Techno > Funk (The DJMix Series)

Album Review

Less than a year after releasing his Green Velvet retrospective album, legendary Chicago producer Curtis Jones returns under his Cajmere alter ego with this DJ-mix album. Techno Funk's heavy emphasis on techno will instantly surprise longtime fans of his Cajmere records and his affiliated Cajual label from the early to mid-'90s, which are both synonymous with the rebirth of Chicago house. So when Cajmere drops hard techno classics, such as Joey Beltram's "JB Forklift," alongside other banging tracks, such as James Rushkin's "Detached," rather than Cajual-style artists (Glenn Underground, Mark Grant, or Gene Farris), something seems a bit odd — this isn't the same Cajmere of "Brighter Days" fame. Of course, it is still him, but times have changed; the inclusion of "Answering Machine," one his most-recognized tracks released as Green Velvet, over any of his Cajmere tracks offers insight to the artist's agenda. Even though he's releasing this album under this moniker, it sounds more like something that should be associated with Green Velvet — this may disappoint fans that favor his house more than his harsher sounds. Still, even if this album is seemingly out of character, it stands out as one of the best techno-orientated mix albums released at a point in time when trance DJ mixes dominate the record stores.