Mr. Fingers: The Complete Can You Feel It Vinyl 12″ Mr. Fingers

This is quite possibly the most beautiful house record ever made – no, scratch that – the most beautiful record ever made – I still get chills when I hear this or play it out. Larry Heard (Mr. Fingers’ government name) is one of the great geniuses of modern music, and this is one of his greatest achievements. Heard’s pioneering tracks are characterized by an unabashed simplicity and sense of emotion, expressed through a concise sonic palate: funkily reserved Roland 303/808/909 sounds – warm basslines that girder bare-bones, funky as hell drum and hi-hat programming, and ethereal, emotional synth playing – sort of like a grittier, blacker Cocteau Twins sound. The elements are slowly introduced, repeated, and subtracted from the mix for maximum effect. A simple formula, yes, but that’s the essence of great house music and Heard does it so perfectly. This re-issue of the original 1986 Trax pressing includes the classic “Original Inst., ” the “Robert Owens Mix” showcasing house music’s finest male vocalist in an amazing, gut-wrenchingly emotional performance, and the impossibly moving “Martin Luther King Mix,” a reminder that the best dance music is inherently political. Absolutely essential – this is a great relic from the brief, exciting moment when house music held equal sway with hip-hop over urban clubgoers, and if you’re not a house head already, this is the record that will get you wide open. Makes me proud to be a Chicagoan, and the answer to the title is, of course, “Yes.”

• music label: Trax 2004

reviewed by Language 05/2009