Various Artists - Boccaccio Life - 1987-1993 - Part 4/4 [Music Man Records]

Format: 12" white vinyl.

Belgian label Music Man Records presents Boccaccio Life 1987-1993, a new compilation offering a fresh perspective on the legacy of the iconic Belgian club Boccaccio, often associated with the ephemeral New Beat movement. The 40-track compilation highlights the raw and futuristic sounds of early house and techno heard at this pioneering club.

Located in rural Destelbergen (Belgium), a stone's throw from Ghent, Boccaccio secured its place among legendary venues like Paradise Garage in New York and The Haçienda in Manchester. Its audacious fusion of emerging electronic genres such as New Beat, Acid, House, and Techno was far ahead of its time, attracting music lovers and clubbers from all over Belgium and beyond. Sundays at Boccaccio were incomparable: they offered sounds impossible to hear anywhere else.

Boccaccio Life 1987-1993 is carefully curated by resident DJ Olivier Pieters and club regular Stefaan Vandenberghe, standing as the definitive testament to a club that was much more than just a venue. For those who experienced it, it was a community, a way of life. Hence the club's full name: Boccaccio Life.

This compilation is a tribute to an innovative era of electronic music, capturing the raw and futuristic sounds of house and techno in their early stages. It shows another facet of Boccaccio, one that goes far beyond the fleeting New Beat scene. A carefully assembled selection of 40 tracks, connecting with those who were there through familiar classics, while also reaching a new generation who never experienced it firsthand.

With tracks by Blake Baxter, Virgo, Frankie Knuckles, Tyree, and A Guy Called Gerald, the unmistakable influence of African-American pioneers is evident: the creators of the first analog house and techno sounds. On the other hand, British innovators like The Orb and LFO contribute sharp textures and rough breakbeats.

Among the club classics are the dreamy journeys of Roger Sanchez under his Egotrip alias, the relentless basement house of Robert Armani's "Circus Bells" on Dance Mania, an energetic hip-house version of The D.O.C.'s "Portrait of A Masterpiece" (in the CJ Ed-Did-It Mix), a timeless remix by Age of Chance of the British act UK from 1994, and a reinterpretation of "The Tape" by Boccaccio regular and Belgian producer Frank De Wulf, taken from his B-Sides project.

While not always the most obvious hits, these tracks have gracefully withstood the test of time and were exclusive to Sundays at Boccaccio. Now, they are finally available together in a single collection, offering a timeless snapshot of a unique era.