Continuing in their role as house music’s leading archeologists, Rush Hour throw up another looking glass to the past with early works from the teenage Gene Hunt as protege to Ron Hardy’s mentor. Taken from original reel to reel tapes of sessions the pair had between 1988 and 1990, the three tracks here are available for sale for the first time, nearly 20 years after they were made. True to the style of the day the tracks are the product of iconic pieces of musical equipment synonymous with the city at that stage of its burgeoning house music scene.
“Throwback ’87” is the best and most raw, even dirty exemplar of this; primitive drum patterns stamp their way out of the little boxes they were conceived in, with little more than a equally crude sounding bass line to flesh things out. In the track you can hear all the imperfections of the machines themselves and the duo as they sequence and record on the fly. “16 and Indiana” shows the most finish of the tracks on the EP, sounding decidedly more polished than the bricks and mortar approach of “Throwback ’87,” yet still has a resolute, tracky nature to it. Boasting several different synth parts to it along with a few vocal samples too, it shows the huge talent of the young Gene Hunt who would go on to be a legendary name in Chicago house, getting schooled by one of the biggest legends of all. “US Studio” sits somewhere between the two in terms of shine, but again shows that despite the huge disparity in the equipment used then and today and what is capable with each, the only true measure of a track is whether its got the funk or not, and that’s just what these three uncut gems all have.
Love this EP!!