NRK Music

Booking now for NRK's 15th anniversary celebrations

2012-01-12T06:32:00.000-08:00

NRK Music celebrates 15 years in the business this year, and plans are afoot for a special triple CD package featuring some of the many hi lights from the last decade and a half. To be released in April, "Forever Underground (Artifacts 1997-2012)" will also include a bonus mix CD from label founder, DJ and producer, Nick Harris.

Bookings are currently being taken by Sweat Lodge Agency for the 15th anniversary tour and events, featuring Nick Harris and guests. A special set at Berlin's Panorama Bar is locked down for April, so all promoters who would like to express interest in the tour please email james@sweatlodgeagency.com

More info at Sweat Lodge Agency

Welcoming Leviathan Sounds to the family

2012-01-12T04:50:00.001-08:00

Strobelight Ltd, the parent company of NRK Music, welcomes a new label to the family. Leviathan Sounds is the new imprint from up and coming producer, Admiral, and specialises in some pretty out there tech house sounds and raw club cuts. Admiral opens the label account with his 'Scorpio Rising' EP, already picking up favourable comment from the likes of Laurent Garnier, Dinky, Kris Wadsworth and more.

'Scorpio Rising' EP will be released on Beatport on January 23rd, followed two weeks later on all other digital sites including Whatpeoopleplay, Juno, Traxsource and iTunes.

Admiral - Scorpio Rising E.P. (LEVIATHAN001) by Leviathan Sounds

Ed Davenport to drop debut album in March

2012-01-12T04:14:00.000-08:00

Berlin resident and British electronic producer, Ed Davenport, has been a mainstay on NRK over the last 12 months or so, plying his powerful and emotive sounds over a variety of EPs. Davenport has now completed his debut long player, 'Counterchange', and his first album will be released in March.

Crossing the lines between house and techno music, Berlin has obviously been a huge influence on Davenport's sound over the last year, as have the hybrid sounds of dubstep, ambient techno and other inspirational sounds. 'Counterchange' features many moods and textures but runs very coherently and plays out like a perfect snapshot of electronic dance music as we know it today. The album features reworkings of previous singles 'More Red Lights' and 'New Yorkshire', and shows us just why Davenport is fast evolving in his sound and stature.

'Counterchange' will be released in March, and will be preceded by another single, featuring a remix by Roman Lindau.

For a flavour of Ed's sounds, check out this DJ set from Berlin Arena a couple of months back.

Ed Davenport @ Arena 30.09.11 by Ed Davenport

Ibiza Voice interview with Nick Harris

2012-01-12T04:07:00.001-08:00

Ibiza Voice gets the lowdown on Stoned Immaculate, the new label launched by Nick Harris.

Read the article here

Nick Harris launches new label for 2012

2012-01-06T02:48:00.000-08:00

Most known for being the head honcho of long serving bastion of the British house scene, NRK Music, Nick Harris launches a new label for 2012, and takes the first release slot for himself.

Stoned Immaculate is the label, and will focus on straight up house trax, slightly dubbed around the edges, and always aimed for the dancefloor. And Nick's first release for the new label nails the ethos pretty well, with three new tracks, all cut from simple cloth but with classic house elements doing what they do best.

'Under Control' slams hard like a slice of Kerri Chandler in a duel with Lil' Louis, 'Surfing With Kilgore' dubs it up Mood II Swing style and 'Feel Like Movin' skips just right with plenty of organ action.

'Dispatches' EP by Nick Harris is out on Stoned Immaculate as a digital release only, from 30th January 2012.

Nick Harris "White Leather" EP out now with Kiki and Hector on the remix

2011-12-13T06:51:00.001-08:00

“White Leather”, in its original “Xtra Tight Mix”, is built upon a sturdy, bass driven, moody beat and a carnival-esque melody lead, with plenty of percs and snaps to keep the energy levels up. Little breaks for enveloping Juno chords and rolling Chicago style deep beats keep the track nice & warm before the nagging melody kicks back in again. On the remix of “White Leather” we find Kiki (BPitch/Crosstown Rebels) stick with the percussive vibe and melody, fattening things up somewhat with a super bass heavy synth riff and stringy pads evocative of classic Carl Craig techno moments.

“Sunrise Over Volta” is a growling, bass heavy workout with hints of Kerri Chandler’s techier moments, tweaking little melodies in and out of the mix, filtering elements to and fro, all the while keeping things simple and focused on the floor. And providing his own interpretation, Hector Murillo, currently providing stellar sounds for the likes of Desolat, Tsuba, 2020 Vision and Mobilee, turns out a groovy as hell remix. Concrete heavy beats shuffle nicely and provide the groove, whilst Hector teases in the original elements for a swinging remix.

White Leather EP download on Beatport

White Leather EP 12" on NRK webshop

Soundcloud link

Brand new NRK Music webshop now open

2011-12-13T06:48:00.001-08:00

We would like to inform you that the NRK shop has moved over to a new location. Using Shopify as our host, purchases and payment handling are as secure as they get, so we hope that our NRK shop experience will be far superior to the previous shop which has suffered problems over the last few months.

The new address is http://nrk-music.myshopify.com/

Hope you can take time to check it out and see what's on offer at the shop, more product being added all the time. Plus we've some special offers on The Lab and Back In The Box brands, and some NRK Coast2Coast tee-shirts going at sale prices

Nick Harris - Electronic Groove podcast now online

2011-12-13T06:43:00.000-08:00

Nick wraps up a busy and productive year with a special new podcast mix for Electronicgroove.com., featuring tracks & mixes from Radio Slave, Dan Ghenacia, Alexkid, Romanthony, Move D, Ripperton & more. Download the podcast now for 60 minutes of pure underground house.

Click here to stream/download Nick's Electronicgroove podcast

SLIM TV interview with Ed Davenport

2011-11-21T07:32:00.000-08:00

SLIM TV interview with Paul Woolford

2011-11-21T07:30:00.000-08:00

NRK Music profile on Teshno site

2011-11-17T05:53:00.000-08:00

Nick Harris gives an open and frank interview with the Teshno blog, discussing the highs and lows of the last 15 years label history, thoughts on the past, present and the future.

Read the article here

Slim TV interview with Nick Harris

2011-11-16T03:02:00.000-08:00

Ed Davenport's "New Yorkshire" EP out this week on 12" vinyl

2011-11-09T03:16:00.000-08:00

Ed Davenport's "New Yorkshire" EP is out this week on 12" vinyl, including a particulary tasty Fred P Reshape and a sublime cut titled "Testament". The single precedes Davenport's debut album, "Counterchange" which will get a release in 2012.

