Only 4 U: The Sound Of Cajmere & Cajual Records 1992 - 2012 [Strut Records Promo]

Celebrating their 100th release with this one - congrats, btw! - the Strut Records staff once again prove their status as keepers of the past which preserve important parts of not only electronic music history from oblivion. As the name of this 22-tracks strong compilation suggests they're taking care of Curtis A. Jones' legacy, a man better known as Cajmere and, at least to Techno followers, as Green Velvet who has been on the forefront of Chicago-based House music for nearly 15 years before taking a longer time out from 2007 onwards. And still, most of todays older punters will remember getting off their head to the sparse and dry trademark Cajmere sound with its sharp, precise percussion work for more than one time only and especially CD1 is a showcase of how trademark this special vision of House really was, albeit some might bemoan a lack of variation here as some of the tunes are admittedly quite similar, circling around one blueprint and only differ obviously when it comes to Dajae's vocals which provided most of the lyrical work on Cajual. And this is an objection that truly can be granted in the long run as listening to an accumulation of unmixed Cajmere tracks totally differs from hearing one or two or three of his tunes hammered through a massive club P.A. in a jam-packed venue but this issue is linked to any retrospective anyway, especially when it comes to an artist-lead and -focused label. When it comes to CD2 there's a wider musical range to be found including G.U.'s thrilling Munich Disco vs. DeepHouse anthem "Beyond", Adam's complex rhythm layering "Moments In Time", Deep Sensation's ultra sexy GarageHouse workout "Get Together" vibing on a deep tip and other tunes that surely will be loved and appreciated by a bigger audience than the first CD weighing in which is for die-hard fans only. If you're a sucker for deepness and sex driven House music get this compilation for CD2, if you've missed out on many of Cajmere's tool'ish pieces CD1 will be your choice at all. You decide.