DJ DUKE Vinyl & CDs

Review: Local Talk's 1nce Again reissue sublabel returns with the focus this time on DJ Duke, and the track "Closer", originally released in 1994 on Duke's Power Music Records. A long-time favourite of Local Talk's Mad Mats, the original Klubb Kidz flavour dub finds itself on this 12", a still impressive slice of 90s house which shows the imitators how its done. More exciting still are the remixes from esteemed Stockholm DJ and Parkway Records boss Mark Seven; his "So Close" strips everything back but the deep organ tones and the bold vocal, while the masterful "Stalker Mix" succeeds in delivering a more after hours cut with a shimmering disco arp placed squarely in the foreground.

Review: From the label: "From the unsung Midwest City that brought you Prince, The Coen Brothers, The Time, Woody McBride, and DVS1... now brings you a new label... Minneapolis Exchange is a vinyl label from Minneapolis, MN. The label will feature exchanges with artists from around the world yet each release will feature a Minneapolis based artist. For MPLSX001 We bring the first release from DJ DUKE's Pleasure Dome project in 20 years. Duke provides you with two amazing tracks, Wild Dreams and 7 min of Wild Techfunk both are sure to be future classics. In addition to the two originals Duke is accompanied by rising star Adesse Versions' remix of Wild Dreams and a rework of both tracks into something new from Minneapolis team Jack Complex. Rather than bore you the details of the music in text, we invite you to take a listen for yourselves and let the music do the talking."

Review: Following the success of DJ Duke's first tribute to the pioneers of Chicago house, the Windy City veteran returns here with another trawl through the archives. As with the first 12", all four tracks on The Chicago Legends Volume 2 have been re-edited by the Power Music boss. Naturally, there's much to get excited about, from the acid-flecked techno thump of Black Tribe's locked-in roller "100 Percent Trackin", to the Virgo Four style acid-meets-deep house brilliance of Felix Da Housecat's "I Found Her" (originally released way back in 1994). The EP also contains two brilliantly classic-sounding productions, with Duke delivering a particularly successful re-edit of Roy Davis Jnr's glassy-eyed, piano-laden, 1995 remix of Nate Williams' "Klimax".

Review: It's a little known fact that the long running and hugely prolific London imprint BBE has had at least one release a week spanning the realms of soul, funk, hip-hop, house, drum & bass and more for the past five years. This week's spotlight falls on NYC House, with a vinyl sample of what to expect from their forthcoming Henry Street Grooves compilation. This is the second time BBE have delved into the Henry Street archives - having dropped a double CD retrospective of the label featuring stone cold house classics from the likes of Armand, Kenny Dope and Todd Terry back in 1999. The second set promises a deeper selection of label's output and this sampler is worth the money alone for DJ Duke's imperious cover version of Manuel Gottsching's "E2-E4" that rightfully stretches across the A Side.