Purchase at Juno Records

NRK & Sweatlodge present a night at Tresor with Paul Woolford & guests

2011-10-17T02:23:00.000-07:00

NRK Music team up with Berlin based booking agency and radio host, Sweatlodge, for a special night at the infamous Tresor Club as part of the city-wide BerMuDa season. The special guest for the evening is Paul Woolford, an artist and DJ who continues to raise his game, most recently with production work for Carl Craig's Planet E as well as the great Hotflush label, run by Scuba. Woolford represents NRK Music on this night in preperation for his release of The Lab 04, due out early 2012.

Also on the bill are NRK's Nick Harris, Ed Davenport (extra special live set!), Oliver Deutschmann, Elie Eidelman and Dairmount. The party takes place on Saturday 5th November and runs from Midnight til dawn...

But tickets on Resident Advisor
Sweat Lodge Agency
Tresor

Seth Troxler - the Lab 03 - out now!

2011-10-10T06:03:00.000-07:00

The Lab, NRK's mix series devoted to the world's most cutting edge DJs and forward thinking sounds, returns this week with an instalment compiled and mixed by undoubtedly one of the scene's most talented and brightest stars.

Hailing from the suburbs of Detroit, Seth Troxler has made an incredible journey over the last few years, from the local DJ spots at Detroit's The Works club and behind the counter service at the famous Melodies & Memories record store, to the most top drawer nights and clubs across the world, such as Fabric, Panorama Bar, DC10, The Rex et al. With a youthful enthusiasm and leftfield charm, Seth has become a huge favourite of clubbers and party freaks, so much so that he was voted the 3rd most popular DJ in Resident Advisor's poll for 2010. But behind the public perception of Troxler, he is seriously dedicated and passionate about quality underground electronic music, taking giant leaps with his latest Visionquest project, a collective of friends and fellow artists such as Ryan Crosson, Shaun Reeves and Lee Curtis. His productions and collaborations with esteemed artists like Deetron, Matthew Dear and Tiefschwarz, and labels like Crosstown Rebels, Circus Company, Wolf & Lamb and Wagon Repair show an artist deeply in tune with the cutting edge electronic music that endeavours to push the envelopes of dance music.

Seth Troxler - The Lab 03 is out now on 2CD (Mixed), 2CD (DJ friendly Unmixed), digital album and various 12" vinyl samplers.

More info at http://www.nrkmusic.com/thelab

The Lab mini-site
The Lab on Beatport
The Lab on iTunes
The Lab on Whatpeopleplay.com
The Lab on Traxsource

Kiki & Hector on the remix of Nick Harris' new EP

2011-09-19T04:53:00.000-07:00

NRK Music keeps driving forwards, always with a relatively wide palette of deep house and techno sounds, and NRK171 sees label boss, Nick Harris, deliver another EP of solid house material.

“White Leather”, in its original “Xtra Tight Mix”, is built upon a sturdy, bass driven, moody beat and a carnival-esque melody lead, with plenty of percs and snaps to keep the energy levels up. Little breaks for enveloping Juno chords and rolling Chicago style deep beats keep the track nice & warm before the nagging melody kicks back in again. On the remix of “White Leather” we find Kiki (BPitch/Crosstown Rebels) stick with the percussive vibe and melody, fattening things up somewhat with a super bass heavy synth riff and stringy pads evocative of classic Carl Craig techno moments.

“Sunrise Over Volta” is a growling, bass heavy workout with hints of Kerri Chandler’s techier moments, tweaking little melodies in and out of the mix, filtering elements to and fro, all the while keeping things simple and focused on the floor. And providing his own interpretation, Hector Murillo, currently providing stellar sounds for the likes of Desolat, Tsuba, 2020 Vision and Mobilee, turns out a groovy as hell remix. Concrete heavy beats shuffle nicely and provide the groove, whilst Hector teases in the original elements for a swinging remix.

"White Leather" EP will be available on 12" vinyl and digital download in December.

Nick Harris - White Leather/Sunrise Over Volta -Kiki/Hector rmxs (NRK171) by nicknrk

New single and album from Ed Davenport

2011-09-19T03:38:00.000-07:00

NRK look towards the release of ʻCounterchangeʼ, the debut album from the excellent Ed Davenport and sets the scene with ʻNew Yorkshireʼ, the superb lead single backed with remixes from Fred P and Nick Harris...

Over the past 5 years Ed Davenport has become a name synonymous with quality electronic music. From his recordings for labels such as Poker Flat, Liebe* Detail and NRK to his impressive DJ sets at clubs such as Berghain, Davenportʼs has proved himself an invaluable asset to the scene.

Now the UK born, Berlin based producer is readying himself for the release of his debut long player, ʻCounterchangeʼ, due on NRK in early 2012. As part of the build up, the label is releasing the first single taken from the album, the excellent ʻNew Yorkshireʼ. The artist himself describes the record as being dedicated “to the pioneering sounds of the North, fused with the heavy house beats filtering across the Atlantic from the East Coast” and the choice of New York producer Fred P to perform remix duties, alongside Nick Harris completes this concept.

The release offers 4 great versions of ʻNew Yorkshireʼ including the original club and club dub, these 2 mixes have a typical Davenport mix of heavy analog beats and warm, synth elements, finished off with the distinctive room-filling sound explored in his previous 'More Red Lights' EP.

New Yorkʼs Fred P, a producer whose name is on everyoneʼs lips right now, provides the first of the 2 remixes. For his version of ʻNew Yorkshireʼ he strips things back and delivers a deliciously deep slice of house with a brooding and intense atmosphere, showing exactly why the Soul People man is in such demand right now.

Following in his footsteps, NRK label boss Nick Harris steps up and turns in a brilliant Chicago inspired techno/house fusion mix that is certain to be a highlight for many Djs.

Nestled in the middle of the package is additional track ʻTestamentʼ, a beautifully deep and emotive nine and a half minute recordings that draws on a laid back drum track and bassline and rich pads and piano lines to create a sunrise masterpiece.

This is the first single from Ed Davenportʼs early 2012 debut album ʻCounterchangeʼ and if itʼs anything to go by we may be looking at one of the most exciting electronic albums of the year to come.

Ed Davenport - New Yorkshire EP (NRK170) by nicknrk

Seth Troxler - The Lab 03 - exclusive tracklist details

2011-08-22T02:44:00.000-07:00

We can exclusively reveal the tracklisting details for Seth Troxler's forthcoming "The Lab" mix on NRK Music. Out in October, this stunning 2CD mix compilation finds the Visionquest man at the top of his game, effortlessley blending over two and a half hours of the finest underground house and electronic dance. Featured artists on the mix include Ricardo Villalobos, Dinky, Deniz Kurtel, Oni Ayhun, Andrew Weatherall, DBX (in a collaboration with Moritz Von Oswald) and Lawrence. Seth gives us a little insight into the mix, and how he approached it;

"When I was asked to do this mix, it was a huge honor for me. To be involved in a mix series presented by such an iconic label as NRK, witch has previously featured two of the best DJs of our time, Dice and Steve Bug, I felt a great amount of pressure to deliver something different. My interpretation of the concept behind the Lab series was to present ideas like a scientist working in some secret base off the cost of Myanmar…. when night talk with spider monkeys has just gone too far, what do you do, what’s there left to do? Delivering a mix compilation is very different to mixing in a club or doing a podcast. It’s about making something that will stand the test of time, something that doesn't feature all the current hits, so won’t feel dated a month after its release. Only time will tell whether I’ve managed to achieve this."

