Pretty leftfield as these things go, this is one of a number of multi-artist cyphers that Quiet Records put out around the turn of the millennium. Because it’s fun to mythologize, I’m more than happy to attribute 80+% of the weird brilliance of these tracks to “Troy Brown,” a virtual ghost save for one other Quiet release (QR-020, Clap Yo Hand - for the record I’m quite sure that the Discogs entry thereof confuses this Troy for another guy who was active around the same time, but is quite clearly Canadian).

Reconsidered the last mix I posted - shout out to everybody who was able to collect that before deletion - and decided I’d go a little shorter and less wide-ranging instead. Hence, a bunch of my favorite records from the Clubhouse / Cajmere / Prescription axis, plus some other stuff.

I know very little about Go-Go to begin with, and less still about the one-off(?) “Precise” crew that’s on the label here (always warms the heart to see how relatively well-documented a group like Rare Essence remains, though). Speaking of which, the other (non-Groove Records) issue of this single is the sole non-Rare Essence release among 30 or so on a label called “Sounds of the Capital.” So, maybe that’s something. Anyway, sick tune in all four variations.

Some of my favorite sounds of all time - spent quite a while chasing this down after hearing “Rivers” (at 33rpm) on DJ Python’s erstwhile YouTube channel / lifestyle vlog. I’ve got next to no context for the release, besides the “Digital Roots” genre tag, but all three current uploads somehow managed to summon either Simi Disciple or Mystic Levi into the comments ro provide a little bit of background. (See comments from “troy gordon” here: ”Land by the river is the original vocals to this tune written by Simi Disciple,hence 'Rivers' became it's anthem!For the record,T.Gordon is Simi which is me!”).

An all-time Dance Mania footnote from DJ Fatman, approaching a private press vibe - I assume he was somebody’s cousin or something. Production comes courtesy of DJ Skip, whose “Count On Me” remains my favorite DM record ever - Skip was the skipper, so to speak, of the Pushpac Productions imprint which released mostly his own work, but also records like this and the even less-documented Dat Nigah Tha Schit - Pu_sy Pop. Maybe they were all aliases, no idea.

I was moved to pull this back outta the boxes after a series of DMs with the inimitable billdifferen, whose 2022 club music survey raised a couple questions about exactly how far back the “club rap” sound went. Rather than Rod Lee, who you could make some galaxy brain case for as the Rod Wave of the broader club music universe, I think the main Baltimore guy responsible here is Diamond K, steward of Pimphouse Music and High Rolla Records. Now some kind of current events YouTuber, his channel has at least one ancient upload of a show at the Baltimore club Hammerjacks, mainstay of nostalgic comments on Baltimore club videos across the site.

Super tight deep house, verging on what I imagine “lounge music” to be. I’d always thought of 2006 as a relatively fallow period for this sort of thing - the sort of drive time house that is neither un-grown nor un-sexy but escapes the stigma of “grown and sexy” - although that may just be the effect of the ongoing re-education campaign centering “blog house” as the era’s musical lodestone.

Sorry for the wait. It wasn’t completely unintentional, but I had some time off amidst a job switch and didn’t get to the keyboard much. Rest assured that my output will come back up to par now that I’m once again selling eight computer-hours a day to my faceless benefactor.

Scuba is a DJ, producer, label head, and podcaster from London, UK. In addition to operating Hotflush Recordings, he’s best known for his SUB:STANCE residency at Berghain, as well as his 2010 album Triangulation and 2011 DJ-Kicks mix. This interview took place shortly before his SUB:STANCE set performed at Denver’s Black Box this past week.

I don’t know anything about DJ Finesse, Lucky Smurf, or the short-lived Murderland Records outfit, but these are the two fastest Baltimore club tracks I’ve ever heard. Abandoning “Think (About It)” and “Sing Sing” to push into the mid-140s BPM, the A side lifts drums and an exhortation from “Long Red,” while the flip pairs two Michael Jackson samples and some kind of DJ Paul-esque evil laugh to utterly deranged effect.