An essential look at the key years of the Chicago house scene – the time when the city's musicians were carving out a whole new space in sound! Although early house first began as an extension of some of the later modes of disco and 80s club, influences from European post-punk and post-disco work soon crept into the mix, and pushed the Chicago artists to work in a darker, edgier sound that was completely unique! The work from this period is filled with stark, spare electronics – not the cheesy kind that showed up often in New York electro records, but intense analogue bits that had a really dark, dystopic space age sort of quality – laid out over harsh beats and bass, and often presented with no additional vocals at all. For the collection, Soul Jazz do a great job of picking out the best of the early acid house scene in Chicago (the key recordings before the term got picked up overseas, and used to make some very dodgy dance music at the end of the 80s) – and then they go on to pull together some of the best strands of the house revival in Chicago in the early 90s, including key work from the Cajual label. 2 CD set features 17 tracks in all – including "This Is Acid" by Maurice, "Do You Want To Percolate" by The Sweat Boyz, "Beyond The Clouds" by Mr Fingers, "Go Wild Rhythm Track" by Virgo, "Acid Crash" by Tyree, "Dum Dum (part 2)" by Fresh, "Acid Bass" by Roy Davis Jr, "Phuture Jacks" by Phuture, "I've Lost Control" by Sleezy D, "Take Me Higher" by Virgo Four, "Acid Over" by Tyree, "Box Energy" by DJ Pierre, "Video Clash" by Lil Louis, "Explorer" by Green Velvet, "Like This" by Two Of A Kind, "Acid Tracks" by Phuture, and "Downfall" by Armando. (House Music, Funky Compilations) CD

A massive amount of rare Northern Soul cuts – almost all of them from the Heritage Records empire of producer Jerry Ross! There's plenty of Philly elements in the mix, but the set also shows Jerry's good ear for crossing over into other camps too – and some of these tunes also have a sound that would have been right at home in the Detroit scene of the late 60s. A few numbers are even rock/pop cuts, but still work very well in the context of the soul material – and the CD features 20 titles that include "Green Grow the Lilacs" by The Festivals, "Ain't Nothin' But A House Party" by The Showstoppers, "I Dig Everything About You" by The Mob, "You Gave Me Somebody To Love" by The Dreamlovers, "Loan Shark" by Chapter One, "I Get By Without You" by Kenny Gamble & Tommy Bell, "Baby Show It" by The Festivals, "Bok To Bach" by Father's Angels, "Eeny Meeny" by The Showstoppers, "Pick Up My Toys" by The Devonnes, "I've Been Hurt" by Bill Deal & The Rhondels, and "You Aint' Sayin' Nothin' New" by Virgil Henry. (Soul, Funky Compilations) CD