Move Your Body: The Evolution of Chicago House

Inner Life, "I'm Caught Up (In A One Night Love Affair)"

First Choice, "Let No Man Put Asunder"

Cheryl Lynn, "You Saved My Day"

The Peech Boys, "Don't Make Me Wait"

Sorry for the delays on this, Blogger has been a real bitch the past few days. I promised to take a look back at the beginning days of house music, and the 2CD compilation, Move Your Body: The Evolution of Chicago House, seemed like the perfect start. It was put together and mixed by the legendary Chicago House producer/DJ Marshall Jefferson. Pictured above, he was one of the big names that helped define the house sound as created in Chicago in the early to mid eighties. In fact, the title of the CD, "Move Your Body," is a Jefferson track that is considered a classic.

I'm gonna make this a two-day look at the CD, as there's so much music here and this is another expensive import. The above tracks give a pretty good sense of the music on Disc 1, as there is a noticeable arc from the beginning to the end, with the earliest stuff sounding very disco and the later stuff turning darker and sparser. The Peech Boys track is phenomenal, tending toward the dirtier, darker end. The other tracks are gorgeous, reminiscent of the big, decadent disco tunes of a few years prior.

-For the techno fans in Philly, there's an amazing party at Fluid tonight. Prototype 909, the group featuring Taylor Deupree, Dietrich Schoenemann and Jason Szostek, is back together spinning their acid house/techno music, making their first East Coast appearance in 8 years. Dave P of Making Time is also spinning, making this simply an amazing night.

-More great news this week, as The Cartoon Network announced that it would be running Pee Wee's Playhouse reruns on Adult Swim starting July 10th. Pee Wee Herman is one of my heroes, it's nice to see his work being shown again. Now, if we could get some new episodes, or another movie, the world would be a better place.

-The World Cup starts tomorrow, as the greatest sports event in the world finally gets rolling. The tournament opens up with Costa Rica playing host Germany, the one team Pound for Pound always roots against. Yahoo has set up a great site for following everything, although ESPN might be the better choice since they are televising the games here. More tomorrow on this.