I've put off writing this for awhile, much like I put off writing the original Spencer Kincy article 5 Magazine published last April. It's not a happy subject. But with renewed interest in this as well as wild speculation and rumor circulating in place of fact, it's probably about time for an update as well as to ask one of the philosophical questions posed by Spencer's disappearance from the scene seven or eight years ago. I also have some good news for fans of Spencer's music about a new re-issue by one of his original labels.

I haven't seen him and I don't know exactly where in Chicago he is. My proof is that Spencer Kincy, on a single day last August, filed 3 lawsuits against various United States government bodies and individuals in Federal Court seeking a grand total of $29,997,000 in personal injury and other damages. The parties being sued in these lawsuits are:

• US Department of Defense
• The FBI
• FBI Director Robert Mueller
• FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Robert Grant
• FBI Agent Mitchell Marrone
• Office of General Counsel
• Federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald
• Thomas Walsh
• Gillian Ferguson
• Cathleen Martwick

The filings in these three cases are available to anyone that wishes to pay per-page fees via the US Federal Courts' PACER system.

I do not. There is a slight chance that this is a case of mistake identity, but the odds against there being two Spencer Kincys in the city of Chicago (with unusual spelling and all) are very low indeed. You can see pretty clearly what's going on here, and answer any questions you may have about Spencer, without worrying too much about jumping to conclusions. It's sad, but it is what it is...

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Doc Link is a cat that's been around Chicago for more than two decades. He just does what he does and woe unto you if you don't notice, because he makes beats that send the mega-hyped Agency DJs back to crate-diggin' in the ghetto flea markets. Probably his best known cut was a remix of Roy Davis Jr and Malik's "Back 2 Chicago" (officially, Infinity featuring Malik) - a release that has in about 7 years has become quite a rarity until it resurfaced again last year on Osunlade's installment in King Street's Mix the Vibe series.

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Is there ever a bad time for Hammertime? If you're listening to the Rescue + Uriah West Remix of Chemars' Feelin' Good EP on Hub City, the answer is hell yes there fucking is. This is a perfectly good remix, pushing the original into grimey loft nirvana and with otherwise terrific vocal samples and a sparse but effective '90s suicide keyboard riff. I love 99% of this: it sounds like something Sneak could write when he was a little buzzed on a chill Sunday afternoon.

But that 1%, that bit that just screws the pooch - that 1% is a sample of MC Hammer's hook from "U Can't Touch This", something that the mind instinctively associates with gigantic silk pants and the rise of radio-friendly Hip-Hop that reigned until the Wu put a bag over its head and beat it with a bat. I could live about 900 years and never hear MC Hammer tell me what the fuck I can touch again and die a very satisfied man. Unfortunately, the remixers think differently and dropped this poison pill into what's seriously a really nice mix - over and over and over again.

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There are very few tracks I'd hype without hearing more than a snippet. Anything produced by Ralf GUM (discography, myspace, facebook) is right at the top of the list.

Launching tomorrow (September 30, 2009) is "Little W. 12th St.", Ralf Gum's follow-up with Monique Bingham to last year's smash "Kissing Strangers" on his own GOGO Music label. (You can read my interview with Ralf from May 2009 here.)

"Little W. 12th St." features remixes by Benny Pecoralo and none other than DJ Spinna. The vinyl and worldwide download will be available on October 26th, with the promo download on Traxsource tomorrow, September 30th. (Update: the link is already up here!)

This is probably one of the most anticipated long-players of the year. Jay-J has been working seemingly forever on this 14 track artist album and the results are well worth the wait. Leaks that emerged from the sessions for the album Love Alive were tantalizing and the final product showcases vocalists Big "Brooklyn" Red, Michelle Shaprow, Charlene Moore, BAM, Judy Albanese, Fabian Leo and showcases the musicianship of the multi-talented Scott Wozniak.

And oh lookie, someone made a kick-ass promo video!

