Chicago House Music Festival 2026

Deep House

Deep House is a subgenre of House Music. Originating in the 1980s – particularly with the music of Larry Heard, Fingers Inc, and others – it fuses elements of Chicago House with a more melodic, sometimes soulful feeling.

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Classic Label Cyclo Reissues and Remixes Rednail Kidz

The Derrick Carter and Chris Nazurka collaboration "Do My Thing" gets remixed by Mystic Bill, Hallo Halo, Your Only Friend and Nacho Marco. There ain't a human being on Planet Earth that can say they...

Demarkus Lewis: No Legend. Just House.

Househeads know the name. In the last 15 years what other producer remained as consistent and simultaneously prolific as Demarkus Lewis? As a DJ he has that special ability to make you feel supremely...
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From Hell With Love: 5 Years of Lumberjacks in Hell

The grand experiment known as Lumberjacks in Hell has been a smashing success. In five years’ time, label owner Marcel Vogel has managed the delicate balancing act of attracting some of the most prominent...

Victor Simonelli: A 5 Mag Mix vol 15

One of the founding fathers of House Music, Garage and dance music, period! The legendary Victor Simonelli contributes a live mix to 5 Magazine ahead of headlining our 10 year anniversary this October 17...
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Listen to Mystic Bill’s Ferocious Throwback “U Won’t C Me”

Nothing sensitive or subtle about this one. Mystic Bill - the man who DJ'd for your favorite DJ's DJ - teams up with German label Snuff Trax for the forthcoming EP U Won't C...

I Hitched On To The Deep88 Bandwagon

... And all I got was a few good records. Italian producer Deep88 has two records out this month that together would have made up one of the best Deep House albums of 2015. From...
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DJ E-Clyps Tell The World I’m Here

Tell The World He's Here: DJ E-Clyps new LP drops October 2 2015 but the first single is available now. Twenty three tracks is quite long for an album (especially if it's not juke). But...
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Caserta’s “Ricky” Is Another Grand Shadeleaf Release

Shadeleaf has been somewhat over-represented in our review section over the last year. It's for good reason, and you should prepare for many more. thatmanmonkz continues to give a clinic in modern A&R with...

Kai Alce, Larry Heard, Rico and Kafele Take A Chance

No question about it, this is one of the finest tracks released this summer and in 2015 as a whole. A song of restlessness and deep longing, Kai Alce's "Take A Chance" (which debuted...

Closer To Truth Launches With Three Free Alex Agore Tracks

Closer to Truth is a new label project brought to you by Alex Agore (of about five thousand reviews here) and David Nicol of Hustler Trax. To launch the label, Closer To Truth is...

Listening Room: Bai-ee and Ed Nine’s Heavy House

It seems like Bryan Bai-ee has released more Chicago House records since he moved to the Bay Area than many Chicago label owners that ain’t gone anywhere. Following up on the uplifting "How Deep"...
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Kadabra: A Fond Farewell to Lost My Dog

Lost My Dog is arguably the first label I fell in love with since working for 5 Magazine. In my pre-digital days sure I had favorite labels, but I still wasn't a record...

Theaster Gates’ New Art Space to Host Frankie Knuckles’ Record Collection

We heard about this earlier this year but the cat is out of the bag. ArtNews posted a story about Chicago artist Theaster Gates, who we'd been informed discretely was working with the late...
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Review: Pacifica’s “Blaze” from Drumpoet Community

When I worked as a radio DJ in Austin I had a Program Director by the name of Dusty Hayes. We had a conversation once about talking on-air, knowing what to say and he...
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Trinidadian Deep’s Native Rising EP for Perpetual Rhythms

Few producers working in Deep House can claim a more bold or distinctive sound ID than Trinidadian Deep, who has carved out a role for himself with a foundation of jazz and the music...
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Ivan Dbri’s Ones on Panama Red

Based on the sheer range of Deep House and Techno found across Ones you can tell that Ivan Dbri has had a broad spectrum of influences up to this point. Born in Mexico City...
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Church Boy Lou’s Weep Is Everything Soul Music Should Be

This is so good, and I can't even tell you for sure what I just heard. Church Boy Lou's Weep is the finest take from Waajeed's project, and it's unlike any take on electrified...

Art Feast and Kann Family’s Sister Cities EP

Old friends get you through hard times; new friends show you a good one. There's a concept behind the fourth release from Art Feast Records - it's a collaboration between artists from Leipzig and...
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Various Artists: Deep Club

It's usually with a bit of embarrassment that I write about the records of ex-Chicagoans. The "brain drain" is real, it's been going on for decades now and it's never going to stop. Deep...
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Siler & Dima: Blainville EP

Siler & Dima are the Parisian duo behind Popcorn Records and now Popcorn Rec. Limited, an all-vinyl offshoot label. This new offering on the imprint contains four very good reasons why I count myself...

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