Music: This Week in House Music: Sally C, TERR & Larry Heard

Apr 25, 2022

2 min read

CAN YOU FEEL IT?! We've reached another Monday, which means it's time to revisit what went down last week in house music. Let's go!

Best New Track: "Downtown," Sally C (Big Saldo's Chunkers, April 22)

Rising Belfast-born, Berlin-based DJ/producer Sally C is a house head dedicated to honoring its classic sounds and rhythms. For her second release, she's dropped three heaters as the Big Saldo’s Chunkers 002 EP on her label of the same name. The second track, "Downtown," opens with an almost-Looney Tunes-sounding voice asking, "heyy, you wanna dance?" When she first gave the world a taste of these tracks at Panorama Bar (a part of Berghain), the answer was obviously a resounding yes.

Best New Mix: EG.886 TERR (April 18)

This hour-long Electronic Groove mix from Brazil-born, Berlin-based artist TERR (a.k.a. Daniela Caldellas, a former punk guitarist) is what you'd hear at a rave catering to both rock and dance fans on a far-away planet. It's hard to categorize and by no means strictly house, but spacey and jingly synths and acid house rhythms dance with new wave, psych rock, melodic techno, and more. The captivating set features new music from TERR, Ben Sterling, Tony Festiva, and Queer On Acid's 2022 trippy acid house gem, "House Jam."

Best Classic Track: "Can You Feel It," Mr. Fingers (1986, Trax Records)

The best way to describe listening to this classic Mr. Fingers (one of living Chicago legend Larry Heard's aliases) is euphoric freedom. It was—shockingly—the drummer's first foray into making electronic music, and he made it solely with a JUNO-60 synth, TR-909 drum machine, and two cassette decks to record it. It was first released as an instrumental and the B-side to "Washing Machine" on Trax Records. It swiftly took Chicago by storm and became a pillar of house and deep house. There are several vocal versions of the classic track, including two Heard describes as "mash-ups," the most well-known one with Chuck Roberts, from an acapella version of Rhythm Controll’s “My House,” and another moving one with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech. We most definitely still feel it.