 Photo copyright Geoffrey George 2003 (click for full sized version) |
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It was a bit of a stumble, between the new shoes and rum buzz, towards Mell's Saturday night for the Vino Records shindig. Very little could have kept me from helping celebrate the launch of Monte Hilleman's new label. A veteran DJ and producer, Hilleman has been spreading soulful house love for over ten years. He was instrumental in bringing the Chicago house sound to Minneapolis in the early 90's, feeding, caring and watering it, thus arriving today with the introduction of his own label.
Saturday night at Mell's gave us a proper debut. Snaking my way back to the massive wall of speakers in the sauna-esque back area, I felt the bass rearranging my bone structure. Thomas Spiegel (a.k.a. DJ ManX), another local house pioneer who recently returned after a decade of playing NYC clubs, was delivering a tight set of house to start us all off right, to slide us into the night's groove. I shimmied up to the vibrating wall with a pint of beer, watching the crowd multiply on the dance floor, drawn irrevocably to Spiegel's seamless house beats.
Celebrity Records co-owners Bryan Gerrard and David Drone took to the decks after Spiegel, immediately dosing us with local flavor with the Nymphonix (a.k.a. Chuck Love) track "Arms Around You". Collectively known as the DeeGees, they are lynchpins of the local house scene and significant contributors to its success. The two gig regularly (see beatopia, Brian Crisp 4/18/03) together in a tag-team style that serves up deep, soul-lifting sets, and Saturday was yet another example of their house expertise.
Mell's "Beauty" Bar? The name puzzled me prior to Saturday, as I'd never been there before, but near midnight I began to formulate why that name existed: the crowd had significantly multiplied, upping the sauna atmosphere to a point where all were receiving a late night spa treatment of steamed pores, big buzzes, vibrating bass massages and a heaping set of beautiful house music. And at that midnight hour, Hilleman took his place on the decks. We were treated to the unique live stylings of Vino artists De'Monica and Chuck Love. Vino vocalist De'Monica, scouted by Hilleman in a local jazz spot, delivered a buttery, soul-laden performance of the upcoming Vino single Raindrops". Soon to be released on Vino, and recently licensed to a CD compilation by Italian DJ's/producers Harley & Muscle, "Raindrops" exemplifies the seasoned local house cut with rather spare percussion, organ hooks, and foxy backbeat, topped with divine vocals.
De'Monica's performance turned up the heat a notch and prepped the giddy crowd for the live stylings of Chuck Love, a renaissance man of the local house scene. Love's dizzying array of credits range from multi-instrumentalist to singer to songwriter to DJ. Love took to the stage, instruments in hand, performing "Take Me" and "Close Enough", to be released summer 2003. Both songs found permanent residence on my MP3 player upon first listen. The sensuous grooves are the kind that creep into your cell structure, connecting you to the heart of deep house: the 120 bpm's layered with drums, guitar, organ, keyboard, and samples infused with incredible vocals. Love's live performance lulled us deeper into the groove, his talents showcased splendidly. At the point where the sting of a martini's vodka no longer mattered, we were all drenched in sweat and infectious bliss. Hilleman piloted the crowd past the one a.m. bar cut-off, finishing the night in soulful resplendence.
Friends, supporters and architects of the Vino label and its affiliates laid down serious groove Saturday night. We were introduced to the new depths of the Minneapolis house scene. We caught wind of the new style, and it is damn sweet, people. In the compendium of culture _Mondo 2000_, Lady Miss Kier Kirby of Deeee-Lite described a reigning theory behind the appeal of house music: the 120 beats per minute are synchronous with the heart rate of a fetus. That's what will keep me tuned in to the Vino grooves all summer long, at the beach, or at the club in search of another fabulous night of house music a la May 3, 2003, at Mell's.
Location Info:
Mell's Beauty Bar
Artist Info: Vino Records
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