Virgo Four - Virgo: the best Chicago house album?

elegant and pumping, very sexy sound

I love this album. Ridiculously consistent and sounds fresher than ever. I'm surprised that "Do You Know Who You Are" hasn't turned up on any balearic mix (that I've seen) considering how good vibes that guitar part is.

The other Virgo on Trax is pretty kick ass, too.

I'd really like to hear this. I have "mechanically replayed" and "go wild rhythm tracks" which are kind of more conceptually interesting than actually enjoyable, but I always felt that with that line-up, how could they not do great stuff...

u young

Virgo on the future predicto tip on that other record:

B1 My Space (4:20)

Been meaning to get this for a long time but can't find it anywhere. "In a Vision" is a fucking killer.

go wild rhythm trax is a different group named virgo, and i don't really enjoy that stuff either.

u young

indeed. i try to savor it.

do you know who you are?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNCJHJ19DfQ

virgo=Marshall Jefferson's original pseudonym.
virgo4=Eric Lewis and Merwyn Sanders
see also:

http://www.discogs.com/release/4894
http://www.discogs.com/release/33571
(this is the best thing they did imho...)

wow, "let your body talk" is great! i can't wait to play that for a crowd. it sounds so different from the virgo lp, though. it's sleek, not grandiose. i actually think the lp tracks (barring "all the time") would be a little challenging to work into a live set because it's so slow, but if pitched up a bit or mixed with a percussive track (maybe a go wild rhythm track!) it would work.

The Fingers Inc album is tough to beat, imo. Haven't heard this Virgo one though.

well of course, another side is the other best chicago house album. table might remember how psyched i was to find it for like $17 at bent crayon records in cleveland while visiting for a weekend. never thought i'd find an affordable copy. it's such a different sound to this virgo record though. for one thing, it's mostly vocal. to my ears, a lot of it sounds pretty close to pop. i can play "decision" or "never no more lonely" to non-house heads and they dig it. maybe this is just a function of house music infiltrating pop in the intervening decades. not that it doesn't have it's bangers - "bring down the walls," "feeling sleazy" and of course "can you feel it!"

but yeah, i was thinking of fingers when i made this thread. i would also include amnesia by mr. fingers but i think it's basically a singles comp, although maybe the best one ever.

let your body talk:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSdbmuSOtG4

interview with merwyn sanders: http://www.gridface.com/features/merwyn_sanders.html

"I remember when we first started, we were still young, we thought, well let’s number our tapes and get really organized and know what songs are on what tapes. I think after tape 200 we stopped even writing it down. I don’t know how many tapes there are now. If you figure 60-minute tapes, there’s gotta be at least one decent song on an hour tape, plus how many tapes, there’s gotta be some good songs in there. So that’s what we’ve been doing lately, tryin’ to go back through all that stuff and try to make it somewhere release-able, like getting it on iTunes or something. Somewhere, a site for it, even to just download it and check it out."

Please do this!

amazing. the first m.e. record on tracks is an all time favourite.

do the versions on the virgo 4 album differ at all from the eps?

rush hour have just reissued the virgo four album. are the mixes the same as on the eps? would be nice to have the first ep on a better pressing

^ i saw this! will be purchasing v soon, don't know if they're different mixes tho

wish i could track down more m.e. stuff, too

there's only two m.e. records afaik, the ride ep which is included on the virgo four album, and winter days & summer nights, which can be found for like 1.00 at your local bargain basement and is a pretty uninspired vocal garage tune

i spent 18.00 on an og trax pressing of ride and it sounds like shit. wondering if i should sell it and get the album

i think "do you know who you are" recently got repressed as well

but yeah, they have a frustratingly slight back catalogue

hopefully ace and the sandman will get repressed next!

i spent 18.00 on an og trax pressing of ride and it sounds like shit.

Trax is pretty notorious for having some of the worst pressing standards of all time. That's oddly become part of the appeal for me, although I avoid paying premium for them. I don't think many og house guys were too concerned with fidelity (cf. the last time I saw R0bert 4rmani he redlined the entire show and poured Crown Royal onto the decks repeatedly.)

Glad to hear about the reissue. My copy of this has been played to death.

Just listening to this Rush Hour reissue now. This In A Vision track is phenomenal. How big were they at the time? I've never heard of them before.

yeah, hearing this for the first time

for example: Ride is deeper and woozier than I was expecting up until that point

Trax is pretty notorious for having some of the worst pressing standards of all time

adds to the appeal for me, too. especially considering the mob supposedly had a lot to do with these cheap represses, i always thought it would be interesting to hear more about the connection between record pressing and organized crime in chicago

little white earbuds interview with m.e.

http://www.littlewhiteearbuds.com/little-white-earbuds-interviews-virgo/

ace & the sandman!!!

http://www.discogs.com/Ace-The-Sandman-Jamie-Principle-House-Of-Trax-Vol-3/release/2174914

only one track though. would love to hear the rest of the ep

i wonder if the unreleased mix of "bad boy" is the same as the one that was floating around on youtube a while back?

only one track though. would love to hear the rest of the ep

i wonder if the unreleased mix of "bad boy" is the same as the one that was floating around on youtube a while back?

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― hotel califor.nia (r1o natsume), Thursday, May 6, 2010 2:22 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark

I hope so, that versions great

http://www.xlr8r.com/features/2010/05/house-arrest-juan-maclean-quizze

"Twenty-plus years after the original release of their seminal self-titled album, Chicago house pioneers Virgo are seeing their masterwork reissued and receiving a whole new round of praise in the process. The Juan MacLean (a.k.a. New Yorker John MacLean) got on the phone with Virgo's Merwyn Sanders to discuss the group's history and learn a little more about the golden era of Chicago house music."

They've been putting up more recent stuff on Soundcloud. Merwyn said they're about 5 years old. The style is definitely different, but I'd say it's also evolved. I especially like Together. Just 15 seconds in... what a groove!

http://soundcloud.com/virgo-four/together
http://soundcloud.com/virgo-four/waa-aah

A bit late to this party, but a friend just tipped me off to Resurrection by Virgo Four, and holy hell, it's incredible. It just oozes brilliance and raw energy... In its way it actually reminds me of Fourth Drawer Down by the Associates: two young guys feeling out their style in a slightly lo-fi, improvisatory setting, and just churning out more amazing and catchy musical ideas than they have any right to. WOW.

Played this a lot in the car lately. When it's finished I keep rewinding/-playing the last track. It's amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hYfeDrDpDs

Don't forget to go after the reissued s/t, Clarke. Also by RushHour.

I found the reissued s/t just yesterday! It's... just... amazing. What's my next step after this stuff? I feel like how I felt when I first discovered Drexciya.

Listening to the youtube clips, it seems some of the most interesting stuff on Resurrection is on the vinyl only box set release. just bought the mp3 version which is absolutely great of course. but i want those other 15 songs!
in particular i was sad this wasnt on it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxHNDB0BPy0

I know.. first world problems...