Chicago is the home of house music. Back at the end of the 70s, Frankie Knuckles used to mix disco, soul and kraftwerk in order to create a new kind of electronic dance music, the influence of which wasn’t to be foreseen at that time. Then, just a few years ago, there was a new dance music by the name of footwork coming from Chicago, about which one of its main protagonists, R. P. Boo, stated: »A lot of people think that house music has gone underground. House music is still here! I am what happened to house music.« But then again, the rather jittery and energetic footwork didn’t seem to have too much in common with house, especially since the dance going with the music is a somewhat peculiar mix between house, tap-dance and breakdance, where your upper body hardly moves while your feet dance at a crazy speed. Music-wise, footwork is mostly a framework of fast beats, consisting of very few snare- and HiHat-sounds. On top, you’ll find vocal-snippets made of R’n’B, funk and reggae. The tracks are often somewhat sketchy, there are short and very repetitive 16-bar beats, alternating in rapid speed. Only sometimes will you come across a real groove as known from house or hip hop. Cornelius Ferguson’s second record on Planet µ, released under the name of Traxman, is based on that very mix of of hyperactivity and Hip Hop-headnodding. He’s taking minimalism to the extreme, sometimes using no more than two short samples for a track. His music sounds as if he’s improvising live with an MPC, it’s rough and yet precise and sharp at the same time. Kraftwerk, Eurythmics, James Brown, Jazz and hip hop are the foundation of this high-speed-music, which is great fun, even without the crazy dancing.
DJ Manny
Hypnotized
Planet µ