Summary: Mr. Mitch’s Gobstopper label has incubated some of the most curious and beguiling grime hybrids of the last few years, from agenda-setting club tracks to pensive peace edits, and Suffolk-born producer Loom has been at the heart of the label’s forward-thinking approach. His 2014 Grade EP paired old school square wave business with pirate radio dreams and tape hiss, a personal take on grime dreamt up from miles beyond the M25. Last month, Daniel Timms nudged his headphone-focused operation further into club territory with European Heartache, a strangely romantic EP of sour tweaking, dark moods and ditzy melodies – it’s a blend that neatly sums up Gobstopper’s wide-ranging ethos. Loom’s FACT mix is rammed with brand new material from friends and peers, including club machinery and metallic onslaughts from Sound Pellegrino and Gage, an inside-out garage belter from Tarquin, some dippy video game melodies and featherlight choral touches, and Grizzle’s absolutely belting ‘Entreaty’ – no weak links here. And while we’re obviously not the type to prize a DJ’s mixing skill over his track selection, we gotta add – here’s a rare grime mix that’s smooth as baby’s bum cheek.
