Review: With this the 3rd instalment of Hell's my definition of house 12" series, two new massive Gigolo old-school tracks are resurrected for the pleasure of a modern listening public. In 1986, three young DJs began making music on a 4-track recorder in a Baltimore basement studio. Little did they know at the time that more than 15 years later they would be viewed as pioneers of American dance music. 33 1/3 Queen (aka Basement Boys aka Jay Ateinhour, Reddy Souglas, and Thommy Davis) took samples of A Guy Called Gerald's classic "Blow Your House Down" (originally released in 1988) and made their single "Searchin'" which quickly turned out to be an underground club favourite. To date, the boys have remixed songs such esteemed acts as Michael Jackson, Erykah Badu, The Shamen, Angie Stone, Lenny Kravitz and Paula Abdul. In addition, they continue to expose and nurture new talents on their own label, Basement Boys Records, which was established in 1995. The Basement Boys have been responsible for some of clubland's biggest anthems and their hit "Searchin'" is as relevant today as it was ten years ago. Earth People's (aka Pal Joey) house masterpiece reach up to mars originally released in 1990 on Underworld Records finally gets a re-issue on Gigolo Records. The original with its monster drums shuffling guitars synth stabs great use of vocal samples and incredible production skills still withstands the test of time sounding like it could have been made yesterday. This is classic material here that will destroy any dancefloor!! House maestro Pal Joey released this tune, a funky cross-pollination of garage classics from Toney Lee ("Reach Up") and Dexter Wansel ("Life On Mars"), in 1990, and you have to thank Hell for making it available now once again to a 2006 audience. There's a fine line between classic and dated. Hell knows this well and selects only for his 12" series "My Definition Of House" those which were groundbreaking when they first appeared and still sound hot to 21st century ears. So keep your mind and ears open, for you never know what Hell will dig up from the basement next. Stay tuned for "My Definition Of House part 4"!
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