Electronic Music Review

English-born beat sorcerer Damian Lazarus grew up amassing funk, soul, and electro records with his pocket money.

Various Artists – Fabric 54 – Damian Lazarus
Released by Fabric Records

English-born beat sorcerer Damian Lazarus grew up amassing funk, soul, and electro records with his pocket money. He’s since watched the Fabric superclub come up from its humble beginnings, started a record label, produced a few tracks of his own, and moved to LA.

The deep-seated love for music that’s driven him to a decade’s worth of masterclass DJ mixes and releases on his Crosstown Rebels imprint is well felt on his set for Fabric 54. Having forgone any other recordings or mixes for the year, Lazarus conjures the mystic here with adept precision and intensity — he’s described the mix as “magic dust music,” and that’s apt.

Working with a palette of the freshest sound, Lazarus creates a mood these songs never could on their own. Roska’s ‘The Sheppard’ takes on a new sort of elegance, expertly woven into the the jungle echoes of Soul Clap’s “Break 4 Life.” Guti & Redshape and Soul Keita & Nicholas Jaar’s works together to form a pronounced edge toward the home stretch, underlining Lazarus’ affection for sonic texture and color, and upping the rhythm factor tenfold.

These twenty-one tracks ebb and flow like an exposed flame in the night, hypnotic, simmering and dense with melody. The ever-versatile Four Tet makes an appearance, as well, with “Love Cry,” descending into a previously unreleased cut of Appleblim & Ramadanman’s “Void 23.” ~ Noel Lusano

Read more with Beat Report, Vol. 6.