- Jas Shaw recently described his residency with Simian Mobile Disco partner James Ford at New York's FIXED as having "a broad, classy music policy...set to follow in the footsteps of legendary nights such as trash and Optimo." Given the almost too deliberate eclecticism Simian showed off on FabricLive.41, it was easy enough to guess what that might mean in terms of Simian Mobile Disco Is Fixed, the duo's new mix CD, which they put together to help commemorate the residency: a little bit of roots, a little bit of now, a little bit of oh-aren't-they-clever, a little bit of sure-it-rocks-the-party. No harm, no foul and despite the many dots being connected, not a whole lot that someone with a similarly wide range of taste would be especially surprised by.
Well, scratch that. Fixed does is the most seamless thing Simian have put their name on. On paper, this tracklist hits some of the same notes as the Fabric mix—classic Chicago acid house (Bam Bam's "Where's Your Child?"), foggy dream-techno (Pantha Du Prince's "Behind the Stars"), lab-coat early electronic music (Delia Darbyshire's "Dreams"), and near-pop, thanks to Carl Craig's remix of Hot Chip's "One Life Stand." But Fixed unfurls in a straight line, the way a techno mix ought to, and while the sound it presents is relatively narrow—especially in comparison to the all-over-the-place feel of the Fabric mix—it's also sinuous and well paced, with the duo's own "Nerve Salad" a highlight, alternately woozy and piston-like.
It's noteworthy that it takes until the Hot Chip remix, with ten minutes left to go on the running time, to hear undistorted human singing in the mix. (Bam Bam's vocals are heavily treated.) And while it's a relief to encounter Alexis Taylor's all-too-human tones in the midst of the hard and straight (if elastic) beats here, it's a bigger one to hear Shaw and Ford not simply on their game but clearly in their element. (They even sprinkle some extra 808 on top of a few tracks.) Fixed isn't perfect—the segue from "Nerve Salad" into Pantha Du Prince is pretty dicey—but it's convincing. By stripping things down, Simian Mobile Disco prove there's more to them than you might have imagined.
Tracklist 01. Brain Machine - Eternal Night
02. Etienne Jaumet - For Falling Asleep
03. Jurek Przezdziecki - Qwerty Poema
04. Conrad Schnitzler - Ballet Statique
05. Andre Walter - Malphas
06. Bam Bam - Where’s Your Child?
07. DJ Hell - U Can Dance (SMD Mix)
08. Paul Woolford - False Prophet
09. Philip Sherburne - Salt and Vinegar
10. Clement Meyer - Midnight Madness
11. Simian Mobile Disco - Nerve Salad
12. Pantha Du Prince - Behind The Stars
13. Hot Chip - One Life Stand (Carl Craig Mix)
14. Chateau Flight - Baroque
15. SND - 05:36:58
16. Delia Derbyshire - Dreams