CD01
01. Hatikvah - Big Mind
02. Bearweasel - Button Down The Moose (Echologist Dub)
03. David Alvarado - Beautification
04. Lindstrom Vs Mungolian Jetset - A Blast Of Loser (9406 Version)
05. Hati Munetsi - Ceremony (African Mix)
06. Tommy Bones - After The Club
07. Home & Garden - Themes Of Yesterday
08. Dinky - Polvo
09. Soul Capsule - Lady Science (NYC Sunrise)
10. DBX - City On The Edge Of Forever
11. Daze Maxim - Tomorrow Universe
12. Deepak Sharma & Dieter Krause - Wolkenreise (DJ Qu Remix)
13. David Durango - Mosaic
14. Vernon Bara & Igor Vicente - Don't Feel No Way
15. DeWalta - Farina
16. Masomenos – Sunsun

CD02
01. POD - Rozetta Says Bad Shit
02. Ark - Arkuarium
03. Exercise One - Prowl
04. Chaim feat. Meital De Razon - Alive (Deniz Kurtel Remix)
05. Ric Y Martin - Teiwass
06. Oni Ayhun - OAR001-A
07. Crosson & Merveille - No Hastel
08. Und - Rodeo
09. Dinky - This Is Your Heart
10. Dntel - Dreams (Lawrence Mix 02)
11. WestBoy - S L I V A (Chaim Remix)
12. Daniel Bortz & Sascha Sibler - Fantasy
13. Superpitcher - White Lightning
14. Radioactive Man – Fed-Ex To Munchen (Andrew Weatherall Version Edit)
15. Dinky - Time To Lose It

Seth Troxler - The Lab 03 will be released in October on 2CD (Mixed), 2CD (DJ friendly Unmixed), digital album and various 12" vinyl samplers.

The Lab website

Back in The Lab with Seth Troxler

2011-07-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

The Lab, NRK's mix series devoted to the world's most cutting edge DJs and forward thinking sounds, returns this Autumn with an instalment compiled and mixed by undoubtedly one of the scene's most talented and brightest stars.

Hailing from the suburbs of Detroit, Seth Troxler has made an incredible journey over the last few years, from the local DJ spots at Detroit's The Works club and behind the counter service at the famous Melodies & Memories record store, to the most top drawer nights and clubs across the world, such as Fabric, Panorama Bar, DC10, The Rex et al. With a youthful enthusiasm and leftfield charm, Seth has become a huge favourite of clubbers and party freaks, so much so that he was voted the 3rd most popular DJ in Resident Advisor's poll for 2010. But behind the public perception of Troxler, he is seriously dedicated and passionate about quality underground electronic music, taking giant leaps with his latest Visionquest project, a collective of friends and fellow artists such as Ryan Crosson, Shaun Reeves and Lee Curtis. His productions and collaborations with esteemed artists like Deetron, Matthew Dear and Tiefschwarz, and labels like Crosstown Rebels, Circus Company, Wolf & Lamb and Wagon Repair show an artist deeply in tune with the cutting edge electronic music that endeavours to push the envelopes of dance music.

And so it's with welcoming arms that Seth comes to NRK to compile and mix a double album project for it's The Lab series, of which Loco Dice and Steve Bug have produced stellar previous entries. Label boss, Nick Harris, explains further; "for me, The Lab is all about encouraging the artist involved to experiment a little with the music, the tempos, tones, the overall vibe, literally as though the mix were created in some kind of electronic laboratory. And really, Seth was right on my radar when we came off the back of the excellent Steve Bug compilation. It's been a long time in the making however, I first spoke with Seth last June (2010) about doing the mix, and he was up for it right away, but of course with such a busy and global schedule, it's been difficult to get together and put something down that we are both happy with. But I'm a patient man, I believe in waiting for good things, and not rushing through something that we would later look back on and say, well, we could have done it better. So a lot of track inclusion ideas have been bounded around, and Seth has built up such experience with the tracks through playing like 3-4 times a week all over the place, and he has finally come through with over 2 and a half hours of music that has quite literally blown my mind, and I've been involved with house and techno for many years, and some of the music on this mix is next level shit!"

"Seth Troxler - The Lab" will be released on September 26th on multiple physical and digital formats. Further details on tracklisting to be announced soon.

Ed Davenport: RA Podcast 268

2011-07-18T02:42:00.001-07:00

Ed Davenport mixes up the latest podcast for Resident Advisor. A mix that seemlessly blends old house gems, dark tech moments and soundtrack skits, Ed features tracks and remixes from Bandulu, Pal Joey, 95 North, Photek, Morgan Geist and more.

Check out Ed's Resident Advisor podcast here

Anthony 'Shake' Shakir's Back In The Box chart

2011-07-07T04:03:00.000-07:00

Check out Anthony 'Shake' Shakir's Back In The Box chart for Beatport

Ed Davenport's Back In The Box chart

2011-07-07T04:02:00.001-07:00

Check out Ed Davenport's Back In The Box chart for Beatport

Kris Needs' Back In The Box chart

2011-07-07T04:00:00.000-07:00

Check out Kris Needs' Back In The Box chart for Beatport

DJ Deep's Back In The Box chart

2011-07-07T03:59:00.001-07:00

Check out DJ Deep's Back In The Box chart for Beatport

Nick Harris' Back In The Box chart

2011-07-07T03:55:00.000-07:00

Check out Nick Harris' Back In The Box chart for Beatport

Massimo Di Lena's Back In The Box chart

2011-07-07T03:41:00.000-07:00

Check out Massimo Di Lena's Back In The Box chart for Beatport

Vince Watson's Back In The Box chart

2011-07-07T03:39:00.000-07:00

Check out Vince Watson's Back In The Box chart for Beatport

Mark Pritchard's Back In The Box chart

2011-07-07T03:37:00.001-07:00

Check out Mark Pritchard's Back In The Box chart for Beatport

Tom Middleton's Back In The Box chart

2011-07-07T03:34:00.000-07:00

Check out Tom's Back In The Box chart for Beatport

Back In The Box Pt. 1 - Shake/Steve Hillage/Stefan Robbers/Matt Cogger

2011-06-15T03:31:00.000-07:00

Global Communication's epic romp through techno's first golden age, Back In The Box, is now out in the shops, available on CD, vinyl and digital formats. Tom Middleton and Mark Pritchard have dug deep into the history of techno and electronica and pulled out some stone cold classics. In this article, part one of a two part series, we catch up with some of the artists and producers who are featured on the Back In The Box selection and pose a few questions to them about the past, and the future.

