This is 5 Mag Issue 200

#Rejoice: an album of milestones, celebrations and new adventures. 5 Mag reaches Issue #200, almost 17 years to the day after we started.

5 Mag is published digitally in our member’s section. Subscriptions are only $24 for a full year or begin at $6/month. You can also order this issue as a digital download.

It was in late July 2005 that, after weeks of bird-dogging a cut-rate printer in Minnesota, a delivery truck finally backed in and unloaded a couple pallets of magazines in front of our office. Inside were 10,000 copies of 5 Mag Issue #1, dated August 2005 and destined for distribution at SummerDance, a launch party at Zentra and handed out for free everywhere in Chicago that we could reach.

We had an idea of writing about the music that we love, without covering hip hop because it was popular or EDM because it would sell more (or any) beer ads. We ran that issue at a 100% loss because we figured people would support something about house music after they held it in their hands. And they did.

Today we’re releasing 5 Mag Issue 200, coinciding with our 17th anniversary. Those numbers and dates still blow our mind (we didn’t even starting numbering issues of 5 Mag until around Year 5, when it seemed this thing would probably be part of our lives for a long time), but we worked really hard and came up with something that we think is really great. By the intentions we had 17 years ago and what we know now, we think Issue 200 turned out to be one of the best our staff has ever made.

A better description of this issue’s contents (and in particular our amazing cover story with Ron Trent) is below. Thank you for your support and kind comments, and for allowing 5 Mag to remain, like the music it covers, made in Chicago and made for you.

5 Mag Issue 200

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Here’s what’s inside this bicentennial edition of 5 Mag:

🔴 Ron Trent: ‘This Is A Different Kind of Headspace’. Harold Heath profiles Ron Trent, on the meaning behind his masterpiece album What Do The Stars Say To You, positive music and the powerful science of transmitting feelings and emotions through machines. Photos by Steven Piper.

🔴 Esoterica: Will Sumsuch meets Black Loops. There are few signatures of quality in the modern age, but a deep house record with a Black Loops track or remix on the sticker is as good an indicator of first class music as you’ll find. In addition to a 5 Mag profile by Will Sumsuch, Black Loops also recorded a DJ set for this issue’s cover mix.

🔴 200: John Digweed & Nick Muir on Bedrock Records’ 200th Release. If you’re a believer of numerology or just a trader in uncanny coincidences: it’s here, in 5 Mag’s 200th issue, that we’re celebrating alongside John Digweed and Nick Muir. That’s because Bedrock Records, their label, has marked their 200th release. A rare look backward with a glance forward too from one of electronic music’ most enduring collaborations.

🔴 Strictly Todd Edwards. How is it possible that Todd Edwards never released a track on Strictly Rhythm before? Some 30 years after first hearing it on the floor of Sound Factory Bar, Todd’s remixing one of the best ever made: Hardrive aka Louie Vega’s “Deep Inside.”

🔴 Destination Detroit with Rebecca Goldberg. From the airport to Belle Isle Beach, Rebecca Goldberg records the (literal) sounds of Detroit and Michigan for the BBC Radiophonic Travel Agency project.

🔴 Summer Serialized: System Records Summer Series presents Elisa Bee. Records We Love: ‘Dense Metaverse’ lands right in the middle of the label’s acclaimed weekly single showcase.

🔴 Detroit Techno Doc God Said Give ’em Drum Machines Debuts at Tribeca. An auspicious premiere for this story of ‘mismanaged success, damaged friendships, ascendant beats & raw inspiration’ in 1980s Detroit.

🔴 Streaming Platforms “Disappear” a Handful of Michael Jackson Songs. A bizarre purge, unannounced by anyone, sees several Michael Jackson recordings disappear from Spotify and other streaming platforms. Live by the stream, die by the stream…

🔴 This is How Dance Music News Gets Made. A simple story about Kanye West sampling from Marshall Jefferson turned into an error-ridden mess on nearly every news site. How did it happen — and why does it keep happening?

🔴 Reviews 200. 200 review sections over 200 issues, thousands of records and this is one of our longest yet. This issue features tracks from Homero G (PDG Discs), Glenn Davis (Yore), Medlar (Delusions of Grandeur), Herald Traccs (Worldship Music), Alton Miller (Quintessentials), Cho and Random Impetus (Menace), Theo Parrish & Maurissa Rose, Manuel Sahagun (Pomme Frite), Lady Blackbird & Crooked Man, Bootleg Contraband, Crane de Poule (Integrity Records), STL (Chateau Chepere), Fireground (Tresor) and Reekee (Sistrum).

🔴 In Rotation 200. More records we love and are playing the hell out of from Specter (Argis Music), Fantastic Man (Kalahari Oyster Cult), Gloria Scott, Genius Of Time (Oath), 3 Electro Knights, Lanowa (Citizens of Vice), Roy Ayers (BBE Music), Paul Blackford, The Layabouts ft Omar (Foliage Records), Justin Espada, DJ Deano DNA and Pfeffermouse (Girlfriend Records).

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If you like what we do and want to support us, basic membership covers 24 issues and costs only $24 – please consider joining!

You can also buy this issue individually as a digital download for $3.99.