House Music magazine - Deep House, Soulful House, Techno, Disco, and all flavors of underground dance music.
5mag.net/issues/elevate-5-mag-issue-225/
Articles by Terry Matthew
SLOPWAVE: AI is Eating the World. It’s Finally Come for Us.
The singularity is defined by futurists as the moment when computer intelligence surpasses human intelligence. For 5 Mag, the singularity was the moment that the work necessary to filter out computer-generated slop began to take more energy than the actual work itself. This isn’t a rant as much as a forensic reconstruction of a slow-motion car crash. In the last six months, basically every system 5 Mag built here in 20 years to interface with the public and the music community has broken down.
Scissor & Thread reissues the gorgeous “You Can Always Leave” & “Companion” with DJ Sprinkles
Scissor & Thread drops two highly coveted vinyl-only reissues on one 12 inch, highlighting two DJ Sprinkles-related tracks from the mid-2010s. DJ Sprinkles’ remix of “You Can Always Leave” appeared on the B-side of the 2013 Francis Harris release and, at least as I remember it, caused the most tranquil earthquake you can imagine.
Dancefloor adventures on Ackermann’s “I Know What To Do”
If you know how an Ackermann track starts you can never feel 100% sure how it’ll finish. “Off-kilter” is the word that would come to mind if it hadn’t already been used to describe a hundred other things that don’t fall into the ever-expanding circle of dull and predictable dance music tracks that are on the verge of smothering us all. Ackermann’s tracks seem to reach out of the groove and grab you and drag you along no matter how bumpy the ride gets.
Michelle debuts on Kalahari Oyster Cult with the otherworldly grooves of “Unfailing Love”
I love this label enough to stab a mf for it. Kalahari Oyster Cult delivers quality leftfield and occult electronic jams at twice the pace of anyone else and they make discovery so effortless. Michelle (just Michelle) is a producer from Uruguay, “rooted in that Montevideo warehouse sound.” And you’re in Chicago — what does that mean to you? It means 33 rpms in heavy rotation and I was riveted for all of them.
Mira Ló orchestrates a danceable nervous breakdown on “The Way We Glowed”
Mira Ló is one of the most interesting producers working today. Her records stretch underground house music to the limits of its naturally-derived fault lines, charged with an incredible array of emotions and sensations without losing sight of its essential nature as a music of MOVEMENT.
New Tracks: Melchior Sultana, Gratts & more shine on Flexi Cuts’ “Musica Solida vol 3”
Musica Solida vol 3 is an EP on vinyl to celebrate its owners’ 40 years in the business. Their business is records: the Flexi Dischi record store in Lugo, Italy and the Flexi Cut label, a vital pulse of the deep house underground. Aside from its international flavor, Musica Solida vol 3 flows better than most V/As, progressing on a gradient that starts with achingly beautiful deep house and accelerates into fuzzy hardware acid jams.
Revamped Definitive drops a new mix of the Inner City classic “Pennies From Heaven”
It was big and loud and garish. But amid the phat pants and candy bracelets, the washed out Manic Panic and e-induced lockjaw of the ’90s rave scene, labels like Definitive offered lifeline and a strong hint that something undiscovered was going on in the background. In clubs you had to know someone to hear about and loft parties you could maybe find out about from a creased flyer xeroxed on cardstock, they had already crafted the wheel we thought we were making from scratch.
New Music: The Hardkiss “Revolution” Revisited
No matter what track, from what album or in what year, I usually have the same two reactions to a new Hardkiss release: “The hell is this?” Which is followed by: “I like it.” For “Revolution,” I’ve already gone through that process. I covered it before, as “Revolution” was the lead single from the Hardkiss “reunion” album 1991. It featured a remix from Scott Hardkiss and was among the tracks released after Scott’s death in 2013.
New Music: Black Girl / White Girl drop the raw “Funk System”
Three rough and raw jack tracks that leap out of the speakers and bat your temporal lobe around a bit. Funk System is the latest EP from Black Girl / White Girl, the Amsterdam duo that smother a broadly techno-centered sound with gritty but club-ready grooves. It’s hard, it’s vital, it’s dope as fuck — the type of music that has a foot in the tradition and another stepping forward. “Shadowboxer” leads with glitchy little groove matched with a big vocal hit that is hard to escape.
The Internet Is Over: How bots destroyed a new platform in just 60 days.
