Ed DMX, sole member of Rephlex’s electro giant DMX Krew selects 20 of the best Acid House tunes for FACT Magazine. He’s such a knowledgeable guy when it comes to remembering dates, events and people; reading Acid House history from him is like listening to a WW2 veteran or something. Read the feature / stream the songs, and don’t miss Ed’s podcasts, which are always amazing.

In those days Brick Lane market was mostly a place to find people selling things like a single shoe, or a dead person’s dentures, or possibly a nicked mountain bike, but nestling among all the junk I came across two boxes of brand new dead stock records selling for a couple of quid each. In one box were copies of the Jack Trax compilation album Acid House and in the other, the Westside double LP We Call It Hallucinates. I snapped them up, took them home and got submerged in the sounds of Phuture, Armando, Liddell Townsell and the rest.

01: DJ PIERRE : ‘BOX ENERGY’ : (from ACID TRAX VOL.2, 1988)

I DJ’d with Pierre in around 2002 and he played awful tunes like ‘Lady Hear Me Tonight’. Afterwards I went over and said, “Thanks for Acid House, mate,” or words to that effect, and he replied, “That was a long time ago.” Not interested. Shame really. Anyway, nuff respect.

08: 808 STATE : ‘FLOW COMA’ : (from NEWBUILD, CREED, 1988)

Before Gerald Simpson left 808 State and became ‘A Guy Called…’ he helped them create the first and possibly the only UK acid house tracks worthy of comparison with those from Chicago. Given how badly 808 fell off after his departure – especially in comparison to the strength of his early solo classics such as ‘Voodoo Ray’ and ‘Blow Your House Down’ – it’s easy to imagine that he probably made this track more or less solo.