People have told me that A&R is a lost art in dance music, and when you finally see it done right, you can understand what they're saying. Olivier Desmet of Amenti consistently signs some of the top names in the business and it's not just because he's a nice guy. He has an uncanny ability to link up artists with remixers who can do more than just sell a few more units but add something intangible to the overall release ... read more ⇢
Fred Everything has always had my respect for the way he runs his Lazy Days imprint. "Filler" never enters the picture: he releases no wine before its time, and shoving product out the door just to have something on the Beatport charts is an alien concept here. Sliced & Chopped is a nifty 3 track EP with vocals nailed down to a couple of two-syllable samples ("Uh huh" and "Ah ha" - Kruse and Nuernberg are men of few words). Nevertheless "Sliced" manages to say more than ... read more ⇢
This is one of those things you have to sit down and wonder about. All of the elements are here for a great production but it just never quite comes together. The original is extremely moody, brooding even, and honestly a little boring. It sounds like the soundtrack for a late night Cinemax movie you can't remember a thing about five minutes after it's over. The Glimpse remix gives the track an overdue shot of adrenaline, but it's far too late to save the patient. This really sounds like the kind of thing a producer has on a flash drive, stashed away and awaiting completion, and is pretty much undanceable in any context that doesn't involve heroin. ... read more ⇢
Sean Thomas and his Sound Between Movement label have been putting out deep, techy, and soulfully tinged House Music for the masses for a while now and his devotees clearly pay homage to his work. Sean's most recent collaboration is with the sultry "voiced", Erika Guthrie who is also becoming a Philly fav with three new cuts out now (the other two with Pete Moss and DJ Dennis). The original mix has a killer riff that hypnotically keeps you swayin' ... read more ⇢
As you listen to Tanja Dixon's strong vocal on this new release on Glenn Thornton's Slaag label you will be transformed to the days when the vocal divas ruled. Are they coming back? I think so and Tanja "frees up" any questions with this straight forward anthem of freedom... for love, life, dance, and just to be (fill in your own blank, just be sure to do it on the dancefloor!) The original track plays with snippets of organ and handclaps supporting ... read more ⇢
Newsflash! Ultra Nate isn't just the singer that has shaped House Music's sound with classic tracks like Free and the album Blue Notes in the Basement. She's also a promoter, impresario and one hell of a good DJ. Her last mix for 5 Magazine - almost two years ago - is one of the most downloaded sets we've ever published ... listen ⇢
This week's episode of the 5 Magazine Radio Show - a special Jackin' House edition - mixed by Czarina Mirani and hosted by Czarina and Rees Urban. listen ⇢
In the mid-2000s, Quentin Harris was a dance music powerhouse, churning out top-notch Deep House faster than the flights that were taking him around the world. With his past affiliation as a resident DJ at the Shelter, Quentin is amongst the high office participants of NYC dance music. But despite his outspoken and over the top nature, his musical offerings of late have been relatively sparse. With this month's release of his new artist album, Sacrifice on Strictly Rhythm, Quentin's come out of the box to bring the truth ... read more ⇢
One of our perennial favorites as a DJ as well as a producer, Stacy Kidd is the boss of House 4 Life Records, and has worked for a host of different labels, including his early releases on Dance Mania, MAW Records, Defected, Ministry of Sound, Yellorange, Silk Entertainment, Warner Music Group, Sony and Loveslap. But this is just scratching the surface of his immense discography and influence: you'd be hard pressed to name anyone in Chicago (or the world) with a larger catalog of edits, beat tracks and underground EPs than Stacy ... listen ⇢
Adelaide's boy wonder Sonny Fodera is back on track with another killer vinyl EP on Guesthouse Records to follow up his smash release the Sonny Side Up EP which was released almost a year ago. The title track "Disco Biscuits" is a peak time disco inferno of a banger. This cut is huge and can't be ignored when played to a sweaty dance floor. "Driving" is a fast-paced Swing House jam with a nice drum breakdown, spastic horns, and a driving vocal. A great cut for the Swing House enthusiast. On the flip is "Hold On" which ... read more ⇢
These six tracks are totally diggable - underground sound with some funk, groovy male vocals, keys, and a few grunts thrown in for good measure. L.T. Brown reminds us "I can feel it, I can feel it" and there's no way the sweaty bodies won't feel it after hearing that!
