Trax Records

During the holiday season, with the labels gearing up for the new year, record output comes to a slow halt. Nothing is more frustrating for the Vinylnerdosapian such as myself. To feed the insatiable need for new sounds, the reissue game keeps many from swallowing that bottle of Draino. That, and going out more than usual. On my journeys out lately, I've noticed the sound of Chicago house getting a fresh spin from jocks. This sound, born in the late 70s and early 80s, can be attributed to one label: Trax.

Jocks are always looking to mine an old sound and make it fresh again. Producers like Mr. Fingers have remained timeless with their bouncy bass lines that shoot off at sharp angles and in strange directions. I started my hunt for the early Chicago sound after hearing Finger's "Washing Machine" a few weeks ago. It turned out to be quite easy, as Trax has become a hot reissue machine and the label is now distributed by Casablanca Records. (You can order from their catalogue online at traxhouse.com.)

The story of Chicago house is the story of a few enterprising young people who were interested in making music but lacked the professional connections. As with punk, a DIY mentality took over. Larry Sherman, a former musician, owned a small pressing plant Musical Products. Vince Lawrence and Jessie Saunders were two kids looking to make records for their club gigs. They cut a deal with Sherman to include him in on a percentage of the profit of their records, if he would press the tracks up for free. And so he did.

It wasn't long before Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy, two of Chicago's better-known jocks, got in on the act and expanded the local scene. The records were pushed to dance station radio jocks in the city, where the sounds of disco mostly came from New York City. House music may always be more popular in New York City and the UK, but it got its start in Chicago, at Knuckles' parties at the Warehouse.

What makes the old Trax tracks so memorable-and what separated it from disco-was the harder, more mechanical beats and sparse instrumentation. It sounds like someone just getting to understand all the strange and wonderful things one can do with a sequencer and keyboard synthesizer. That experimentation lends itself properly to Phuture's "Acid Trax," Marshall Jefferson's "Move Your Body" and Mr. Finger's "Can You Feel It." All of these classics have a raw energy completely lacking in the loungy house produced today. Here's to a house renaissance in the '05.