The 10 tracks that define Local Talk, according to Tooli and Mateos

Established in Stockholm almost six years ago, Local Talk was born from two likeminded individuals with an undying love for house music. Behind the label are renowned DJ and club promoter Mad Mats (Raw Fusion / GAMM) and Tooli, a DJ recognised in the Stockholm party scene for his highly acclaimed 24:HRS events and accompanying blog.

In early 2011, they joined forces to establish Local Talk, which was their first step towards creating a solid platform for their deep and mutual love of house music. Since then, they have played host to a plethora of dancefloor ready releases from the likes of Lay-Far, Kindimmer, Kyodai, Ashley Beedle, Dirtytwo, and HNNY. Following on from their recent mix for our series, we thought it was about time to sit down with the duo and find out which 10 tracks define their dance music outpost. 

Read Mats and Tooli's selections below and listen seamlessly via our YouTube playlist.

Local Talk: "A near perfect classic '90s house jam that still sounds both relevant and fresh when you play it today. It's simply a very strong house tune."

Local Talk: "Classic HNNY – simple, deep and loaded with one of the baddest bass lines ever. But don't miss out on the dub version (No Tears), as the breakdown is ace!"

Local Talk: "Big tune written all over this hi-tech-jazz mega house hit from our very good friends Javi & Luiz. We had some great moments spinning this one out in the clubs."

Local Talk: "Ludovic Llorca is such an underrated producer, but this tune broke through big time on all levels and was a perfect fit on Local Talk with its blend of deep disco, sweet strings, and bumpy house rhythms. Art Of Tones is currently working on album for us as we speak, so watch this space!"

Local Talk: "This whole release from Adesse took Local Talk back to the darker side of house music after we had some more musical releases, and was dropped at the exact right time. Lots of soul in this one, even though it comes disguised as a raw warehouse cut."

Local Talk: "A timeless track and one of those that could be put on repeat for a day without getting tired of it. It's fours years since we released it and I still listen to it on a weekly basis. Nothing too complicated or any producers tricks. It’s just a straight forward tune and it's got so much soul…and that solo, wow."

Local Talk: "We had this for a few months before it was released. We played it out and every single time people were coming up asking what it was. I do remember playing it in Oslo and there was a crew of dancers busting some serious moves to it, people smiling and the energy was 100%. The hair on my arms stood up…one of those times when you love what you’re doing. This track to me sounds like an anthem."

Local Talk: "This one was released on OneOffs, a label where we did four EPs with artists involved providing one tune each. Henry more or less started the whole thing with this track – a deep and grooving house tune that sits in on 115 BPM. If Larry Heard spent a day in Scandinavia, he would probably make a tune like this. The strings are so deep you could hide a country in them."

Local Talk: "Quite early on when we started the label we talked about doing some re-issues of tracks that we liked, and had been playing out ourselves then kind of forgotten. Not rare or anything, just good tracks that deserved to be played more. The label name was 1nce Again and the releases that got picked were by Circulation (Joshua Iz), Mateo & Matos, and DJ Duke. We also had an idea of adding a new remix to each release, which perhaps a bit too daring, but we got some skilled producers involved. All these releases are worth checking out to be honest, so picking one is difficult but I’ll go for the second one, since I have many fond memories hearing this played out – especially when the lovely Bicep guys came to Stockholm, and this particular remix was played the very same minute I walked into the club. (Cheque is in the post guys)."