Anthony 'Shake' Shakir (Shake - Sonar 123)

You appear to be a real unsung hero in the Detroit history books. Your name crops up on countless seminal records, maybe the edits, or co-productions....what was your musical path in Detroit, how did you hook up with Juan and the others?

Unsung is a funny way to describe it or me. I made a decision to figure out and find out how to make a record. Records have been a part of my life all of my life, so it was a natural progression for me. There were parties that were thrown by high schoolers and I was aware of Juan Atkins and his music with Cybotron. I did not know his music was made in Detroit. Mike Huckaby and I went to Cooley High School and we talked about music and records. At one of these parties we ran into a friend named Eric Simms who knew Eddie Fowlkes and Derrick May, who introduced me to them. By this time the Electrifying Mojo was on the radio and he had played some mixes and had some contests for people to submit mixes to be played. I submitted a mix and he played it on his show. From there I wanted to figure out how to make records. Charles King, a neighborhood friend, had a Korg poly 800 and let me borrow it and I fooled around with it. I made some things and put them on a tape and gave them to Derrick to see what he thought about them. I talked to Eddie and he gave me good advice. I met Juan much later...

Sonar 123 is such a seminal track, can you give us a bit of history on that? Wasn't it part of a release on Juan's label before hitting the UK?

The bleep thing had done been on some tracks out of London at that time. I did like them but I did not know who did them or that it was a part of something else. The same friend who had the poly 800 had moved on to a Casio CZ 5000 and let me use it. I never figured it out but I could make a few sound patches with it. With a borrowed Aleesis 8 track sequencer I made the Sonar 123 track. By this time, Derrick and Juan had set up studios on the corner of Gratiot and Riopelle and I was hanging out down there and they were touring Europe. Juan had the record and eventually put it out through Europe. He liscensed it to Peacefrog and they had put it out.

Do you remember your meeting with Mark Pritchard here in the UK?

I remember meeting Mark the first time I was in the UK. He was a cool guy and very knowledgeable. He knew me and my works, and his musical arsenal was incredibly well stocked.

It was at Bath's Hub Club...I remember taking you to the stores because the airline lost your clothes and we had to get you kitted out with new threads!! Did you have mutual appreciation for Mark (and Tom's) music?

I was not aware of all of the stuff they did, just hints of it. When I saw Mark's arsenal, I was overwhelmed. I had only seen that much equipment in advertisements or store displays. I liked the beat oriented stuff they did more than the ambient things they did. The ambient stuff is music for flowers to me, and flowers do not buy records, oh, and I have yet been able to find clothes in Europe.

Rush Hour have recently put together a retrospective compilation of the Frictional catalogue. How did the Rush Hour album come about, and what are your plans for the future?

I had always wanted to do an album, but I did not what it to be a retrospective album. I wanted to do an album of new material. I wanted to try to do an album of new original material for EFA, I only had one and half tracks at that time na dhten they went out of business. I sought out Rush Hour as I knew about some of the records they put out. My future plans are to continue doing tracks for my label Frictional.

Steve Hillage (System 7 & Derrick May - Altitude)

So how did your collaborations come about with Derrick May?

We met Derrick at 10 Records in 1990 and got on really well. Among other things he was impressed that I was a friend of Manuel Gottsching and he was intrigued by some of my guitar sounds. We initially worked with him in 1990 in London, but we’ve also subsequently been out to Detroit. We still see Derrick every so often, mostly at festivals and dance events when we’re playing on the same bill, mostly in Japan. We’ve discussed doing some more stuff together.

From Gong to System 7, did you see a natural progression from your early musical works to the ambient/electronica sounds of System 7 and beyond?

Completely – it’s been a natural logical progression. We were hearing things in the ‘70s that if we’d had then the sort of computer audio, sampling and midi devices we have now we would have been making stuff like System 7 then. We’ve now been doing System 7 for 20 years, which is much longer than we were doing the psychedelic rock band thing and our love for electronic dance music is undiminished.

Your label, A-Wave, has just reissued the System 7/Derrick May work on the digital platforms, and there's a new Carl Craig mix of System 7 floating around. What's in the pipeline for you at the moment, and can we expect any further material/collaborations soon?

Carl’s new System 7 mix is for our new single PositiveNoise, which is taken from our new album UP. The original version is a collaboration between System 7 and A Guy Called Gerald. Gerald now lives in Berlin and we’ve been spending quite a lot of time out there – it’s a place we like very much. There’s plenty of stuff bubbling around for future projects but at this precise moment we’re doing lots of live shows and DJ dates to promote the album.

Stefan Robbers (Florence - A Touch Of Heaven)

The Netherlands seems to be the secret weapon on the Back In The Box compilation, with two releases on your own Eevo Lute label and a Djax track. Where was the influence coming from in the Dutch scene? Were you looking to Detroit, and did the UK acts of the day have any influence on you?

I can't speak for others but for me, Detroit and Chicago were my inspiration. UK electronic music was there of course but did not interest me so much, I mostly looked for the places where it started, curious about the reasons why this new music was coming from these places.

Your output in the 90s was very influential through the Florence material through the the Terrace stuff, Con Man, REC etc. As with many producers of this era, many had different aliases for different sounds, do you think producers of today are lacking ambition? There seems to be a shortage of artists who produce music across the board and under different names…

I don't know. Over the years, even now, I find that people develop their music, sometimes it takes a while. But it still happens that I come across music that, when looking into the artist, has it 's origin with a producer that has been around for a long time and is involved in different area's of music. As for young producers, we should give them time....

Eevo Lute was and is a special label in the history of electronic. Can you give us a little bit of history on the label, and what your current plans are for both the label, and your own music.

This year Eevo Lute celebrates it's 20th anniversary. It had a sabbatical in the 2000's and reappeared as a digital label at the end of 2006. It was renamed into EevoNext Recordings then and is now run by me and Estroe together. We have a few re-releases ready to go over the next months, and September will see the rebirth of the 'Agenda' tradition, a yearly compilation presenting current and new artists on the label. Starting in October, we will start a small tour with current and older artists, no schedule yet but we hope to visit as many countries as possible with this. As Terrace I release an album, 'Face infinity' in January this year. Later this year I will release an EP and I'm also working on some other labels with similar output.

Matt Cogger (Neuropolitique - Mind You Don't Trip)

Can you tell us how "Mind You Don't Trip" came about. You recorded this in Detroit with the assistance of Anthony 'Shake' Shakir, right?

