- It's remarkable that this music is almost a quarter of a century old. Recorded back in 1987 by Larry Heard, the fact that these tracks still bristle with a sense of utopian futurism is testament to their genius. Just imagine what they sounded like the year that they were originally released. "Slam Dance" sets the tone for the EP, its distended, robotic rhythms slipping and sliding up against crashing snares and panning riffs. Just one track in and the listener's already sucked into the vortex. "Stars" is just as out there, but in a different way: a reminder of Chicago house's love affair with Italo Disco, its trippy, looped hook and spacey filters sound like some kind of slowed down connecting point between Moroder and Red Planet's "Stardancer." As halfway houses go, it's situated at the outer limits of the disco-house-techno continuum.
Both "Waterfall" and "For So Long" are more representative of the deeper house sound that Heard became synonymous with, in particular the electronic jazz of "Long," its understated keys playing out over crisp drums and shaking drums. "Waterfall" meanwhile is a meaner, moodier proposition, with doubled up claps and the menacing bass coming across like a house version of Resse. Thankfully the label has had the good sense to steal a march on the bootleggers and release this high-quality reissue. Even the most casual listener would find it hard to deny that this four-tracker still resonates deeply.
トラックリスト A1 Slam Dance
A2 Stars
B1 Waterfall
B2 For So Long