Submitted by: trocknroll

'Born and raised in Detroit, Anthony began DJing in high school and has been active in the Detroit music scene since the early '80s. He was one of the featured artists on Techno: The New Dance Sound of Detroit, the 1988 U.K. compilation that helped launch Detroit techno in Europe. ... In 1995, he and Claude Young formed Frictional Recordings, which he continues to run to this day.'

Detroit producer Anthony 'Shake' Shakir is one of the more underrecognized, underappreciated names in American techno. A bedroom producer since 1981, Shake had an important role in helping shape the early Motor City sound associated with artists such as Juan Atkins/Model 500 and Derrick May. He worked with May and Carl Craig as a producer, writer, or engineer on several early tracks on Metroplex, and worked in management and A&R for the label (as well, he's often joked, as being the janitor) during its formative years. His first solo material appeared on Virgin's seminal Techno Sound of Detroit compilation, under the name Sequence 10. Known as something of a techno purist, Shake has distanced himself from the European scene many of his colleagues have turned to for support (this accounts somewhat for his continuing obscurity), and his music is stylistically closer to second wave artists such as Mike Banks and Claude Young -- hard, stripped-down tracks which owe equally to techno, electro, hip-hop, and funk. Shake's visibility and reputation have risen in more recent years as a result of his Frictional and Puzzlebox labels, the latter of which he formed in 1996 with fellow Detroit electro/techno producer Keith Tucker (formerly of Aux 88). Releasing a series of records both solo and in combination (usually under the name Da Sampla), Shake and Tucker's Puzzlebox has, along with Underground Resistance and Guidance, become one of the more coveted sources of straight-up, no-bones Detroit techno.

Shake is a true record-collecting, groove-reading music head who can’t be pinned down to just one genre or groove. Being such an iconoclast can make it hard to get ahead in the music business, but that has not stopped Shake from breaking down barriers in sound. His pluralistic view of music extends from his DJ sets to his productions, having produced everything from local hip-hop acts (KOT, Scarelly M the Klout) to Urban Tribe’s Mo Wax debut. His recorded output also displays a wide range of vision, yet still portrays consistent themes of empowerment and mental agility through tough, chopped-up beats contrasted with raw beauty. Such ideas can be seen in his records released in May 2000 (all three of ‘em!): the sublime 'Songs for My Mother' on his own Frictional label; more down-tempo beats can be found on Mr. Shakir’s Beat Store on Klang; and there’s evidence of his sample plundering work on Da Sampla‘s 'Samplaholic' recently released on the Moods and Grooves label.

Discography

Mr. Shakir's Beat Store
Klang(2000 EP, CD/Vinyl)

Songs for My Mother
Frictional(2000 EP, CD/Vinyl)

The Revisionist's Theory
Frictional(1999 EP, Vinyl)

Tracks for My Father
7th City(1999 EP, CD/Vinyl)

Systematic Advancing
Gigolo(1998 EP, Vinyl)

Waiting for Russell
Frictional(1998 EP, Vinyl)

Club Scam II
Frictional(1997 EP, Vinyl)

Mood Music for the Moody
Frictional(1996 EP, CD/Vinyl)

Elemental Friction
Frictional(1995 EP, CD/Vinyl)

Iconoclastic Diaries
Frictional(1995 EP, Vinyl)

Track Mode
Track Mode(1994 EP, Vinyl)

Begin
Frictional(1993 EP, CD/Vinyl)

Club Scam EP
KMS (U.K.)(1993 EP, Vinyl)

5% Solution
Metroplex(1992 EP, Vinyl)