- Trax Records president Rachael Cain, AKA Screamin' Rachael, has been involved with Chicago's house scene since day one. She's worked with the likes of Marshall Jefferson and Jesse Saunders (among many others), and has a lengthy discography of her own. Though Trax's role in the birth of house music is undisputed, precise details of the label's beginnings are about as clear as mud—the accounts of key players vary, growing foggier as time goes on.
Cain has been part of the label since its early days. After leaving Chicago for New York, she returned to Trax to take the role of president when it had fallen on hard times. These days Trax is a curious operation; some of the producers who helped make the label great have distanced themselves from it, and there have been a few strange signings (Little Boots anyone?). Queen Of House is a compilation of Cain's musical output from the past two decades. It pulls together her house material, incorporating elements of acid, freestyle and hip-house, as well as some live recordings and punk songs.
At 32 tracks, it feels slightly bloated for an artist who was never as essential as many of her peers. Only a few of the house cuts stand out. The production is generally solid, sometimes even excellent, but the vocals don't carry the same emotional weight as, say, Robert Owens' or Jamie Principle's. There are some highlights: "Let's Play House" encapsulates Cain's spiky, in-your-face attitude, the drum loop on "Fun With Bad Boys" is pure funk, and the Dub Mix of "In Crowd" bangs hard with a vintage Chicago bassline. But tracks like "Please Don't Make Me Lonely," which sounds like a crack at chart success, and "I Am Into You" sound disposable, while the spoken-word interludes tend to grate.
The half-dozen punk songs at the end give some insight into Cain's beginnings, though they probably would have served better as a bonus disc. There's no doubt that Screamin' Rachael has made an important contribution to the development of electronic music in Chicago, but if you call your retrospective Queen Of House, expectations will be high. Dozens of records from the Trax canon feel as vital today as they did 20 years ago. That isn't the case here.
Tracklist01. Love Is In the Air
02. I Need A Party (Hula's Mix)
03. Boom Boom
04. Let's Play House
05. Get Up For Love
06. Fun With Bad Boys
07. In Crowd (Dub Mix)
08. Dance All Night (Afrika Bambaataa Mix)
09. Extacy
10. Boop Bop
11. Murder In Clubland
12. Princess in Penthouse A (Interlude)
13. The Real Thing (Sex Mix)
14. Joy
15. Rock Me
16. La Vie
17. Fantasy
18. Build U A House
19. I Am Into You
20. Hello Kitty
21. My Main Man (Lady Fingers and Sir Stephen Redeaux)
22. Please Don't Make Me Lonely
23. Sister Sister (Dub)
24. Sweet (Extended Mix)
25. My Life As An Adventurés (Interlude)
26. Bad Influence
27. Problem Boy
28. Insult To Injury
29. All Or Nothing
30. Oh Yeah (Live At The Space Place)
31. Runaway / Don't Stop (Live At The Space Place)
32. U Used to Hold Me (Todd Terry InHouse Radio Mix)