a small time frame because I play a lot of genres. So I worked hard on getting all the different sounds that I really dig into one mix. It wasn't made as a dancefloor mix, but if you listen to it and you don't tap your feet, or move in some way, then it's just a complete failure. I wanted to create a greasy, dirty vibe but also get melancholy and funky - a little hard here, a little soft there. I picked the best music I could find and put it together in a creative way that fully represents my sound and personality." - Claude VonStroke

www.dirtybirdrecords.com