Three minutes and thirty-nine seconds into “Giv Me Luv,” something remarkable happens. A good many people miss it—probably because they are already dancing too hard already to notice. The previous seconds have seen a meager beginning of hi-hat and handclap echoing, followed by a dropping of a shit-hot dance beat on top of it. Then a deep synth bass line, seemingly from the depths of our souls, provides us with more than an adequate amount of funk. From nowhere comes this two note synthesizer to stimulate our erogenous zones of house music, and then another: a third echoing electric note to turn us on even more. For a brief moment, the bass is taken from us, tantalizing us for a few precious seconds. Then, at three minutes and thrity-nine seconds, everything—the crashing cymbals, clapping hands, the beat, bass, and synthesizer—all drop into frightening orgasmic perfection.

By my count, this happens no less than three more times throughout the song’s almost-ten minute duration.

Let me catch my breath…

Originally released on vinyl from Yoshitoshi US in 1996, “Giv Me Luv” found Alcatraz great success among club and bedroom DJs alike. At a time where euro-dance, techno, and house music was beginning to eat itself in bad self-parody, this track reminded a good many people why they loved this type of music in the first place. But somewhere between Aqua and The Vengaboys, the popularity of dance music died off with masses who were writing it off as a comedic novelty. While this was sadly true of the “popular“ dance acts, it left a good many excellent acts and tracks out in the cold to be forgotten by time. Few survived this icy shoulder, and those who did became…well, Moby.

For this reason, ignorance of this generation of dance music might be a blessing. But for a track like “Giv Me Luv,” there may not be a better time to revisit it. Comparing it with some recent notables in recent dance music, “Giv Me Luv” sounds like something that might come out of Lindstrom’s speakers if he felt like busting a move. If he decided to go overboard, Carl Craig might have played this on Fabric 25. Hell, throw some cowbell in and DFA might release it under Juan Maclean’s name. Yet it was produced by a couple of guys named Jean-Phillippe Aviance and Victor Imbres.

Upon searching for information on “Giv Me Luv,” I found myself coming across words like “classic” and “timeless” over and over again. I even found a comment/testimonial from a DJ saying that this record hasn’t left his crate in 10 years. Which brings me to my point: great dance music is still great dance music in any age. Trends may come and go, but if it keeps you dancing, it will find its way back to you.

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