Wyndell Long – Chicago EP

Wyndell Long is one of Chicago's preeminent Chicago producers/DJs, having worked with Mike Dearborn and released superb techno and house on labels like Peacefrog, Djax, Pro-Jex, Elektrax, IF? and Primate. His latest EP, called (suitably enough) the 'Chicago' EP, is his next vital step forward.

The gloriously demanding, swirling, exhilarating title track Chicago, is forward-thinking techno that has its share of retro influences, carrying a vague underlying flavor of John Carpenter decanted with Giorgio Moroder.

Orlando Voorn's fantastic remix makes the track still more demanding techno, a killer number on any dance floor at peak time that shapes up as a sizzling fusion of up-for-it Chicago and Detroit styles.

Steve Stoll/Proper Boy and Elektrax favorite V1NZ goes for a more "proper" techno swing; it's a deeper, more percussive and stormy mix that goes down beautifully.

A Polite Kind Of Jack is laid-back, suave, beat-heavy techno with an old-skool vibe to proceedings - no less relevant today and in some moments a lesson on how to make techno the genuine way.

Rounding off the EP is Wyndell's remix of the classic Little Nobody track, Compulsion. This, you will learn, is jacking Techno with a capital 'T': a searing, soaring powerhouse of a mix that would devastate and lay waste to any club at any time.

Brilliant. Be ready to love 'Chicago' - the EP, not the musical.