Brett Dancer’s Trackmode label put out a lot of  high-quality deep house tunes in the mid-to-late ’90s and into the 2000s. He sent me a few of them. This is one that I really loved, and still do. His imprint united producers from Chicago, New Jersey, Detroit and New York. Trackmode was an expression of pan-housetechnoism, a state in which creations from the regional birth places of American dance music co-existed and cross-polinated. Larry Heard, Jovonn, Norm Talley, Anthony Shakir, Glenn Underground and Rick Wade recorded material for Brett Dancer. Trackmode’s catalog is now sought after by collectors and deservedly so.

Brett Dancer
Black Java Joint EP
Trackmode/US/12
This is the first release from Trackmode in a long time and is no disappointment. This one is produced by label boss Brett Dancer and really sticks to the deep, deep house side of things. All four tracks are strong, but the first and last tracks on this fine platter really do it for the deep heads. Worth tracking down. Chris Orr