Playgroup

Playgroup was a studio party/rumpus-room collective orchestrated by <a href="spotify:artist:5hv2fNEDLZ3qB1War7mVlo">Trevor Jackson</a>, a graphic designer (with sleeves of releases by <a href="spotify:artist:6jHG1YQkqgojdEzerwvrVv">Eric B. & Rakim</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:1k8VBufn1nBs8LN9n4snc8">Stereo MC's</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:2iclO3rlyF0YVNE46ctYRj">the Jungle Brothers</a> to his credit), producer, and remixer who had previously operated as <a href="spotify:artist:5NascfquH6YSAgFek9lOXv">Underdog</a> and Skull. A melting pot of disco, funk, hip-hop, dub, new wave, and house, 2001's Playgroup, released on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Source%22">Source</a> label, featured appearances from <a href="spotify:artist:3XdsvDqukVnHTVUhI3cB2c">Roddy Frame</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:5Qlt3zQ63Z99mNhuun0JAT">Edwyn Collins</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0AcEt9ujUBWQ50cZsaskWo">Shinehead</a>, Kathleen Hanna, and <a href="spotify:artist:2SbcWzAeIqhsmdyra9tW3z">Rowetta</a>. <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Astralwerks%22">Astralwerks</a> picked the record up for release in the U.S. in March of 2002. By the end of that year, <a href="spotify:artist:5hv2fNEDLZ3qB1War7mVlo">Jackson</a> released a pair of mix albums: his contribution to the DJ-Kicks series and a very limited disc called Party-Mix. In 2005, Peacefrog gathered two discs of <a href="spotify:artist:5hv2fNEDLZ3qB1War7mVlo">Jackson</a>'s remixes for the likes of <a href="spotify:artist:6aq8T2RcspxVOGgMrTzjWc">Soft Cell</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3xgj17ZsWxxU86S4qlWvOi">Yello</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:166Dz1GX3xonSQ3Z6CQW26">the Rapture</a>, and issued it as Reproduction. A couple years later, <a href="spotify:artist:5hv2fNEDLZ3qB1War7mVlo">Jackson</a> briefly reactivated the Playgroup name to contribute a disc to <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Rapster%22">Rapster</a>'s Kings of Electro double-disc mix set. In 2016, <a href="spotify:artist:5hv2fNEDLZ3qB1War7mVlo">Jackson</a> opened the vaults and issued a nine-part series of Previously Unreleased EPs, one per week from July to September, on the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Yes+Wave%22">Yes Wave</a> label. Most of the tracks were compiled onto a double-CD later that year, also titled Previously Unreleased. <a href="spotify:artist:5hv2fNEDLZ3qB1War7mVlo">Jackson</a> also ran the <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Output%22">Output</a> label, home to releases by <a href="spotify:artist:5g9s6dQAhse0qgjQOKQXHG">Fridge</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7Eu1txygG6nJttLHbZdQOh">Four Tet</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:066X20Nz7iquqkkCW6Jxy6">LCD Soundsystem</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0dKTZGtRhs5pdyOt8uiuSY">Black Strobe</a>, Mu, and <a href="spotify:artist:1z7SXnaVwt0Fnncfrz94SG">Colder</a>. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi