If you ask us, this is Larry Heard's finest moment, combining the raw energy of early Chicago house with a jazzy sensibility, warm tones on the keyboards and a spare approach that gives all the elements room to breath. A modern classic! 12-inch, Vinyl record

Remix by Frankie Knuckles. (Soul, House Music) 12-inch, Vinyl record

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. CD

Amnesia? We don't know about you, but we still haven't forgotten these seminal house tracks from Larry Heard – easily some of the most exciting work of the Chicago scene – and music that really marked a bit step forward for the sound of the dancefloor at the time! Larry's working here on some really amazing keyboards – often used in ways that have a direct link back to 70s electronics from Herbie Hancock and others, yet served up in a leaner, stripped-down mode that went onto influence a whole batch of British musicians in the next decade as well. The whole thing's way more interesting than just the usual batch of dance tracks – and although the analogue keys have plenty of "acid" elements – they're also really a cut above that genre too. Titles include "Can You Feel It", "Washing Machine", "Beyond The Clouds", "Stars", "Waterfalls", "For So Long", "Amnesia" and "Mystery Of Love". LP, Vinyl record album