Frique Asks: Are You Here For the Music?
"If I had to nominate just one DJ to represent everything Chicago stands for as a city," we once wrote, "that DJ would be Frique."
As of late, Chicago's Frique has been flexing his...
Brame and Hamo’s #001 (Vinyl Only, Suckas)
I stared at this record for two weeks, three weeks, then a month. It can't be that good, can it? It can. It isn't this well-produced, is it? It is. People aren't already going...
Wavelength: The Collective EP
So many good things to say about this record, starting with the people on it. Brian Harden has a discography more solid than granite stone - among them, one of the best records ever...
Joe Silva: Memory Fade (PureSpace)
I'm not sure what this year is going to bring but I have a feeling it will involve an onslaught of new producers trying to earn stripes with legit underground music. So many of...
In Residence with Country Club Disco, Detroit
The rebirth of Detroit and the metro area is a shock but not a surprise. Decades after the city was given up for dead, small pockets of creativity and resistance have thrived, grown large...
The Nathaniel X Project: Excavation EP
Deep House must surely be the most muddled musical grouping around these days; the phrase seems to stumble around lost, like an embarrassingly drunk and slightly unhinged colleague at last month's office party. This...
Brawther: The Underground Is Alive
Years before I knew him, I heard about him - this guy from France who made these incredibly sensual and deep records that each found their way as the "secret weapon" in the bag...
Destination Unknown: Till Von Sein & Tigerskin’s Arkansas City
Out of all of the songs named after great cities, this is probably the first dance music anthem dedicated to Arkansas City, pop 12,305. The new record and title track from Till Von Sein...
The Return of 12 Inches: UM Vinyl Sampler
The gradual resurgence of vinyl in the last few years, on the face of it, would seem to be nothing but good newls for House Music. But the numbers don't tell the whole story....
Records of Note: The Vincent Floyd Podcast
Rush Hour in Amsterdam has scooped the world again with a gorgeous selection of tracks from a name we haven't heard from in awhile: Chicago's Vincent Floyd.
Moonlight Fantasy is the name of the...
Alex Agore: What Did I Do (Snazzy Traxx)
Anytime I see a new Alex Agore release, I make a point to listen to it because he never disappoints. I can’t say that for more than a handful of producers out there these...
Gramaphone Records Relaunches Gramaphone Records
Last month we wrote about Kevin Starke, whose Kstarke Records store lends its name to his in-house record label.
This month, Chicago’s Gramaphone has announced a rejuvenation of its own in-house imprint. Gramaphone Records...
David Morales Remembers Frankie Knuckles
Top and Cover Photo: Gavin Mills
IT WAS EXACTLY ONE YEAR AGO that hundreds of people were packed inside SmartBar in anticipation of Frankie Knuckles' big birthday celebration. On the bill alongside the birthday boy...
Love and Civil Unrest: Naeem & Gusto for Detour002
I've been sitting awake all night, pacing between a computer, a phone and a laptop. In the background two audio feeds are playing simultaneously, overlapping in peculiar and sometimes extraordinary ways. One is a...
Theo Parrish: American Intelligence
Alex Chilton spent most of his life in obscurity, working for shit wages to support himself as his records were released in tiny bundles that might as well have not been released at all....
Low-Slung Deepness: Shaun J Wright & Alinka’s Wait For Love
Chicago label Twirl made quite a splash on the international House scene with their show-stopping debut EP Journey Into The Deep back in October. Their second offering sees label founders Alinka and Shaun J....
Rick and Kenny’s Early Adventures: Classics Vol 4
I wrote a few months back that Moods & Grooves had probably the best undiscovered back catalog of any record label in the Midwest.
On hand as Exhibit A is the fourth in a...
Recloose is Back in the USA
(Photo © 2014 Mike Weston - www.thearea.co.nz)
After thirteen years abroad, Matthew "Recloose" Chicoine is coming home.
Since 2001, Recloose has been living in New Zealand, limiting international gigs to brief tours a couple of times...
Four Play Sessions vol 21: Chicagodeep & Taelue
Four Play Sessions is a mix series from Chicago's Four Play Music and featuring the talents of Mr. Andrew Emil & Friends, published each month exclusively for 5 Magazine.
This set is from Chicagodeep and...
Get Snazzy: Meet UK Producer Stevie B.
I've noticed that those who have an amazing ear for music - especially those championing that '90s-tinged garage sound - tend to be the modest ones with little or no publicity hype. Kool...
MUST READ!
Library of Congress adds Jamie Principle’s “Your Love” to National Recording Registry
The classic of classic Chicago house tracks was selected for preservation as one of "the defining sounds of history and culture." Here's how it was made.
