DJ Funk – Booty House Anthems (1999)

Seminal release from the Godfather of ghetto house (Chunk Chambers). If you’re not familiar with the genre, it’s marked by stripped-down house sounds with sexual vocals, usually samples but also sometimes supplied by the DJ’s themselves (or even more rarely by MC’s).  Tracks are fast and short, aimed towards the hyper & lusty clubby crowds of Chicago and Detroit, the former being Funk’s place of residence. In the early 90’s, while other labels were moving away from the stripped-down sound of house, Dance Mania was the one to keep it going, and Funk was at the forefront. Early on he was a mixtape guy but had a couple very successful hits in the clubs, and in 1999 released this comp; thirty cuts of the movin’-est booty-shakin’ house music that had existed up that point.

Dance Mania was a pretty big label that went through a lot of stylistic changes. A great thing about it is that there isn’t really a wrong place to start, as long as you know what era you’re dealing with. This comp is nice if you’re new to ghetto house, but so are a number of other releases. In the future I’m going to try to upload as much Dance Mania stuff as I can (although this comp wasn’t actually released on DM).

work it

LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (2007)

James Murphy's second album with LCD Soundsystem, after starting the group in his 30s, disillusioned with the current music scene, feeling old and out of touch - and then going on to make some of the best dance and pop music of the 00s that's as witty and fun as it is danceable and upbeat, being able to go from heartfelt ballads to caustic critiques of society, never missing a beat.

Dark Sky - Black Rainbows (2012)

Dark Sky are a Dubstep/UK Bass trio from South London that have been producing since late 2009. Their work as Dubstep artists shines through many other young producers that started in London around the same time because of their unique style of Tribal-influenced Techno crossed over with the typical 2step Garage style of Dubstep. In this EP, Dark Sky showcase a UK Funky-esque collection of tracks that despite their bubbly synthlines and Wonky song structure retain certain key elements of a classic Dubstep sound, that doesn't mean that these four tracks are that similar though, Tremor feels a lot more House and Techno-oriented while Zoom is more of a straight up Dubstep tune with a classic London bassline. The eclecticism displayed from Dark Sky even in such a small release really says a lot for these UK producers.