Trax Records Celebrates 40 Years with Sprawling Anniversary Compilation

Tastemaking Chicago house label Trax Records is commemorating 40 years of global influence with, fittingly, a 40-track compilation album featuring music from some of the most respected minds in the game. Trax Records: The 40th Anniversary Collection pays tribute not only to the label’s roots in the Windy City’s West Side but also to the history of house music, spanning remixes and remastered seminal releases from pioneers like Marshall Jefferson (“Move Your Body”), Frankie Knuckles (“Your Love”), and label owner/president Screamin’ Rachael (“My Main Man”), among others.

The project was curated by Jorge Cruz, the label’s creative director, who, having joined Trax in 2009, has seen it evolve over the years while maintaining its commitment to fostering community, uplifting marginalized voices, and shaping the genre’s future through colorful, innovative sounds. Listen below.

The anniversary LP trails the release of Trax's limited-edition, vinyl-only project, Rising Again; 500 copies of the compilation, created to honor house music's 40th birthday, hit Trax's store in April. The six-song collection of heaters from Screamin’ Rachael, Joe Smooth, Spada, ThadX, Jacques X Gregory, and KushGad marked the label’s first vinyl release in a decade, setting the stage for Trax Records: The 40th Anniversary Collection to follow in June. 

Although Trax has humble beginnings – originally taking root in an intimate vinyl pressing plant in 1985 under the vision of founder Larry Sherman – in the four decades that have followed, it has grown into one of the most widely respected labels in dance/electronic music, with international reach and generational appeal. This hard-won status is largely owed to Trax’s choice to champion music with true character rather than the sounds that feed into fleeting trends and, by extension, the algorithms. 

“We don’t follow the formula of looking at follower counts. We care about music. That’s why Trax still means something,” says Screamin' Rachael. 

While 40 years represents a rare kind of longevity certainly worth celebrating in this industry, she’s just as focused on where the label is going as she is on honoring this milestone. "Trax has always been about raw creativity,” she says. "This label is my life – and I’m not done."

Trax Records: The 40th Anniversary Collection is available now. 

Buy it on Beatport.