If you came of age in the Web 2.0 era, you probably remember hearing about if not posting to a website called Digg. Digg was a cultural phenomenon in the early Obama years. It was frequently mentioned alongside Facebook and MySpace as a transformative technology that empowered users and fostered deep communication. It was Reddit before Reddit. In fact, many of its contributors migrated to Reddit after a disastrous redesign of Digg in 2010.
Musique Mystique: Finetune drops the stellar Impulse LP on Sengiley Wax
I’ve picked up a number of Sengiley records over the years. A bunch of their releases are the kind of things a DJ would bag and classify as “secret weapons” — records that not everybody else has or has even heard of. There’s an emphasis on sound over spectacle, a deep back catalog made up of quality tracks by names I’ve never seen before, or only seen on Sengiley. Most of those records I’ve heard have been deep house or something vaguely deep house-adjacent.
Down, Sun: Electronic awakenings from Earthly Measures
Brilliant (in the sense of bright), sensual and deeply nourishing diesel for the soul from Earthly Measures. Released on their self-titled label, Down, Sun is a four track EP of complex but very accessible music with a global flair and tribal spirit. Down, Sun is music for midnight forests, cold blue deserts and seekers of visions going to and fro on the earth, and walking up and down on it. There are four songs on Down, Sun but it feels like an album.
Al Smith / Sanctify vol 14
Back with a Monday morning vibe from a DJ and producer you should know about named Al Smith. From Ireland, Al Smith traces his roots back to the early 1990s in Waterford, cutting his teeth during the formative years of the Irish underground. After establishing himself in the local club and party scene, a move to Dublin saw him becoming a fixture in the city’s thriving Techno landscape, frequently appearing at the acclaimed D1 Recordings nights.
Ka§par maps his musical DNA in 8 tracks on “Thread Of Becoming”
Ka§par is a master of the lost art of transmitting your soul through the medium of a machine. His fifth album, Thread Of Becoming, is an attempt at autobiography, and when you hear it you are listening to a person explain how he got the way he is by revisiting the music and moments that shaped him. Ka§par calls Thread Of Becoming “a map drawn from the inside out” — a process of discovery written down first and perhaps foremost as a diary for one’s self. It starts where all of it started.
“Halsted & Lake” is a masterclass in Chicago house from Jevon Jackson
Jevon Jackson is one of Chicago house music’s stalwarts, a fixture at lofts, basement parties, clubs, raves and everything in between for decades.
Electronic Fantasia: Mar De Novo broadcast from the Last Disco On Earth
I heard these tracks released one by one but it takes the context of the full, completely EP to get a proper appreciation for it. Last Disco On Earth is Mar De Novo‘s Winding Road debut, taking to the storied Nottingham label where so many unconventionally dope house and house-adjacent records have been minted. This is another one of them. Across five tracks, Mar De Novo draw in the history of disco, Italo, trip hop, downtempo, synthwave and a million other genres both real and imaginary.
Maboroshi: Henna Onna stars in her vinyl debut
Henna Onna has a carefully crafted sound that was made for vinyl, a predilection for the kind of warm, enveloping deep house that doesn’t sound right unless it’s carved into a physical groove. Maboroshi is the Yerevan, Armenia based producer’s first release on wax, appearing on the Russian imprint Deeppa Records. And she makes the most of it, packing six tracks of luscious, captivating deep house on one disc.
Pioneer DJ Warns of Major Security Threat to Rekordbox & Every CDJ
Pioneer DJ products — including every supported installation of Rekordbox, every CDJ model and more — are at risk from a severe security vulnerability that could enable an attacker to gain access to data on a laptop, desktop or USB. The attack takes advantage of a vulnerability affecting the PRO DJ LINK function, the networking software that enables laptops, desktop computers and USBs to connect to Pioneer devices.
Deplatform: A Future For the Digital Record Store
Nothing broke. That was the positive report from the offices at Subvert.fm in June, marking one month into the new platform’s public debut. The first real challenger to Bandcamp, which had been laboriously user-tested since its announcement nearly two years ago, Subvert reported handling more than 80,000 visitors on launch day, and signing up more than 5,000 new members/artists/labels to its co-op model.
Congress Turns Up the Heat on StubHub CEO Over “Scalping” Allegations
The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee is demanding answers after media investigations revealed that StubHub CEO Eric Baker is part owner and managing director of a hedge fund which has made millions of dollars scalping tickets on the platform. Congressman Robert Garcia (CA-42) cited reports from the CBC that showed that in addition to his role as StubHub CEO, Eric Baker is also part owner of an entity called Andro Capital.