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Some months ago, a web publication that shall remain nameless (eh, nevermind) did one of those kooky "Where Are They Now?" features, focusing exclusively on Chicago House Music producers from the first and second wave. While pondering the fate of Robert Armani (he's doing fine, by the way, as anyone relying on more than 5 seconds of Googling could tell you), they also threw in a jab at Ralphi Rosario. They knew where he was, of course - Ralphi has been a fixture in this seedy lil town for more than 20 years - bu threw a hip-check at his current predilection for the more progressive aspects of House and asked instead "where it had all gone wrong".

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

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.

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I'm going to work against type here and throw aside the curmudgeonly bit and say that I'm enjoying the renaissance of Michael Jackson tunes that popped up in House Music of late. There were a lot of remixes hiding in the back of people's crates that I may have heard once or twice and never again (a legacy of that lovely habit of the dance music industry in the 1990s of remixing popular songs and making sure no more than four DJs ever played it).

But if I were to act all curmudgeonly, I'd say that I'm a little disappointed that we're just hearing older edits, and that nobody's really doing anything new with the material MJ, Quincy Jones and the rest of his production teams over the years left behind.

But, then, there's Mark de Clive-Lowe, who is hotter than molten lava right now, has posted up this cover of "I Can't Help It" with himself at the console and Lady Alma on vocals. It was recorded "awhile back" but was released this week and sent to us by MdCL with an invitation to share it. Enjoy!

You can download it as a 320kps MP3 at his soundcloud page.

And here's a fan video of the Michael Jackson original:

Okay, it's another article, but it's been stressed repeatedly here that the lack of quality control inherent in a download-driven music industry is pushing the value of new music down to zero. But there is a bright side to the ease with which one can drop a track on a download site and have it distributed instantly around the world, and that's the opportunity to hear new sounds, by people you've never heard before, from half-way across the world, and have your world grow just a little larger.

That's the case with what the liner notes bill as the "Australian superstar DJ and producer" DJ Jorj - a cat that I've never heard of - on the French label Stalwart's newest single "Back 2 Me". He's teamed here with two of the best vocalists in the business in Byron Stingily and Michelle Weeks, and this track delivers:

This is out now on Stalwart (previewable on their site) and available now on traxsource.

Here's your Track of Today - one of the two b-sides on the new Fred Everything and Olivier Desmet EP Retro Visions Vol 1. True to the collection's title, there's a bit of a retro flair to this one, though by "retro" I'm thinking more "Sound Factory Bar" than "Sauers".

This is out now on Amenti Music on vinyl at Downtown 304 and digitally at juno, traxsource and a few other download sites.

It's been awhile since we picked a track of today. At the risk of sounding like the music snob that I'm really not, good new releases have been few and far between of late. A number of music superstars have apparently abandoned even the pretense of writing new tunes, seemingly happy to mix and remix and squeeze a few more quid out of the same classics. We know them, we love them, and we're going to take a hostage if we have to hear it yet again.

And then it comes. You hear something new and wonder if you've heard it before. No, not quite: it's just a song that seems to hit you at just the right time, a blast of fresh air that seems to cleanse your surroundings as well as yourself.

That's how I feel about Andy Compton's new song, "In Love Again", featuring vocals by Diviniti. Here's a few notes from the Original Mix:

This is available at traxsource.com today.

This is just the cutest thing. Lady D's D'lectable Music has released the video for the first solo release by Nick Maurer (of Greenskeepers fame), titled "Beautiful Person". It has that whole Thomas Dolby/1980s low wave/Friday Night Videos vibe; it helps that it's a catchy song that works on that level, too.

Okay, for all of the bitching about House Music moguls running their digital empires from free myspace pages and who saturate the market with utterly disposable releases, it's time to give props to someone doing it right.

The Track of Today for May 6 is Yameen ft. Lady Alma's "Light of Love". This is a good ole' fashioned single - no fluff, no filler, just two killer remixes by UK groove guru Mark De Clive-Lowe, one vocal and one instrumental. This is in preparation for the full-length album from Yameen called Never Knows More.

