Its funny how time can change perspective on an album. What was, less than a year ago, a joyously diverse and creative mix of tunes has now also aquired a sense of knockout emotion. Its difficult to listen to 'You'll Never Walk Alone' bleeding into the clattering opening chords of 'Teenage Kicks' without a small tear in the eye or lump in the throat. In other words, this electrifying album remains a fitting tribute to its curator, John Peel, who would famously burst into tears at anything he found remotely and often oddly emotional.
Listening to the album again (it fully repays repeat listens), its impossible not to smile at the obvious joy that Peel would have found in contriving such bizarre juxtapositions of musical styles on one album. Opening with a piece drenched in lush strings and intercut with commentary from a Liverpool Champion's League match, it then summersaults into a piece of grinding dirty blues, followed by a reggae blast, a pulsating drum and bass track and then a hopelessly infectious piece of 60's American girl group doo-wap, itself tumbling into a bluegrass cover of 'Lust For Life'. And this is just the first few tracks. The rest of the album continues in a similarly vivid and playful way.
It even has a 40-second snatch of a morris dance shanty, until that gives way under the weight of pounding trance beats. Indeed, so audacious is the sequencing that its difficult to know whether to be amused by Peel's mischievious enthusiasm, or gasp at the sheer range of sounds that he's assembled. Either way, its rather like the aural equivalent of finding yourself with a huge plate of cheeses in the biggest wine cellar you can imagine. There are some pretty sublime combinations to be had.
Few compilation albums can lay claim to being works of art in their own right, but this is exactly what Peel's Fabriclive mix album can boast. Not only for the characteristic ecleticism of it's curator, but for his childlike enthusiasm for cutting and pasting the contradictory styles together. There can't be many albums that would be as brave as to segue a piece of soul-infused American disco-funk with the majestic arrival of Joy Division's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' (itself shot through with more snatches of Liverpool football commentary), yet somehow, amazingly it just works.
A truly magnificent album in it's own right. As it was before he died, it remains a wonderful tribute to the unique specialness of John Peel's massive contribution to his country's cultural life. Highly recommended, and definitely one of those albums you'd want to save first in the event of a fire. In fact the only thing thats missing is Peel's endearing voice informing you that he's accidentally put one of the tunes on at the wrong speed.
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