12"

genre: HOUSE - CHICAGO HOUSE - ACID HOUSE

label: Dark Entries Cat.No: DE-331

Chicago legend K. Alexi returns to Dark Entries with Warehouse Trax, an EP of unreleased acid and house tracks. K’Alexi Shelby’s illustrious career boasts releases on legendary labels like Trax, DJ International, and Transmat, as well as collaborations with high-profile artists like Marshall Jefferson and Pet Shop Boys. But his musical journey began at the tender age of 12, when he befriended Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles by attending the Music Box and the Warehouse. By high school, he began writing songs and honing his poetic craft. “I realized I had the gift to express what I was thinking. I studied Prince and Marvin Gaye, trying to figure out what they were saying, and put my own spin on it. The power of words. I would write love letters for all my friends in high school and made a lot of money doing it. I knew what to say and what they should do.”

Dark Entries previously reissued Shelby’s debut album, Essence of a Dream, recorded as Risque III in 1987. Warehouse Trax follows up with six tracks recorded in Chicago between 1991 and 1994. The material here bears all the hallmarks of classic K’Alexi. Salsa-inflected rhythms, soulful basslines, and hip-house atmospherics can be found on tracks like the driving “Jungle Line” or the melancholic “Protect and Survive.” There are some unexpected surprises as well. “Aaaah” comes charging out of the gate with banging rhythms and apocalyptic rave vocal pads that evoke the harder edge material of Saber Records or Djax Up Beats, and the surprisingly contemporary “Klub Dred” offers up a mid-tempo dub with syncopated vocal samples. Warehouse Trax is available in a retro-styled sleeve designed by Eloise Shir-Juen Leigh. This is essential material for fans of classic house sounds. [Distributor's blurb]