Playtime Presents "Mind You Don't Trip" to give it it's full title, came about from going through Juan's record collection looking for the most odd and irrelevant records to take samples from. The main hook came from Holst's ‘The Planets’. The phrase was slowed down by about 300% to get it into a loop that would run over sixteenths. There was also a clarinet solo from a Walt Disney Children's 7 inch that sounded catchy but was a bit too twee in other respects. Fortunately, it was a 7inch with no small spindle hole (it required an adaptor to play) so I forced the vinyl up to the spindle so that it played completely warped. After a few more samples were amassed I recorded several drum patterns on the 909 and the 808 making sure there were enough to cover any bridge or breakdown sections. I then added the bassline and that's when Shake came in at a fulcrum moment and turned everything up to roughen the sound. I mixed it live with 12 or so tracks on the fly.

You also had releases out on landmark labels such as ART, Buzz and New Electronica. How did these come about, and did you feel especially linked to the other UK producers of that time (Aphex Twin, Black Dog, Stasis etc.)?

There were only a few of us making this kind of stuff then in the UK so one kind of knew everyone else anyway and sooner or later someone would say, "will you do something for me?" I didn't really feel aligned with anyone else, no.

Looking at your discography, it appears that you dropped out of music production at the end of the 90s, what have you been up to since, and have you any plans for new music?

Since then I ran a drinking club in Soho and was a tour manager for quite a few bands.
I've produced some new stuff but I'm not sure about it where it sits. Everything now sounds so samey. Maybe it's game-over.

Interviews by Nick Harris
Global Communication - Back In The Box

The medicinal house sounds of Nick Harris' latest EP

2011-06-14T12:14:00.000-07:00

NRK's headhoncho returns to his own label after releases on Akbal, Fresh Meat and Climatic Sound with a typically varied EP that crams various moods and tempos into the mix. "Hazy Shade Of Something" EP features three brand new tracks and a remix from Juju & Jordash.

"Fourteen Miles" is a Kerri/Strictly Rhythm inspired cut that keeps on building with jazzy licks and stabbed strings for a terrace time track. The stripped back, quirky medicinal funk of 'Medication Time' calls upon Golf Channel/Philpot duo Juju & Jordash for a seriously challenging freestyle techno workout, complete with wild panning and cinematic FX, a remix not for the feint hearted! Completing the EP is 'Amnesiac Nights', moody & spooky tech house flavours.

"Hazy Shade Of Something" EP is out on digital download from June 27th

Nick Harris - Medication Time (incl. Juju Jordash Remix) by nicknrk

Kenny Hawkes

2011-06-13T03:07:00.001-07:00

It is with a sad heart that we received the news of the passing of long time friend, artist and confidant, Kenny Hawkes. Known affectionately as "The Dark Lord Of House", Kenny made a huge contribution to the house music scene, through his involvement with the London radio station Girls FM, and his regular Wednesday night sessions at London's Bar Rhumba (along with friend and fellow DJ Luke Solomon) called Space.

It was at Space where our relationship with Kenny began, a huge mutual appreciation of the same music and style helped the fledgeling NRK DJ Agency spread it's wings. Kenny would go through our roster, and with ease would rattle off the names of DJs he would like to come and play Space. And so the likes of Nick Holder, Angel Moraes, Gemini, Dimitri From Paris, Steve Silk Hurley, Ian Pooley, Sirus, The Stickmen and so many more all made their appearances at Bar Rhumba, alongside firm favourites like Derrick Carter, Sneak etc. Kenny was always hugely supportive of our agency and record label, and we reciprocated the love whenever possible, adding Kenny to our roster for DJ bookings, and ultimatley getting him onto the label (remixing the classic "Every Now & Then" by Ralph Falcon, and mixing the 17th installment of our nite:life series).

Kenny would continue to make his mark in the capital city, with his involvement in the legendary Fridays R Firin sessins at the original Oxford Street location of Plastic People, along with Sub Club's DJ Harri. And of course, his music production career took off in fine style, with releases on Paper Recordings, Luxury Service, 2020 Vision and Music For Freaks. DJ spots around the world, and a knack for doing his thing his own way, Kenny never towed the line musically, making music that so reflected his personality and wicked sense of humour.

Kenny moved back to his native Brighton a few years back where he continued his involvement in the music scene. I personally invited him down to Bristol an a number of occassions to DJ, I know that he always had an affinity to the city and was well liked by the gang down here. I always ensured we had a good time when he was down, and he wholeheartedly got involved in the makings of a super night, always having us in fits of laughter with his wicked and imaginative sense of humour, which will be very much missed now. And the music kept on flowing with various tracks he had been working on making their way to me for my listening pleasure.

Our thoughts and wishes go out to Kenny's family and friends, but we take great comfort knowing that we are left behind with so many special memories and recorded music from Kenny that will ensure that his spirit lives on. RIP Kenny xx

Global Communication - Back In The Box now out on digital

2011-06-07T06:36:00.000-07:00

Already picking up some seriously glowing reviews from the likes of DJ Magazine, iDJ Magazine, Resident Advisor, The Wire and many more, Global Communication's entry into the Back In The Box series is now available as a digital album. The 31 track unmixed selection is available on most major sites, including Beatport, Whatpeopleplay, Traxsource, Juno, Stompy and iTunes. A full list with links below..... Meanwhile, Tom Middleton, Mark Pritchard and NRK's Nick Harris discuss the Back In The Box album and series here

Beatport digital album
Beatport mix album
Whatpeopleplay.com digital album
Traxsource digital album
Boomkat digital album
Bleep.com digital album

Nick Harris - DJ Mag (Ukraine) Podcast

2011-05-25T06:19:00.000-07:00

Nick Harris - DJ Mag (Ukraine) Podcast by nicknrk

Quenum - Nude Black Runner - Sthlmaudio
Kink - Don't Stop - Ponton
Julio Bashmore - Battle For MIddle You - PMR
Danny Howells - Everything's Here (Deetron Remix) - Dig Deeper
The Martinez Brothers - The Causeway - Objecktivity
Nick Harris - Fourteen Miles (NRK)
Reelsoul & Alix Alvarez - Bom - Alix Alvarez Dub (Soul Channel)
Lone - Coreshine Voodoo - R&S
Jerome Sydenham & Argy - Mogadishu Nights (Part 1) - Ibadan Records
Dan Berkson - Anything For You - Crosstown Rebels
Nina Kraviz - Okain's Scream (Sebo K Remix) - Tsuba

Global Communication - Back In The Box 12" sampler 01 out now

2011-05-18T05:54:00.000-07:00

The first 12" sampler to be taken from Global Communication's upcoming "Back In The Box" compilation is available now from Juno Records, and all other vinyl stores. There's also a great review on Resident Advisor, who scored this release 5 out of 5!

Global Communication - Live In A Library!

2011-05-09T05:42:00.000-07:00

Tom Middleton and Mark Pritchard, AKA Global Communication, get busy in support of their upcoming Back In The Box compilation on NRK. But for one special appearance, the chaps will be asking for silence and the very best of order, as Global Communication take to the live stage in the historical surroundings of the British Library, London.

