the debut album from renegade trio mutant beat dance (traxx aka melvin oliphant, beau wanzer and steve summers) takes the wild and free sound of chicago’s music box era into the 21st century. ben ufo: -it s such a killer record!- mutant beat dance return with their debut self-titled 25 track album. contains booklet of images (in development since 2015). limited edition!! . over twenty-five tracks the album mines an oft cited but rarely understood ground at the intersection of post-punk, minimal wave, industrial, disco dub, ebm and proto-house / early-house. “mutant beat dance ” is an epic journey into a classic american ideology that had its apex in chicago

mutant beat dance are traxx & beau wanzer. limited rh release of 450 copies with hand made silkscreen covers. pure jakbeat! traxx and beau wanzer team up for another mutant beat dance release. the ones who are familiar with the duo, know they are out to push music into a different realm every time they collaborate. the mutants call it jakbeat, inspired by the early days of house music. tip! artwork by ruben verkuylen

on this 12inch we get two very different songs, the lead cut being driven by 727s, jx-3p bass, and some sampled horns which make this a driving and funky excursion bring you back to another time and place. sketch iii clocks in at around 110 bpms and drives on and on and on, plodding through the depths of your mind while conflicting voices (mis)guide you through your trip. strictly for the freakz.tip!

fully koded chicagoians traxx and beau wanzer team up for another mutant beat dance release. together they have produced arguably the best 80s chicago house record not made in the 80s. the mutants call it jakbeat, inspired by the early days of house music. tip!!! let me go is as intense and rhythmically inclined as they come. naughty woods sparse vocals cry desperation, almost nearing insanity, which makes up for a pressure cooker like warehouse anthem. rottonfunk is another intense work out which has a killer groove and makes us wander off to the promised land (wherever that is). its delightful to hear that chicago house music this good still gets made. surely when it was released way back when, it would fetch top dollars on the interweb. authentic stuff!

there is a fantastic quality to gavin russoms work, an otherworldliness that is subtle yet palpable. its heard-or felt, more precisely-in all of his projects, including the crystal ark, black meteoric star and his numerous recordings with delia gonzalez. all of russoms sonic astral projections, with their textures and atmospheric layers, demonstrate his astounding production skills and modular wizardry. as dfas studio engineer, he was entrusted with the hefty task of maintaining the labels analog stockade. russom has built custom gear for the likes of james murphy, black dice and holy ghost!, has remixed artists including juan maclean, cut copy and caribou, and filled out the wonderful music of lcd soundsystem. so its no wonder that russoms newest solo outing, night sky, reflects the talent and experience accrued in all those roles with both stunning precision and audible clarity. add patience to the above list as well.

late 2008 discos capablanca invited eric d. clark and traxx (nation) to dj at a label party. eric ended up singing live over traxx beats. doing so in a daze, originally an unreleased instrumental by traxx and beau wanzer, evolved into the final version you hear here, combining 808 sounds and a passionate vocal delivery, with the rough and gritty edges still intact.

phenomenal chicago house by trio mutant beat dance (traxx aka melvin oliphant, beau wanzer and steve summers)

hardcore on 2cds