Aliens On Wax US Vinyl & CDs

Review: New imprint Aliens on Wax will be a label to watch this year, with the Chicago-based stable promising releases from the likes of Kevin Saunderson, Roland Clark and Bad Boy Bill. Fittingly, it's a long-serving hometown hero - the one and only DJ Sneak - who inaugurates the imprint via a typically club-focused four-tracker. He begins with 'Gettin' Ghetto', a rolling and hypnotic house loop jam in his familiar style, before opting for stomping drums, raw electronic motifs, sweat-soaked percussion fills and effects aplenty on the breathless and trippy 'I Beat That Ghetto'. Over on the reverse we're treated to two takes on 'Spirit Taker': a deliciously tracky, psychedelic and warehouse-ready 'Dub' (track 3) and the marginally more action-packed original version (track 4).

Review: First released on Cajual in 1995 as part of the 'Beautification Of House' EP, DJ Sneak's 'The Jacker' is comparatively less known or revered than his earliest outings on the label, or those of his released on the contemporary and now much-coveted Strictly Rhythm. But its choppy lead razz and boisterous vocal cutups make it no less of a quintessential case of early 90s "jackin" house, which heard Chicago producers such as Carlos Sosa privilege only the barest of sonic bones. As it was in 1995, no track on this 12" stoops to the nadir of overwrought "depth", and both the Jacker 3000 remix and Gettoblaster's remix here are as readily deployable as they are functional, with ample dead space left in the gaps between drum hits.

Review: On this fresh 'From The Vault' sounding-in from Aliens On Wax - between Zxx, Chi-troit duo Gettoblaster, and longtime rave favourite Moody Records bigshot Bad Boy Bill - lies a serious Jane/Opus III re-hit and a finer Lil Louis 'I Called You' sax version, retitled 'Hustling For Horns'. Unserious in tone but serious in weight and sound architecture and design, the record reaches a super definite peak on the closing acid original 'Dirty Deeds'. But we love the A1, personally; for as long as the Opus III version is (re-)remixed, we can always welcome the next day with open arms .

Review: This new 12" on Aliens On Wax declares that Chicago Jack Is Back and we are fine with that. The raw, early, street wise sounds of the Windy City are still some of the best house has ever given rise to and that is encapsulated across four new cuts from Gettoblaster and two collaborators. First it's Baggi on 'Throwin' Down' (feat Chip E) then it's Terry Mullan on 'Armando's Ghost'. The flipside has the solo cuts though both feature house legends Chip E and Joe Smooth making this the most authentic package of jack you will have heard in some time.

Review: To think associatively for a hot sec, the command to 'Make Life Funky' - the command that also abounds throughout this latest fidget house release by Gettoblaster and Roland Clark - might mean a lot of things. Funky in musical terms implies swing, rancour, arousal, and the occasional bared lyrical fang; to "get oneself into a funk", in idiomatic terms, might mean to muddy the waters, to abandon purity of life and accept a bit of dirt, a bit of stank, a bit of funk. Though there's no 'funk' in the strict funk genre sense here, 'Make Life Funky' is an expert masterclass in funk as vibe, bringing peak hour hands-in-the-air house vibes as Gettoblaster mans the controls, while Roland Clark dispenses some solid life-advice on the mic. Phenomenal remix support covering wide stylistic ground from DJ Sneak, Kevin & Dantiez Saunderson and Amine Edge & DANCE.