fabric 85: Baby Ford

Baby Ford is one of a few DJs and producers whose name truly encapsulates the word: legend. As a vanguard of the acid house movement, the Bolton born artist has continuously demonstrated a style and an approach to his craft that’s widely revered by electronic music connoisseurs the world over. The release of the influential ‘Oochy Koochy’ 12” back in 1988 might have given the industry their first taste of his production, but Ford’s gone on to steadily amass a vast catalogue of music that straddles every conceivable crevice of the house and techno genres in the years since.

To date he’s released four studio albums and a plethora of solo and collaborative efforts – including Minimal Man and his esteemed studio partnership with Thomas Melchior as Soul Capsule – on iconic imprints such as Rhythm King, Force Inc. and Rephlex, as well as his own labels Ifach, Trelik and Pal SL. Over the 27 years since his defining debut (and 10 years since he first played here at fabric) Ford has certainly maintained a stratospheric standard, which permeates the DNA of his long awaited fabric 85 mix.

“The mix was recorded at the Ifach studio right here in London. I borrowed an E&S DJR400 rotary mixer from a friend and then I just picked a bunch of my favourite records – some were new tracks, some in-house productions and some classics. Then I pressed record and went for a take; a ‘good luck studio’ type of vibe with me trying to capture the moment in the mix.” – Baby Ford

What Ford crafts is a largely unhurried mix of cultish house grooves and exceptional contemporary techno. A rare illustration of the man’s vast experience as a DJ, the 15 track mix perfectly captures his dancefloor dynamic as he interweaves tracks old and new, twisting classics like Pal Joey’s ‘Spend The Night’ and Dimbiman’s ‘Lava’ around epochal modern cuts like Joy Orbison’s ‘Ellipsis’ and Alex Celler’s ‘Haz’. Simultaneously, Ford finds the space to flaunt the quality and design of his own material, opening the mix with his Ifach Collective collaboration, ‘Carpet’ and concluding with his as yet unreleased ‘NYO15’.

fabric 85: Baby Ford
Tracklisting:

01 Baby Ford & The Ifach Collective – Carpet [Klang Elektronik]02 Nicola Kazimir – Fine Girl [Les Points]03 Dimbiman – Lava [Pal sl]04 Melchior Productions Ltd. – Feel Sensual [Perlon]05 Derrick L. Carter – Boompty Boomp Theme [Classic]06 Joy Orbison – Ellipsis [Hinge Finger]07 Jonno & Tommo – Close The Door [Ornate Music]08 Pal Joey – Spend The Night [Loop D’ Loop]09 Fatdog – Bump [No More To Roam]10 Doublet – Paradise Village [Doublet]11 Julian Alexander – Undrgr [Dungeon Meat]12 Alex Celler – Haz [Trelik]13 OCH – Time Tourism (Baby Ford Remix) [Systematic]14 Ion Ludwig – I Don’t Know How To Say [Trelik]15 Baby Ford – NY015 [unreleased]