Abe Duque, (real name Carlos Abraham Duque Alcivar), remains a vital presence in the techno scene, intimately linked with the development of the genre via his hometown New York. Duque was an integral part of NYC's now legendary Limelight Club - a space immortalized since its closing by the rapturous memories of its performers and clubbers alike. Duque co-ran the 'Abuse Industries' night - a seminal series of events that helped germinate techno in the Big Apple in the 90s and provided the launch pad for Abe's career as a celebrated techno artist, live performer, remixer and label boss.
High profile projects with the likes of Pet Shop Boys and the Chemical Brothers pricked the consciousness of the mainstream to his talents, but to underline his ambivalence to this kind of success, he continued to enrich the underground with exceptional blasts of his trademark sound.
'Body Of Work' collects together 17 of his most influential tracks - an un-missable primer for those not familiar with his work, and a superb reminder for existing fans and admirers. The release takes in some sublime moments from across the last 2 decades, from his mega smash with Blake Baxter 'What Happened' to some of his early techno cuts under the Kirlian moniker- including 'Exit PG'(from 1995) and 'SNTA' from 1998.
A number of tracks originate from a highly fertile period in the mid 2000s, with four tracks from the album 'So Underground it Hurts' - including the impossibly funky 'Kooty Kat', the self-explanatory 'Acid', the ambient leanings of 'Miracle to Fill my Life' and the aforementioned 'What Happened'. From the same period comes another Blake Baxter collaboration - 'Who Got The Flave Again' - that remains a classic to this day.
What ties most of the tracks together is a tough, muscular approach to sound design, a truly hard hitting sensibility for the floor, and often on display: a tongue in cheek, dark humor rarely found in underground dance music. The result is Body of Work - both a document of an originator and innovator, and an important dance music album in its own right.