The latest EP to come from the Detroit Grand Pubahs label Detelefunk is DJ and producer K‘ Alexi Shelby with “I Can Go”. Kaay is one of Chicago‘s true heroes and cited by many as a pioneer of the city‘s sound. At a young age of 12 he was already moving in the right circles befriending
worldwide legends like Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy whilst frequenting the famous Warehouse. His upbringing in Chicago in the 70‘s and 80‘s meant he was exposed to a range of genres and different styles of music including Stevie Wonder, Prince, Curtis Mayfield and David Huff - these same names would prove to be the roots of influence. Kaay recorded for prime Chicago house labels Trax (with „Hot Swing“ and the album Trick Tracks as K. Kool); DJ International (producing one of the rare house albums, “Don‘t Cha Want It ?”), Derrick May‘s seminal techno label Transmat with the classic „All for Lee-Sah”, and later European labels ACV and Djax-Up-Beats. He is responsible for several early acid-house classics. He began DJing in the early ‚80s, and as part of the Risque Rhythm Team (later Risque II and Risque III), Shelby recorded „The Jacking Zone,“ „Essence of a Dream“ and „More than Just a Dance,“ all 1986-87 classics on the emerging house scene. He has a tally of successful hit records remixing and collaborating with other artists being sought by a diverse range of artists like The Pet Shop Boys ,DJ Deep, Derrick May, Paul Johnson, DJ Gregory, Kenny Dope, Mr Lee (who produces for R Kelly), Gene Hunt, Rolando, Maurice Joshua, Marshall Jefferson, Marc Romboy, Mark Grant, Larry Heard, Robert Owens, TjenTjen, Dave Angel, Felix Da Housecat, Will Smith, etc. It’s his unique smooth blend of techno and house, as Kaay calls ‘TecSoul’ (which is also the the name of his own label) that attracted the eye of the Pubahs with a track titled “I Can Go” featuring Kaay’s own vocals, and the heavy female breathing. Kaay states about “I Can Go”: Its just about things we can do all night: DJ-ing, sex, making music, playing, etc. I was really talking about DJing then started thinking about the other things I like to do all night”. Kaay delivered 2 versions of “I Can Go” showing his different sides of music that the Windy City is so well known for. The ‘Chicago House Mx1’ is deeper more
House orientated, while the ‘TecSoul’ version leans towards the jackin’ techno side. Both mixes keep things funky. On the remix is Raudive who uses his ChiTown musical influences: „it has been great to remix K Alexi material, he has been responsible for some absolute classic
music, a lot of the Chicago stuff has had a big influence on my Raudive productions, his stuff has the stripped down sparse funk and the warehouse jacking that I love..“ says Raudive aka Oliver Ho. Finally to complete this 4 tracks EP is “Man 2 Man’, offering a darker warehouse atmosphere, solid kicks followed by heavy breathing, and metallic sounding rhythms that build the track to a carnival fever. It‘s getting hammered by Robert Hood in almost all his DJ sets now, always sending the crowd into a frenzy and DJs rushing to the turntables to find out what it is. A jam packed release not to be missed for anyone into techno or house. More
worldwide legends like Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy whilst frequenting the famous Warehouse. His upbringing in Chicago in the 70‘s and 80‘s meant he was exposed to a range of genres and different styles of music including Stevie Wonder, Prince, Curtis Mayfield and David Huff - these same names would prove to be the roots of influence. Kaay recorded for prime Chicago house labels Trax (with „Hot Swing“ and the album Trick Tracks as K. Kool); DJ International (producing one of the rare house albums, “Don‘t Cha Want It ?”), Derrick May‘s seminal techno label Transmat with the classic „All for Lee-Sah”, and later European labels ACV and Djax-Up-Beats. He is responsible for several early acid-house classics. He began DJing in the early ‚80s, and as part of the Risque Rhythm Team (later Risque II and Risque III), Shelby recorded „The Jacking Zone,“ „Essence of a Dream“ and „More than Just a Dance,“ all 1986-87 classics on the emerging house scene. He has a tally of successful hit records remixing and collaborating with other artists being sought by a diverse range of artists like The Pet Shop Boys ,DJ Deep, Derrick May, Paul Johnson, DJ Gregory, Kenny Dope, Mr Lee (who produces for R Kelly), Gene Hunt, Rolando, Maurice Joshua, Marshall Jefferson, Marc Romboy, Mark Grant, Larry Heard, Robert Owens, TjenTjen, Dave Angel, Felix Da Housecat, Will Smith, etc. It’s his unique smooth blend of techno and house, as Kaay calls ‘TecSoul’ (which is also the the name of his own label) that attracted the eye of the Pubahs with a track titled “I Can Go” featuring Kaay’s own vocals, and the heavy female breathing. Kaay states about “I Can Go”: Its just about things we can do all night: DJ-ing, sex, making music, playing, etc. I was really talking about DJing then started thinking about the other things I like to do all night”. Kaay delivered 2 versions of “I Can Go” showing his different sides of music that the Windy City is so well known for. The ‘Chicago House Mx1’ is deeper more
House orientated, while the ‘TecSoul’ version leans towards the jackin’ techno side. Both mixes keep things funky. On the remix is Raudive who uses his ChiTown musical influences: „it has been great to remix K Alexi material, he has been responsible for some absolute classic
music, a lot of the Chicago stuff has had a big influence on my Raudive productions, his stuff has the stripped down sparse funk and the warehouse jacking that I love..“ says Raudive aka Oliver Ho. Finally to complete this 4 tracks EP is “Man 2 Man’, offering a darker warehouse atmosphere, solid kicks followed by heavy breathing, and metallic sounding rhythms that build the track to a carnival fever. It‘s getting hammered by Robert Hood in almost all his DJ sets now, always sending the crowd into a frenzy and DJs rushing to the turntables to find out what it is. A jam packed release not to be missed for anyone into techno or house. More