This Week in House Music: Glass Animals & DJ Seinfeld, Shy One, Frankie Knuckles & Jamie Principle
Abigail Holsborough
I am surprised I'm including British electro pop group Glass Animals in This Week In House Music, but its 2022 and house is the sound of the summer. I love house, that's why I write these, so honestly, I'm stoked, especially when some of the amazingly talented underground producers are getting called up to bring the groove. I also live for a great remix that seamlessly reimagines a non-dance song for the dance floor. I appreciated this '90s trend of tapping producers to serve up official dance or club versions of tracks, and I hope that we keep seeing more of this starting to reemerge as another revitalized '90s trend.
Best New Track: Glass Animals & DJ Seinfeld - It's All So Incredibly Loud (DJ Seinfeld Remix) [Aug 5, Wolf Tone Records]
Glass Animals have released a new version of their 2020 album Dreamland, which delivers 11 remixes from some of their "favorite artists," including Hudson Mohawke, Kelly Lee Owens, Hit-Boy, Logic1000, Washed Out, and DJ Seinfeld. The latter Swedish leftfield electronic producer brings his dreamy sound to "It's All So Incredibly Loud," revisioning the track for a sunrise DJ set. Dave Bayley's voice falls to the back of the mix, washed in a chilled, groovy sea of rhythm.
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Best New Mix: Shy One - August 2022 - Balamii
British DJ/producer Shy One delivers a vibey and joyful two hours of chilled house tunes ala Larry Heard with plenty of rhythm and flow for her latest Balamii mix. Or, as the description reads, "Shy One is back with 2 hours of club cuts. UK Funky, Deep House & Percussive rhythms inside."
I've heard of UK funky but admittedly didn't know what it was. According to Beatportal, "in the mid-to-late 00s, UK funky took over clubs and airwaves with its effervescent and propulsive blend of sounds, fusing house music with elements of genres from across the Black diaspora."
Track IDs from her groove-filled set include Larry Heard's "And So I Dance," Cody Currie's "Night Visions," "hollaback bitch" from Mura Maza, Channel Tres, and Shygirl, "Come Away" from Louie Vega and Kerri Chandler, and the perfect "No More Dating DJs" from Nick Holder.
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Best Classic Track: Frankie Knuckles & Jamie Principle - Your Love [1986, Persona Records / 1987, Trax Records]
The sparkling synths that open the pivotal Chicago house track "Your Love" still sounds magical. It was the first track produced by Godfather of House Frankie Knuckles to play on tape at his foundational Chicago cl
ub, the Power Plant. It features sexy, playful vocals written and sung by fellow Chicago house legend Jamie Principle and is considered a foundational dance music record.
After stirring up Chicago dance floors, the song was released on Persona Records and credited to Principle in 1986. A year later, the controversy-stirring Trax Records released it as a B-side to "Baby Wants To Ride"—another sexy, groovy house classic from the legendary pair—but only credited it to Knuckles. "Baby Wants To Ride" is an 8-and-a-half minute dance romp of pure fun set to spacey acid house synths.