And from what I can tell, these folks have it together - full, professional promotion of a product that's worth your hard-earned dollars. And yameenmusic.com has tons of goodies for anyone still on the fence about cashing in their pennies for this release, including this video of MDC-L remixing the track in the studio:

How simple is that, man? It cost them absolutely nothing, requiring nothing but a webcam and an index finger pressing the "record" button. And here I am promoting it.

And here's Mark's fierce remix, vocal version:

This is available traxsource.com today.

Over at ParteHardy.com (flash site, requires considerable clicking around), Bill Hardy has released the fourth installment of cult tracks from the late, great Musik Box maestro Ron Hardy.

Photo: Ron Hardy at the Music Box. Copyright Robert Williams, used with permission.

About a year or so ago, my friend Kevin Starke of KStarke Records shop told me about K.Joy, this underground singer from House Music's early years. Quite a few of her tracks were made famous as "Ron Hardy originals" - original, unreleased tracks that Chicago's then-unknown producers were giving to Ron Hardy at the Music Box on reel-to-reel or even cassette tape. Some were re-recorded by other vocalists for commercial release, but her name - at least among the old school - was pretty well-known.

By now, K.Joy's been back on the scene for awhile and released a number of tracks for Cyberjamz Radio's Cyberjamz imprint (and a blast from the past was released in the package of remixes for her track "Like This" released on Cyberjamz a year ago, which features Chip E's original 1985 mix).

This is her new track, "Lover's Dance". This is a bit of a poetic release as she teams up with the In Blueblackness production team (aka Darren Brandon/DJ Quad, Joe Glover and Pierre Raymond), who are themselves responsible for some killer tracks and remixes over the years.

"Lover's Dance" is in promo release now; you can listen to an additional mix here on traxsource today.

Here's today's featured track by Chicago's own dynamic duo, Stacy Kidd and Fast Eddie, called simply "House Music". You get the best of both worlds from this one - that Hip-House sound that Fast Eddie is going down with and Stacy Kidd's signature sweet jackin' beats.

This is a pretty amazing package of remixes, featuring one of the guys from Hed Kandi (Steve Haines), Jordan Rivera -- altogether 9 remixes. This is out on "Metrogroove Records" - a label I admit I've never heard of, and which has no website (c'mon people...) but a myspace page here and some kind of label description here. Have you heard me rant about House labels that don't have actual webpages and rely on the quixotic nature of free websites like MySpace, SoundCloud and Facebook? No? Remind me to get to that one later.

But this is, of course, a mighty fine track, which is the important thing. Here's a piece of the original mix:

You can sample the other 8 remixes here on traxsource (it's apparently not yet up on djdownload, where that label profile comes from).

We'll be featuring one of what we think is the best new track we've come across each day. It doesn't mean it was released that day or even that week, but with the unprecedented barrage of 4/4 beats being blown out on the public, we'll do our best to keep it somewhat up-to-date.

For today, it's Jay West's "Loves Me Not," a b-sider from The Joy EP released a couple of weeks back. EPs and other multi-track releases are multiplying like a fungus these days but I suspect that many people don't dig very deep beyond the main cut for fear of the filler lurking on the b-side (and labels: it'd be nice if you had a variable price point for pieces that are obviously filler. You might even find yourself making some extra coin!) I actually like this better than the title track - it's less cut-up and overloaded with FX than some of Jay West's release (particularly the Candy Dealers releases - though I'm a fan of that style as well). It's a chill and deep track without being lounge. Here's a taste:

The Joy is out on Conya Records now; sniff out all 3 tracks on traxsource, juno download, or your favorite download shop.

Dimitri from Paris is a pretty busy guy. I mean, really busy. Besides touring the world on the back of his commercially-sold mixed CDs (probably the only ones that sell with any consistency these days outside of the OM Records franchises), he's got a slew of new releases in the starting blocks and has lent his name to a number of other projects. This isn't especially rare nowadays, but when every other artist is jamming tracks that never would have seen the light of day when vinyl production costs were involved down the maw of the public, Dimitri is pushing stuff that's both way outside of the box and a vacation from the norm, as well as the sound you've come to expect from the modern disco giant.

