The legendary Lidell Townsell on the legendary TRAX label - What's not to like? 'Get the hole' might sound like a fairly dubious title for an EP, but it works within the realms of Chicago house! Released in the golden year of '88, this EP contains nothing but vintage midwest ACID grooves! You could argue that the XXX rated message behind lead cut 'get the hole' is an early precursor of what would come out of the Chi via Dance Mania and other associated labels and artists in latter years. Rumour has it the track had an impact on the super underground B-more club scene too unsurprisingly! If you like your house music rough, ready & raw then this is for you! Warehouse sounds, box jams, it's all here! Remastered in conjunction with Trax Records, fully legit, now is the time to revisit a cornerstone of classic Chicago House music, often imitated, never bettered! More

The hip house boom was in full effect, thanks to Tyree Cooper's efforts, and Trax responded with this double-header. 'Power Move' is straight up hip hop, but it's the flip, producer by Trax regular Lidell Townsell, 'I'll Make You Dance' that does the business here. Kool Rock Steady, also known as Edward Rudolph, had serious credentials for an MC, being cousin of one Africa Bambaataa. This release is also notable for yet another misspelling of Lidell Townsell's Christian name (Lydell, since you ask). More

Huge Kai Alexi EP re issued on Trax... All 4 tracks remastered for 2016. More

A brilliant tune produced by a team who also worked together at Chicago's Loop Record store, Jesse Jones and Carl Bias. Written by Leroy Haggard (AKA Mr. Lee, "When You Hold Me" was arguably the fiest of the deep house genre. The pair went on to work extensively with Liz Torres, the queen of house. Re mastered for 2016 and re released in conjunction with Trax. More

Another huge monumental piece of house history from the Trax back catalogue! Farley "Jackmaster" Funk under his Blackman guise... I'll Beat That Bitch With A Bat... Repressed and re mastered in conjunction with Trax 2016. More

4 superb tracks from K Alexi from the depths of the Trax vaults... circa 1994 More

The third Jungle Wonz release on Trax, again with Harry Dennis' gorgeous vocals. A real bench mark in the house sound of Chicago from Marshall Jefferson. More

Seminal Chicago Acid house compilation fully remastered and spread over 2 x 12" for the first time. DJ Pierre... Maurice Joshua... Lidell Townsell... Jack Frost... Mr. Lee classics all here... Re issued in conjunction with Trax 2015. More

We dig deep into Trax's vaults to unearth some unreleased versions of some Trax classics. Vol. 2 contains a Ron Hardy Reel To Reel edit of Jamie Principle's "Waiting On My Angel" while the original demo version of Frankie Knuckles "Your Love" containing haunting female vocals is on the flip. Released in conjunction with Trax 2015. More

Originally a member of the California R&B group Club Nouveau, this was Irving's crowning glory as a member on the Chi-town house faternity. The song was written by Dwayne 'Willie Wonka' Grant and remixed by Frankie Knuckles and is quite unlike most of the vocals that came out of the house scene, with a beautiful clarity to his voice. More

Pitched somewhere between the molasses gloop of 'Acid Tracks' and his more gospel moments, Pierre's Phantasy Club was a vocal project that, without reaching the heights of some of his more momentous Wild Pitch productions and remixes, still showed his versatility. "I'll put the bug in you it'll make you stay, I'll plant it it'll never go away". We believe you, Pierre. Repressed & remastered for 2015 & featuring all original label artwork, with permission from Trax records. More

The first release on Trax naturally came from the Jesse Saunders stable. It was an agreement between pressing plant owner Sheerman and Saunders and Vince Lawrence that led to the formation of the label. Early pressings even had a Jes Say catalogue number etched in them, through subsequent editions bear the Trax cat. no. "Wanna Dance", unusually for Trax is not really house at all, bearing far more similarities with the experimental productions of On-U-Sound and the Doug Wimbish/Skip McDonald crew. Says Vince "This is built around the fact that we found out that could call the Linn drum people and order a chip and that said somethin' - we got our first sampler. When we learned that you could say shit and play it like an instrument that was a big deal then." Repressed & remastered for 2015 & featuring all original label artwork, with permission from Trax records "Wanna Dance?" is now available again to be rediscovered.
More

