House Hunting #5 – Lost Entity

 
Music
So after deviating in buying a new record last week (the shock!) it’s back to normal proceedings in my pursuit for vintage house platters that matter. This week I took another jaunt to my local haunt Alan’s Records as Thunder maestro Miles gave a tip off that a new collection had been dropped in and there were gems waiting to be unearthed… He dug out 51 Days’ house classic ‘Paper Moon’ on Touché for only a tenner and copped a copy of Fingers Inc’s ‘A Love Of My Own’ in its original shrink cover for just £15 (can easily got for over £50) – welcome to the house hunting hierarchy! So I knew I had to check Alan’s out and wasn’t disappointed upon visiting… Staring right at me in the house racks were the faces of Larry Heard, Robert Owens and Ron Wilson on the cover of the Fingers Inc. LP ‘Another Side’ that though yeah wasn’t in great condition at just £8 I had to take especially as my house hunting other half Tomi has been after it for time. On getting’ the fingers further dusty I also found a long lost Chicago House 12” on SRO by Steve Simmons which at a tenner was a steal however for this week’s edition my choice find is an old Nu Groove 12” by Lost Entity that at just a quid was a bargain bin find!
 
 
Now I don’t think I’d trust you if you said you were into house and you didn’t own at least one Nu Groove record. Founded in ’88 by Frank and Karen Mendez, Nu Groove was an influential institution in the New York house scene and went on to release over 100 records in just 4 years – proper pressing plant pressure! Yeah the label released a lot of s**t but it also released some of the most defining records of the era including Bobby Konders ‘House Rhythms’, L.B. Bad’s ‘The True Story Of House Music’ and of course anything produced by prolific label mainstays the Burrell Brothers (Rheji & Ronald) under their array of aliases whether it be Aphrodisiac, Equation, Metro, NY House’n Authority or Utopia Project.
Check this mini-doc for a reminder on how influential the label was with excerpts from the Burrell Brothers, Bobby Konders and Joey Beltram along with co-founder Frank Mendez – did Nu Groove records really change hands for £100 back then?! Mental…


 
So back to the record and Lost Entity comprises of New York’s Joey Beltram and Mike “Paradise” Munoz. Joey Beltram shouldn’t need any introduction with his ubiquitous techno anthem ‘Energy Flash’ influencing and inspiring a generation – word on the street is that the track was gonna be submitted to Nu Groove until Belgian behemoth R&S moved in when Joey was touring there and released it in tandem with Derrick May’s Transmat imprint. The following year under his Second Phase alias along with Mundo Muzique he released the massive ‘Mentasm’ which became ingrained in rave culture as it gave birth to the ‘Mentasm riff’ – spawning many imitators in prevalent scenes of the era including Dutch/Belgian hardcore and early UK breakbeat (later drum & bass). However, though less influential I prefer his Nu Groove records like his Code 6 EP’s – check his Second Chapter EP with the killer ‘Quad I’ joint definitely a Joey Beltram fave of mine… 

Let’s not forget his production partner on the EP Mike “Paradise” Munoz – what is it with early 90’s house records and the word ‘Paradise’ I always have to check ‘em whether those Paradise Inc. records on Fourth Floor or anything by Nelson “Paradise” Roman! Though not a familiar household name Mike “Paradise” Munoz co-owned Transparent Records and also recorded as ‘A Dose Of Paradise’ along with Victor “Overdose” Sanchez – again I know just check any record with the word ‘paradise’ in it yo a house hunting tip y’all! I recommend you check their ‘Trax – Vol.1’ EP on Pure Music a proper house holy grail that sounds like a long lost Vil-N-X joint from the vaults…
 

 
Anyway as usual I keep deviating so I love this Lost Entity EP as the tracks with their heavy drum breaks, hypnotising rhythms, otherworldly synths and sampling ingenuity sound like the soundtrack to a long lost M25 orbital mixtape – or R$N’s Ian McQuaid’s ‘Gone To A Rave’ column! The Mrs reminisces goin’ out raving to ‘On The Verge’ (I only just got outta playschool proper not old skool!) and I love the deep hypno-trip ‘Annihilate (L.E.S Mix)’ – the ‘Annihilating Rhythm’ vocal was later sampled by Wild Pitch wonder DJ Pierre for his Annihilating Rhythm track under his Darkman pseudonym on Strictly Rhythm. Taking you on a trans-dimensional journey with an inimitable New York flavour, this is a Nu Groove 12” definitely worth hunting down especially as easily accessible. I’ll conclude with a quote Frank Mendez on the legacy of records: “As far as vinyl disappearing from the surface of the earth, there will always be DJ’s, there will always be clubs and there will always be turntables at clubs”. 
 
 

Aiden d'Araujo