I glanced through my organizer today and realized that, wow, I've got about 5 different folders of new music with Dimitri's name in it.

Here's the first. New as of about an hour ago on traxsource, Dimitri has a couple of hot remixes out of DJ Meme's new track "Any Love (Part 2)". "Any Love (Part 1)" was a pretty huge hit, and Soulfuric Records (which shares the same owners as Traxsource) obviously knew a good thing when they saw it. This one just erupts out of the box with mixes by Jamie Lewis of Purple Music fame, Tom Moulton and two from Dimitri.

Here's a cut of Dimitri's Classic Disco Vocal mix:

Image: Dimitri from Paris kickin it LaCoste style at Zentra, photo by Czarina Mirani, 5 Magazine

Quietly - as fits his persona - Phil Asher has emerged as a one-man hit factory in the last 12 months. In his latest package - a WMC "bundle" - Phlash offers up eight previously unreleased remixes of some of his recent bits of vinyl mastery from his recent homebase, Italy's Archive Records.

Included are "Let Your Heart Pump", "Hazy (12 inch version)", "Grande (Dub Version)", "Putting It Down", "Runnin' (Instrumental Remake)", "Think About It (Disco Dub)", "Jungle Orchidz (Instrumental)" and "Revolution (12 inch version)".

Most of this is probably new to you; even if it's not, you have to admire a guy that would make his rarities available rather than hording them to himself and a small circle of elite friends.

It's always kind of hard to pick just one Phil Asher tune - "Runnin'" is as soulful as anything N'Dea Davenport has ever done, and some of these are more jacking than anything produced in Chicago in years - so suffice to say this short clip from "Revolution" isn't necessarily representative of the whole:

Check out all 8 tracks in promo release now here on Traxsource.

Brand new on T's Box - Terry Hunter's label, which has released consistently hot music encompassing all of Terry's genre-dipping talents - is this club shaker featuring "RC Groove" (read: Ron Carroll), vocalist Pam and Terry himself on a couple of remixes. It's released under the moniker "Blackstory" - not sure what that means but this is well worth your dwindling recessionista dollars.

Here's a short clip of the RC Groove Original:

All three mixes are great - check them out here on Traxsource.

And to give you an idea of how much consideration T's Box puts into every release, the backing vocals on "No It Wasn't Love" were done by none other than Swaylo, who some of you might remember from the deep Mark Grant track Shame from a couple of years back. I'm guessing that most producers would just mix down the lead vocalist for backing vocals these days, but this is that little extra touch that takes a track from good to great.

Image: Terry Hunter and Andre Hatchett @ 2007 Chosen Few Picnic, Czarina Mirani, 5 Magazine.

Here's something brand new for you to sink your teeth into. Aaron-Carl has been doing some interesting things up in Detroit, which is quickly becoming (shudder to think) a House Music town. I was a big fan of one of his previous releases in particular - "Use Me" with one of the great up-and-coming vocalists of recent years, Veronique. This isn't a great quality video but you can catch some of the power in this short vid from last year's Detroit Electronic Music Festival:

In any case, Aaron-Carl is bringing it again with this release on his Wallshaker Music, "Simply Remixes Vol 1" (here on audiojelly, more to come shortly I'm sure). In particular, I was impressed by the kind of neo-Prince funk of The Plan Remix. Here's a quick cut:

New cuts from Cajmere/Green Velvet are rare enough these days (two in all of 2008, I think) that each new release is something of a news story. "The Case (of the Lost Jackers)" is brand new (not even on the Cajual/Relief website yet) but available for purchase as of about an hour ago on Beatport.

