JGM 62 - No Looking Back

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 | Podcast | No Comments

Tags: Acid House, Chicago, Deep House

Interview Deepblak Recordings Crew

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010 | Sounds, Vision | No Comments

Oakland’s Deepblak Recordings crew (Aybee, Afrikan Sciences, Damon Bell, EPS1 and Percepticon) recently came by The Friday Night Session for an interview, where they talked about music past, present and future, touching down on the difference between beats made in Oakland vs. San Francisco or Detroit, and how having the expensive pieces from your studio stolen makes you a better artist. You can check out the full audio interview here. Shout out to my co-hosts Mike Bee and Andrew Jervis who held it down despite the technical difficulties.

Tags: Aybee, Deepblak

JGM 61 - Le Grand Voyage

Monday, August 2nd, 2010 | Podcast | 2 Comments

Direct download: JGM_61_-_Le_Grand_Voyage.mp3

Tags: Chicago House, Deep House, Prescription Records, Ron Trent, Techno

Interview - Larry Heard (Alleviated Records)

Monday, July 19th, 2010 | Sounds | 7 Comments

Last month Larry Heard came to San Francisco. Initially, we had planned on doing an interview for the KUSF radio show, The Friday Night Session but, summer in SF means fog which in turn means delayed flights. Because Larry couldn’t make it to the show in time, he was kind enough to reach out and agreed to do an interview via email. Larry Heard’s legacy is undeniable, helping to shape the house music genre as well as influencing many producers with a wealth of soulful, forward thinking music that sounds as relevant today as it did 25 years ago.

Q. You’ve been producing for over 25 years and yourself and along with a handful of other producers in Chicago were pretty much responsible for shaping the acid and deep house genres. In those early years did you get a sense from how people in Chicago reacted, that your music was going to go on to be so globally recognized and important?

A. I don’t recall even thinking very far ahead at that time. I don’t think any of the people who were around making music and doing releases did. Read More and listen…

Tags: Acid House, Chicago, Deep House, Interview, Larry Heard

Singles, Reissues & Comps (2010 Catch Up!)

Thursday, July 8th, 2010 | Sounds | No Comments

I’ve been slacking off on posting reviews in the first half of this year and there has been a lot of great music released, so here’s a few bits and pieces that I’ve been feeling from the past few months.

Dutch label, Rush Hour, have been on fire this year. Not only have they been putting out new forward thinking music, but they’ve also been responsible for re-releasing classic hard-to-find house and techno. The much talked about ‘Frictionalism’ release from earlier this year, collects Anthony ‘Shake’ Shakir’s works from 1994-2009, which is essential, as is the self-titled Virgo album and the Rick Wilhite ep’s. The more recent Boo Williams release collects the best tracks from three ep’s released on Residual in the late 90’s. If you enjoy Boo’s releases on Relief and Djax then this is a must. As for newer material, Tevo Howard delivers his updated acid house sound on the double 12″ ‘Crystal Republic’. Although nothing mind-blowing it’s definitely a grower and the crisp production sounds great. Also worth checking out is the 12″ from FaltyDL ‘All In The Place’. FaltyDL delivers his usual unclassifiable sound that brings together 2-step, house and techno.

If you’re into Nu Groove and the deeper side of NY house, the International Dee Jay Gigolo re-press of the Bobby Konders collection ‘A Lost Era In NYC 87-92′ is a must, complete with cuts like ‘The Poem’, ‘The Future’ and ‘Slackness and Sax’. Another must is Ron Trent’s ‘Altered States - Blak Tech Society’, which collects the three tracks included on the original 1990 Warehouse release, as well as remixes and other recordings from that period. Absolutely timeless and both collections providing much needed relief to original vinyl versions.

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Updating those deep sounds is Oakland’s Aybee and his Deepblak label. The forthcoming ‘Blaktropolis Vol. 2′ showcases new material from label regulars, Blaktroniks, Afrikan Sciences as well as Aybee, and also highlights some new artists; especially interesting is 17 year old Shen 7, who’s track ‘Void’, sounds beyond his years. Aybee also provided the thoroughly engrossing ‘Ancient Tones’ release on Seattle’s Further Records. There’s been a lot of interest around Further and their highly limited cassette only releases. At first I didn’t quite get the cassette only thing and the limitations that goes along with the format, however, a recent Resident Advisor article on Further provides some sound reasoning. For those without a cassette deck, it looks like Further’s vinyl experiment has worked out and we’re going to see the excellent ‘Ancient Tones’ on vinyl.

One of the key players of the genre defying sounds coming out of London at the moment, Floating Points, delivers (yet again) another massive record. ‘Peoples Potential’ has been doing the rounds for quite a while, however the flip side (’Shark Chase’) is where it’s at. It’s relentless jacking drums and bass, sound like it came straight out of mid 80’s Chicago. Absolutely devastating when played on a proper system. Other tracks meant for big systems, Levon Vincent’s ‘Double Jointed Sex Freak’, John Robert’s ‘White’, Mike Dehnert’s Dico EP and of course Wax 003.

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Tags: Aybee, Chicago House, Deep House, Deepblak, Detroit techno, Floating Points, New York house, reviews, Ron Trent

JGM 60 - Nitzan

Monday, June 28th, 2010 | Podcast | No Comments

Direct download: JGM_60_-_Nitzan.mp3

Tags: Deep House, Guest mix, Proto house, Techno