Demuir & IAmBrandon Collab on a Future Underground Smash “Get Ovah Dat Bridge”
This irresistible and club-ready single is the next in an unbroken lineage of sass-tracks to bubble up from the Chicago underground, from Armando’s “100% of Disin’ U” to Ralphi Rosario’s “Bardot Fever” and (more recently) Garrett David’s “The Queen Tracks.” “Get Ovah Dat Bridge” is a collaboration between Demuir and featured artist IAmBrandon, who serves as the high priest of face control and final boss behind the velvet rope.
Nathalie Capello Shines on the Wide Awake “Dreams”
Nathalie Capello’s Dreams is filled with shooting stars but “Dizzy” is the track with the maximum impact. Her new EP on Hot Haus released this month brings to mind something of the early ’90s rave and mixtape scene, less for nostalgia than for the catholicity of an era before the great genres began to drift apart like tectonic plates.
Chicago House Music Festival 2026: Full Lineup, Schedule & Must-See Events
We might start calling it “House Music Week” in Chicago as the city’s Chicago House Music Festival and Conference continues to expand. The four day event series has established a foothold in locations throughout the city, with DJ sets, panels, classes and more, with quality programming across four days. The 2026 edition of the Chicago House Music Festival returns August 27 through August 30 2026 and the full line-up and schedule of events just dropped now.
New Music: Water Sign is Sophisticated Deep House from John Silas
John Silas is a new name to me but one we should keep a close eye on if this dazzling five track EP from Love Injection is any guide. On Water Sign he shows an affinity for warm, jazzy deep house elevated by exceedingly high quality musicianship. “Boundaries” leads off hearkening back to the sound of the underground circa the early 2010s, when deep house was rejuvenated and infused with new energies by producers heavily influenced by the likes of Chez Damier, Ron Trent, Moodymann and Amp Fiddler.
Music for the furthest planet: Gilbert shines on the futurist Origins EP
This is one hell of a record: five tracks, three originals, two remixes and it may as well have been carved in gold and nailed to the side of an interplanetary space probe. Origins is a record by Gilbert, its sound a sophisticated and virulent strain of high tech soul, balanced on the axis where deep house and jazzy Detroit techno touch. “Passage of Time” absolutely soars, a melodic acid trip with stainless steel percussion that cut clean through the haze.
Rewind: Souldynamic release 10th anniversary edition of “Equatoriale”
When truth and legend diverge, print the legend. But sometimes — rarely — they match up precisely. The night that Lil’Louis slapped the acapella of Chuck Roberts‘ immortal “My House” over a little known track from an Italian duo is the origin story of “Equatoriale,” which in large part due to that mix would become the most well-known track in Souldynamic’s already deep and growing (and still growing) catalog.
Condé Nast & Pitchfork Co-Founder Square Off Over Doomed Music Festival
Condé Nast is suing a co-founder of the defunct Pitchfork Music Festival, and the lawsuit is essentially tied to the demise of that festival. It’s also surprisingly personal, using barbed language to argue that Michael Reed is trying to run out with half a million dollars of Condé Nast’s money. The publisher of Vanity Fair, the New Yorker, Wired, Vogue and other media brands, Condé Nast gobbled up Pitchfork Music Festival with its namesake website in 2015.
Music for Nightcrawlers: Mike Agent X Clark and “The Dark Side”
Friends of 5 Mag from the north, Collective Rhythm Network mines for some deep Detroit gems on this new cut augmenting an already beautiful catalog. Newly minted from Mike “Agent X” Clark is “The Dark Side,” a single on 45 rpm-cut black wax with a remix from ADMN. If the title wasn’t a clue, “The Dark Side” is DARK, animated by a growling electro nite-lite bassline and studiously constructed rhythms architected by Mr. Clark. This is 3am music for nightcrawlers and navigating dangerous night drives.
Crash Out: The True Story of the Fake Viral Techno DJ and the $50 Million Fraud
Celebrated by the dance music press, Alejandro Zamora claimed that his DJ livestreams relieved his depression and inspired a global community of mental health-conscious followers. Was it all just another scam?
