Last month, hundreds of Chicagoans celebrated Frankie Knuckles Day–the culmination of Chicago SummerDance’s DJ Series in Grant Park–by dancing to a set from the man whose residencies at Chicago clubs the Warehouse (1977 through 1982) and the Power Plant (1982-86) earned him the title “the Godfather of House.”
In a city that has heretofore neglected to recognize its role in the birth of house music, honoring Knuckles was both refreshing and long overdue.
During the last 25 years, Chicago has been one of the few American cities in which club life has remained vibrant. And with the success of SummerDance, a healthy club landscape and the increasing frequency with which deejays or electronic artists are popping up in bars and indie clubs, the Chicago dance music scene is now moving to a stronger rhythm than it has in years.
Much of the reason Chicago has enjoyed a lively club scene is house music. Born of the detritus of disco, the roots of house were crafted by Knuckles and other adventurous deejays who spliced and manipulated existing tracks in unique, thrilling ways, later crystallized by amateur producers who invented their own stark, mechanical sound. Many of those classic recordings were issued by Chicago’s legendary Trax Records, which recently acknowledged the 20th anniversary of commercial house music with a series of compilations, most notably the three-disc “Trax Records: 20th Anniversary Collection.”
House is characterized by a steady, pounding four-to-the-floor beat that can serve as a foundation for everything from soulful, gospel-tinged sounds to Latin rhythms to sultry French disco. Increasingly popular is the mostly German-based tech-house (or microhouse), which breaks house down to its most skeletal elements. Tim Borden, the creative director of the club Vision, calls it “strongest of electronic dance music’s fragmented genres.”
House is still the dominant sound at large, multilevel clubs such as Vision, Crobar and Sound-Bar, which host both international touring acts and the city’s hefty roster of local deejays. But it’s a more stable and diverse club scene. Unlike in the 1980s, when the music was promoted by word of mouth, these large clubs are inviting and mainstream. Also, unlike a few decades ago, they feature more than just house, catering to both devotees of electronic dance music and casual clubbers by offering a variety of sounds on different floors and on different nights of the week.
As a result, a large club can host deejays spinning hip-hop, house and trance (a multilayered, melodic and hypnotic offshoot of house) all in the same night, in different rooms. It may seem scattered, but if you find a night or scene you enjoy, the chances are that the same deejay, vibe and crowd will be back in seven days’ time–large clubs attempt to secure patron loyalty by granting popular local deejays a regular weekly residency.
In many ways, post-disco dance culture and hip-hop have long run parallel to one another: outsider cultures started by inner-city African-American youth who adopted similar technologies–from tape splicing to sampling and drum machines to isolating a record’s breakbeat–to create new, more democratic ways to make music. Unlike dance music, hip-hop has been able to make electronic textures more palatable to American audiences because it doesn’t negate the individual.
“Hip-hop has all the sonic excitement of dance music, but also provides listeners ego and personality–why wouldn’t kids prefer it?” says Simon Reynolds, author of “Generation Ecstasy” (Routledge, $19.95) a cultural history of post-disco dance music.
Vision’s Borden identifies what he calls a dichotomy in the dance scene between fans of hip-hop and electronic dance music. “People tend to love one and hate the other,” he says, “[although] there is a desire to work hip-hop elements into every genre because of its popularity.” Clubs such as Vision, Rednofive, and Crobar also work hip-hop into their schedules by hosting frequent hip-hop nights.
Increasingly, not everything in dance is happening in clubs. “People assume [electronic music] is only for clubs or to chill out to, but it doesn’t have to be environment- or site-specific,” says Sam Valenti, owner of Ann Arbor, Mich.-based techno, house and electro labels Ghostly International and Spectral Sound “We need characters in electronic music because it’s just as personal as any other music.”
In an attempt to connect with an audience, the more dance floor-friendly members of Valenti’s Ghostly and Spectral rosters often have been booked into Chicago’s matchbook-size Empty Bottle. There, instead of dancing, audiences engage with touring electronic artists much the same way they would with a rock group–seeing them on stage replicating their studio work. The long-serving indie club also has frequently entertained the roster of Chicago electronic label Hefty Records and has served as a tour stop for today’s most inventive drum and bass artists, from ragga-jungle revivalist Soundmurderer to DJ Clever, whose “Troubled Waters” mix recalls jungle’s halcyon days. Local hip-hop labels Galapagos4 and Chocolate Industries have taken a page from Valenti’s playbook by booking shows into indie rock-friendly clubs such as the Bottom Lounge and the Abbey Pub.
Electronic music’s move into rock venues–and to many local taverns and bars, where deejays spin records to inert patrons–comes at a time when, according to Valenti, “the indie rock fan’s ban on disco has been lifted. Genres are colliding–it’s a fun time for music.”
Among those fusing genres are Chicago’s Felix da Housecat; Belgian mashup artists 2 Many deejays; LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy (who also produced the recent crossover release by dancepunk band The Rapture); Germany’s Ellen Allien; Parisian Ivan Smagghe; and London deejays Erol Alkan, Richard X, and Trevor Jackson (Playgroup), all of whom freely mix electro, house, pop and rock and dip into the past for inspiration.
