Track of Today: DJ Sneak - The Lost DAT Tapes Vol 1

First of all, a link back. Back in March, I wrote in "Death of the Mixtape" that:

As a music fan, I can tell you that I've spent exactly 1 second worrying about how the DJ playing that slammin' track got ahold of it. I expect labels and producers worry about that all the time, but the only thing the dancefloor worries about is whether or not the tune is good - not if someone downloaded it off RapidShare or got it from his buddy.

I'm quoting that here because I have hell all idea where the hell DJ Sneak's The Lost DAT Tapes Vol 1 came from. It's purportedly the first and only release on "Lost Dats US", which could be a clever name Sneak came up with to, well, sneak this one up on you. It could also be the alias of someone releasing these without his consent, knowledge or permission.

It might be a bootleg. It might be something shoved under the door. I know it can be seen as not polite to ask some established recording artists about edits so I won't... But in the hoopla that's sure to surround Sneak's brand new artist album The House of House, we can't lose track of this awesome little EP of beat tracks and simple sample jackin' House that's snaking through the underground.

As you'd guess from the title, the tracks of The Lost DAT Tapes Vol 1 are probably at least a decade old and maybe they sound like it, and maybe that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Whether you have any nostalgia for those times or not, you'd have to be six feet under not to feel the shake from this amazing package of tracks. The only one here that (I think) has been previously released is "Feelin' Freaky" which appeared on 1996's Rice and Beans, Please! double 12" release on Cajual. The rest appear to be truly undiscovered gems from one of the most highly underrated beatmakers of Chicago House Music's second wave.

A1: Ahh Baby

A2: Feelin' Freaky

B1: La Sneak Le Spankers

B2: Yeah Come On

You can buy the vinyl at Gramaphone Records, Juno, and at Downtown304.

And here's our man in a recent video mixing down The House of House: