- New York meets Chicago on this exceptional portrait of jacking, lo-fi acid house.
- Sweater On Polo isn't quiet about his influences. He dedicates his dusty, retro production to his friends and early Chicago house. And in a New York electronic music scene mostly centred in Brooklyn, the formerly Harlem-based producer has also earned his keep in the history-rich upper Manhattan neighbourhood. In 2022, his party Signal Route hosted a daytime event called Harlem New Age at the famous Jackie Robinson Park, inspired by the largely forgotten Harlem Cultural Festival that promoted Black pride in Mount Morris Park in 1969—the same year as the better-archived Woodstock Festival. Go Wild Harlem Trax not only pays homage to Harlem, but also looks west and back some 50 years toward the pioneers of Chicago acid house. In doing this, he makes use of the same technology that gave '80s house its freewheeling pulse. In line with the classic grit of the L.I.E.S. label it was released on, the tunnelling squelch of 303s and the jacking rhythms of 707s run amok, summoning the intuitive thump of knob-twisting acid legends like DJ Pierre and Sleezy D.
The music on Go Wild Harlem Trax is busy with purpose, even when there's an unassuming start. "Fresh Squeeze" sounds simple enough at the start: a basic acid synth line grounded with blustering kicks. But suddenly, the melody freezes and becomes one note extended in silence. The floodgates open, unveiling a dense world of high- and low-pitched psychedelia that spark and collide. "Computer Controlled Insanity" is a conversation between an endlessly gurgling synth and less loquacious, chirping bleeps. The hardware Sweater On Polo uses—Roland staples like the 707, 303, 727 and Juno—lends the record its lo-fi groove. On "Courts Of Jack" a melody ping-pongs, driven forward by skittering rimshots and a triplet of claps. At its peak, toms plop down and tambourines accentuate the rhythm on the three and four. "Hot December" might be the grooviest, made up of cowbell clinks and a bassline that sounds like it's head-bobbing down a dark street. And "Garvey's Ghost," a track that bears little resemblance to bebop pioneer Max Roach's haunting sprawl of the same name, is certainly the record's slinkiest—it comprises a rubbery synth line that launches into the horizon, becoming a mere twinkle in the sky before descending to earth again. A pitched-down vocal moves around like it's in a dream state, warbly and indecipherable. The song is strange and decidedly eerie, but like the remainder of the EP, it's chock-full of genre landmarks that will satisfy old heads as much as the new.
Tracklist01. Slap Box
02. Computer Controlled Insanity
03. Courts of Jack
04. Hot December
05. Fresh Squeeze
06. Garvey's Ghost