This dilettantish, mix-and-match approach is fitting in an era in which flitting between the bulk of one’s record collection is as easy as the spin of an iPod’s click wheel. The unpretentious Smart Bar–whose underground vibe doesn’t offer the glitz and glamor that some patrons associate with clubbing–has become Chicago’s unofficial home for many of these genrehoppers and other cutting-edge international deejays.
Some worry that this revivalism and hybridization is creatively bankrupt. “The reusing of the past in dance is no different than what rock has been doing since Nirvana–there’s nothing new,” says Reynolds. “In some ways, this is a period of digestion. In the 1990s, dance music progressed quickly. It’s almost like the frontier has been laid out and now we’re cultivating the terrain. It feels like this is a bit of a comedown.”
That may be a problem for those immersed in dance culture, but could-be listeners who once felt excluded by the impenetrability and constant morphing of electronic music may now be more comfortable approaching these formerly alien sounds. And now, whether in a mainstream club, a hipster tavern or an indie rock dive, they can enjoy these sounds in more unique but comfortable settings.
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A musical sample
The electronic dance music scene is alive and well in Chicago. Here’s where to sample some sounds:
Crobar, 1543 N. Kingsbury St., 312-266-1900: Recently transformed from gritty and grimy into open and more inviting, this legendary Chicago club is a favorite of Felix da Housecat and still hosts Teri Bristol’s popular Saturday night sets. Recommended: Paolo Pincente’s Gleeclub Sundays.
Empty Bottle, 1035 N. Western Ave., 773-276-3600: Despite a small room, the Empty Bottle books everything from underground hip-hop to electro to ragga-jungle. Recommended: German tech-house pioneer Thomas Brinkmann headlines Friday’s installment in the Adventures in Modern Music series.
Danny’s Tavern, 1951 W. Dickens Ave., 773-489-6457: This dark, trendy Bucktown bar spins an eclectic mix of sounds, from hip-hop to house to soul.
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Recommended: Karl and Ken Meier (Subsystence) of WNUR-FM 89.3 spin techno Monday.
Darkroom, 2210 W. Chicago Ave., 773-276-1411: The club spins Jamaican dubplates, hosts the monthly Life During Wartime dance party, and sponsors nights dedicated to rock, hip-hop, deep house and everything in between. Recommended: Jesse de la Pena in an eclectic musical tribute to the year 1987 Saturday.
House of Blues, 329 N. Dearborn St., 312-923-2000: HOB frequently hosts dance-hall and electronic dance music artists, and it has become perhaps Chicago’s most venerable hip-hop club, even hosting Kanye West. Recommended: Hip-hop crowd pleasers the Roots Nov. 12.
Lava Lounge, 859 N. Damen Ave., 773-772-3355: Surprisingly, on Thursdays this casual bar hosts the city’s longest-running hip-hop night. On other nights, the music can range from reggae, ska and dance-hall to clubbier, beat-heavy sounds. Recommended: Deejay Shon Dervis spins underground hip-hop Thursdays.
Metro, 3730 N. Clark St., 773-549-0203: The legendary rock club has recently played host to the drum and bass’ old-timers circuit–hosting nights featuring mid-’90s stars such as Goldie, Grooverider, DJ SS, and Shy FX–as well as emerging dance artists such as Royksopp and local hip-hop acts. Recommended: Japanese hip-hop artist DJ Krush Oct. 8.
Rednofive, 440 N. Halsted St., 312-733-6699: This unpretentious, sparse club entertains a lively, youthful crowd with a spirited mix of house and trance. Recommended: DJ Flipside and Lil’ Mikey spin new and old house and hip-hop Fridays.
Smart Bar, 3730 N. Clark St., 773-549-4140: Boasting a club- and indie-friendly crowd, the relaxed Smart Bar features a solid group of resident deejays as well as a wide variety of international deejays. Recommended: Kompakt Records co-founders Michael Mayer and Reinhard Voigt Oct. 30.
Sonotheque, 1444 W. Chicago Ave., 312-226-7600: A minimal look and an up-to-the-minute sound system highlight the city’s self-described “premier lounge of sound.” Recommended: The spiritual deep house of Osunlade Oct. 1.
Sound-Bar, 226 W. Ontario St., 312-787-4480: Stylish and modern, the 20,000-square-foot Sound-Bar attracts international deejays such as progressive house giant Seb Fontaine. Recommended: Trance superstar Mauro Picotto Friday.
Vision, 640 N. Dearborn St., 312-266-2114: On Saturday nights, Spundae Chicago brings top international deejays to this inviting club. With no velvet-rope policy or VIP room, this huge, eight-level club has something for everyone. Recommended: Chicago legends Derrick Carter and Dubtribe Sound System Oct. 8.
Zentra, 923 W. Weed St., 312-787-0400: Chicago’s “transglobal nightclub” has Middle Eastern decor, four rooms on two levels, and a roster of deejays that includes local favorites Derrick Carter (Mondays) and Psycho Bitch (Saturdays). Recommended: Chicago house veteran Paul Johnson Friday.
— Scott Plagenhoef
