Spaces and Places

Since the early ’90s, Kerri Chandler has been one of New Jersey house music’s foremost ambassadors, and on *Spaces and Places*, he puts his diplomatic passport to good use. Over the course of four years, recording wherever he touched down to play, he assembled the album on a mobile studio he set up in 24 different nightclubs around the world: London’s Printworks, Glasgow’s Sub Club, and Paris’ Rex, among other similarly hallowed venues. By doing so, it seems, he managed to capture something of the essence of each room—not just its acoustics, but also its spirit. “Sunrise (Watergate)” bounces along with a heads-down intensity that’s reflective of the Berlin riverside nightspot’s blissed-out morning hours. “Tenacity (Output),” recorded in Brooklyn, summons the soulful legacy of classic New York house music. And the acid-driven “Feelin’ Red (DC10) \[Pull the 9 Out Mix\]” channels the hedonistic vibes of Ibiza’s infamous after-hours party. All of it, though, remains steeped in the no-nonsense drum grooves that typify New Jersey house and the moody keys and soulful vocals that make Chandler one of deep house’s most reliable practitioners. *Spaces and Places* ends up being a two-way street: By taking his music around the world, Chandler makes us at home in his world.