Groove Armada - FABRICLIVE 87

Groove Armada, are rooted in dance music’s seminal movements, with Andy Cato taking in Castlemorton and the free party scene, and Tom Findlay regularly attending the Hacienda during his formative university days in Manchester. When they met in London in the mid-90s, little did they know they would go on to make history themselves. Groove Armada came to fruition as the name of a club night where Tom & Andy each hosted a floor, and the duo adopted the moniker when they started producing music together for Tim ‘Love’ Lee’s Tummy Touch label. A week spent in the remote countryside resulted in their debut album ‘Northern Star’ and breakthrough hit ‘At The River’, which was to prove the catalyst for major label recognition, million-selling albums, Grammy and Brit nominations, and a pioneering live show, establishing Groove Armada as one of the planet's best-loved dance acts. However, throughout their two decades of global success, they have remained as comfortable in sweat-soaked basements as on the big stages. Indeed, Tom & Andy began DJing properly as a duo in fabric’s Room 3 during the club’s early days, whilst more recently they have made Room 1 their own.

"It’s in Room 3 that we effectively wrote Superstylin’, or at least the idea for that track took serious shape. They were magical times, really. It’s been amazing returning to the club, a sense of coming home. A lot of the people involved when we first played there are still involved, so it felt easy to come back, it’s an overused description but fabric is family." Groove Armada

FABRICLIVE 87 represents the kind of house music - and importantly party music - that Groove Armada might drop in a typical Room 1 set, on a night where the vibes of the dancefloor align perfectly with the music of the DJ. The mix opens with a strong salvo of contemporary house, creating an uplifting mood from the outset with productions from The Revenge and Move D, before bedding in with groove-heavy cuts from the likes of Reset Robot, Nicole Moudaber and Hexxy, the latest project of Hercules & Love Affair’s Andy Butler. Showcasing tracks on their favourite UK labels, such as Freerange and Saved, the duo punctuate the mix throughout with the classic US house sound of Strictly Rhythm and KMS, rekindling memories of their musical initiations, and paying respect to artists they've followed throughout their careers. A brief deviation into the electro-inspired rhythms of Chicken Lips and Brassfoot opens into an ecstatic closing sequence, featuring Bicep, Rick (Poppa) Howard and their own 2012 Hypercolour cut ‘Stevie Latenight’, as befitting for a sunrise on the South Downs as for the lights coming up in Room 1, and leaving the listener thirsting for more after seventy minutes of kinetic beats, rhythms and grooves.

Tracklisting
01 Craig Smith & The Revenge - The Soul Part II [Delusions Of Grandeur]
02 Flashmob - Don’t Leave (Instrumental Dub) [Flashmob]
03 Kolja Gerstenberg - Sand (Move D Remix) [Smile For A While]
04 Reset Robot - On Your Knees [Danse Club]
05 Essence - Moments In House (Full Effect Mix - DJ T. Edit) [Strictly Rhythm]
06 Doc Daneeka - One For Pidge [2020 Vision]
07 Hexxy - Edging [Mr. Intl]
08 Julien Sandre & Los Pastores - One More Time (Onno Remix) [Roush]
09 Chez Damier - Untitled A1 [KMS]
10 Burnski - Your Love (Steve O’Sullivan Remix) [Constant Sound]
11 The Revenge - Incredible Shellsuit [Roar Groove]
12 Nicole Moudaber - Can I Get Some [Drumcode]
13 Tiga - Plush (Dixon Re-Rub) [Different]
14 The Black 80s - Move On (Hollis P Monroe & Wrong Jeremy Mix) [Freerange]
15 Josh Wink - 516 Acid (Chicken Lips Acido Ze Boogie Remix) [Ovum]
16 Brassfoot - We Made It Out The Hood Ma [Unknown To The Unknown]
17 Skudge - Convolution [Skudge]
18 Anek & Medeew & Chicks Luv Us - Shake [Get Physical]
19 Ross Evans - Let It Go [Saved]
20 Pezzner - Prey (Fred Everything Re-Beat) [Systematic]
21 Digitaria feat. Clarian - Favourite Addiction (Groove Armada’s Dub Creation) [Hot Creations]
+ Acid Mondays - Interstellar Cake (Richy Ahmed Remix) [Circus]
22 Aster - Cielo (Bicep Remix II) [Hivern Discs]
23 Rick (Poppa) Howard - Can Your Love Find Its Way [Beautiful Granville]
24 Groove Armada - Stevie Latenight [Hypercolour]
25 Moon B - Starfight [People’s Potential Unlimited]
26 Khan - On The Run (DJ Kaos &Me Remix) [I’m Single]