Duke Dumont Is Working on a Dance Album “In the Old Fashioned Sense”
Duke Dumont's "Need U (100%)" is one of those records that marks the end of one thing and the beginning of another.
It was the first time in more than a decade that a...
MJ Cole: The 5 Magazine Cover Story
MJ COLE HAS A STYLE ALL HIS OWN. It's the kind of musical hybrid that combines the roughness of a broken beat with the beautiful melodies of a lush piano chord. He has made...
The House That Johnny D Built: Henry Street Music Turns 20
"I had the feeling that if I could take a groove that is 20 years old and if I could flip it, I could get another 20 years out of it. It’s that simple."
Hard...
Inner Balance: Jorge Caiado Launches New Balance Sublabel
One of the most iconic labels in House Music is growing...
Balance - the venerable Deep House label run out of Chicago by Chez Damier - has begat "Inner Balance," a new sublabel in the...
Retrospect: Andy Compton from The Rurals
After 20 years of putting out music, Andy Compton from The Rurals has the hard-earned reputation for being a connoisseur of all things soulful, jazzy, with a groovy downtempo vibe. He's about to release...
Brame and Hamo on The Parish Rumors
STRAIGHT OUTTA SLIGO, Ireland, Brame & Hamo have dropped two EPs in 2015 and both of them have been stellar.
#001 for Splendor & Squalor (sometimes called Clockwerk for its A side track) was...
This Year’s Record Store Day Atrocities
Just a handful of the ludicrous "Record Store Day exclusives" on sale this year, most if not all courtesy of the big three major record labels.
In other words: Bono & A-ha picture discs are...
Sorry SoundCloud: It’s Not Us. It’s You.
Updated January 19, 2017: We've written several in-depth studies of the various Soundcloud alternatives and are updating this piece with links to the new stories on a wide array of alternatives to SoundCloud as...
This is House Music. Every Day Should Be Record Store Day.
RECORD STORE DAY has caused a number of conflicting feelings for me over the past few years. As a long time record store employee, I couldn't argue with the bump in sales for the...
Before the Last Dance: Southport Weekender’s Alex Lowes
THERE ARE VERY FEW FESTIVALS like Southport Weekender. The very name of it elicits a feeling of warmth, hospitality and of coming home. With today's mind numbing pyrotechnics, billion watt sound systems and DJ...
Heatwave: The Band That Wouldn’t Die
A Stabbing, a Car Accident, Paralysis, a Coma: Nothing Could Stop the Heatwave - the Pre-Eminent Multi-Ethnic Band of the Funk, Boogie and Disco Era.
While noodling about this issue's subject, it occurred to me...
Dan Curtin and the Metamorphosis of Metamorphic
IT'S A GOOD DAY, TODAY AND EVERY DAY that one of the best electronic music labels America ever produced kicks up out of a slumber and gets back into the swing of things.
I'm talking...
The Day Frankie Knuckles Died
IT WAS BLACK THIS MORNING - cold, windy, overcast and a thick fog rolled off the lake. You have to give credit where it's due: it's the perfect ambiance for the other Frankie Knuckles...
Twirl! Talking with Shaun J Wright and Alinka
BEFORE THERE WAS A PARTY or a record label or anything else, it was the music that got them together. There was Alinka - then of the electronic band Shuteye - and there was...
After 17 Years, The Silver Room is Leaving Wicker Park
The Silver Room is finally saying goodbye to Wicker Park, its home for the past seventeen years.
With The Silver Room's lease up for renewal and a pending doubling of the rent, owner Eric Williams...
808 The Documentary Makes its Chicago Premiere April 17
Fresh off a debut at SXSW, the documentary on dance music's quintessential machine is set to debut in Chicago this April 17.
808 The Documentary, the film about the ubiquitous drum machine that powered House...
It’s 2015. Why Is It So Hard to Press a Record?
"SIX MONTHS?"
It's on the high end of the spectrum, but that's how long a friend of 5 Mag's was told it would take to press his next record.
Record Store Day and the...
Goodbye or Good Riddance? The Weird Saga of Green Dolphin
If you're from Chicago you know; if you're not, you're probably wondering why everyone is repeatedly posting news stories about another shooting at another club, another tragedy that's become all too common in recent...
Husky on His New Track “We Rise Together”
HALF OF THE AUSTRALIAN DUO Random Soul (they do a little show for us - new episode coming next week!), Husky is a man of many talents. In addition to Random Soul Recordings, he...
It’s Time: The Soulful House Sound of Sean McCabe
IT'S ALWAYS BEEN FASCINATING to me to find young artists in dance music that gravitate towards soulful music. Since releasing his first tracks in 2003 at 17 years old, Sean McCabe has quietly and...
MUST READ!
Dedication: To Juan Atkins
There was never a moment before today that Juan Atkins was not a vital part of the American electronic music scene.
