February 2008

As a hobby have been digitizing my cassette tapes of early '90s house music, originally spun live on Dallas's "Edge Club" radio show by DJ Jeff K and guest DJs from the international rave scene (DJ Icey, Utah Saints, DIY Crew, etc). The cassettes were made during the year or two before I moved to NY. Occasionally put up posts asking if anyone can identify the tracks (I had no set list) and have not gotten any response. This means either that they are impossibly obscure or the ultimate niche interest in a world teeming with ultimate niche interests.

Undeterred, here are two clips made over the weekend:

Unknown Early '90s Dance Track A1: [mp3 removed]

This is straight up acid house, with a 303 and possibly a 909 because the hats sound like samples, and there's some backwards drum hits (the 808 was all live synthesis). It's very subtle and hypnotic--at the point this track was done, acid had had been around for a few years; it was minimal because the producer knew exactly what could be left out. There's no flash. Much of the impact derives from the single note Rhodes stab and the lonely churchbell/trainwhistle sound in the background.

Unknown Early '90s Dance Track A2: [mp3 removed]

Bizarre--it sounds like a whole soccer stadium full of people going "AAAA-AAAH," out of which emerges a sweet, John Barry-esque piano melody (as Simon Reynolds once described the orchestral interludes in Acen's "Trip to the Moon.") This could only have been done in England.