It’s time for sonic reparations “Let me tell you something about house music. It’s not just a groove; house is a feeling…” *This article was originally published on September 2, 2016 So goes “The Word” — a classic a cappella by Chicago producer Aaron-Carl Ragland, since sampled on countless white label records played in club [...]
February is Black History Month - Check out the contribution of Black artists in house and techno. The contribution of Black artists in house and techno are undeniable and pervasive. In fact, the bedrock of electronic music owes much of its legacy to Black artists. From Chicago and Detroit, the cities that started it all, its local pioneers wove dance music culture’s [...]
Jesse Saunders and Vince Lawrence are among the interviewees featured in the 90-minute film A new documentary digging into the queer Black origins of house premiered at Sundance Film Festival last month. Directed by filmmaker Elegance Bratton, Move Ya Body: The Birth Of House looks at the infamous 1979 Disco Demolition night and its bearing on the [...]
We chat to some of Soho House’s music friends – Carl Craig, Juan Atkins, Norman Jay MBE and Giles Smith (Secretsundaze) – to get their take on dance music and the inspirational figures that made our playlist this month Listen here With a nod to Black History Month, our new Dance Music Is Black [...]
As house music spread beyond its Chicago birthplace in the late 1980s, no city soaked up the sound quite as eagerly as New York. This was in a large part down to an ecosystem of promoters, labels, record shops and artists that extends far beyond the accepted canon of major-name DJs and producers. Here, Bruce [...]
Image courtesy of Google House Music and its legendary Black creators from Chicago got the ultimate shout-out to start Black History Month. On Saturday, Feb. 1, Google highlighted the genre with a Doodle on its search engine. “In celebration of Black History Month, today’s music video Doodle, celebrates house music, a genre with roots in Chicago’s [...]
The April 26th event at The Ramova Theater will be the first of its kind in the city. A new electronic music conference is coming to Chicago this spring, a first-of-its-kind event for the city. The aptly-titled Chicago Electronic Music Conference will take place at The Ramova Theatre on April 26th. It's designed [...]
Director Elegance Bratton and producers Roger Ross Williams and Chester Algernal Gordon visited the IndieWire Studio, presented by Dropbox, to discuss the joyful music that inspired their documentary. Elegance Bratton’s documentary “Move Ya Body,” which tracks both the artistic evolution of house music and its historical and sociopolitical impact, emerged from the unlikeliest of [...]
Chicago DJ and producer Elbert Phillips pays tribute to the late, legendary Frankie Knuckles with this extended and thoroughly dope classic tribute mix. This is also an intensely personal mix — Phillips was both a fan and a confidant of Frankie Knuckles, one of a small handful of DJs handpicked by FK to open for him at his own events [...]
Born on 18th January 1955, the late, great Frankie Knuckles' influence on dance music culture cannot be understated. 11 years since his tragic passing, Bruce Tantum marks what would have been the Godfather of House music's 70th birthday by selecting 20 tracks and mixes from across his long and storied career, mapping the legacy [...]