UK-based house label set up by Derrick Carter and Luke Solomon in 1995. The first 100 releases were numbered backwards from CMC100, as the label was originally conceived as a short-run project that would only release 100 records over a 10-year period. However, popular demand meant any plans to close the label once they'd counted down to CMC001 were soon shelved. Since 2010, the label and its catalogue have been owned by Defected, who continue to release new music under the Classic umbrella to this day. The label is known for its quirky, leftfield but always dancefloor-focused take on house music, with significant artists (apart from the two label owners) including Iz & Diz, Greens Keepers, Rob Mello and Style Of Eye. AKA Classic Music Company.
Review: Honey Dijon's first outing of 2021, 'Downtown', sounds like a summer 2021 anthem in the making. A retro-futurist house workout featuring vocals from Annette Bowen and Nikki O (whose lyrics celebrate the joys of dancing to underground music), the edited and extended versions of the track are powered forwards by a heavy and hooky synth bassline and warm electric piano stabs. Honey Dijon's versions come backed with an equally inspired suite of remixes from Masters at Work man Louie Vega. There's a sersiously sunny, glassy-eyed nu-disco-meets-happy house revision (the 'Frisco Disco Dance') and a Mood II Swing style 'Raw Dub Mix' - both of which are available in edited and extended forms. A near perfect package: don't sleep!
Review: Luke Solomon's Classic Music Company welcomes a real legend to their ranks with Detroit Robert Hood under his Floorplan guise, which has more recently also included his daughter Lyric. The line-up may have expanded, but the sound remains the same - uplifting gospel house with a very real sense of spirit. 'Right There' has dusty hi hat ringlets and warm organ stabs over an endlessly shuffling beat that will get clubs in raptures. 'Holy Ghost' then gets a little more bouncy with piano-laced breakdowns, a body-moving bassline and and clipped vocal yelps bringing the energy.
Review: Panorama vibes in the house! Honey Dijon touches down again on Classic with a stripped back ballroom session of hollow club drums, diva vocal sketches, detuned spoken word and sample cutting techniques that burst with housed-up chords, playful tones and back breaking grooves! A R&B inspired club hit to begin that's backed up by some extra club muscle in KDA 'Legacy' remix while Kink (& Kei) turn in a starry synth shooting extended remix of "La Femme Fantastique" that pumps and turns with classic Chicago and Detroit ideologies. Big number for the clubs.