Tom and Mark will be performing their landmark album "76:14" on June 17th, as part of the "Late At The Library: Out Of This World" festival. Support DJs on the night will be Radio 1's Rob Da Bank, and Jon Hopkins, plus a live performance from The Radio Science Orchestra. The event, at the British Library Entrance Hall, London, starts at 7.30pm til 11pm.

Global Communication will also be spreading some electronic love over the summer months at Glade Festival, Sonar and Big Chill festival. Meanwhile, their entry into the Back In The Box series gets released on May 30th, with a jaw dropping double CD of Detroit and European techno goodies from the likes of Derrick May, Carl Craig, Juan Atkins, Aphex Twin, 808 State and Kevin Saunderson.

More info

Global Communication announce details for Back In The Box

2011-03-31T02:24:00.000-07:00

NRK Music's much revered retrospective compilation series, Back In The Box, returns in May with a double mix compiled and sequenced by one of electronic music's most enduring pairs. Not just Back In The Box, but back together, Global Communication, AKA Tom Middleton and Mark Pritchard, reunite following a 15 year hiatus to lay down a collection of genre and era defining Techno and Electronica.

Following on from previous Back In The Box entrants (Dave Clarke, Joey Negro, DJ Sneak and Louie Vega), Global Communication dig deep into their record collections to revive forgotten gems, lost classics and personal favourites. A true connoisseurs compendium of records that helped shape the Global Communication sound. Concentrating on the early to mid 90s period of electronic music, their Back In The Box mix spans the downtempo atmospheric sounds to the cutting edge Detroit techno of the day.

A closer inspection of the mix reveals a journey of two halves, where the wildly experimental sounds and sparse, industrial techno dance beats meet the more reflective and intricate delicacies of the ambience and light breakbeats of electronica. Disc One focuses on the more dancefloor orientated sounds, opening up with a headstrong fusion of some of Detroit's finest music, courtesy of Jay Denham (Fade II Black), Derrick May (here with Steve Hillage's System 7), Kevin "Reese" Saunderson, Carl Craig's BFC project and Anthony "Shake" Shakir, interrupted for a moment by Detroit's possibly first, and only, adopted techno son (just popping over the boarder from Canada), Richie Hawtin, here with a F.U.S.E. classic. The mix picks up a pace with the hardcore assault of Lory D, Neuropolitique and DHS before heading for cruising altitude, with a clever re-pitch of Speedy J's classic "De-Orbit" and then heading into more melodious waters with gems from Flux, Balil, Florence, States Of Mind (Hawtin again) and touching down with some blissful techno from Robert Leiner.

Disc Two delves deeper into the electronic underworld, and whilst the BPMs drop, the intensity of the music never let's up. Detroit once again is represented heavily, but showing another side to it's often heavily guarded face. Rare cuts from Yennek (AKA Kenny Larkin, here remixed by Carl Craig's Inner Zone), Octave One (Never On Sunday), Reel by Real (yep, the one sampled by one LTJ Bukem for a d'n'b classic) and that man Carl Craig (Psyche & Urban Tribe here, Global Comm hugely indebted to this man) display more intricate possibilities to the sound, whilst a track from the 'Godfather Of Techno', Juan Atkins, ensures that the Bellevue Three are all here, present and correct (that'll be Atkins, Saunderson and May). The UK cannot be underestimated in this genre either, and fine cuts from our own 'Godfathers' (808 State) are sequenced with UK's As One (Kirk Degiorgio), Balil, Stasis, and the one who broke on through on his own terms, the uncompromising Aphex Twin. Ending the mix with the beautiful ambience of The Irresistible Force (remixing Sven Vath's Barbarella) and Global Communication's Incidental Harmony, the Back In The Box journey is one that transcends continents, tempos and quite possible brain cells as well

Back In The Box is released on a mixed 2CD, DJ friendly unmixed 2CD, 12" vinyl samplers, and digital album. Legendary scribe, Kris Needs, supplies the linear notes on the CD packaging. Release date: 30th May 2011.

Global Communication - Back In The Box (Mixed)

CD01

1) Fade II Black : The Calling (Reprise)

2) System 7 & Derrick May : Altitude

3) Reese : Just Want Another Chance

4) BFC : Galaxy

5) F.U.S.E. : Technotropic

6) Shake : Sonar 123

7) Lory D : Sickness (Sounds Never Seen)

8) Neuropolitique : Mind You Don't Trip

9) DHS : Number 9 Bad Acid

10) Speedy J : De-Orbit (TM Outer Limits Salute Repitch)

11) Balil : Nort Route

12) Florence : A Touch Of Heaven

13) Flux : True Feelings

14) Reload & E621 : Ptyzh

15) States Of Mind : Audio Q5A

16) Robert Leiner : Aqua Viva

CD02

1) Link - Intro (The Labels)

2) Ismistik - Flow Charts

3) Yennek - Serena X (Carl Craig Inner Zone Remix)

4) Psyche - Elements

5) Never On Sunday - The Journey

6) As One - Amalia

7) Aphex Twin - Tha

8) Stasis - Point Of No Return

9) Balil - Whirling Of The Spirits

10) 808 State - Sunrise

11) Urban Tribe - Covert Action

12) Link - Places of Origin

13) Model 500 - Infoworld

14) Reel by Real - Surkit

15) Ross 154 - Mayflower

16) Global Communication - Incidental Harmony

17) Barbarella - Barbarella (The Irresistible Force Remix)

Back In The Box minisite

Nick Harris - Counting Clouds EP out now on Climatic Sound

2011-03-24T04:39:00.000-07:00

NRK's Nick Harris has a new release out now on Spain's Cliamtic Sound label, the imprint run by DC10's resident, Jose De Divina. "Counting Clouds" EP features two new cuts from Nick, "Counting Clouds" and "Paradise Kissed", and remixes are provided by Jairo Catelo and the Climatic team of De Divina, Vivano and Murdok.
Out now on Beatport, the release has been picking up some positive reaction and comment from some of the scene's most revered DJs.

Steve Bug (Poker Flat) - "Oh yes, Counting Clouds is f...ing beautiful! Will keep on counting..."
Maya Jane Coles - "Love the Jairo Catelo remix!!!"
Lee Burridge - "Paradise! Looking forward to seeing how it sounds on a decent system."
Danny Howells - "Always pure class from Nick!!"
Ryan Crosson (Visionquest) - "Nice stuff from Nick as always. I prefer the originals here."
Terry Francis - (Fabric London) - "Like Paradise Kissed mix. Will play it!"
Raresh - "Paradise Kissed is def the one for me here."
Nick Warren - "Two cracking originals, and the remixes are spot on!"
Manuel Tur - "Really cool original dubby vibe on Counting Clouds. Support."
Osunlade - "Lovin Counting Clouds!! Deep!"
Andy Cato - (Groove Armada) - "Great EP By Nick Harris. Support from me!"

