EROL ALKAN 'FABRIC LIVE 77' (BEST COMPILATION)

 The idea of Erol Alkan — purveyor of psyched-out dancefloor treats and singularity surfing techno — mixing a 'Fabric Live' mix now seems so obvious you wonder how it took up to 77 in the series for him to flex his might. But if it hadn't been for a call in 2000 from Bugged Out! boss Johno Burgess, asking him to make his debut at the club filling in for David Holmes, who'd missed a flight, the present might be very different.

“My only outlet for playing electronic music was restricted to friends' parties and my own bedroom,” admits the Phantasy Sound boss, who back then was instead playing at alternative clubs most nights. “I'd always look to sneak in electronic records amongst the indie songs and would see it as a success if I could keep the floor in some of the clubs, which didn't have a broadminded audience.” Needless to say, before the end of his set in Room 3 he'd been asked to become Bugged Out! resident, and started a relationship with Fabric that now stretches to a decade-and-a-half.

Having progressed to a Room 1 regular, Alkan's selection starts with indie flavoured electronics, from the likes of Maurice & Charles and The Emperor Machine, then travels through hands-up belters, including Boot & Tax's siren-fuelled 'Acido', before entering more synthy territory, Phantasy signing Ghost Culture providing the brooding 'Red Smoke' before Alkan signs off with — what else? — a mash-up of his own 'A Hold on Love' and Saint Etienne's seminal 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart'.

The result matches the series' finest moments, Alkan picking Jacques Lu Cont's entry as one of his own favourites, alongside John Peel's, James Murphy and Pat Mahoney's, Daniel Avery's and even DJ Hype's, “as he's a DJ I grew up listening to on pirate radio back in 1990”. 

The treats don't stop in 2015 either, with a remix 12" of Alkan's exclusive 'Fabric Live' track, 'Sub Concious', out in January featuring remixes from Tin Man and Kamera, a new signing to Phantasy.

OTHER NOMINEES
TERRY FARLEY 'ACID THUNDER' (HARMLESS)
CRAIG RICHARDS 'GET LOST VII' (CROSSTOWN REBELS)
RALPH LAWSON 'CONTENT' (2020 VISION)
WILL SAUL 'DJ KICKS' (!K7)
VARIOUS 'WE ARE 18' (HOSPITAL)
ELIJAH & SKILLIAM 'FABRIC LIVE 77' (FABRIC) 
VARIOUS 'HYPERDUB 10.4' (HYPERDUB)
JOEY NEGRO 'ITALO HOUSE' (Z RECORDS)
VARIOUS 'COSMOLOGY' (COSMIC BRIDGE)