Musical pioneers Planet Mu continue in their current quest to bring the irresistible energy of Footwork to the masses, with the release earlier this week of Chicago Legend Traxman‘s first long player.
Belonging to both the Geto DJz and Ghetto Teknitianz crews Traxman is rightly held alongside the likes of Rashad and DJ Spinn as one of the scene’s true original players, but his impact was being felt long before the dawn of Juke and Footwork. He has a long history of involvement in the growth of Chicago House/Ghetto House in general, with releases on various influential labels from the early nineties onward. Despite this however, Da Mind Of Traxman (with no fewer than 18 glorious tracks by the way) is his first LP proper, and damn fine it is too! Switching from the effortlessly smooth to the purposefully jarring to the ludicrously quirky, it’s a confident and fluid release that showcases a man at ease with a sound so many are currently scrambling and struggling to get a grip on.
Footwork aside, Traxman also churns out neat mixes under the alternative alias Corky Strong, and this seems like the perfect opportunity to share one that has genuinely become an unlikely but addictive ‘go-to’ mix for me. Plus, from what I can tell Thay Don’t Play Real Disco No More is now no longer available for download anywhere on the web, so it’s probably only right that we share the love.
I must have played this 100 times by now, which either means I’m right and it’s amazing, or I need more Disco mixes in my life. Both statements are probably true to be honest! There’s no accompanying tracklist sorry, but from what I can remember it features a lot of Traxman’s own Disco edits. Raw, loose and very relaxed, on first listen it might sound pretty rough and ready in places, but I’d argue that’s part of the appeal – you can tell there’s no way Corky/Traxman would be fussy enough to rewind and go back for another attempt at the ‘perfect’ mix. Out with the old track, in with the new – simple as that. Just sit back and let a master selector take you on a Disco excursion that only falls short on one thing – shame it isn’t twice as long!
Corky Strong – Thay Don’t Play Real Disco No More
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