The combination of Ron Hardy, Adonis & Frankie knuckles on one record should make even the hardest of house heads excited. "Work the box" is that said record, featuring production & mixes from all of these legendary figures in classic Chicago Trax fashion! Experimental, spaced out, hard, minimal, raw & jacking, all words that could be applied to the 4 cuts contained here. This is the real deal, up there with the best jack tracks, direct, straight to your dome bangers with a left-field edge. %100 essential. The sound of the warehouse & the muzic box 1986 right here! Repressed, remastered & re-released in conjunction with Trax Records for 2015. More

One of the godfathers of Chicago House Jesse Saunders originally composed and released this proto house classic in 1984. Its initial release was on Jesse's own seminal Jes Say Records before later being re released on Trax in the 90's. All 4 original mixes have been re mastered and are re released in conjunction with the Trax rights holders. More

Marshall Jefferson, Ron Hardy & Frankie Knuckles collaborating across 2 sides of a single 12"? Need we say more? Obviously that's a dream line-up right there & of course the results of such a meeting of minds is nothing short of outstanding! Just listen to the record & you'll see! Essential business... "Ride The Rhythm" came out on Trax in 1986, making it one of the "first wave" House records to land & make a massive impression here in the UK & in Europe. Marshall Jefferson's fingerprints are all over this bad boy, his massive piano riffs, non-stop bass-lines, the pounding drums, everything about this record is just HUGE! He had an incredible knack for making accessible, club tracks with cross over appeal that the underground heads clamored to get hold of at the same time. Throw Frankie & Ronnie (literally) in the mix & you've got solid, classic, all-time Gold on your hands (& turntables!). Fully re-mastered, re-pressed & re-released for 2015 in it's original format with the permission & participation of all rights holders with all original Trax label artwork intact.
More

Armando Gallop, the legendary Chicago producer & DJ whose career was tragically cut short by his death in 1996 left behind a legendary reputation as one of the windy city's finest. Having released on seminal labels such as; Trax, Musique, Westbrook and his own Warehouse imprint, Armando brought his own rough hewn brand of machine Funk and acid to the table and the dance music world has been much better off for it since. "The New World Order Level 3" is a collection of Armando's tracks running through various styles and sounds; Acid, Disco infected bangers, crazy Chi-town jack tracks and much more. This collection is a great overview of some of Armando's lesser known tracks and has always been a tough one to track down, it also features the storming "Pleasuredome" that was recently comped on Nina Kraviz' stellar DJ Kicks mix among a clutch of other lesser known gems. An essential addition to any Chicago lovers record collection, essential original House music! Re-mastered, re-pressed and re-released in conjunction with the official license and rights holders for 2015.

More

Chaotic, acidic jack tracks are the order of the day here, Dancer aka Sidney Winters, dropped this obscure bomb on Trax in the peak year of 1987. Both sides are mixed by the late, great Frankie Knuckles and have all the trademarks of his touch; tough drum machines, Italo inspired melodies and thundering bass-lines. These monster tracks sound absolutely massive and will surely do damage when dropped today. "Am A Dog" is the A-side and is the more melodic of the two cuts, featuring triggered dog-like vocal stabs, epic, soaring synths and a repeated voice floating in and out of the mix, while on the B-side the descriptively titled "Boom Boom" does exactly that, a descending, aggressive acid line drives the track with some reverbed-out drums and a disjointed female voice repeating "Boom boom goes my heart", deep, dark and heavy! Both tracks have been re-mastered and re-pressed for the very first time since their original release in 1987 in conjunction with Trax Records, and have been made available again with original label artwork. Essential
More