Choci's Chewns: we used to love that place, downstairs in a Soho basement and always really loud, banging mental techno on the shop sound system.
(Apr 8, 2013) Brewsta said:Underneath Heaven with about five deep on any given day at the counter. White labels came in, still warm from the press and out they went, to change the consciousness of the nation.
shop and label based in Soho in London’s West End, run by long-time dj/producer Choci (duh). The shop was located in the basement of a building in St Anne’s Court, a narrow pedestrian cut-through between Wardour Street and Dean Street in Soho.
Like all the best record stores, part of the pleasure was the anticipation – descending the stairs and hearing the music get louder and louder, knowing that soon you would get your hands on that sweet, sweet black plastic. I was a pretty regular customer for a few years at the end of the 90’s and the beginning of the 00’s, and it was consistently one of my favorite haunts for hard dance sounds, along with Kinetec near Oxford Circus, Basement Vinyl in Kilburn and Elite in Victoria. Their stock always included the best of UK and European hard trance, acid techno and hard house, and Andreas Mishka (who was mostly working there when I was going) was always friendly and frequently hooked me up with promos, which was no bad thing!
What was the sound of Choci’s Chewns? Well, Choci’s labels specialized in exactly the tunes featured on this mix – hard, energetic trance, filled with memorable riffs, rhythms to bounce to, and enough acid lines to strangle a python. Whether in a dirty warehouse in the depths of pre-hipster Hackney or in big races at places like Brixton Academy or The Astoria, these tunes always rocked the spot like no other.
