[Djax-Up-Beats]

Within the scope of Chicago’s early/mid ’90s house renaissance Glenn Crocker, aka Glenn Underground, played a strong role in helping to define what was an emerging new sound for city. Along with fellow artists Boo Williams, DJ Sneak, Tim Harper and several others they formed a dichotomous current that for several years was defined by the direction of the Cajual and Relief labels: disco-styled house for the former and banging raw tracks for the latter. European labels quickly picked up on this and plucked nearly all of the aspiring new faces on the scene for at least one 12″ and at most two albums. Crocker was one such artist that technically got his start on Eindhoven-based label, Djax-Up-Beats, with the Future Shock 12″ in 1993.

Djax had already licensed classic Chicago tracks from Mike Dunn, Armando and Ron Trent, so it was a short jump to getting fresh talent on board. The direction of the label was clearly more techno-oriented and consequently the four tracks on Future Shock have a much harder edge than what Crocker’s sound has evolved to today. “Real Space” is driven by twitching bass loops and syncopated 909 drum programming but never fully develops. At first glance “Madzone” appears to suffer from a similar fate but closer examination reveals more. The outlandish nature of its jarring video game effects and bursts of feedback is somewhat off-putting, but the underlying muted bell melody gives a meditative feel amongst all the chaos. Crocker sends a nod to Rhythim Is Rhythim on “May Day” using dramatic string builds but never attaining the same type of melodic strength. It is really on the title track where Crocker shines brightest on this release. “Future Shock” employs dueling bass lines, finger snaps and cowbell to set the rhythm straight before introducing all manner of melodic flourishes: moody strings, incandescent bird chirps, ringing synth lines and finally a digital trumpet melody that emerges. At the time “Future Shock” only hinted at the soulful house direction Crocker would eventually move in but it stands as a startling reminder of an artist who is often overlooked these days.