bend the me(n)tal to make it stronger

al-90 - black sapphire (slowed + reverb)

Remix of Goodbye, Goodbye by µ-Ziq. As endorsed by the man himself: https://youtu.be/qlaQpymmVu8?t=5102

μ-Ziq - Goodbye, Goodbye (New City 16 remix)

High speed electronics and dance soundtracks from the Chicago footwork auteur. 
Find the full tracklist and related episodes on NTS: https://www.nts.live/shows/jana-rush/episodes/jana-rush-21st-december-2024

Jana Rush 211224

"We made something we could dance to." The Chicago juke and footwork pioneer reflects on 40 years of Dance Mania and his longtime collaboration with the late DJ Rashad.

Anyone with a passing interest in footwork and juke will know of Traxman. Corky Strong has a long history in the world of Chicago dance music, first releasing on the legendary Dance Mania label—which is now celebrating 40 years—in the mid-'90s. He's since split his productions between ghetto house, juke and footwork, releasing alongside titans of Black American music like the late DJ Deeon and DJ Rashad. Strong went on to become a member of DJ Rashad's renowned Teklife crew, and he was one of the creators of the legendary mixtapes on coloured cassettes that became a prototype for juke and footwork's evolution. 

In this Exchange, Strong speaks with RA's Kiana Mickles in New York about how he first became introduced to this world through his cousins, with whom he'd listen to funk and slow jams, Parliament Funkadelic, Farley Jackmaster Funk, James Brown and a variety of hip-hop throughout the '80s. The pieces eventually fell into place, he recounts, when he met the "mysterious kid" DJ Rashad in 1997. Together, they helped shape the music scene in Chicago, and the rest, as they say, is history. 

Over the last few years, Strong has been celebrating footwork's past by putting out a series of albums called Da Mind of Traxman on Planet Mu. He's just released his third volume, and his first since 2014, which was crafted with the help of fellow Planet Mu artist Sinjin Hawke. Strong took on A&R duties to collate the best from hundreds of tracks dating back to 2005. The series is notable in part because it's a catalogue of footwork and its Chicago lineage—juke and house—as well as these genres' soul, funk and rock roots.  

Strong talks to Mickles about what Chicago's music scene was like in the '80s and '90s, why footwork was so rooted in dancing and where the genre is heading in the future. Listen to the episode in full. -Chloe Lula

EX.753 Traxman

Today, on a slightly chaotic Line Noise, I talked to DJ Spinn and Traxman from the Teklife Crew, ahead of their Barcelona gig on March 1. Both men are legends in the house / juke / footwork scene and we talk about that scene, about dancing, history, partying, the importance of a crew - and lots more. As I mentioned the audio is a little funny at times but these are two legends so I hope you enjoy it. Line Noise comes to you with the support of Cupra.

Line Noise 203 - Teklife special with DJ Spinn and Traxman

Pre-order: https://hdmurder.bandcamp.com/album/initiatrix

Arriving on @planetmurecords with debut 12-tracker 'InitiatriX', Manchester-based producer Ship Sket (@hdmurder) pays homage to UK styles like dubstep, grime, drill and rap, but on an emotional level, it’s about spirituality, fetish, and latent darkness hidden by outward appearances.

“I like happy accidents, messing around and resampling, and kind of seeing how far I can push stuff before it disintegrates in front of me," Ship Sket says. "I’ve heard my tunes on a club system and gone, 'wow that mix sounds bad', but the tune is still popping. My approach is a lot more stylistic than it is technical."

More exclusive music

Premiere: Ship Sket 'Mimikyu'

Hollowed

Murmur

Lorn - Arid (Bruh Things Remix)

AES Dana is releasing his 8th solo album on the Ultimae imprint; glowing addition to the composer’s discography, "Inks" is at once a synthesis of everything that his music has been leading up to and an original step forwards in terms of expressiveness and contrast. 

A self-taught electronic music composer, bass guitar and samplist, Vincent Villuis has quickly become one of the most recogniseable names in the broad-reaching “downtempo” field. With "Inks", he delivers a sublime narrative album, fusion of ambient, idm, deep techno and drum'n'bass. 
The finely woven tapestries of his inspiring music are as much a dazzling exercise in rhythm chiseling, melody and texture as a pure, intuitive and intimate perspective of life's intrigues.

Mastered by Vincent Villuis at Ultimae Studios.

Inks

Alep Offset

CD / Download / 2xLP

AES Dana | Alep Offset

All Forms Are Unstable (Recue Rework) / Hawk (Snakes of Russia Rework)

Hawk (Snakes of Russia Rework)

For bookings contact: italtek @ gmail.com

For press contact: marcus@planet-mu.com
For Licensing and Sync contact: licensing@justisntmusic.com
For enquiries contact: italtek@gmail.com

Murmur

ITAL TEK

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