DJ Milton - Scream

DJ Milton, "Scream" (YSI link)

DJ Milton, "House Clap" (YSI link)

DJ Milton, "Saturn" (YSI link)

I kinda like this first week of resumed posts being a overall look at what we do here and the music you can expect, i.e. Pound for Pound music. Long-time readers will know that there might be no important stuff than the Dance Mania label for me here. Dance Mania is one of the labels that helped shape house music since the mid 1980s, started right in the genre's birthplace, Chicago, Illinois by Jesse Saunders. It is responsible for lots of seminal tracks, including Housemaster Boyz and the Rude Boyz of House's "House Nation" and Lil Louis' "Video Clash."

These tracks are not on that level, but they are nice examples of that mid90s DM sound. Here's some standard DM stuff from the mid-90s, as the acid washed away and the ghetto sound emerged. DJ Milton fits the anonymous dance music producer profile to a tee, releasing more than 25 records in a 4 year period and then disappearing (as far as I am aware). Most of them were on Dance Mania, this Scream EP was the first, in 1994. It's what you expect: raw, dirty and jacked." These three tracks are the A-side, the lesser of the two imo. "Scream" is furious as fuck, a raging drum machine track complete with porno screams that give it that nastiness one associates with ghettohouse. The other two are strictly instrumentals, drums galore that might work great with an acapella over them. Just sayin'. Check "House Clap" for a nice acid moment around the 2 minute mark.

Yeah! Dance Mania! House music! Yeah!

Traxmen - Give The People What They Want

Above is a great shot of some graffiti scrawlings on a wall in Quito, Ecuador, taken by Pound for Pound correspondant JH-B. Note the Jessica Te Amo, proof that she already has fans in South America.

Gant-Man, "Still Bangin" (YSI link)

Gant-Man, "Umn" (YSI link)

Gant-Man, "Untitled" (YSI link)

I saw hell this weekend and it was the L train running on one track. Ugh, body to body, 5 deep on the platform, my worst nightmare right now, ahead of breast reductions and a McCain presidency. When I'm feeling down and shook like this, I turn to one of Pound for Pound's spiritual homelands, Chicago, specifically the Chicago of the 80s, when the house sound took shape.

Let's go to our favorite source, Dance Mania Records, for today's dose. These tracks come from Dance Mania 257, released in 1998, the final record the Traxmen would put out under that name, one of the final releases documenting the second wave on the label, i.e. the ghetto/booty house period, led by DJ Funk and Robert Armani. This followed the acid house one of the 80s, which the Traxmen had a say in as well.

Give The People What They Want features one side of tracks by Eric Martin, the other by Gant-Man. The Gant-Man ones are my favorites, classic minimal jack trax with male and female call and responses, filthy lyrics. G-d, the drums on all three are so sick. Love the slow build-up on my favorite "Still Bangin'," with hi-hats, claps and rare keys. It's when that huge bass drum comes in that things get real serious real fast. This one is relentless, a runaway train, the vocals only add to it amazingly, as they fly out at a furious pace. "Umn" continues the nice use of a synth, which a nice melodic line lying on top of the banging below. Finally, there's the weed anthem "Untitled," which has a little extra bounce on the drums, a great combo with the male-female back and forth about getting free weed. All in all, a pretty essential B side, a must have for those who love the booty sound. Yeah!

Traxmen & DJ Lil' Tal - Flava In Ya Ear

Traxmen & DJ Lil' Tal, "Trax 4 Da Women" (YSI link)

Traxmen & DJ Lil' Tal, "Don't Bite It" (YSI link)

I wasn't sure if this was the right choice to start the week. On the one hand, I can't think of a better way to kick off the weekdays than with a Dance Mania ghetto house classic. On the other hand, I don't want you to peak on Monday afternoon, unable to regain the euphoria and joy that you will soon feel when you download the above tracks. I decided to go with this Traxmen/DJ Lil' Tal post with the acknowledgment that I will need to step my game and provide a few more peaks this week.

These two tracks come from the Traxmen & DJ Lil' Tal Flava In Ya Ear EP, Dance Mania 083 for those who care about those things. It's another essential release from the Chicago label, a good example of the early 90s sound that they developed, which moved away from the earlier acid stuff. One listen to "Trax 4 Da Women" and your life is better. It's that simple. This is minimal house at its finest, a 909, vocals and attitude are more than enough to make me (and hopefully you) lose my shit. Traxmen and DJ Lil' Tal employ a sort of verse and chorus thing, where a few words find themselves being repeated at the end of a verse, like ride, shake and whip. Wait for the 2+ minute mark when the kick comes in, oh boy, so massive and orgasmic I don't want else to say. "Don't Bite It" is much busier, with more percussion, some keys and two different sampled vocals coming in to up the ante. I feel like this one would work better in the club setting, a little less experimental and more in line with the booty music we all know and love.

I'm going to be in transit today, heading back to Philadelphia to hang out with MR. That means no party post tonight, but lots more coming tomorrow before I head back home.