Trax Records’ 40th Anniversary Compilation Reminds Us Why We Still Jack

House music label Trax Records releases a compilation featuring Marshall Jefferson, Frankie Knuckles, and more for its 40th anniversary.

Globally, life has been feeling like one long series of “Rainy Nights.” “Brighter Days” are ahead, but for now, all one can do is “Move Your Body” and “Free Your Mind” — because the world needs “Your Love.”

The best way to do this? Listen to house music.

Pioneering house music label Trax Records is celebrating four decades of music this year. To mark the occasion, it’s released Trax Records: The 40th Anniversary Collection, featuring OG house artists like Frankie Knuckles, Marshall Jefferson, Phuture, Ron Hardy, Armando, and Paul Johnson.

Delivered alongside the compilation is Trax’s first-ever fashion line — a project curated by Chicago-based designer Mario Maldonado. The iconic Trax logo is splashed across the collection, making for a wearable token of house music membership.

Coming off a troubling era of rightfully surfaced malpractices, the landmark anniversary couldn’t come at a better time for Trax. In 2022, over a dozen key artists signed to Trax, including Jefferson, and other artists like Adonis, Vince Lawrence, and Maurice Joshua filed a class-action lawsuit against the label, citing years of mistreatment, including forged signatures, bounced checks, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in willful infringement. Most of these claims were levied at label co-founder Larry Sherman, who passed away in 2020.

Trax is now headed by Sherman’s ex-wife, Rachael Cain, who claims to be on a mission to set things straight between the artists and the label. Time and action will be the verdict of Rachel’s legacy under Trax. For now, at least, the attention should remain on the artists that created the music, being that they’re the only reason the label exists at all.

Trax Records: The 40th Anniversary Collection is a sonic reminder of the virtuosity of our electronic music forefathers. House music was uncharted territory in the early days, but artists like Frankie Knuckles — one of the first to play at seminal venue The Warehouse — brought it to life.

To create house music out of nothing, with the help of 808s and 909s, requires an almost unfathomable skillset, paired with an innate understanding of movement and emotion. The compilation is a nostalgic reawakening for Trax Records and a (hopeful) reminder as to why the music was worth sharing in the first place: to dance through our pain, together, as a “House Nation.”

Listen to Trax Records: The 40th Anniversary Collection on Spotify, and follow them on socials to keep up with all the 40th anniversary events and celebrations.

Stream Trax Records: The 40th Anniversary Collection – on Spotify:

Trax Records – Trax Records: The 40th Anniversary Collection Tracklist:

Jacques x Gregory feat. Screamin’ Rachael – I’ll Take You There (Full Journey Mix)

Willie Wonka – What Is House

Frankie Knuckles – Your Love

Marshall Jefferson – Move Your Body

Stylophonic – Jack It Up

Armando – Love In Heart

Mark Row, Jame Starck feat. Carol Jiani – Free Your Mind

Paul Johnson – Follow This Beat

Screamin’ Rachael – Rising (Lea Rognoni Remix)

Pleasure Zone – House Nation

Yuri Suzuki – DATA MANIA

D Beat – Pump It (Lea Rognoni Remix)

Sir Nesis- Freaks (So Called Friend Remix)

Frankie Bones – Beat Me Up

Joey Beltram – The Start It Up

Ricky Dillard – As Always (Full Vocal Version)

Marshall Jefferson – Ride The Rhythm (Remix)

Owen E – Shift

Analog 87 – rOOmclaSSic

Jorge, Carmelo Carone – Jack the Acid Kid (Hiroko Yamamura & Eric Elvambuena Remix)

Phuture – Spank Spank (Original Mix)

Screamin’ Rachael – Gina (XXX) [Someone from Lithuania with a Friend Named Jorge Remix]

Jared – Fly So High (Roger Sanchez Tilt Mix)

Hercules – 7 Ways to Jack

Ron Carroll – 1993 the Bargin Enterprize

Luca Gerlin – Battery (Kkles Mix)

Jesse Velez – Girls Out On The Floor (Dub)

Camilo Do Santos – 1984

Samurai Sam – House of Japanese

David Chong – There Is No Place

Frankie Knuckles – Your Love (You Got The Love Remix)

Seph Martin – Rainy Nights

Larry Sherman – Colors

Miss Autumn Leaves – No Turning Back

Late Nite ‘DUB’ Addict – The ‘F’ Word

Carlos Nilmmns feat. Genoveva – Fade Out (Original Mix)

Ron Hardy – Liquid Love (Chicago Mix)

Screamin’ Rachael – Sensation (Zewmob Radio Edit)

Chris Jones – Strong2 (Dance Mix)

Screamin’ Rachael – My Main Man

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