18 April, 2010

Can You Feel It

from the 12” single, Trax Records, 1986



The prefix “deep-” has been applied to virtually every style of electronic music, with all the subcultures found within that umbrella of beats seeking to trawl the depths of each respective groove, a pursuit for endurance over the immediacy of an archetypal peak-hour anthem; this classic cut by Larry ‘Mr. Fingers’ Heard is a sublime example of early deep house, released while the mothership of house music itself was still in its infancy. Back then, the idea of having no lyrics in a dance track was tremendously risqué, and typically a portent of commercial doom, but this slick number rose to become one of the most essential building blocks of house’s early family home. It’s hard for some to believe that the Midwest is truly the birthplace of electronica, but anyone who’s lived there knows the deal, and I’m ceaselessly grateful for my schooling.