FRANKIE KNUCKLES レコード& CD

Review: As one of the most cherished of all house tracks ever made, you have to be careful who you ask to remix Frankie Knuckles and Jamie Principle's 'Your Love'. Darius Syrossian recognises this as he offers a contemporary version of the track on this 12", threading a chunky, lightly swung tech house back bone to the track and slipping some breakbeats in underneath those dizzying emotional peaks in the track. Meanwhile Alan Dixon creates a version that holds closer to the original and simply beefs up the drums and threads some fatter synths into the mix. Meanwhile Knuckles himself teamed up with Eric Kupper to form Director's Cut in 2011, and their version appears here as a subtle update to the power of the original.

Review: Back in 2011, Frankie Knuckles and Eric Kupper debuted their Director's Cut project by teaming up with old pal Jamie Principle on "I'll Take You There". Here it gets the reissue treatment, with a trio of classic mixes being joined by a fresh revision from scalpel maestro Moplen. His version is delicious, with Principle's loved-up vocal rising above bubbly synth-bass, evocative organ lines, swirling synthesizer motifs and sunrise chords. There's another chance to enjoy Director's Cut's own warm and glassy-eyed "Signature Remix", a second spin for Dimitri From Paris's slightly breezier (but no less loved-up) re-edit and a boisterous funky house rework from the Shapeshifters that some may have missed first time around.

Review: 2011 saw the launch of Frankie and long-time production partner Eric Kupper's 'Director's Cut' project, aiming to reproduce classic cuts from the godfather of house music's back catalogue to fit with the modern and evolving dancefloor. On his undisputed 1987 anthem " Baby Wants To Ride", Knuckles and Kupper have extended the intro and outro plus given it a crisper, more detailed feel to the overall production - while providing a subtle vibrancy to Jamie Principle's saucy vocals. On the flip, Detroit wunderkind Jimmy Edgar delivers a stomping re-edit of the track, which was originally a tribute release after Frankie's passing in 2014. The Frankie Knuckles Foundation will receive 50% of the profits from this project.

Review: Just a week after the first volume of this bumper collection of house gold lands, we're treated to the second volume via Sosure Music. The Director's Cut Collection is an assemblage of remixes by the one and only Frankie Knuckles aka The Godfather of House alongside his frequent musical sparring partner Eric Kupper. They turned out many vital tunes in their time as this eight track selection shows with everything from their take on 'The Look' to a 'Director's Cut' Classic club mix of 'Let's Stay Home' via a 'Re-Directed' mix of the stone cold classic 'Baby Wants To Ride' featuring Jamie Principle.

Review: Frankie Knuckles and Eric Kupper's Director's Cut project continues with its third rendition, bringing together yet another eight house remixes of established neo-soul and trip-hop songs by the pair and their friends. Standouts on this one include Tony Humphries' Work & Play Mix of Inaya Day's 'Let's Stay Home', which follows the singer's orders to "take advantage of this little bit of rainfall" to produce a slice of humble, heated house pie; and Director's Cut's 'Signature mixes' of sultry lullabies by Martina Topley-Bird and Vintage Dbow.

Review: The legacy of Frankie Knuckles will never diminish even if releases like this one day eventually dry up. Forever regarded as 'The Godfather of House' it is now almost a decade since his passing. In his prolific career he hooked up with Eric Kupper many times as Director's Cut and this is a collection of their best works. It's full of house classics that have all been remixed by their fair hand, from 'Your Love" (feat Jamie Principle) to 'The Whistle Song' via 'I'll Take You There', all of which are spine tingling emotional deep house anthems that never lose their shine.