Matt Tolfrey mixes Fabric 81

Photo: Matt Tolfrey

With his roots at the London club stretching back 11 years, Matt Tolfrey has had a close relationship with the venue since being spotted by Fabric curator Craig Richards at Nottingham's The Bomb back in 2004. 

Becoming the youngest ever person at at that time to DJ at the club, Tolfrey went on to both establish himself as a hugely talented DJ, producer and of course record label boss, with Fabric playing a notable role throughout his career. It was only fitting that he be called upon to deliver the latest in the hallowed Fabric mix series, which is a task he has clearly spent a lot of time working on.

With Tolfrey unleashing a masterful selection of highlights from his decade plus at the club, the mix not only features the sort of cutting edge sounds we've come to expect from him and Leftroom, but also revisits some classic sounds and forgotten gems in a glorious display of his evolution as a DJ and producer.

Starting off with a low slung vibe, Dan Beaumont's 'The Bath House' segues into the swinging, bouncing tech house anthem 'Life Stories Part 3.2'. A brief segment of analogue house and tribal percussion from the Swedish two piece Genius of Time keeps things stripped and groovy.

The percussive swagger rolls into Aaron Carl's classic 'My House' from back in 2000 before Tolfrey simmers things down with Skat and then Soul Jazz's forgotten anthem 'File One' by Bell. The Leftroom coach shows his mastery of taking you on a journey - the crisp booty shaking 'Zero' by Jon Convex punching a hole in the air before the irresistible repetition of jozif's A Million To One keeps you rooted to the spot.

French house aficionado Phil Weeks maintains the flow before the funkier sounds of Pure Science's 'It's Magic' leads beautifully into Cassy's 'Idle Blues'. Label regular Hector gets a look in too with 'A Clown Called Snapper', before the electro funk of Derrick Carter's 2nd Shift re-rub again sends the energy skyward.

Hints of soulful melody from Tolfrey's own 'Lost In Space' provides a calming respite, before the Soichi Terada's majestic Tokyo XXX comes in with its raw piano riff and bold, rousing bassline - a fitting climax to a sublime journey through the record box of one of the scene's most prominent figures.

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