Various Artists:
DJ International Records Anthology:
Harmless/Sources:
3xCD:
Out Now:
★★★★★★★★½☆☆
Continuing the now-prolific Sources series curated by acclaimed writer Bill Brewster is this triple-disc package devoted to house music. But not just any old house - Chicago House, courtesy of Rocky Jones' landmark label DJ International.
Better known for a handful of chart hits, the imprint's enduring catalogue includes many more extended club anthems that eventually ignited dance-floors across the world, including Manchester's legendary Hacienda.
The big smashes are all here - Love Can't Turn Around (Marshall Jefferson), Music is the Key (JM Silk), Only the Strong Survive (Frankie Knuckles), Acid Thunder (Fast Eddie) and The Promised Land (Joe Smooth), to name but five.
It's the lesser-known bangers that provide a valuable insight into how labels like Factory, R&S and Deconstruction honed their skills in the years to come. Sterling Void's timeless It's Alright and Runaway Girl set the tone for the likes of T-Coy and M People, while Tyree's acid-peaking House Music is My Life and The Children's Freedom sat neatly alongside the Trax output of the era.
Another pair of beauties come in the form of label boss Jones' terrific The Choice of a New Generation and the Mario Reyes contributions, in particular the early 12" What Ever Turns You On. Pre-empting the Italo House genre by some margin was Steel Gray's blissed out Do You Want to Dance which dispenses with the traditional vocal warblings of its rivals, replacing it with a spot of virtuoso piano tinkling instead.
OK yes, some of the irritating overused vocal samples were used to death in the mid-to-late '80s and there are plenty of ah yeahs and woah yeahs throughout this compilation. But remember that in 1986, music was evolving faster than the new technology that was producing it. If you fail to buss a move to Tyree's seamless Deep Housetrumental version of Hard Core Hip House, head back to those Hed Kandi albums, Ministry of Sound streams or Rinse Fm mixtapes and tell me the legacy of house-music hasn't lived on.
Other Sources collections out in 2015 include a Trax Anthology which covers most of that label's not dissimilar catalogue, although nothing can touch the extensive Traxbox issued in 2014.
DJ International Records Anthology:
Harmless/Sources:
3xCD:
Out Now:
★★★★★★★★½☆☆
Better known for a handful of chart hits, the imprint's enduring catalogue includes many more extended club anthems that eventually ignited dance-floors across the world, including Manchester's legendary Hacienda.
The big smashes are all here - Love Can't Turn Around (Marshall Jefferson), Music is the Key (JM Silk), Only the Strong Survive (Frankie Knuckles), Acid Thunder (Fast Eddie) and The Promised Land (Joe Smooth), to name but five.
It's the lesser-known bangers that provide a valuable insight into how labels like Factory, R&S and Deconstruction honed their skills in the years to come. Sterling Void's timeless It's Alright and Runaway Girl set the tone for the likes of T-Coy and M People, while Tyree's acid-peaking House Music is My Life and The Children's Freedom sat neatly alongside the Trax output of the era.
Another pair of beauties come in the form of label boss Jones' terrific The Choice of a New Generation and the Mario Reyes contributions, in particular the early 12" What Ever Turns You On. Pre-empting the Italo House genre by some margin was Steel Gray's blissed out Do You Want to Dance which dispenses with the traditional vocal warblings of its rivals, replacing it with a spot of virtuoso piano tinkling instead.
OK yes, some of the irritating overused vocal samples were used to death in the mid-to-late '80s and there are plenty of ah yeahs and woah yeahs throughout this compilation. But remember that in 1986, music was evolving faster than the new technology that was producing it. If you fail to buss a move to Tyree's seamless Deep Housetrumental version of Hard Core Hip House, head back to those Hed Kandi albums, Ministry of Sound streams or Rinse Fm mixtapes and tell me the legacy of house-music hasn't lived on.
Other Sources collections out in 2015 include a Trax Anthology which covers most of that label's not dissimilar catalogue, although nothing can touch the extensive Traxbox issued in 2014.