DANCE: Cajmere and his Cajual label on a new British comp
On October 30 British label Strut released the double CD Only 4U: The Sound of Cajmere & Cajual Records 1992-2012, which surveys the catalog of the label owned and operated by Chicago house and techno great Curtis A. Jones (aka Cajmere, aka Green Velvet). The span of years in the title is a bit misleading, since 17 of the 22 tracks date from the first five years of Cajual’s existence—its creative heyday—and the rest are scattered across the aughts.
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Cajual and its offshoot Relief released records by many Chicago dance-music luminaries—including Glenn Underground, DJ Sneak, and Johnny Fiasco—but the selections on Only 4U zero in on the stripped-down, repetitive sound that Cajmere perfected early on, epitomized by his infectious 1992 classic “Percolator” and its follow-up, “Brighter Days,” which introduced the label’s in-house diva, Dajae. Via e-mail Jones told me, “It’s a real good feeling for me to see how much I’ve contributed to the house scene. I’d like to think I’ve helped out a lot of people with my music, as well as with the music of others I put out.” On Sun 11/18 he’ll DJ a party at Green Dolphin Street celebrating the anthology’s release.
Those bands—Water House, Nervous Passenger, and My Dad—have helped Swerp grow since it began six years ago as an informal punk collective putting on shows in the south suburbs. Swerp began releasing music this spring, shortly after moving its headquarters to Chicago in May.
WATER HOUSE: Foamcore “Water House, like a foam squeegee, sucks up influences and puts them out in unique ways,” Nix says. He mentions ambient, folk, metal, and spaghetti-western soundtracks; on the Rosie Guadalupe Wilma Mary Ann EP the band somehow fits that hodgepodge smoothly into complex, mathy arrangements.
This year the festival has booked relatively few of the kind of noise acts that thronged the first two events, but its reach is still quite broad. Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore will perform a solo set and a duo with drummer John Moloney. Moloney will also play in Hush Arbors, the psych-folk project of singer-songwriter Keith Woods; local acoustic guitarist Ryley Walker and Vermont duo MV & EE will contribute to the rustic vibe as well. Drummer Allison Busch will bring her straight-up rock combo, Call of the Wild; minimalist techno artist Container, electro revivalist Windbreaker, and the DJs of Supreme Cuts will cover the beat spectrum; and Dolores Dewberry will bring her woozy electronic weirdness.
