FabricLive 07: John Peel

As you might expect, John Peel's contribution to the excellent Fabriclive series is not like the others.It's not perfect. It's not even really that great when you pick it apart but it's got soul, imagination and style. And in these days when rumours persist that certain DJs are more likely to be in Ibiza having their eyebrows flossed while a personal assistant produces their mix CDs, Peel's weak spots here are forgivable.

This isn't strictly a mix CD. It's more a collection of curiosities and classics with some added football commentary. It's not really 100% Peel either.Someone has smartened it up with a computer so that all the tunes come in at the right speed. If it was the real Peel we would get three seconds of something we heard 5 minutes ago, followed by a long apology and then the thing he actually meant to play.

If the skills aren't John's, then the choices certainly are.Nobody else would have segued the lumpy jump up of MC Det's "Hipsteppin'" into the classic girl-band sound of the Velvelettes "Needle in a Haystack". Likewise running the mighty, ramshackle racket of The Fall's "Mr Pharmacist" into the twisted techno of Smith and Selway's "15.5 Remake" reminds you why he's been 40 years in the business.Because he's the goddam MAN!! Thats why!

The feel of this thing is more like a compilation tape your mate made you, and that includes a few tunes that only an owner could love. So alongside classics like Joy Division's"Love Will Tear Us Apart" and the inevitable closer, "Teenage Kicks", there comes the lame doo-wop of The Capris' "There's a Moon Out Tonight" and the equally forgettable R'n'B of Act 1's "Tom the Peeper". But somehow they just sort of add to the charm.

Charm. Now that's another thing mix CD's don't have.