Out now on Beatport

Nick Harris - Counting Clouds by nicknrk

Nick Harris - Counting Clouds In March (Beatport Chart)

2011-03-24T04:03:00.001-07:00

Check out Nick's latest chart for Beatport

Chris Lattner's "A Pair" EP out now on Beatport

2011-03-24T03:50:00.000-07:00

Chris Lattner debuts on NRK after a couple of years of solid productions and remixes on labels such as Moon Harbour, Fear Of Flying, 8Bit, OFF Recordings and Baalsaal Records.

Hailing from Hannover, Germany, Lattner has quickly become one of the masters of the simple, deep, jackin house sound, with many releases and remixes reaching the Top Tens of digital and vinyl charts. His track “Sick” for Fear Of Flying and his remix of Lewis Boardman’s “Mist” on NRK spent many months in the Beatport house Top 10.

On his NRK debut, Lattner provides two new tracks, “One Is Not Enough” and “Two Is A Pair”, that, whilst hardly breaking new ground, are extremely effective and highly polished club tracks.

“One Is Not Enough” is a shuffling, groovy deep house cut with little jazz keys amongst its moody stabs and rising strings. “Two Is A Pair” ups the energy, with little techy fills and incessant stabs that border on acid over it’s rock solid drum pattern.

"A Pair" EP is out now on 12" vinyl and digital at Beatport

Selected DJ reactions so far;

Rocky (X-Press 2) – Superb! Already played on the Ministry radio show
Matthias Tanzmann (Moon Harbour) – 2 bomb tracks!
Tini (Desolat) – Full support from me
Florian Kruse (Kruse & Nuernberg) – classic Lattner tunes! “Two Is A Pair” for me
Huxley - “Two Is A Pair” is a cool track
Kevin Griffith (Tsuba) - 2 very solid house and immensely playable house cuts. nice!
Sasse (Moodmusic) - excellent vibes, love the EP !
Tim Green (Cocoon) - Love Chris Lattner's music. Both great tracks on here. Will play them both!
Nick Curly (8Bit) - another great release from chris...full support!
Nils Nurnberg (Diynamic/NRK) - Another solid EP from Chris... Really into 'Two is a Pair' - great groove and great production!
Moodymanc (2020Vision) – Quality deepness...nice jazzy flavours...diggin em both ta...
Pezzner (Freerange) – Quality house indeed. Both tracks are excellent but I think I'll lean towards "One Is Not Enough"
Stuart MacMillan (Slam) – Two is a Pair for me.

Purchase from Beatport
Purchase vinyl from Juno Records

More Red Lights for Ed Davenport

2011-03-16T09:39:00.000-07:00

Ed Davenport follows up his "Curtain Call" EP for NRK Music with a new 3 track EP titled "More Red Lights".

The title track comes in two mixes; the Main Version of "More Red Lights" is a modern fusion of new and old, with its melodious piano hook teasing away over heavyweight broken beats and crashing 909 cymbals. A pitching vocal line might point to some classic UK rave influences, but "More Red Lights" sounds as fresh a piece of techno-house as you will hear all year. The Dub Version is a more subtle affair, opening up the echo chambers on the snares and rims, and using a bouncing pad to drive the track through.

"Basium" keeps the continuity with a decidedly old school UK flavour. A dubby drum workout builds and builds with further female vox snippets and haunting ambience, never once letting up as the energy rises in a well thought out and precision production.

Out on 12" vinyl and digital download from 4th April 2011

NRK Music present...Remixology

2011-03-15T07:52:00.001-07:00

NRK Music present...Remixology, a collection of classic remixes from the NRK vaults. The art of the remix is deftly handled by some of the biggest names in electronic dance, as original tracks are deconstructed and reconstructed to offer a uniquely different take.

The remixers include Carl Craig, Octave One, John Ciafone, Julien Jabre, Prins Thomas and Radio Slave, all coming through with their interpretations of tracks from the likes of Kerri Chandler, Nick Holder, Foremost Poets, Blackjoy and more.

Hot Lizard - The Theme (Carl Craig Remix)
Jamie Anderson - Time Is Now (Radio Slave Panorama Garage Mix)
Blackjoy - Moustache (Prins Thomas DiskoMix)
Nick Holder - Paradise (Salt City Mix)
Q-Burns Abstract Message - Innocent (King Britt Scuba Remix)
Quentin Harris - Let's Be Young (Julien Jabre Remix)
Kerri Chandler - The Promise (Fish Go Deep Vocal Dub)
Kris Wadsworth - Crushed (Tevo Howard Remix)
Nick Holder - No More Dating DJs (John Ciafone Dub Mix)
Foremost Poets - Moonraker (Magik J Back To My House Mix)
Rocket - People (Chicken Lips Remix)
Terra Deva - Fresh Start (Joshua House Mix)
Akabu - The Way (Octave One Remix)

Out now on Beatport & Traxsource and all other reputable download stores.

Purchase at Beatport

Nick Harris - We Are Zero Podcast

2011-03-01T07:32:00.001-08:00

Nick Harris - We Are Zero Podcast by nicknrk

Tommy Bones - After The Club (Real Tone)
Justin Drake & Kevin Griffiths - Midnight Special (Tsuba)
Claire Ripley - Egos (1trax)
D'Pac - I Wouldn't (Prescription)
Chris Lattner - Two Is A Pair (NRK)
Shonky - Le Velour (FR Late NIte Dub MIx) (Real Tone)
Nick Harris - BizzaRIO (Fresh Meat)
Rick Poppa Howard - I Won't Lay Back (Underground Vocal Mix) (Rush Hour)
Snuff Crew - Feel Inside (Kink & Neville Watson Mix) (Rush Hour)
Kerri Chandler - Get It Off (DJ Deep Edit) (Deeply Rooted)
Partial Arts - Cruising (Battle)
Nick Harris - Turn Down The Lights (NRK)
Sandee - Notice Me (Notice The House Mix) (Fever Records)

Chris Lattner new EP out in March

2011-02-18T07:05:00.001-08:00

Chris Lattner - A Pair EP (NRK167) clips by nicknrk

Nick Harris - Sweat Lodge Agency Podcast - February 2011

2011-02-08T07:47:00.000-08:00

Nick Harris - Sweat Lodge Jan 2011 Podcast by Sweat Lodge

Elastic Reality - Casa De X (Deep Dish Does X Mix) (Tribal)
SeHou - To Who Love (Gel Abril Funk Mix) (Be As One)
Justin Drake & Kevin Griffiths - Nightmoves (Alternate MIx) (8Bit)
Shonky - Le Velour (FR Late Nite Dub) (Real Tone)
Chris Lattner - Two Is A Pair (NRK Music)
The Deep - Dom Dom (Deeply Rooted)
Nick Harris - Elementary (Original Mix) (Fresh Meat)
Tornado Wallace - Twirl & The Beanstalk (Original lMIx) (Delusions Of Grandeur)
Mood II Swing - Move Me (Music For Your Ears)
Yellow Sox - Flim Flam (Original Mix) (Nuphonic)
Ed Davenport - Your Heart Will Do The Work (Bearweasel Mix) (Figures)
Nick Harris - Midnight In Montpelier (demo)
Shlomi Aber - The Majestic (Objektivity)
Maya Jane Coles - The Wait (Ed Davenport No Strings Dub) (Dogmatik)
Underground Resistance - Hardlife (Aaron Carl Remix) (UR)
Sascha Dive - Jus Groove (Tsuba)
Jerome Sydenham - Bang Me (Original MIx) (Apotek)
Ben Klock - Under Pressure (Klockworks)
Steve Rachmand - Rond (Original MIx) (Delsin)
Russ Gabriel - Storm Stalker (Dieb Audio)
Steve Bug - My Sweet Vital Angel (Ovum)
Neal Howard - The Gathering (Future Sound)
Carl Craig - At Les (Planet E)

