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Chicago has a great history with electronic music, acting as the hotbed for house music in the late 70s and early 80s. Some of the greatest DJs and electronica artists have performed in our great city, and Charlie Deets is no exception. Deets started his musical career in the local Chicago act Sally, a psychedelic indie rock outfit. While he acted as front man for the band, he worked on his own electronica music on the side. The Lost Larkin Long Play, released on Valentine’s Day in 2006, was Deets’s first professional foray into Chicago’s electronica scene. Lost Larkin and now his 2008 release, Fight the Death Funk, are a much different sound than other local artists such as hipster favorites Flosstradamus and Girl Talk. Deets’s music uses limited samples and more instruments than just his laptop, and also uses his talents as a singer to perform on both of his albums. It may be something strange to those who are use to DJs who exclusively use samples or heavily rely on them, but Deets’s style is something that’s becoming more common within the Chicago scene.

His latest album Fight the Death Funk, released on his own label Paribus Records, is the electronic album for those who claim not to like electronic music. From the edgier, almost industrial “Ultimate Exposure” to the hip-shaking beat of “The Virgin Mary,” Deets explores how far his skills will let him go with ease and perfection. It’s an extreme departure from his work in Sally, but his charismatic style as a front man still lingers within his solo career. Deets is still just as explosive with an electronic drum kit backing him than if a real one was. Fight the Death Funk is everything good electronic music should be, taking away the repetitive bass beat and replacing it with loud and newfangled ones. He’s not to one to sample 90s pop hits such as House of Pain’s “Jump Around,” and even if he did it would be in such a way that it would actually be enjoyable. For once.

This week’s single “Ronald Farber” goes from tame to unruly in a matter of minutes. The track is one of the less intense ones on Fight the Death Funk but is one of the strongest. Deets’s gibberish lyrics and musical randomness fill “Ronald Farber” with tiny surprises that make even the most serious of music aficionados enjoy this track. So sit back, relax and let the boops and beeps fill your ears with electronic joy.