PRE-ORDER ITEM : Expected
December 22nd 2014.
This item will only be shipped to you on or after the official release date. Please note any orders containing pre-order
items won't be shipped until all items are available, so please order this separately to avoid delays. Please remember
that release dates are at the mercy of labels, distributors, and pressing plants and will change constantly.
Having cut his teeth in the Windy City—first on the electro clash appearing on labels like Ersatz Audio and Ghost Arcade, and later championing Trax Records as part of Vancouver’s recent house renaissance—Chicago Jim’s synthtopian tales of old-school Chicago and the birth of house music are a genuine reflection of a talent rarely seen at the helm of records in the post-00's.
Upon first listen, these are the sounds culled from lost DATs and forgotten tapes, with moods drawn from another time and place, referencing Larry Heard's Alien and the ability of early house pioneers ability to enrapture and engage. “Perhaps this is an over-romanticized notion, but I'm also really into the idea of people from all walks of life coming together under one roof to lose their minds together on the dance floor” the artist says. “If you aren't down with that you aren't a real head.”
Across eleven tracks—made using a Roland 808, 707, and 202, Juno 106, MPC 2000, and a microkorg—we are treated to not only Chicago house, but also early acid, Detroit techno, ambient, synth, slow juke and proto-booty works without the filthy lyrics, but still steeped in American attitude.
Chicago Jim was originally released through local tape imprint Pretty Alright. The tracks are untitled and only identified by their position on their respective vinyl—another test of anonymity that encourages the LP to be considered as a whole.
Double LP release in a reverse printed gatefold sleeve with inserts, postcard and a sticker. Original photography by Chicago Jim. Mastered at D&M.