Album Fabriclive 31 - The Glimmer by Fabric Live Review
There's a lot to be said for the Rare Groove movement, and for the way that DJs working in that tradition are able to unearth brilliant and neglected soul and funk singles from the old school and give them new life in a modern club context. But there's always the danger that adepts of the genre will lapse into a Rarer-and-Groovier-Than-Thou mentality, indulging in one-upmanship and greedily hoarding their sources rather than sharing them. The Glimmers, a Belgian duo who have been working together in something very like a Rare Groove mode since the mid-'80s, show no such tendencies - the mix they've put together for the Fabriclive series is a joyful and generous collection of classic cuts in a variety of styles, some of them remixed and others simply beat-matched into a seamless, non-stop program. Of the disc's 21 cuts, more than half are excellent and no more than four could reasonably be characterized as filler, yet even those are far from boring. At the top end of the spectrum are the Glimmers' own remix of Roxy Music's "Same Old Scene", followed closely by LCD Soundsystem's gleefully sloppy "Disco Infiltrator" (which sounds strangely like a cross between Talking Heads and the Fall) and a wonderful roots reggae turn from the obscure Black Slate. Slightly less compelling are Freeez's "I.O.U. (I.Dub.U)" and Pop Dell'Arte's repetitious "No Way Back", but even these are nicely danceable.
