Chicagoans don’t need an excuse to talk about house music, but when the biggest pop star in the world drops a record indebted to house, you can expect more than just a conversation. Beyoncé’s Renaissance has effectively evangelized for this Chicago-born sound since the album came out in July, not least because she shaped it […]
Tag: Hot Mix 5
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Remembering Benji Espinoza, champion of Chicago house music
Benji Espinoza’s work for Quantum Distributors and the D.J. International label helped boost house into its exalted place in the global pop pantheon.
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When shot-on-video horror met the Hot Mix 5
The score to cheapo 80s slasher 555, created by house DJ Frankie “Hollywood” Rodriguez, gets released for the first time.
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Plugging into Chicago’s forgotten house venues
A tour and oral history of the long-gone spaces that birthed one of the foundational sounds in modern pop
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Marcus Mixx has lost his home, but he still has house
Marcus Mixx’s early records fetch hundreds of dollars apiece from a cult of collectors, but he just wants a space of his own to make his new tracks.
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Steve Hauschildt of Emeralds celebrates a new album of crystalline ambient techno
Steve Hauschildt of Emeralds celebrates a new album of crystalline ambient techno, Thirsty Ears Festival brings classical music to the streets of Ravenswood, and more.
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Chicago label Still Music rescues decades of house history from a south-side storage locker
Dance-music fiend Jerome Derradji Still is restoring dozens of decaying reel-to-reel tapes featuring unissued tracks and mixes from the genre’s early giants.
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Joyride Records throws a housewarming party in the old Permanent space
Joyride Records throws itself a housewarming party in the old Permanent storefront, Tall Pat Records bows out with a couple more rock ’n’ roll blowouts, and more.
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Sunset Records’ house has many rooms
Kill Yourself Dancing collects the daringly eclectic output of late-80s Chicago house-music label Sunset Records.
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Festival Cubano 2013
Festival Cubano starts with an evening of house, but it still has two whole days of Cuban music.