Premiere: New Digital Fidelity – Lake Shore Dr (GE-OLOGY Remix) [Adeen / Scopic Records]
Certain tracks have an aura, you can feel them coming before you hear them. GE-OLOGY’s remix of “Lake Shore Dr” is like that. The smoky, soulful yet futuristic remix by legendary producer, DJ and visual artist GE-OLOGY comes on the back end of 9 Hours Landing, a new EP by New Digital Fidelity, released July 13 2026 on vinyl in collaboration with Adeen and Scopic Records.
West Fest returns July 17-19 2026 with 20+ hours of house music
West Fest, Chicago’s beloved northside street festival, returns starting this Friday and continuing all weekend long with food, drink, family and pet activities and two stages of live music and DJs featuring 20+ hours of house music. Presented by the West Town Chamber of Commerce, West Fest kicks of Friday July 17 2026 from 5pm to 10pm. Bass By The Pound presents the West Stage with DJs all weekend long, including some of the finest selectors in Chicago house music history.
Magnolia: The Ultimate Synth
Frap Tools has carved out a niche as a manufacturer of impressive Eurorack modules like the Brenso and CUNSA. Engineers at the company imagined what it would be like to merge their modular units into one single playable instrument. The instrument they dreamed of is Magnolia, and it’s beautiful. Magnolia is a West Coast analog FM synth which evokes the era of Bob Moog, Dave Smith and other towering founder/engineers who built companies for creating instruments that they themselves wanted to use.
Library of Congress adds Jamie Principle’s “Your Love” to National Recording Registry
One of the signature tracks of the early Chicago house music era has been inducted in to the National Recording Registry. Jamie Principle‘s “Your Love” — the 1986 release and Frankie Knuckles‘ 1987 rework — are among 25 tracks inducted into the National Recording Registry of the US Library of Congress for 2026.
New Music: DJ Plant Texture drops two companion EPs on Mistress
DVS1’s Mistress Recordings has dropped a very odd but absolutely must-have pair of records from Dona and DJ Plant Texture. Mistress 18 and Mistress 18.5 are not two parts of a double 12″, nor are they by two separate artists, at least not as you think. Dona and DJ Plant Texture are aliases of veteran Italian DJ and producer Donato Basile.
New Music: Rasmus Faber rides to house music nirvana on “Too Little, Too Late”
Years before someone thought to dub a certain type of track “melodic house,” there was Rasmus Faber, producer extraordinaire, crafting some of the most head-friendly riffs and exquisitely-designed grooves in the scene.
New Music: Mira Ló announces the gorgeous “The Way We Glowed” for Nowadays
French producer and friend of 5 Mag Mira Ló is preparing a stunning new EP called The Way We Glowed for Nowadays Records. The full EP by one of the best emerging house music artists explores “the emotional memory of a past relationship.” Through these tracks, Mira Ló tries to capture that particular moment when you look back and realize that, despite the ending, something beautiful once existed. The project was born from a simple question: what remains of love once it’s over?
New Music: Quintessentials celebrates 100 releases with a V/A compilation
Deep house label Quintessentials is celebrating their 100th release with a 10 track compilation of dope tracks from some of the label’s leading lights. Quite Essential is the cheeky title for the vinyl and digital compilation featuring the music of label stalwarts Ralph Session, Andy Ash, Borrowed Identity, Shaka, Simoncino, Mat Chaivaroli and more. The vinyl features six tracks with four tracks as a digital bonus that are of equal or greater quality.
Premiere: Eddie Amador & Di Saronno – Our Mission [SoSure Music]
New weapons for your weekend: House music legend Eddie Amador and Di Saronno team up for OUR MISSION, a banging cut of mad horns and peak hour grooves aimed squarely at the dance floor for SoSure Music. Di Saronno and Eddie Amador have been collaborating for several years on various productions and remixes. The seeds for this single grew from a white label that Di Saronno found while digging records at a store in a Johannesburg.
New Music: Back In The Groove with Jérémy Delvila on Jolene Records
Lively house with a French touch. Jolene 11 from Jérémy Delvila and Jolene Records will sound familiar to old ears — it’s sample-heavy, disco loops, vibrant percussion and a disco groove buried like Piltdown Man at the heart of it. But it’s primetime body-moving music.
America’s largest radio network is for sale. Cheap.
Once known as Clear Channel, IHeartMedia is in talks to sell the company’s 860 radio stations to the country’s largest satellite radio provider. Bloomberg is reporting that IHeartMedia — formerly IHeartRadio, and before that known as Clear Channel — is in talks to sell the company to Sirius XM. The deal, described as in the “preliminary” stages with “no guarantee any deal will happen,” would add the largest portfolio of radio stations in the United States to Sirius’ holdings.
