FEATURED RELEASE
Hiding behind the rather understated title of 'Chicago Dance Tracks Vol. 1', Rush Hour's latest strike is nothing short of a small house music sensation.
Legendary Chicago DJ and producer Gene Hunt has raided his vaults of unreleased house music tracks, handed to him back in the day by their original producers, such as Larry Heard, Mike Dunn, Steve Hurley, Farley Funk, and Lil' Louis.
Twelve of these priceless and timeless tracks have made it onto this volume, decades after being recorded and last played out.
Gene Hunt has been a central figure of Chicago's house music scene for decades now, having picked up DJing in 1986 when he was 14 years old. He became the protégé of Ron Hardy, with whom he played at the Hyatt Park Athletic Club, and many of Chicago's first wave of house producers supplied the young gun with reel-to-reel tapes of edits and unreleased tracks.
Highlights on this collection include raw, jacking gems such as Mr. Fingers' 'Finger F*ck', dreamy proto-deep-house like Virgo Four's 'The Dryer', and Ron Hardy's original and super-minimal version of 'Sensation'.
The tracks Gene Hunt included on 'Chicago Dance Tracks Vol. 1' are both pieces of history and DJ-fodder for today's dance-floors. No one with even a passing interest in house and techno should miss this.
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MORE TECHNO HOUSE ESSENTIALS
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A certain album of the year contender for many, Dominik Eulberg's fourth full-length 'Diorama' is available on zero" as an exclusive Video Edition. Three lovely short films visualise Eulberg's sublime productions of dreamy and hippiesque techno-electronica. Highly recommended.
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Jamie Jones and Lee Foss are making hot waves indeed with the first volume in a quarterly series of compilations from their Hot Natured / Hot Creations camp. Twelve excellent tracks between modern deep house and funky tech-house, with nods to Detroit and electro-funk. Bomb!
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Time To Express celebrates its third anniversary with an excellent compilation that crosses over brooding electronica and deep, experimental techno on 13 tracks (six of them unreleased) by label owner Peter Van Hoesen and guest stars such as Donato Dozzy, Iori, and Lucy. Cutting edge music, highly recommended.
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BPitch's Sascha Funke releases a pumped up version of his 2003 debut album 'Bravo' with 'Now You Know' and 'Forms & Shapes' sleekly revamped for 2011. The rest of its album hasn't lost its melodic pop techno appeal in eight years since its original release. Solid.
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One of Panorama Bar's most prestiged residents Prosumer carries on the impeccable series. Exclusives from Steffi, Hunee and Soundstore, a soulful Chicago core served by J.T.Melody and Fingers Inc., brilliantly shaken up by the likes of Lil Silva, i (aka Uwe Schmidt), Soundso & T.S.O.S. too. Wondrous and essential!
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The second part of three, making up 6th Borough Project's debut full-length shows further dreamy slow house explorations. Opener 'B.U.R.T.' sees lushly embracing deep house vibes, 'Back To Me' led by a soulful vocal and a mobilising bassline while the remainding two immerse in sultry minimalistic grooves.
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Rush Hour continue impeccable re-issue work with Rick Wilhite's 'The Godson' & 'Soul Edge' EPs from the mid 90s. The lesser known of 3 Chairs (alongside Theo Parrish and Moodyman who appear here as remixers) steps into the limelight here, including an unreleased track from Wilhite. Essential Detroit house.
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Ricardo Villalobos adds to the sizeable list of remixes given to the anthem of trance anthems, 'Café del Mar', originally produced by Kid Paul and Cosmic Baby back in 1993. Villalobos recreates the tune's trademark melody in a gentle, subdued manner, teasing it in expertly over the course of the track's elegant arrangement.
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Sweden's H.Productions head appears for the second time on Luke Slater's revered Mote Evolver imprint. The title track is darkly hypnotic though imbued with a light shuffly groove, 'Ana Kata' kicks with brasher percussion and melodic slivers whilst 'Octave Mundi' breathes powerfully in strong techno moves. Ace.
