Throwback Thursday: Kerri Chandler Live Montréal, Canada (2003)

House music is a feeling. More so than any other genre within dance music, house is the one that is less rigidly guided by stylistic conventions and structures and more about a litany of characteristics and values that differ from one person to the next. It’s why DJ Sneak gets so angry about the Swedes, with the issue further compounded by the fact almost every facet of dance music can trace their origin back to it.

Kerri Chandler @ Live on Mic and Keys, Montréal (Québec), Canada - 2003 by Sam3v on Mixcloud

Bar, for self-explanatory reasons, modern disco, all sub-genres near enough come from directly or indirectly house. Drum and bass comes from house, as does trance, techno and garage, and other forms of music like dubstep and the myriad of bass music disciplines derive themselves initially form music built on house. It's pretty much the centre of the dancefloor universe.

Complicated? Yeah, sorry about that. That said for this week’s journey back in time we’ve gone for a recording which really is house music in its rawest and purest form. A mix (stream above) that doffs its caps to the three American metropolises intertwined with the history of the genre and even veers off the house music script to retain that hard to get quality at the core of it all; the feeling.

The man behind it is Kerri Chandler, a DJ and producer who been on top of the house music pyramid for what feels like an eternity. His early nineties records are milestones in the genre and he's remained relevant ever since, whether it be the chiming synths of last decade's 'Bar a Thym' (below) or the frequent appearances at the likes of Circo Loco this decade.

And this mix is something special. There's vintage sing song acid house from Joe Smooth and Ten City, deep and soulful rumblers from DJ Spen and Shaun Escoffery, all underpinned by his raw mixing acumen and liberal use of keys and crowd baiting mic talk. The presence of pre house cuts from Stevie Wonder, Loleatta Holloway, Stevie Wonder and Gil Scott-Heron pays homage to the genre's lineage as well. Put simply, the mix is a classic.

Kerri will be bringing his undeniable command of a DJ booth to London in March, when London Warehouse Events give him the platform to helm his KAOZ persona in event form. He'll be joined by Voyeur, the duo signed to Kerri's imprint Madtech Records, for an evening of deliciously crafted house music. Full listing info here.

Looking into what Festivals to do this summer? We are too. Keep your finger on the festival pulse at our special section right here.

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