Killahurtz – West On 27th

Long live Twilo. The king of NYC forever. W27th Street

Everyone always raves about the Tribe Called Killahurtz mix, which was the version bashed to death by any halfway progressive-leaning DJ in Anno Domini 2000. With its lashings of tribal drums and big breakdown it's the more obviously anthemic of the two mixes. But I actually prefer the original and hugely underrated Subway Mix, which eschews the big breakdown moment and instead straps you into a relentlessly building percussive freight train that hurtles non-stop through your mind. Constructed of individually simple elements that play an intricate game of call-and-response amongst themselves, it develops from a simple start into a dense rainforest canopy of pounding rhythm. Essential stuff.

Hearing this for the first time in 2023 and I'm blown away.... I've recently started digging through the progressive canon as a lot of contemporary dance music fails to grip me. There's a wealth of incredibly strong material on labels like this, Bedrock, Yoshitoshi etc that would effortlessly fit into a contemporary big-room DJ set, as long as the selector behind the wheels was feeling confident and adventurous.

Two great mixes here, but "Tribe" mix has more tribal depth and 'Spirit Juice" in it. It was always sad to me back in the early and mid 90's to go to a Deep House or progressive house event and hear a track that had an equivalent level of depth as this track. Sad, because a track like this would immediately begin to elevate and open up the energy of the dance floor [dancers would start hooting and hollering] and inevitably, the next track would be some tired old funk house track that would destroy that emerging vibe like throwing a wet blanket over a small fire. The crowd didn't seem to mind because most never knew anything of substance had tried to emerge and so there was no awareness that anything had just been squashed before it even got started. Sadly, even to this day, it happens all the time at dance events. So when I hear a track like this, especially the second mix, I wonder if there is a DJ who can amplify the vibe [Spirit] of this track by playing the correct track after this.....and after that....... ect....... Well, thats how good this track is. Better not to play it if you can't follow up on it. Just an opinion.

Hooj Choons What an incredible label, they produced some of the foremost progressive house / trance in the early nineties. Many of the clubs around the world were playing their music, it was a global label musically. Many of the productions were remixed by the djs / producers themselves one of my faves is Killahurtz - West on 27th, it epitomises progressive house music and what it was like to live in that golden era of electronic dance music.

Have no doubt, this is THE Progressive House tune. Side B sums up everything good about progressive house in 12 minutes. Not going to say this is the "above all" tune, but its relevance is unquestionable.

For newcomers: once upon a time, there was a (now legendary) nightclub called Twilo in Manhattan. I have never set foot there, but it was an important spot in the house-trance-techno scene. Twilo's location was... yes, you guessed right, 27th West Street, hence the name of this very release.

If there ever was a tune that epitomized Progressive House, this is it. Absolutely essential, and can still be played out in any club today.

Here we have nothing less than a bass line out of this universe and all the possible rhythm and groove tossed together and spiced with mad breakdowns and some killer fx. Well, what else can a progressive house head say - this must be the best track in its genre ever made and is still causing serious mayhem when played in clubs. This belongs to your collection, get it!

The B sde on this track is killer. Seb Fontaine thrashed it to death in 2000, still the best African sounding cornet, type blowey thing I've ever heard, you'll lose it in a field as well, just turn it up and close your eyes.