Chicago institution Smart Bar launched a new record label with curators The Black Madonna and Argot/Tasteful Nudes boss Steve Mizek, naming it Northside ’82 after the neighborhood and year the club was founded in. The inaugural release comes from Resident Smart Bar DJ Ike Release who sources inspiration from early Midwestern house music for his Dance Equations EP.
Californian label Altered Moods Recordings returns in triumphant fashion with one more split 12″. Inspired by the Freerotation festival, label boss Malcolm Moore has called on artists who have either played or attended the cultish Welsh gathering for this Rotate Freely 12″. Along with Moore, Natan H, Chicago Skyway and Mick Welch all contribute.
‘This Is How It Started’ focuses heavily on the early days of the Chicago sound, especially in the formative years at Ron Hardy’s Music Box. Vinyl Sampler 3 of a comprehensive journey in the essence of Chicago House Music, features Gene Hunt, Chicago Blues Orchestra, Yam Who & GG.
The Opilec Music label has once again cooked up a very special new project for its next EP: ‘Dirty Talk’ is a remake of the classic ’80s Italo disco, proto-house tune by Klein & M.B.O. and has been produced by label boss I-Robots. The release comes with a Club Version made by I-Robots together with the Piatto Brothers, Alessandro & Davide, who bring a truly authentic Italo sound to the project and the cult disco soul singer, Donna McGhee. The Virgo Four original version is a more modern sounding, deeper and stripped back house cut with driving rubbery drums and bouncy melodies.
Originally released on Dance Mania, ”I Dream You” is an absolute Chicago House classic. It is one of the deepest and most soulful releases the label put out in their early days, and it totally captures Vincent Floyd’s signature sound.
Steve Poindexter & Jamal Moss here with Thanks 4 The Tracks VOL 2 from the lost track series. This will not leave you guessing what this whole series is about and what’s to come. Not for the faint at heart of newbies.
Next up on Titanic City is Nigel Rogers AKA Perseus Traxx. He has been a staple part on most record bags, a man dedicated to performance outside the box. There’s a rough and raw DIY feel to this music that makes it jump out of the speakers and arrest your attention, as is always the case with Titanic City.
Chicago duo, Steve Poindexter & Jamal Moss coming together once again for Thanks 4 The Tracks U Lost Vol 1, lost material created over 20 years ago. Salvaged from cassette tapes and DAT’s comprised of over 30 tracks of raw, original Chicago sound that influenced the world.
This DJ set was recorded at Magic Waves Summer Festival 2014.
Future Reactions warmly welcome Boo Williams to their stable with his Spiritually Runnin EP featuring the eponymous title track and Last Chance, two cuts of beauteous, textured, soul-warming house music that are proper deep too.
Lost Ep featuring Steve Poindexter, Johnny Key and Trackmaster Scott. On wax for the first time and bought to you by L.A.C.R. Recorded in Chicago during the mid 90’s.
Bitter Moon has criss-crossed Europe to gather a trio of heavy House hitters for Lunes De Fiel Vol. 2. Creme Organization prodigy Innershades gets the show on the road with the synth slamming groove of “Moments of Euphoria”. New Beat memories bounce alongside rumbling rhythms in track guaranteed to ignite speakers. Next stop is Germany with Snuff Crew and “Your Hands”. The Jack experts fillet their trademark raw edges for a smooth and soulful piece of late night Chitown. Smoke curls around chords, claps are softened as samples turn in a twilight haze. The final destination, Italy, is bathed in the 303 sunshine of “#Acid”. The White Rabbit Recordings founder uses the building blocks of Chicago to produce a fluid floor filler. Cymbals, cow-bells, toms and snares are soaked in a devilish brew of Acid. Bohemian body jerk to a 4/4 beat to bring down the curtain on this latest instalment of Lunes De Fiel.
18 months after Perseus Traxx brought us his first E.P, dedicated to four of the nine Muses of ancient Greece, Flight Recorder now brings you the second installment dedicated to four more Muses, on “Goddesses Of Inspiration II”. The feel is the same as before with jagged cutting tones jammed live then edited down. Heavy synths and scattered drums perform an ode characterising the appropriate Muses, as tangled wires and a pair of hands wrench the overload of inspiration they give from basic machines. Once again Perseus’ release on Flight Recorder is a unique set of acid-free sonic experiments, that sometimes feel as cold and edgy, as they do warm and carefree.
Two supreme Chicago heavyweights go head to head across 2 slabs of wax… step up Boo Williams & Glen Underground. This double-pack is pure fire & was originally released in 1995 on miniscule Trax offshoot MAAD, fans of that bouncing, stripped back, funked out House music look no further, it’s all right here. This is the first time this record has ever been re-pressed since it’s original release surprisingly with prices on-line often being at the higher end of the scale for used copies.
Richard Rogers’ Black Booby re-edits return with BB07, which sees Chi-town original and Ron Hardy protege Gene Hunt -a Black Booby veteran from BB04 – digging out more vintage DAT dopeness on the double-A-side; which features raw-as-hell analogue house workout ‘1015’(a take on the Dion & Tony track from his ‘Chicago Dance Tracks’ collection on Rush Hour back in 2011) alongside the very aptly-named (and appropriately drum-fuelled) ‘Dr Roland’. Meanwhile on the B-side you’ll hear UK house music OG Terry Farley sharing production duties with another 90s house veteran, Stuart ‘Stretch’ Silvester. ‘Play House’ (Original Mix) is a synth-heavy jacking houser with serious dancefloor intent; plus check out the ‘KKlassik Mix’ by another Chi-town don, K’Alexi Shelby, who chases the original headlong down a dark alley littered with emotive samples and thumping keys.
Murphy Jax returns with two new tracks… including hot remixes by Jori Hulkkonen & Simoncino. Vocals by Mike Anderson.
The Hipodrome Of Music 