Jack Master - Basement Trax Volume 1

Jack Master, "Bang The Box" (YSI link)

Jack Master, "One Trac Mind" (YSI link)

It's been a less-than-stellar trip back this weekend. As Mr. Dylan once sang, "I'm going back to New York City, I do believe I've had enough." While I'm in transit, I want to leave you with two songs that also look to another city, the birthplace of acid house, Chicago. While one might think that this is just another unheard masterpiece from Trax Records, what with the name of the artist, the song titles, the sounds and even the design, don't be fooled. Jack Master is actually an alias of Richie Hawtin, techno's Zelig, an ode to the jackin' style of Chicago done by a Canadian who I always thought was British. Originally released in 1993 on Jack Records, an offshoot of the Plus 8 label, this one is a phenomenal record, another example of the skill and diversity of Richie Hawtin and his music.

The songs may have sprung from a desire to pay respect to a classic sound, but they easily rise above simple homage, especially on the opening track, "Bang The Box." On this one, you get a male voice repeating the word "bang" over and over, a la so many classic Trax joints, but the heavy, static-y drums give it a less-stripped down sound than the originals. While "Bang The Box" has gotten the attention from this release, " the B side should not be overlooked. "One Trac Mind" is a nice mental

P.S. Richie, you named the label Jack, took the alias of Jack Master? I mean, we already love you! It's awesome that you want to make it onto Pound for Pound, I just don't think you need to be that obvious.

Plastikman - Krakpot

Plastikman, "Krakpot" (YSI link) 256

Plastikman, "Elektrostatik" (YSI link) 256

Okay, I know you are thinking, "Didn't you say you were going to melt your face off with acid Friday?" One may think that I didn't achieve this because I was taking advantage of the weekend and livin' it up, but oh no, au contraire. Honestly, I was looking out for you, my dear reader, as I wanted you to be able to have a great, productive, fun weekend, the calm before the holiday storm in a sense. One listen to Plastikman's "Krakpot" and "Electrostatik" will melt your face and mind, leaving you incapable of traveling home for Thanksgiving, talking to relatives, going out on the big Wednesday night party scene, just generally trying to live your life day to day. The creeping, haunting acid line will burrow deep in your brain stem, it is not for the faint of heart.

Plastikman is better know to us as Richie Hawtin, the legendary Canadian producer who has made classic electronic music for the better part of two decades. We're going to say more about him in the coming weeks, from his own releases to stuff on the labels he founded Plus 8 and M_Nus, but for this blog, there's no better place to start than the music he put out under the Plastikman alias, especially as we take a look at acid house.

Above is his first release under that moniker, the Krakpot 12". Originally released in 1993 on the Nova Mute label, it's some of the best, most frightening music I've ever heard. The 11+ minute "Krakpot" returns acid to its minimal roots, featuring an acid-y bassline that snakes its way around your body in a slow, methodical way, combined with an insistent, heavy kick drum and some effects (blowing wind?). It's hard to believe that Hawtin could hold one's attention for so long with so little, but that's the magic of acid I guess (or more likely the amazing talents of Hawtin). While "Krakpot" may be better known, "Elektrostatik" is every bit as good and nasty. It all seems a little more frenetic, from the drums to the bass. You need to listen to these two on headphones, I seriously just want to freak out right now like a crazy person. You absolutely need this in your life, end of story.

A Guy Called Gerald - Voodoo Ray EP

A Guy Called Gerald, "Voodoo Ray" (YSI link) 320

A Guy Called Gerald, "Escape" (YSI link) 320

This seems like the perfect place to start, A Guy Called Gerald's "Voodoo Ray," the song that most consider the first UK acid house track, the song that would lead to one of the most amazing and productive periods in the history of dance music. Originally released in 1988 on Rham! Records, it would end up #12 on the UK singles chart, become a staple at the Hacienda and usher in the smiley-face, rave-y world to Europe.

A Guy Called Gerald is Gerald Simpson, another legendary figure born and raised in Manchester. He originally started out making freestyle hip hop tracks on a 303 and 808 that he bought cheap in the mid-80s. The first thing he would do in the studio was "Voodoo Ray," picking up on the sounds coming out of Chicago from the same period. Ironically, the song's title and main vocal segment wasn't quite intended; sampling a portion of Dudley Moore and Peter Cook's "Bo Dudley" sketch from their album, Derek and Clive Live, the sampler accidentally cut short the whole quote due to a lack of memory, cutting "voodoo rage" into "voodoo ray." He went with it and no one would miss that -ge. One listen to the gorgeous acid melody, stabs of female vocals & giggles and dense percussion and you will forget all about that too. What I like most of all, though, is the tension between the genuinely nice bass & lighter female vocals and the dark-edged, distorted male ones, it has a nice feel sitting at the crossroads of the darker, bare-bones Chicago sound and the blissful, happy tunes that would soon follow.

Here is the A side to that original release (I actually have the subsequent Blow Your House Down 12" put out by Belgian label LD Records in 1989, but that's our little secret), which also featured "Escape." Not sure what sort of impact this one had, but it shouldn't be overlooked. This one actually has a darker feel to it, what with the sampled "Is there any escape?" vocal, an occasional growling voice, even squelchier bass and effects galore.

Josh Wink's Acid Classics

Josh Wink's Acid Classics (YSI link)

I warned you, I hope that you have proper protective gear as we are gonna be dealing with lots of acid today. I can't think of a better way to start this off than with this recent mix Josh Wink did for Mixmag. Josh Wink's Acid Classics is the perfect intro for anyone not familiar or looking to get more familiar with this music that began in Chicago in the mid 80s. While long-time fans will have heard all of these songs, it's still well-worth the download as it's an impeccable mix, filled with classics for one 70 minute journey into the Roland 303. Mixmag chose the right guy for this job, as not only was Wink a huge part of the original acid scene ("Don't Laugh"), but he has been involved in the resurgence of that sound in the past few years.

I want everyone to listen to this one until the end of the day, as I know no one is doing work on Friday afternoon. We're gonna start with opening track from this mix first, I have chills I'm so excited.