SLOW TO SPEAK 'CORE 1994'

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Every metropolis had their mythical center of musical worship; we all know the institutions whose influence are repeatedly asserted, the genealogical epicenters of underground club culture that birthed, in one or another, the thing we know as "house music" today. To name them again here would be, to say the least, a redundancy. And while these birthplaces fully deserve their kingly titles and stature, dozens of smaller nuclei helped nurture the dispersion of the new electronic sound of the 1980's and 1990's with equal---albeit smaller-scaled---fervor. This is one story, from one town, one of surely thousands that still endure in burning hearts, minds and memories.

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Gravitating to the irrefutable pulse of urban sprawl's ever-expanding soundtrack, Paul Nickerson and Francis Englehardt were teenagers when they began their love affair with clubs and club music, and in Boston there was no temple more revered than "The Loft". What it lacked in namesake's originality it made up for in raw atmosphere and unmatched programming prowess, having been founded by the now legendary Armand Van Helden and Boston veteran mastermixer DJ Bruno. One of the innumerable elements that made "The Loft" in Boston so special was its embrace of an entire range of new electronic influences, from the jazz-keyed, sample-driven tendency once commonly referred to in guarded whispers throughout the netherworld simply as "underground"---the true NY/NJ sound---to the far more dystopian prophecies of Detroit and Chicago's new paths down the rabbit's hole. While the former held sway with the predominately young, straight crowd of underage fanatics and seasoned club children that dominated the 1st level of the club, the upstairs became host to the murkier, starker, harsher and debauched progressions of the midwest's finest alchemists. Take these two generalized movements and add the warm, disorienting winds of drugged-out Northeastern rave culture, and you have a whole cluster-fuck of brilliant, then totally revolutionary dance music. Without direct allegiance to any of these scenes, and with its own burgeoning though tiny circle of young, highly talented producers, Boston became them all.

This radio mastermix from the very early years of slow to speak's story captures a struggle to fully process, digest and reinterpret the sensation of first being exposed to a totally new aesthetic and culture---that sublime shock, soon overtaken by the unstoppable urge to create and participate. It's quick, it's fast, it's full of attitude, testosterone and hard-earned mastery of practice that only the green newcomer can muster. From the urban anthems of Uncanny Alliance, Lidell Townsell and Simply Red to the incomprehensibly obscure local favorites hammered by Armand, Bruno and so many more unsung heros who, every week, propagated house music with the aggressive, relentless enthusiasm of having stumbled upon the greatest and possibly last cultural revolution of the 20th century---underground club music when it was still worshipped by and ingrained into the psyches of city youth from adolescence onwards. This latest mix-tape-turned-CD from slow to speak's CORE staple is impatient, tangible, breathing house music and mixing,the latter probably birthed from having to compete with the quick mix turntablism of hip-hop programmers, as well as a simple case of teenage attention span. There are 37 tracks crammed into this nearly hour and a half mix; but the flow is surprisingly coherent. "CORE-1994" reminds us that the naivety of youth might just be the greatest tool of creative output. A perfect window into the heart and soul of two kids caught in the orbit of their scene, the mix owes its origins to those forgotten or metamorphosized club heros of yore that established institutions, like "The Loft" and so many others, in the early days when "making it" in NY, LA, London or Berlin took second place to the duty and desire of your city's underground cell.

Tracklisting

1. Kelly Charles - Falling In Love With You (Club Mix)

2. Code 6 - Quad II

3. P.D.J. It's Over Now (Farley's House Mix)

4. K-Alexi Shelby - Club M.C.M.

5. Tyree - Hard Core - Hip House

6. Jovonn - Love Destination

7. M.E. - Ride

8. Ricky Dillard - Let The Music Use You

9. Tyree - Acid Crash (House Mix)

10. Deep Creed - The Anthem (Citgo Mix)

11. Underground Mass - Give Me The Love (Orgasmic)