When Worlds Collide

House music is an ever-evolving scene. Like any other musical genre, many subdivisions of the style coexist under the umbrella term of “house.” For any person unaware of such diversity, house may seem a bit confusing. From the old school rhythms of the “father of house” himself, Frankie Knuckles, to today’s post-house sounds of the Basement Jaxx’s Kish Kash, house music has undergone many a face lift – Acid house, New York garage, and even Power 106’s mid 90s Power Tools deep house, just to name a few. But what happens when a kid from Boulder, Colorado decides to combine house with the spirit and style of the jam band? Jam-House?DJ Harry’s latest album, Collision, is an interesting piece of musicianship. Though the letters D and J prefix his name, scratching and sampling are nonexistent on this record. In fact, a few tracks sound as though a live band and not some guy behind a couple of turntables performed them. And that’s because they were. Opting to write his own original material, DJ Harry enlisted the talents of numerous musicians to play live instruments on the tracks giving the record a certain feel of humanness and providing for an organic sound. Released on the String Cheese Incident’s Sci Fidelity Records, Collision is an album full of variety and surprises. Songs range from danceable (“Collision”), to all-over-the-place jam band style (“Galactic”). One standout track isn’t even house at all; a downbeat gem, “All My Life,” with newcomer Lissie on vocals, could easily be mistaken for a track off of Zero 7’s When It Falls. As weird as it sounds, Collision is a house album with the heart of a jam band.