Jacques Lu Cont/Various

Another month, another good Fabric compilation. This time up it’s Jacques Lu Cont, the nom de guerre of Stuart Price. He was also behind Les Rythmes Digitales, before abandoning that project for Zoot Woman. Here, he takes us on an eclectic mix of the house and electro music of the moment combined with various tracks from the early ’80s. The disc starts very well, with tracks from Mirwais, the Tom Tom Club and Chicken Lips. Then, about 25 minutes in, an odd lull saunters in, just when things should be building. Luckily, he soon breaks things wide open with Strauss’s "Also Sprach Zarathrustra” (really), mixed into the Eurythmics’ "Sweet Dreams.” From here on it’s big-room madness, with punchy hand-raising tracks that would do a Norman Cook DJ set proud. Keeping the eclectic theme going, he wraps things up with tracks from the Pixies and Brian Eno.