High Fidelity: Fred Everything's Classics, Old & New

With a name like his, Fred Everything must sense the constant burden of staging sets full of diversity, maintaining the multiplicity of his Lazy Days label releases and generally having a pretty exhaustive knowledge of electronic music, old and new. Consequently, we at the fabric office decided to take advantage of a fleeting reunion with Mr. Everything to get the low down on his favourite 5 old and new records ahead of his Room Three set this Saturday as part of the Drop Music takeover. As you would imagine, the list meanders through an array of Quebecian hometown reminiscences and past electronic music epiphanies as well as a plethora of house music sub-strains past and present. With references to congas, bass, keys, soul and modern dub vibes that so characteristically figure in his own bottled up, sundrenched grooves it is clear to see where initial encounters with house music have influenced his present selections and productions alike. With a freshly released Back Together EP alongside Atjazz in which both artists lay their own interpretation on a joint deep house venture, Fred Everything is sure to be laden with new beats when he touches down here tomorrow evening. Pipeline releases include a joint project between the aforementioned omniscient man and Peter Christianson and a Lazy Days compilation celebrating the label’s five years of success. If that’s not enough to whet your appetite, Fred’s also kindly linked us his free Lazy Days October podcast. Enjoy. Download: Fred Everything - Free October Podcast Top 5 Classic Records: Ron & Chez - Morning Factory (Prescription) I discovered Prescription on shrooms one boring weekday afternoon in my hometown of Quebec City. Local DJ and friend Nic B played it to me Ani and Noni. I had never heard of the label or even heard quite anything like that. It was instant; I was hooked on the Prescription sound. It’s nice to see this sound coming back around (see 5 new) but there’s nothing like the originals. I chose ‘Morning Factory’ for its unique late night feeling. I dare you to play this in the middle of the night. So far I’ve only seen Mark (Farina) do it. Kerri Chandler - Ladbroke Grove (Large) Another old hero of mine. This track has nothing to do with his typical hard kick, tight bass club anthems. This one is very original. It’s the closest you can get to modern Dub musique in my opinion. Kerri played all instruments on this, drums, congas, bass, keys... It was apparently influenced by Jeff (from Large) and Kerri’s trips to Ladbroke Grove and their time spent with Phil Asher. Timeless! Tuff Little Unit - Join The Future (Warp) When I first got into electronic music, house was a little bit of a cliché. While I loved parts of it, the ol’ organ and diva tracks that represented house at the time just didn’t appeal to me. Warp was one of the first labels to get me into it. Their early releases had a different approach and sonically, there was nothing around like that. The pureness of the sound and the depth of their sub bass was truly inspiring to me. This is one of my favorites from the label. Sarah Washington – Everything [Mood 2 Swing Remix] (AM:PM) Like many, I’m a Mood 2 Swing head. They were so versatile and innovative. They could produce a classic song type house and then surprise you with an out-of-this-world twisted dub. Another thing I love about them is their simplicity; it’s something I have a hard time achieving! I recently met half of the now defunct duo Lem Springsteen in Berlin. You might just hear a collaboration rumor from us at some point, but you didn’t hear that from me… I chose this one from amongst many because it’s one that I keep coming back to and that seems to sum up what this production team was about. 3 Big Men - The Time Is Now For Action (Black Havana) This is a fairly obscure track from Benji Candelario. Listening to it now and it sounds like it could be a new track on Beatport. In fact this record would go so well with that new Maya Jane Coles on Real tone. In fact... 5 Future Classics: Jacksons 5 – Dancing Machine (Henrick Schwarz Remix 1) My visits to record stores are far and few between; the main reason being that this side of the Ocean has lost most of its record stores (exception of Gramophone in Chicago). When I travel I still try to hit some stores. I got this vinyl only release in Berlin and it’s been killing it everywhere I played it. Mr Schwarz has quickly become one of the best producers around. His new remix of Emmanuel Jal on Innervisions is also something else! Morning Factory - LoveDazzin’ (20:20 Vision Recordings) My old label 20:20 is back with some housier sounds lately! Their name is inspired by Ron & Chez’s seminal track (see above). Big shoes to fill, but they did it brilliantly; deep house at its purest. No gimmick, just steady groove. Proof that it’s all about that “feeling.” https://www.beatport.com/en-US/html/content/release/detail/281679/Dazin%20EP Discreet Unit – Shake Your Body Down I discovered this on Tom’s (Shur-I-Kan) podcast this month. Very nice slice of European house. Like ‘Dazzin’ it might sound like a dime-a-dozen track at first but It really grabs you instantly. It has that special something. I didn’t know about this label or artist yet but I will be sure to be on the lookout for it. Joey Negro presents Kola Kube - Why [Hot Toddy Remixes] (Z) I’ve been a fan of Mr Negro for a long time but lately it’s been all about the remixers. From Andre Lodemann, The Revenge, Motorcity Drum Ensemble and now Crazy P’s Hot Toddy. This is one of Mr Toddy’s best remixes for me! AtJazz & Fred Everything - Back Together (Lazy Days Recordings) Martin (AtJazz) and I have known each other for many years now. I met him in on one of my first trips to the UK in the late 90s. A friendship grew out of mutual respect for each other’s music and we remained friends throughout the years. Though it was difficult for us to meet to collaborate, we kept collaborating via remixes for each other. At last, earlier this year, we were able to sit down in fancy Derby and work on this new track. Martin’s probably one of the hardest and most talented people I know and it’s great to be able to work with him for such a long time. This is our humble little deep house track.