Album Review: Hardcore Traxx: Dance Mania Records 1986-1995 by Various Artists

Trax and DJ International got more exposure, but in the early House music landscape, Dance Mania was an equally influential label, a fact that the 24 cuts and two discs that comprise Hardcore Traxx attest to. The first half offers early landmark sides like Duane & Co.'s idiosyncratic "J.B. Traxx" (which marries James Brown vocal samples to a raw, jacking pump), the House Master Boyz and the Rude Boy of House's "House Nation" and Hercules' (a.k.a.

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Club music is easy to mock. Most people know someone skeptical or dismissive of it, a class clown-type who'll derisively mimic a cut by huffing "uhnt-chk-uhnt-chk-uhnt-chk" while goofily nodding his head. Heed this warning: Paul Johnson's "Feel My M.F. Bass" will be a boon to this person. Shrill ….

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An inherent problem with dance retrospectives is that unless you already happen to have a vested nostalgic or archival interest in the era, it can be hard to find reasons to dip in. While it's not unusual for new ears to get turned on to latter-day rock and pop via oldies radio, compilations and the like, the forward thrust of electronic music leaves a scorched trail that proves tricky to travel back down. Dance fans are not expected to know their history.

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