"The Case" follows the maestro's recent trend (as much as you can find a pattern among so few releases) of going way back into dance music history, even before Relief and Cajual's existence, to the danceable synth-pop of the 1980s. You could also hear this tendency on "It's Time 2 Jack," the bonus track on the Walk EP and Caj's tendency in sets to pump out dusties like Chip E.'s "It's House". Even "La La La La La (nside my mind)" sounded more at home when bracketed by some classic Chicago jack trax instead of the R&B influenced House that was then burning up the charts.

My quick take: Not feeling the Original Mix so much, and the bonus track "Earthquaker" is way too hard for my delicate sensibilities. The Instrumental Mix is pretty strong though - the synth-pop New Wave sound is mashed together with Prince (Revolution era Prince) brand of funk. Here's a quick clip (you can avail yourself of the other mixes for yourself here):

It also looks like Cajmere is updating his podcast archive for the first time in about 18 months - here's a link to his set New Year's Eve at Chicago's Smart Bar (also on iTunes).

Photo: Green Velvet at Zentra by Czarina Mirani, 5 Magazine.

We just wrapped production on the April 2009 issue of 5 Magazine, featuring a Blue Note Records-inspired treatment of Detroit Producer Terrence Parker. Most people think of the harder stuff when it comes to Detroit, but there's actually a vibrant House Music scene there, with folks like Aaron Carl (of Wallshaker Music), the vocalist Veronique, and Terrence. Though this is a pretty weak cliché, the only way I can describe Terrence's production-style is "silky smooth".

By coincidence, his new track "Candy Man" hit the download shops today (Juno Download here, AudioJelly here, probably a few more to come as this is seriously brand new).

There are a couple of mixes, and both are worth checking out. Here's a short clip from the TP Sweet Vocal Mix:

In addition, Terrence will be coming through Chicago on May 1st at Zentra (923 W. Weed St) as part of a 5 Magazine and House Arrest sponsored event.

Up until about a week ago, I had no clue who AphroDisiax were. One of my favorite people in this industry, Marcia Clark (the mix she did for 5 Mag's New Mix Monday is here) sent me a promo of their latest cut, the Unfinished Business EP on Jus House Records.

I was impressed - this was tribal without getting tacky, instrumental without losing its groove. A few days later, the head of Jus House got in touch.

And now I can't get away from them. In addition to Unfinished Business, they have a couple of remixes in the latest package of edits of The Emptyheads single "Crazydayz" (here on traxsource). Phil Asher's broken beat mixes lead off a nice package, but - though my fanboy love of Phil Asher sometimes approaches freakish stalker levels - I have to say that the AphroDisiax mixes steal the show. They're well-tempered, patient, and lets just a good song play out the way a solid DJ will let a great track play out almost to the end. The contrast of the airy but deep "Crazydayz" edits with the heavy sound of Unfinished Business couldn't be more pronounced. In fact, the only other producer I know that's working steadily these days with that kind of versatility is none other than Phil Asher.

I still don't know much about these guys and still less about the label that put out "Crazydayz" but brand names hardly matter. These guys are definitely comers in the industry and judging by the hypemen, Phil, Louie Vega and some others that are playing their tracks agree. Here's a short preview of "Crazydayz" by The Emptyheads, AphroDisiax Vocal Edit:

After a few months in deep freeze, New York/New Jersey legend Tony Humphries' label Tony Records is hitting the charts again. As part of the annual WMC rush, Tony has released "Free to Be Free" by the Blak Beat Niks in a package of five mixes, including two by Humphries' acclaimed "Italian Connection", Tony Loreto and Jacko.

This marks a bit of a comeback for Chicago producer Big Ed as well. Now one half of the Blak Beat Niks (the other being Sean McCabe from Cardiff, Wales), Big Ed (aka H.E. Matthews) is one of those guys that keep coming up in other conversations. Mike Dunn, Ron Carroll and other Chicago House friends and family mention him often in connection with events in the 1990s (his best known track is probably 1996's "Do Me a Favor" featuring Dana on Cajual). He doesn't disappoint with this track. Spoken word takes the forefront over a layered background chorus with hot and swinging disco grooves. The Minimal Dub is another highlight, with a wicked, bouncy bassline and deeper than deep vocals.