The top two remixes of what I can only assume was an awesome original are Alfred's Body Dub (clubbier) and the Souldynamic Bigga Mix (more soulful). Bigga's buildup is perfectly steady, dropping soon enough not to annoy while leaving plenty of time to feel the track. The crowd noise and claps make this one my fav! ... read more ⇢
Aaron Dae has been telling me to check out Sebastian Doering's Lovebirds. After a few days of sampling the back catalog and this latest release on Jimpster's Freerange Records, I can see what he's going on about. "Alright" has that super-fat bass that sounded so awesome on radio hotmixes in the '90s, knocked down beneath hand claps and a jackin' beat. The vocal samples haven't been done like this since David Morales. ... read more ⇢
Ken of East Coast Boogiemen's label Alphabet Music has had a steady stream of great releases since it's establishment as a Chicago-based label upon Ken's arrival in the Midwest. This new release by Giano is another. The original Giano tune "Stella By Starlight" is my favorite - a straight up disco boot jam that Giano is known for and does so well. He incorporates all the elements of the original disco tune that has been featured in Definite Grooves' "Lucid Dreams" as well as the Mel Rosario "Coffee & Blunts" tune. Giano's take is a real treat for the dancefloor and will not disappoint. ... read more ⇢
There has been so much buzz about Black Coffee (Durban-born Nkoshinathi Maphumulo) that when his recent U.S. tour was announced, people were jumping out of their seats to hit up one of the lucky cities of Boston, New York, LA, Atlanta or Chicago to catch his set. I had seen him in Miami the past two years, and the first thing that struck me about him was how he was the exact opposite of what a "superstar" producer would be like. He seemed quiet and unassuming, more of a thoughtful type of guy who liked to stay in the background ... read more ⇢
This past Sunday 5 Mag's March cover storyMark Farina came back to Chicago to headline Green Dolphin's big 4th of July party. As always he was sweet, charming with the cutest dance moves I've ever seen. The party was great fun even though it was boiling hot in all 3 rooms. Here is a super short video of him while he was here. I tried to cut out as much of the footage of the 3 horrible girl dancers in the front of the stage. read more ⇢
Andy Riley and Laurence Ritchie are the Inland Knights, one of the most respected House Music production duos in the business. After originally meeting in 1993, Andy and Laurence worked together for some years as DJs, producers and remixers, forming the acclaimed Drop Music label in 1998 which has released quality music from the likes of James Curd, Jay West, Kinky Movement, The Littlemen and loads of their own releases. In 2008, Drop celebrated 10 years of releases with the triple CD Dust Til Dawn: 10 Years of Drop Music and their own mixed CD with Olivier Desmet, San Francisco Sessions Vol 6 on comp label Om Records. The latest cut on Drop is Inland Knight's funky Raise Up, out on traxsource now.. ... listen ⇢
This past Wednesday we had our 90's House party at Smartbar, which due to its popularity is on it's 3rd leg! (3rd leg...bad analogy.) Lil John, Ricky Bradshaw and Rees Urban killed it with tunes we all know and love, and I even got to open and play for the bartender, the one drunk girl by the bar and a few cockroaches. My original Fivestar Biatch party-girl in crime Kate came in from LA and it was just like old times. We had acted together many years ago, but she decided to pursue it by moving there. I of course got sidetracked from my Hollywood dream and got into dancing and House music. ... read more ⇢
This week's episode of the 5 Magazine Radio Show - a special Jackin' House edition - mixed by Czarina Mirani and hosted by Czarina and Rees Urban. listen ⇢
This is your peak-hour stomper for the months flowing into summer and maybe beyond. MIchelle Weeks is well-known as a vocalist by this point, but I hadn't a clue who the hell the "Cookie Monsterz" were (and I still wonder if it's an alias). Apparently these guys have been spinning in the UK for some time but only made their first production in 2004. In any case, this is carries off a classic Sound Factory Bar sound as far as it will go: a beautiful, big diva vocal and slick NYC-style beats topped off by some minimal chords. The Audiowhores Mix is hot, but - surprise, surprise - this month's featured interview Richard Earnshaw steals the show with a deep, deep, deep remix. He buries a groove deep in the mix and the chorus is big. ... read more ⇢
Stuttgart, Germany's Danil Plessow (Motor City Drum Ensemble) does it again with another solid release from his vinyl imprint which has exploded on the Deep House scene over the last year. Following the huge success of the first three releases which included Raw Cuts #1 - #6, the label returns with a rework nu-disco cut of Michael Wycoff's classic "Looking Up to You" which was recently featured in the radio hit "Hey Mr. DJ" by Zhane. On this release we have two great and super deep reworks of the disco classic that both sit around the 105 BPM speed and reek of that newly re-juiced Detroit deep sound. ... read more ⇢
This has been a WONDERFUL week! I just found out the House dance class taught by me and my play brother Carlos won the Chicago Reader's Best of 2010 award for Best Dance Class!!! Yeah!!!! Considering we were the new kids in the block, this is really quite awesome. Thanks so much to the Breakdance Chicago School for giving us the class and believing in us :)
