Hooj Choons

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Hooj Choons is a house record label formed by Red Jerry (real name Jeremy Dickens) in 1990. The first release was "Carnival de Casa" by Rio Rhythm Band. It was not until 1992's release of Felix's "Don't You Want Me", which Red Jerry and Rollo co-produced, that Hooj Choons had their first hit. Over the next several years, Hooj had several notable releases including productions from artists such as Diss-Cuss and JX.

[edit] Music style

Over the next couple years, Hooj released many records with tendencies towards the new progressive house trend, including "Free Your Mind" by Spacebaby, an alter ego of Matt Darey, who would be featured on many future Hooj releases. During this period, Hooj also created several sub-labels such as Top Banana Recordings, Prolekult, Airtight, and later Lost Language. These sub-labels were usually used for releasing less mainstream music and more pet projects. The label's 50th single was the 1997 release of "The Calling" by Solar Stone. However, the magnitude of "The Calling" was overshadowed by Energy 52's Cafe del Mar, which is often still remixed and played in clubs to this day. With this, their 51st release, Hooj Choons became a huge influence in the electronic music scene.

[edit] Famous releases

During their peak of popularity, Hooj released such enduring singles as "Greece 2000" from Three Drives, "Invisible" by Tilt, and the progressive hit "Stage One" by Space Manoeuvres, which is still being re-released with new mixes after 5 years. The seminal trance hit "Seven Cities" by Solar Stone was released in September of 1999. Around their 90th release, Hooj's sound began to change again - this time to a housier, more minimal vibe marked by releases such Killahurtz's "West on 27th" and Pete Lazonby's "Sacred Cycles".

Hooj Choons began to release more house singles, such as "Turquoise" by Circulation and 16B's "Escape (Driving to Heaven)", both of which were met with great approval and popularity from DJs. Over the next two years, Hooj released many creatively-driven tunes such as Flash Brothers' "Hazy March". The final Hooj singles were noted by many critics as unique in both style and content, especially Drunken Monkey's "Gratification".

Besides singles, Hooj Choons also released artist albums from both L.S.G. and 16B. Additionally, they also published several compilations, appearing in both un-mixed and mixed form. The mixed compilations were usually courtesy of Red Jerry's talents, though both Tom Middleton and James Zabiela lent their mixing abilities to Hooj compilations as well. These compilations featured Hooj records prominently, especially in the "Some of These Were Hooj" and "Deeper Shades of Hooj" series.

[edit] Dissolution

Though throughout 2003 there were constant rumors regarding Hooj's demise, it was not until later that year that Hooj announced its dissolution as a record label due to structural problems of the company. Licenses to several tracks were sold off, most notably the rights to the original "Stage One". Hooj Choons was dissolved having released 136 singles plus a dozen or so album-length compilations. It is survived by its sub-label Lost Language, which has subsequently released the album Oid by Space Manoeuvres.

In early October 2006, Hooj Choons announced that the label would be coming back under management from the owners of Lost Language.^[1] Their first release upon return will be a re-release of Medway's "Resurrection" with new material slated for autumn 2007.

[edit] See also

• List of record labels
• List of electronic music record labels

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Hooj Choons at Discogs
• Official site
• Unofficial Hooj Fansite
• Reviews of Hooj Singles from Progressive-Sounds
• Label page on Resident Advisor