Michael J. Blood

Introducing Michael J. Blood

Genre: TECHNO / HOUSE

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Boomkat Product Review:

For our money, an everlasting classic - one that finally made it to wax at more or less exactly the moment clubs were shuttered earlier this year. A great tease - for sure - but also somehow the most uplifting record we heard in 2020, cut in the mould of classic Chicago gear but with a distinctly aggy vibe, aided by Tom Boogizm’s fluid, no-f*cks-given mixing style, all swing and smudge - an opiated cross between Urban Tribe, The Other People Place, Prince’s Purple Music, Dilla, Actress/Thriller edits and John T. Gast’s essential Invocations II session. Pure late night sleaze from end to end, absolutely essential if any of these references push yr buttons.

So Tom Boogizm’s prized introduction to mysterious G, Michael J Blood - whoever he may be - was originally broadcast on NTS, subsequently issued on a tape that sold out in an hour, and now newly edited, mastered and cut on a whitelabel 2LP edition with track markers for DJ navigation and primed for smoky lockdown jacking.

It’s as much a showcase for Michael J. Blood’s rudely soulful production and his circle as the deadly DJ tekkers of Tom Boogizm and Finn’s edit chops. Since the original 2017 broadcast the mix has been coveted for its bounty of unreleased cuts - a mixture of rude ghettotech and smoky soul-sampling jams - and the way it was stitched together, on-the-fly by Boogizm - whose recent Shotta Tapes editions have sold out in minutes.

Now prepped by Demdike Stare’s Miles Whittaker and cut to vinyl at D&M, the project enters a rare sub-sub-genre of mixtapes on vinyl, packing 20 mins per side, with track marks highlighting Blood’s most in demand numbers, and all juggled in a classic Chicago and Detroit-via-Manchester style ideal for slomping or lockdown house-functions.

Trimmed to 80 mins, this new edition toggles the vibe back ’n forth between red-eyed studio abstraction, slompy Dilla-esque beats, synth-funk vamps and mutant ghetto-tech/Jit/juke with a charming, Jazz loucheness, keeping the gauge ticking up with a ruder pressure recalling Finn’s own productions, and crucially includes some proper nifty, hands-on the 2000s chops by the Boogizm that sound like RP Boo, Slackk or DJ Rashad’s footwork flips of classic funk or even Actress’ classic Thriller edits, crisply framed and hewn for DJ use.

Back in April this one sold out within a few hours, but here it is again in a new edition - a missing link between so many things we love. Next year - if the gods allow it - maybe we’ll get to dance to this one outside these 4 walls.

MP3 Release (4)