Matt Edwards AKA Radio Slave is the fourth artist to helm a Fabric mix in 2009, following Omar-S, Claude Von Stroke and most recently Jay Haze. Fabric 48 is released on September 14.

Though he’s produced some sterling work under different aliases – we think in particular of his stunning Rekid album Made In Menorca and his work with Joel Martin as Quiet Village – it’s as Radio Slave that Edwards has been most prolific, delivering countless remixes as well as original anthems like ‘My Bleep’ and ‘Tantakatan’. 

“I love doing the Radio Slave stuff," Edwards explains, "It’s a real passion for me: the night clubbing culture and the perfecting of making music for clubs. But it’s good as a producer to be able to switch between different aliases, because you can’t write the same tracks all the time, it’d drive you mad. You learn a lot of things from working at different tempos, it’s a good learning process, and one thing can influence the other.”

As well as continuing to break new ground as a producer, Edwards also helms the Rekids label in partnership with James Masters, home to artists like Mr G, Spencer Parker and Toby Tobias. Quoted in the press release accompanying Fabric 48, Edwards talks about future releases from himself and Rekids:

“We’ve got a number of album projects coming up from some new artists; an artist from Canada, from Montreal called James Teej, who we’ve been working with. The Jjak Hogan album is finished; we’ve been mixing and mastering that. We’ve been trying to broaden the label; with different projects, especially with the album projects. We’ve also got a girl from Russia called Nina Kraviz who’s a singer/songwriter and multi instrumentalist, she sounds like a Russian Moodymann; it’s very Detroit inspired. She’s getting a lot of props from American producers, she’s just been working with Jus-Ed. We’ve got a few compilation projects that James and I have been working on, we’re doing a ‘best of’ Radio Slave remixes compilation which, because of the fabric compilation, will be coming out in November. We’ll also be doing a Quiet Village compilation of ‘best of’ remixes.”

Fabric 48 is a 13-track affair, and no less than eight tracks are Edwards productions or productions culled from Rekids or Cabin Fever, his smaller label dedicated largely to re-licensed bangers from days of yore. External contributions come from 2000 And One, Brothers’ Vibe, Nate William; Michel Cleis contributes three tracks of his own, the Strictly Rhythm original ‘La Mazcla’ and remixes of Baeka and Spencer PArker.

“It’s a mix of new and old tracks," Edwards continues, "Something that people outside of the dance music snoberity would enjoy! I just wanted this mix to be a true reflection of my DJ sets, so I tried to capture the vibe of what I’ve been playing over the last year, and expose listeners to the kind of sets that I play at fabric. The club has the best sound system in the UK and this gives me the opportunity to really stretch out tracks and experiment with different sounds and atmospheres. Tracks like ‘La Mezcla’ have been in my record box for well over 6 months but it’s still a track that’s a great pleasure to play, plus there’s two new tracks from me, an amazing track from Boola and Nergu and an unreleased song by Rekids latest signing Nina Kraviz. All in all, a modern mix of electronic sounds from around the globe!”

Tracklisting:

1. Baeka – Right At It (Michel Cleis Deeper Remix) – Rekids2. Radio Slave – DDB – Cabin Fever (Exclusive and Unreleased)3. Radio Slave – I Don’t Need A Cure For This – Rekids (Exclusive and Unreleased)4. Dance Disorder – My Time (Radio Slave’s Rekids Tribe Remix) – Eskimo5. Brothers’ Vibe – Platter Sugar – Mixx Records6. Spencer Parker – The Beginning (Michel Cleis Remix) – Buzzin’ Fly7. Nina Kraviz – Pain In The Ass – Rekids (Exclusive and Unreleased)8. DJ Boola – Balada Redo – Cabin Fever (Exclusive and Unreleased)9. Radio Slave – Koma Koma (Steve Lawler Remix) – Rekids (Exclusive and Unreleased)10. Spencer Parker – My Heart (Daniel Sanchez Easy Noise Remix) – Rekids11. Michel Cleis ft. Totó La Momposina – La Mazcla – Strictly Rhythm12. 2000 & ONE – Wan Poku Moro – Planet Gong13. Nate William’s Club Patrol – Maximum Overload (Roy’s Death Wish Mix) – Sex Trax