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Album released 16-05-2011 on Basmati
Gabriel Ananda gets energetic with two live-recorded tracks in his trademark melodic techno style: 'Alpha', which combines a bleepy hook line with sumptuous strings and a hint of breakbeats, and the aptly titled 'Smash', which unleashed a fury of noise stabs with a nod to Prodigy and Autechre. Strong.
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EP released 09-05-2011 on Tresor
The notoriously elusive Sleeparchive makes his debut on the Tresor label with a four track EP born out of his live sets. As uncompromising as ever, his decisive and brooding minimalism hark back to the darkest depths of Detroit and completely absorb like few others. On point, excellent release.
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EP released 11-05-2011 on Minus
Minus' NYC section teams up for 'Brooklyn Weekdays', a five-track collaboration of Ambivalent and Alexi Delano. Opener 'Lights Down' is classic Minus techno, all shoving bassline and morphing vocals, while another favourite has to be the heavily jacking, Daniel Bell inspired title track. Nice one.
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Uncanny Valley's fourth edition is yet another showcase for Dresden's underground production talents. Sneaker's 'You Think You Think' is an excellent Chicago house slammer, complemented by some authentic late-80s acid by cvbox and more low-slung TB-303 grooves by Stefan Lohse. Recommended.
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The second release on the promising Shaddock imprint comes from Madrid's Pilas (Mupa, CMYK) and no other than Kassem Mosse contributes a slow grooving revamp of the wonky house title track. The floor-filler is 'Without You' on the flip though, and the minimalistic 'Monologue' completes a fine EP. Tip!
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Album released 16-05-2011 on Green
Joris Voorn's Green imprint releases the debut album of up and coming Dutch producer Pitto, and it is a fine fit for the ambitious label - a distinct and highly polished artist album that brings together house and techno with pop vocals (and on occasion spoken word, ambient, and downbeat) across its thirteen tracks.
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Welsh producer Leif contributes deep house gem 'So Long' to Leeds' Fina Records, with the always great Move D crafting a fabulous and highly playable remix for the flip. 'Tell You Something' and 'Bide The Time' complete a strong and recommended EP.
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Most notably appearing with Move D on a cache of releases for Smallville Records, Benjamin Brunn stands strong for his solo sessions for UK's Third Ear Recordings. Formerly professing his love for his analogue gear, Brunn's jam-outs are presented here in full in all of their raw and improvised glory!
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Ahead of his upcoming album, Argy drops this mighty sample-heavy EP on Versatile Records. 'Daze to Come' alludes to a heady Hacienda classic with its busy synths and old school flavours, while 'The Difference' packs even more of a punch, rife with a boisterous kick and raving 90s chord stabs. Big release!
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Mojuba sister imprint a.r.t.less takes us to school with this compilation by unsung Detroit techno hero, Martin Bonds a.k.a. Reel By Real, produced during the genesis of the genre and embodying the original spirit and soul of those pioneering years. Remastered by Redshape and including a collab with 'Shake' Shakir!
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Aroy Dee drops 'Beauty & Life' via his own M>O>S imprint - two nice and dreamy tracks of melodic Detroit techno. The former piece gets an excellent remix treatment by Venice's Ra.H, who turns up the intensity level for a rough and recklessly filtered Chi-tech jam. Nice one.
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Maxi-Single released 02-05-2011 on Kompakt
Ahead of a highly anticipated album marking John Tejada's entry into the Kompakt family, he harnesses his many years of expertise in two melodic cuts; 'Unstable Condition' winds splayed synth flexes agilely over a slick shuffly beat and 'The Living Night' a timeless warm, mellow tingler. Heavenly.
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Jake Fairley returns to Border Community, kicking off his new EP with the almost witchhouse-like 'Velora'. Its goth-style vocals and gloomy moods quickly give way to power arpeggios on 'Ununoctium', trancey electro-pop on 'Cannon' and psychedelic neo-disco on 'Vanguard'. Hippie techno deluxe.
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Four fantastic Mayday tracks from way back when, for the first time available in digital format: The flanged, jacking funk of 'MS-6' demonstrates how far ahead May once was in terms of sound design, while three distinct version of 'A Relic' showcase his deeper side. Essential classics, hands down.
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