Twenty years after dropping his debut album, Claude VonStroke is finally cutting Beware Of The Bird on wax.
The tech house legend is celebrating two decades of his influential first album with today’s deluxe edition re-release of the 2006 LP, landing on vinyl for the first time ever via his newly minted Wrong Number Records, alongside a collection of remixes that reimagine the eight-track collection of VonStroke’s breakthrough beats.
Reworks from Mike Kerrigan, DJ Sneak, Justin Martin, DJ Assault, Kevin Saunderson, Paul C, Mary Droppinz x Drezza, and more bring new perspectives to time-honored classics like “Deep Throat,” “Beware Of The Bird,” “The Whistler,” and VonStroke’s inimitable “Who’s Afraid of Detroit?,” celebrating the playful, bass-heavy sounds that first propelled the producer and DJ from his Detroit apartment to the world’s most lauded dance floors.
Before Beware Of The Bird arrived on CD 20 years ago, the Dirtybird founder’s techy, bedroom-produced tracks had been heard only in underground clubs and on independent radio. At the time, VonStroke said in a statement, “There was no U.S. market for my sound at that point.” But across the pond in Europe, his early club singles were taking off.
In 2005, a month after Detroit legend Richie Hawtin started playing “Deep Throat” in his DJ sets, Circoloco invited VonStroke to play Ibiza’s DC10. More gigs followed at London’s T Bar with Damian Lazarus, in Spain and Italy, and at underground parties like Back to Basics in Leeds, before “The Whistler” broke in the UK, was featured on BBC Radio 1, and launched the DJ to regular appearances at Fabric, We Love Space, and Bugged Out. Six months later, its B-side, “Who’s Afraid of Detroit?,” blew up and announced VonStroke on the global stage.
By the time he compiled them all for an official release on his then-budding label (after turning down a major label signing), Beware of the Bird was primed for acclaim in Europe and America, arriving the same year Beatport and other popular MP3 sites took flight amid dance music’s digital-download revolution.
Now, the album’s long-awaited vinyl release lands at a full-circle moment in VonStroke’s career. After summiting the tech house scene, selling Dirtybird in 2022, and stepping away from the genre to make bass music under his real name, Barclay Crenshaw, the artist fully returned to the VonStroke project this year with Wrong Number, a stripped-back album that harkens to his late-night grooves of yore and lays the foundation for another forward-thinking label, as he once again follows his gut toward studio sessions, carefully selected performances and other “opportunities that genuinely excite him,” according to a press release.
Listen to the 20th anniversary deluxe edition of Claude VonStroke’s Beware of the Bird below.
Featured image courtesy: Claude VonStroke.