Frankie Knuckles - The God-father of house music
IMAGE | by Wendell Teodoro
For decades, faces new to electronic music have blossomed in the clubbing mecca of Ibiza. However, no amount of fresh blood can take credit away from the scene's long-standing legends. The top tier of talent remain relevant through consistency and persistence.
For my playlist, I knew that I wanted to take it old school in honouring the icons of house, techno, trance and more. Thus, The God Tier playlist was born.
Picture the grandest of dinner parties, where sat around the table are various pioneers of the industry, sharing drinks and reminiscing. This is how I imagine the god tier playlist.
Not quite catching on? Not to worry, I'll set the scene…you'll have to use your imagination for this part.
A dinner party for deities
Kerri Chandler sits at the top of the table as head of house, taking the same position on the playlist with Mommy What's a Record, a personal favourite track of mine.
Kerri reclines and sips a drink, knowing that his name alone on the Pure Pacha line-up for Saturday 15 September and ABODE closing party on Thursday 26 September, will bring in a crowd.
Glaswegian powerhouse SLAM are enjoying a break from heading up their renowned label Soma, hosting warehouse parties and overseeing their festival. It's a wonder they have time to DJ at all.
Sasha is hyping his back-to-back set with John Digweed at the RESISTANCE closing party on Tuesday 17 September, whilst Sven Väth and Carl Cox are debating who can play the longest set.
Underworld suggest karaoke between courses, knowing fine well they hold the advantage of having the only vocalist in the room. Plus, I'm not certain anybody else knows the lyrics to Born Slippy.
Jeff Mills and Robert Hood are having a joyous reunion, reflecting on the glory days of Underground Resistance. Solo recordings from each made it into the god tier playlist - as well as seminal UR track Afrogermanic for good measure.
Suddenly, trance anthem For an Angel come on full volume. Of course this was the doing of Paul Van Dyk, with Eden's weekly trance-fest SHINE hosting the final party on Thursday 19 September.
Down the other end of the table, Ricardo Villalobos and Basic Channel are comparing their approaches to minimal by going head to head with own tracks: Sunday Prayer versus Phylyps Trak. A proper 50/50 dual.
Stories from back in the day are doing the rounds between former college co-eds - and Detroit techno innovators - Derrick May and Juan Atkins. For old times sake, we hear a track from each. May's career-defining tune Strings of Life and Atkins' funky techno banger The Mission.
Whilst the squabbling continues over best tracks on the playlist, Love Trax from DJ Pierre now goes head to head with Adam Beyer's Redemption. One man - and one man only - can put and end to it all.
Closing this legendary dinner party and casting a spell of silence amongst these riotous DJs, is Frankie Knuckles. Frankie takes it all the way back to 1987 with Your Love. What a tune and a prime piece of electronic history.
Check out the full god tier playlist below, with plenty more classic tunes from pivotal names of the scene are on offer.
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