Mixes I by I 28.11.17

FACT mix 629: Idle Hands/Chris Farrell

Idle Hands boss Chris Farrell bridges the gaps between dub, house and techno on this week’s FACT mix.

Chris Farrell isn’t as well known as some of his Bristol peers, but he’s one of the city’s most important figures. After moving to the West Country for university in the ’00s, he found himself working in several of its record shops: Imperial, Replay and Rooted, a focal point for the early dubstep scene.

When Rooted closed down in 2010, Farrell decided to open his own store. He called it Idle Hands after his fledgling record label of the same name, and the shop bucked the vinyl downturn of the early part of the decade to become one of the city’s favorite record spots.

In the years since Idle Hands opened, the label has grown into one of the city’s most trusted imprints: Kowton, Shanti Celeste, Kahn, Bruce, Outboxx, Parris and Leif are just a few of the artists to grace the label over the past decade. It’s no surprise that Farrell’s record bag is in constant demand in his adopted home city and beyond.

Bridging the gaps between the styles of Bristol, Chicago, Berlin and Detroit, Farrell’s FACT mix is full of dubby basslines, blissful deep house cuts, broken techno and spacey, sci-fi textures tied together with off-kilter rhythms and dub-inspired grooves. If you’re looking for the underground sound of Bristol in 2017, this mix is the perfect place to start.

Listen next: FACT mix 628: DEBONAIR

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