Carl Craig

Carl Craig's approach has, from the outset, been far-reaching. Holding it down in techno's very birthplace, Detroit, the DJ/producer segues from house and hip-hop to techno and drum 'n bass in Ecstasy-size furies (his label name isn't Planet-E for nothing). His latest mixdown, Fabric 25, has him front and center, laughing and toasting throughout tracks by Kerri Chandler, Soundstream, and two of his own. Giving the opening to the crunkster Ying Yang Twins, their otherwise blasé "Wait (The Whisper Song)" is oddly fitting for the head-opening journey Craig conducts. Moving between soulful vocal cuts (Trickski's jamming "Sweat") to guitar-driven percussion (Africanism's "Imbalaye"), Craig's beat is on lockdown. As happens, too much breadth can be unnerving; even less tasty cuts, like that by Rayon, are forgivable in the larger scope. For the most part, Fabric 25 is rounded by floor-hitting, ear-splitting grooves -- the very domain Carl Craig claims ownership of. In this terrain, he continues to thrive.