You can hear samples, buy and support at Tony Records' newly remodelled website here

When Keith Richards first visited Chicago's legendary Chess Records in the early 1960s, he was greeted by a shocking sight. The Blues, which was the rage among British youth, was all but forgotten in the United States, and Muddy Waters was making ends meet by doing odd jobs around the Chess studios. "There was the King of the Blues, and he was painting the ceiling."

Europe has gone through an infatuation with Chicago House as well as Chicago Blues, but you never know where the seeds thrown about will land or what kind of creation will sprout. Case in point: South Africa. House Music is undergoing a renaissance in a place all but forgotten by American artists and audiences. It doesn't sound exactly like something that fell off the Cajual or Strictly Rhythm delivery truck - just like no one would confuse a Rolling Stones record with Muddy Waters - but this is natural as South African producers and DJs have added their own cultural influences and vibes. And some of this is, in the words of Dr. Bob Jones, so soulful it hurts...

Today's cutting edge American producers, however, are starting to notice. Here's a short clip of Dennis Ferrer's remix of Zonke's track "Ekhaya" on Kalawa Jazmee Records:

The music press in Europe and the United States has been slow to acknowledge South Africa's new generation of House artists, though a few (such as Black Coffee) are starting to break through. The local press however is full of interesting stories (ironically enough, many emerging South African producers and DJs began working in House Music after starting out in Hip-Hop and R&B, which is a reversal of how it's evolved in the United States). A story posted today in The South African, an expatriate paper for South Africans living abroad, features a short profile of DJ Qness:

Check out DJ Qness' hot new track "Uzongilinda" featuring vocalist Malehloka at his myspace page here.

Kerri Chandler's "Track 1" has long been considered a masterpiece of old school instrumental tracks. Originally released on 1993's Atmosphere EP (Shelter Records), Kerri's dusted off this modern classic with a new release on Max Trax records, "Track 1 Revisited".

The five mixes in this package stretch the music to the very limits of versatility - often within the same mix. Take, for instance, the Jazz Mix, which starts off with a jacking percussion roll before spinning awry with a smooth Jazz solo by Nadir Simon.

What struck me most when listening to this package though was how the approach to DJ sets has narrowed in the 16 years since "Track 1" was released. There was a time when obscure, underground disco records popped into the same set as hard tracks by Derrick May or acid tracks by Armando Gallop or proto-deep house by Fingers, Inc. or commercial Top 40 by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Things are far more pigeonholed today - a DJ is likely to be criticized for getting out of the pocket or lacking an ear for mixing genres together. Kerri's mixes here transcend genres - I suspect that any of these mixes could pop up in a Deep House, Techno or even Electro set without the crowd skipping a beat.

We'll have the review in the April 2008 issue of 5 Mag - in the meantime, check out Kerri's page at simplycoolmusic.com and keep an eye on the new arrivals to the download sites, as this one will be dropping in days. And here's a cut of the original "Track 1" from 1993. Let me assure you - though I love this track - "Track 1 Revisited" is even better:

It's been a little more than a year since Mike Dunn [myspace] made his way back after a brief foray producing exclusively hip-hop tracks. The Chicago born-and-raised Dunn has been making up for lost time ever since with an amazing array of tracks without the slightest trace of rust.

The Congregation EP Vol. 3 is his third release on Defected. Like Volumes 1 and 2, it's centered around one truly great track - in this case, "Get Cho House On (Children)". Few producers have their own sound in the same way Mike does, and "Get Cho House On" fits pretty squarely with "God Made Me Phunky", "Freaky Muthafucka" and last year's "This Here is House Music" in the treasury of classic MD tunes. The other tracks ("Deep Down" and "Let The Groove (Drive Yo Phunky Soul)" are good enough to stand on their own as singles, too.

Check out the preview for yourself at defected.com.

Photo: Mike Dunn with Jive Records' Wayne Williams, Chicago 2008.