Frames of Reference takes a snapshot of a particular time, genre, movement, aesthetic or theme – offering up 18 boxes to a curator in which to capture the essence and spirit of a significant moment of innovation in the history of modern music.

These boxes can be filled with audio, video, text and imagery and represent either personal and intimate memories or key figures and events. Much of the content is drawn together from the bowels of the internet, plucked out of the ether and given a new context in which to be understood. What you end up from each curation is not a full and comprehensive history but a sense of the moment; providing you with an aesthetic flavour and a gateway to discovering more.

Permalink "There is almost no point in attempting to impose a calm, coherent chronology on the house music scene of mid-eighties Chicago, which gathered steady momentum during 1984 before the floodgates opened in 1985. The naivety and desperation of many of the record makers combined with the off-the-hoof machinations of the local label entrepreneurs created a recipe for vinyl chaos. What’s more, there was no established practice, ethical or otherwise, for music makers and publishers to fall back on in order to reference the dos and don’ts of the music business… There was little order, but a great deal of excitement.” -"
Tim Lawrence (from the liner notes for Acid: Can You Jack reissue on Soul Jazz)
Permalink

From Pump Up The Volume: The History of House Music. Watch the full documtary here.

Permalink Frankie’s power comes from being good at what he does. In Chicago he deejays for 8-9 hours without a break, and it’s not unusual for up to 7000 people to pass through his clubs during a good session. He mixes a seamless blanket of sound with a skill that leaves most other DJs standing, overlaying up to three tracks at once, bringing in train and drum noises and fiddling with the PA’s tone controls to create adrenalin rushes that make the dancers scream. When Frankie’s hot, his music is far greater than the sum of its parts, and many a disappointed record buyer has thought “this doesn’t sound like the record Frankie played last night!” (Simon Witter, ‘Frankie Knuckles,’ Unique, 1987) A collection of Frankie Knuckles’ DJ Mixes from the 80s (tracklists and mp3s) is available here.

Frankie’s power comes from being good at what he does. In Chicago he deejays for 8-9 hours without a break, and it’s not unusual for up to 7000 people to pass through his clubs during a good session. He mixes a seamless blanket of sound with a skill that leaves most other DJs standing, overlaying up to three tracks at once, bringing in train and drum noises and fiddling with the PA’s tone controls to create adrenalin rushes that make the dancers scream. When Frankie’s hot, his music is far greater than the sum of its parts, and many a disappointed record buyer has thought “this doesn’t sound like the record Frankie played last night!” (Simon Witter, ‘Frankie Knuckles,’ Unique, 1987)

A collection of Frankie Knuckles’ DJ Mixes from the 80s (tracklists and mp3s) is available here.

Permalink

Jamie Principle’s “‘Your Love’ was the Year Zero in the evolution of House music.” (from Pump Up The Volume: The History of House Music)

Permalink Music Box DJ Ron Hardy. “It was mind-altering” remembers Derrick May, who travelled from Detroit as a teenager to visit the Music Box. “Frankie was more refined and more focused on taking you to a certain destination with the music. But, Ronnie, he was a spontaneous ball of fire that could explode and go in any direction. Frankie used to spin the occasional house track but he mostly played disco - Ron played everything. I’ll never forget, I’d just made ‘Nude Photo’ and he played it three times in a row. The vibe was just beautiful.” (Tim Barr, Ron Hardy, DJ Magazine)

Music Box DJ Ron Hardy. “It was mind-altering” remembers Derrick May, who travelled from Detroit as a teenager to visit the Music Box. “Frankie was more refined and more focused on taking you to a certain destination with the music. But, Ronnie, he was a spontaneous ball of fire that could explode and go in any direction. Frankie used to spin the occasional house track but he mostly played disco - Ron played everything. I’ll never forget, I’d just made ‘Nude Photo’ and he played it three times in a row. The vibe was just beautiful.” (Tim Barr, Ron Hardy, DJ Magazine)

Permalink Music Box attracted a very different crowd from the smartly turned out party-goers at Power Plant [Frankie Knuckles’ new home after The Warehouse]. DJ Chez Damier describes it as “more the ghetto version of the party.” Marshall Jefferson was led there by a girl he worked with who wore studded leather and pink hair. Intrigued, he told her “I want to see the wild clubs you go to. She took me to this place called the Music Box. I was touched by God! The volume, man, just BOOM!!! It penetrated through my chest and took hold of my heart.” (Frank Broughton, My Kind of Town: The History of Chicago House, i-D 1995) 

Music Box attracted a very different crowd from the smartly turned out party-goers at Power Plant [Frankie Knuckles’ new home after The Warehouse]. DJ Chez Damier describes it as “more the ghetto version of the party.” Marshall Jefferson was led there by a girl he worked with who wore studded leather and pink hair. Intrigued, he told her “I want to see the wild clubs you go to. She took me to this place called the Music Box. I was touched by God! The volume, man, just BOOM!!! It penetrated through my chest and took hold of my heart.” (Frank Broughton, My Kind of Town: The History of Chicago House, i-D 1995) 

Permalink

A Video Tour of Chicago House landmarks.

Permalink Mr. Fingers [Larry Heard] - ‘Can You Feel It’ (1986). Listen here.

Mr. Fingers [Larry Heard] - ‘Can You Feel It’ (1986). Listen here.

Permalink Larry Sherman, founder of House label Trax. “Sherman’s role in the genesis of house music is much disputed. Some regard him as a visionary entrepreneur who fostered the scene and provided work for the musicians in the day-to-day operations of Trax. Others accuse Sherman of pursuing short-term profit and neglecting the long-term career prospects of the artists, thereby contributing to the premature demise of the Chicago scene in the late eighties. (Simon Reynolds, Energy Flash) Photo from a Soul Underground interview, available here.

Larry Sherman, founder of House label Trax. “Sherman’s role in the genesis of house music is much disputed. Some regard him as a visionary entrepreneur who fostered the scene and provided work for the musicians in the day-to-day operations of Trax. Others accuse Sherman of pursuing short-term profit and neglecting the long-term career prospects of the artists, thereby contributing to the premature demise of the Chicago scene in the late eighties. (Simon Reynolds, Energy Flash)

Photo from a Soul Underground interview, available here.

Permalink

Phuture ‘Acid Tracks’ (1987)