New owner guts Eventbrite staff
Ticketing platform Eventbrite has cut “a large portion” of its employees after a new owner known for picking up also-ran internet companies took over the struggling company. Reuters reports that the platform’s new owner — Italian tech conglomerate Bending Spoons S.p.A. — has made significant cuts in staff as part of their effort to “reshape” Eventbrite.
20 tracks of resistance from Chicago Artists Against ICE
More than 20 artists have come together to support those affected by ICE’s rampage in Chicago. Chicago Artists Against Ice is a 20 track “compilation of resistance and solidarity” featuring established and emerging artists from the city’s hip hop, punk, folk, electronic music scenes. Proceeds will go to the Midwest Immigration Bond Fund. The compilation is out now on Bandcamp and with a “limited physical run” at Wolfbait & B Girls.
ELASTE: This Was The Sound Of The Future
All music books have their own soundtrack, an imaginary playlist that we listen to as we read. Elaste goes through the trouble of compiling one for you — a real playlist of primitive electronica, weird synthpop, apocalyptic post-punk ballads and thrashy trash electro.
New Music: Jump house tracks from Jimmy Allen on “The Get Down”
Jumpin’ jazz house tracks from Jimmy Allen on the appropriately titled The Get Down EP on Circus Recordings. On the title track, Allen drops a stomping groove over the splinters of a fibrillating jazz jam — hot brass, lively piano and a hype man buzzing like Drew Bundini Brown pushing your face in it. These are well-travelled paths, but it’s worth pointing out when they’re done right, and especially when it’s a fucking heart attack. “The Get Down” is a fucking heart attack.
New Music: Neo-Noir meets UK Garage on Freudenthaler’s “I Clap on One and Three”
If you set a neo-noir film in Tokyo and wire it up to a UK Garage soundtrack, it might sound like this. I Clap on One and Three is a new EP on Brombért Records from Freudenthaler, whose 2023 Bar Rescue EP on the same label was one of my favorite records of the year. This time Freudenthaler is high on something different. I Clap on One and Three is a conceptual EP, it seems to tell a story though in such a fragmented way that the story is mostly your own.
New Music: Down in the deepness with Jerome & Sonya Zlo on “The Night We Had”
I skimmed this too fast and thought this release from Jerome and Sonya Zlo was actually a record from Jerome Sydenham. But no: The Night We Had is by Jerome, the Austrian DJ who is one half of Foehn & Jerome and Perfumed Freedom Records, and Sonya Zlo, the vocalist that appeared on their previous EP Macho Madness.
Premiere: Lovebirds returns to Winding Road with the gorgeous deep house gem “Bali Birds”
5 MAG PREMIERE: 15 years after the release of the Lovebirds and Stee Downes classic “Want You In My Soul,” LOVEBIRDS returns to Winding Road Records with the velvet deep house of BALI BIRDS, the final track of the three song EP THEY CALL ME, out now.
Om celebrates 30 years with Colette, Richard Earnshaw & Kenny Summit’s “The Sunshine”
Om Records released two records last year, both from King Kooba, but the pace will accelerate in 2026 as the label prepares to celebrate their 30th anniversary. It’s hard to describe what Om and its lotus flower logo meant twenty or thirty years ago — they released some of the best artist albums in house music, their mixes bumped from stereos on main drags from LA to Ibiza.
Supreme Court vindicates ISP in ancient music piracy case
The Supreme Court has decided a crucial but charmingly old-timey question over music piracy, siding against the music industry and actually citing even an even older technology case involving VCRs. Internet service provider Cox Communications was vindicated after Sony and other industry titans claimed the ISP was negligent by failing to suspend users who had been flagged by industry sources for illegally sharing music files.
Pat Lok delivers a stomping remix of Lowly Light & Liset Alea’s “Find A Way”
Pat Lok turns a lovely pop ditty into a UKG heart attack on this forthcoming single from Human Touch Records. Lowly Light clocked and Liset delivered a stunning vocal on the original mix of “Find A Way” released last fall. Liset Alea was one of the vocalists of Nouvelle Vague, who debuted their highly mellow aesthetic on Peacefrog back in the aughts, and you’ve likely heard her in a billion places since then.
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