DJax Up Beats

Eindhoven in an unassuming town in the south of the Netherlands, notable as the home of Philips Electronics and DAF Trucks.  But amazingly this town was pivitol in the development of modern techno music and the relaunch of serious hard house in Chicago.  And all of this was down to a small time record label formed in the 1989 – DJax Up Beats.

I first came across DJax-Up when I bought their second release “In-Motion” by Terrace. The early DJax records were from homegrown Dutch talent who had picked up on the hard house sound of Chicago and early Detroit.  Rather than just slavishly copying the early styles, they experimented and developed an intelligent brand of techno.   There was also a reinterpretation of acid house, with the 303 basslines speeded up and syncopated by a harder edged 909 rhythmic style.  I used the new acid stuff in DJ sets, but much of the more experimental sounds were for bedroom listening and unofficial mixtapes only.

Eindhoven Dreams of the Seventh City

Highlights of the early releases include Terrace, Board of Wisdom and REC (all pseudonyms of the wonderful Stefan Robbers), Trance Induction, Major Malfunction, Cliche Trax, and Clementine.  There were other little labels springing in Holland in the early 1990’s along the same lines – notably See Saw and Eevo Lute Muzique.

Click below to get my personal highlights of these early  releases…

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The Acid Junkies of Eindhoven

On the acid revival side there were terrific tunes from Genetic Bass, Edge of Motion, Glue Sniffin Gerald, Acid Junkies, Zero Zone, and the wierd and wonderful Like a Tim.  Not to mention an absolutely legendary EP from Random XS “Give Your Body” .  In fact there was hardly a duff release from DJax in those early years.

In 1992 Djax started a cooperation with Chicago producer Armando and his Warehouse label.  This saw the re-release of some of the most sought after Chicago house classics such as Steve Poindexter’s “Work That Mutha-Fucker”, Armando’s “Circus Bells”, Mike Dunn’s “Magic Feet” and Ron Trent’s “Altered States”.  These releases featured re-mixes by DJax’s top producers.

So let’s raise a toast to DJax Up Beats by finishing off with a playlist of the mental acid stuff (some of which truly is mental, mental mental!!!)…..