Ahead of their official induction into the house music hall of fame with their House Masters Chocolate Puma compilation, Defected asked Rene and Gaston to give a little insight into what some of the tracks mean to them. They duly obliged with stories of battling against record labels, creating a gay anthem and Pete Tong asking for a replacement copy after he played a certain track to death. (read more…)

For the last few months we’ve been very very busy with remastering, remixing and re-editing tracks for our forthcoming House Masters compilation, which features many highlights of our work from the past 20 years. You can easily say that we’re quite chuffed with the result, and even a little proud of what we’ve been doing for the last 2 decades.

This is what the guys at Defected had to say about it:

Zki & Dobre, René and Gaston, Chocolate Puma. However you know them, there can be no denying the influence these two talented individuals have had on the house music scene. Now, after 20 years of producing together and 10 years as Chocolate Puma, they have been awarded the well deserved ultimate status of House Masters.

They are two of the most respected House music producers on the planet who have carved out a unique and distinct sound for themselves that is instantly recognisable. Here they are paid homage with a new album that brings together their best work to date and is specifically designed with the DJ in mind.

The album features both their original productions and remixes with each track being either re-edited, remixed or re-mastered exclusively for this compilation.

“We are thrilled to be compared to the likes of Sandy Rivera and Kenny Dope by receiving the title of House Masters” said Chocolate Puma of the title. “For us, they are producers for whom we have a huge amount of respect, so to be awarded the title along with them is a huge honour”.

Perhaps best known for their huge 1992 crossover dance track ‘Give It Up’ under their ‘The Good Men’ moniker – a track reached No.6 in the UK charts and was an international hit across the world despite being created in Gaston’s bedroom on a small mixer and broken speakers – this marked the start of a mesmerising career. Being such a fundamental moment, the track has been given as special 2011 re-work on this album bringing it back up to date and reintroducing it to a new generation of clubbers.

This album also features some other great examples of their reworked classics including ‘I Wanna Be U’ (2000) and ‘A Star Is Born’ (2003).

Other essential tracks featured include ‘Tonco Tone’ the Beatport House Number 1, the 2011 remake of their Boris D’Lugosch and Roisin Murphy’s ‘Never Enough’ alongside vocal monsters ‘Morning Rain’, ‘Touch Me’, ‘Only Love Can Save Me’ and remixes of Strictly Rhythm classics ‘Bass Tone’ and ‘(Who) Keeps Changing Your Mind’.

Also included is their newest release ‘For your Love’ a melodic disco rework of The Yardbirds original with an infection baseline and mesmerising breaks; an essential euphoric DJ bomb if ever there was one.

With such an illustrious house music career to date and to commemorate 20 years as a production duo, this extended 3CD / 34 track House Masters package is both timely and entirely deserved.

House Masters Chocolate Puma is out 11th July

…because ‘For Your Love 2011 feat. Colonel Red’ is out today! Woot!

- Beatport
- Defected Store
- Traxsource

Here’s a mini mix with some of the tracks that will appear on our forthcoming House Masters compilation.

It gives you a sneak peek of stuff like ‘The Good Men – Give It Up 2011 Edit’, ‘I Wanna Be U Rework & CP’s Bass Drop Remix’, our 2011 remix of ‘Boris Dlugosch – Never Enough’ and some others.

House Masters – Chocolate Puma out July 11th 2011, so hold tight!

As some of you might know, we’re celebrating our 20th anniversary of ‘making stuff that people dance to’ this year. Oh that, and the fact that 10 years ago we released our first Chocolate Puma track.

We didn’t want to let this go by unnoticed, so Defected is releasing a 3 double CD for their House Masters series with some of the highlights of our musical career. You know, things like Jark Prongo’s Movin’ Thru Your System, The Good Men with Give It Up, Always And Forever and a bunch of other half decent tracks, all remastered, remixed or re-editted. Expect it somewhere at the end of June.

Now, we’ve been teasing y’all for couple of last weeks on Twitter and Facebook with the #20yrsZkiandDobre10yrsChocolatePuma hashtag… so we thought we’ll tease you some more with this little clip, haha.