For those loving that raw Chicago house sound (often called “like Red D” at the Onda Sonora HQ), we found some fresh vinyl (and mp3’s) unearthing the original source.

Ron Hardy may not be the most well known dj but he’s certainly one of those notorious “key” figures in dj-history. He represented the harder edge of the Chicago scene out of which “House” music originated. As opposed to Frankie Knuckles, who imported the New York disco sound to the windy city and so planted the seed for this new style of music.

Ron Hardy was the dj who played the more energetic and raw sets appealing to the youth, in contrary of Frankie Knuckles’ more sophisticated style, which led to the (acid) house sound of Chicago. His repetitive and uncompromising vibe can still be experienced when listening to Ron Hardy edits. Remixes he made from disco and early house songs to fit them better into his sets. Those edits where never released properly and until now you could only find them on shady bootlegs or the net without being too sure it weren’t hoaxes.

But now Bill Hardy, Ron’s nephew, is releasing those edits, taken from the original reel-to-reel’s. They are very raw (being made by cutting up tape and pasting them back together) and repetitive (prolonging breakdowns eternally). But used wisely in a set they are devastating.

These edits were a big influence on The Parrish’ “Ugly Edit”-series. As a dj Ron Hardy was (one of) the main influence(s) on Theo Parrish, Moodymann, dj Pierre and most (original) Chicago house cats.

Check ParteHardy records website for more info about the releases. You’ll find where to find the vinyl too. The nice boys from Rushhour have got the second volume still in stock.