This EP is my May choice for a crazy-party track (as opposed to some deeper selections reviewed this month). "All Day All Night" has a Hip-House feel, while the funk and bits of dirty innuendo make this a fun choice. "Funky Feeling" is just as upbeat, with a breaks vibe plus an echo that filters through the spoken words, "fun-kee feel-ing," basically ensuring no feet will remain firmly planted on the floor. Both versions of "The Shakedown" (the original and vocal) have a Latin vibe without taking away from the solid ... read more ⇢
Gene Hunt is a showman on the decks and an aesthete in the studio. I've always been floored by his ability to find sounds that no one else is using - particularly rough-around-the-edges percussion and drums. He told me in an interview two or three years ago that he just hears them, and smacked his finger against a metal railing to illustrate. We've been living for far too long with pre-made sounds - I mean, you can do a lot with them, but it's sort of like a painter limiting himself exclusively to primary colors. You can do a lot with red, blue and yellow, but why would you want to? ... read more ⇢
A variety of things come to mind when hearing this for the first time. It's sexy, yet chunky and deep but fun. It's laid back but groovy; all in the same. This is great production all around. Vernon's individual remix is deep and jackin' at the same time. It has good energy and the direction is a bit different as he incorporates elements from both styles. France's Phil Weeks has a go at it and dishes out a DJ Sneak/Robsoul sounding dub remix as you would imagine he would. The final revision is from Berlin care of Andre Crom and Luca Doobie, dishing you a slice of deep chugging minimal funk. ... read more ⇢
L.A.'s Deepfunk Records brings us some serious new flavor. When I first heard this EP I was sifting through a pile of disappointing promo emails. With not much hope, I threw this one on and went to brush my teeth. Next thing you know, I'm standing in my boxers, toothbrush all out of my face and toothpaste flying everywhere as I was bumping up and down to the tune "Pheeva!" which is the first cut on the release.
Absolutely slammin' good Funk House to the core here on this EP. Every tune is complete with stuttering funk grooves of ginormous magnitude. ... read more ⇢
Some years ago, Demarkus Lewis made a shift from a deeper sound to a more tech-oriented blend of electronic boogie. Here he is turning again - not a U turn and certainly not backwards, but into something brand new, to my ear at least. The emphasis is on the "tribal" on Tribal Sun, and while he still utilizes techy effects, a complex, jazzy and tribal percussion is really at the forefront here. Those who play more experimental Afro-Latin influenced sets will find a lot to love here, with a sound that mixes in a little bit of Alix Alvarez and a little bit of Jeff Mills. Oddly, though, the whole seven track EP holds together like few that I've heard lately. ... read more ⇢
Gene Hunt: the man, the myth, the legend! Gene's first track, "Living in a Land", was releaed on Trax more than two decades ago, but it's as a DJ - wild, creative, full of energy and expression - that his true genius is manifested. Gene has been on the scene since Day 1 in Chicago, cutting his teeth as a 13 year old turntable prodigy and now as a recognized House Master. (You can also check out an earlier mix he did for our now-defunct 5 Mag DJ Series, originally on CD and available digitally here.
Oh, and it's also his birthday this month, so come on out if you're local. ... listen ⇢
I did a lot of stuff this weekend. I mean A LOT of shit. From club to park to picnic to loft to somebody's house... DJs fighting bouncers, Cz fighting bouncers, Cz fighting bathroom-door-kicking-wasted-ravetards, crazy functions, funtastic picnics and gritty warehouse parties. Summer's awesome. So I finally got to meet House and Techno superstar Frankie Bones, who many consider as "The Godfather of American Rave Culture." People always told me he was a character, and when I finally met him at Green Dolphin this past Friday he did not disappoint! That Brooklyn accent is straight out of a movie :D ... read more ⇢
Whatever your style of House, there's a version of deepness in here that you need to share with the masses. My top picks:
Bazil's Vox Dub is sweet and lounge-y, with a sporadic sax line that makes your ears go "heyyyyy" before you notice the low driving bassline moving everything along perfectly.
Bazil's Vox Mix is quite similar but includes some higher-pitched effects goin' on as an added attraction. ... read more ⇢
By now you should have a few Scope releases on Large in your collection. If you don't this is a good time to start. (I'll begin by saying you need to look for his release, the Magic EP released back in April.) Vocal samples come courtesy of Mike Jones. Yes, the rapper, but don't be discouraged it works! It's simple and catchy, especially with keys and the effects that they sit next to. This is a fabulous deep dubby tune that will have the audience subconsciously repeating the lyrics. ... read more ⇢
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Copyright 2005-2009 5 Magazine and Fivestar Boogie Prod.
People have told me that A&R is a lost art in dance music, and when you finally see it done right, you can understand what they're saying. Olivier Desmet of Amenti consistently signs some of the top names in the business and it's not just because he's a nice guy. He has an uncanny ability to link up artists with remixers who can do more than just sell a few more units but add something intangible to the overall release ... read more ⇢
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