Nick Harris Top 10 Chart

2011-02-08T07:44:00.000-08:00

01. Rick Poppa Howard - I Won't Lay Back (Underground Vocal Mix) (Rush Hour)
02. Nick Harris - Elementary (Original Mix) (Fresh Meat)
03. Shonky - Le Velour (FR Late Night Dub) (Real Tone)
04. Shlomi Aber - The Majestic (Objektivity)
05. Counterplan - 900 Degrees (DJ Q Remix) (Soma)
06. SeHou - To Who Love (Gel Abril Funk Mix) (Be As One)
07. Furry Freaks - Want Me Like Water (LFSF Dub) (Peacefrog)
08. Ben Klock - Under Pressure (Klockworks)
09. Nick Harris - Big Dub (Akbal Music)
10. Elastic Reality - Casa de X - (Deep Dish Does X) (Tribal)

Justin Drake Top 10 Chart

2011-02-08T07:43:00.001-08:00

01. Dionne - The Dee (Terposition Records)
02. Mr. No.5 - Blitz (Blue Basiquez)
03. John Daly - Yonight (One Track Records)
04. Kerri Chandler - That All I Needed (Max Trax)
05. West Norwood Cassette Library - Blond On Blond (Teal)
06. Future Legends - Groovin (Low Mix) (Definitive)
07. Bluejean - This Is The Sound Of House Music (Bassic Mix) (Forth Floor Records)
08. Space Dimension Controller - Journey To The Core Of The Unknown Sphere (Kyle Hall's I'm Only Breathing Remix) (Royal Oak)
09. Anonym - Go Deeper (Kenny Larkin Remix) (Sushitech)
10. Steve Bug - My Sweet Vital Angel (Ovum)

Ed Davenport Top 10 Chart

2011-02-08T07:41:00.001-08:00

01. Deutschmann & Davenport - Trump (Jerome Sydenham Remix) (Falkplatz)
02. Nick Harris - (Turn Down) The Lights (Argy Dub) (NRK)
03. Jeroen Search - Periapsis (Conforce Remix) (Coincidence)
04. Redshape - Funny Green Hat (Altered Mix) (Poker Flat)
05. Steffi feat. Virginia - Yours (Ostgut Ton)
06. Mr G - Sometimes I Cry (0proof)
07. Oliver Deutschmann - Gimme Some Love (AIM)
08. June - Lost Area (DJ Sprinkles Lost Dancefloor Mix) (These Days)
09. Outsider - Sex Is Extra (Junior Boys Own)
10. Sandwell District - Grey Cut Out (Sandwell District)

Ian Pooley Top 10 chart

2011-02-08T07:27:00.003-08:00

01. Chymera - Ceril (Komplex de Deep)
02. Tom Trago - Lost in the Streets of NYC (Use Me Again)
03. Soundstream - Tease Me (Soundstream)
04. Storm Queen - Look right through (Jimpster Edit) (Environ)
05. Vincenzo - The Clearing (Ian Pooley Remix) (Dessous)
06. Bassfort - Last Night (Freerange)
07. Green Velvet - Flash (Jamie Jones Rmx) (Relief)
08. Lovebirds - The Rain (Steve Bug Remix) (Teardrop)
09. Nina Kraviz - Pain in the Ass (Alexkid Rmx) (Rekids)
10. Soundstream - All Night (Soundstream)

Global Communication - Back Together for Back In The Box

2011-01-11T04:18:00.000-08:00

NRK Music's much revered retrospective compilation series, Back In The Box, returns this Spring with a double mix compiled and sequenced by one of electronic music's most enduring pairs. Not just Back In The Box, but back together, Global Communication, AKA Tom Middleton and Mark Pritchard, reunite following a 15 year hiatus to lay down a collection of genre and era defining Techno and Electronica.

Following on from previous Back In The Box entrants (Dave Clarke, Joey Negro, DJ Sneak and Louie Vega), Global Communication dig deep into their record collections to revive forgotten gems, lost classics and personal favourites. A true connoisseurs compendium of records that helped shape the Global Communication sound. A veritable mix of delights is assured, spanning the downtempo atmospheric sounds to the cutting edge Detroit techno of the day. Concentrating on the early to mid 90s period of electronic music, expect to see and hear some familiar names from that golden era.

Global Communication's debut LP "76:14" ("Best Ambient Album Of The Decade" - The Guardian) has been one of the most acclaimed albums in the ambient/electronic genre since its release in 1994. A career that started in the South West of England, via some early liaisons with Aphex Twin, Middleton and Pritchard set up the Evolution/Universal Language imprints and have also recorded as Reload, Jedi Knights, Secret Ingredients, The Chameleon and Link & E621. They released the first sonic experiments with a certain Matthew Herbert along with a string of key releases from Gerd, The Horn and Danny Breaks.

More recently, Middleton has found great success on the DJ circuit as well as a "go to" remixer, along with his notable electronica meets classical performances and Lifetracks album for Big Chill. Meanwhile Pritchard has been busy with his Harmonic 313 and Africa Hitech projects for Warp and as a DJ has focused on playing the best of UK Bass music and it's roots. Cited as many as the creme de la creme of UK electronica, all these years later their groundbreaking sound and productions are currently being polished off by a legion of new fans, and the Back In The Box compilation will help fuel great interest in the music from that era and ensure it's influence resonates still in today's electronic music scene. Whether it's their collaborations, solo productions or selecting, you can hear it's still all about pure emotions in sound.

Global Communication - Back in The Box will be released on NRK Music in the Spring 2011.

Back In The Box site

Argy, Bearweasel and Massimo Di Lena line up for Zap Dance & Other Moves

2011-01-04T06:08:00.000-08:00

The varied sounds and tempos on Nick Harris' "Zap Dance, And Other Moves" EP gets a vigourous remix shuffle from three leaders of the new school. Originally out in April 2010, "Zap Dance..." gets remixed by Argy (pictured), Bearweasel and Massimo Di Lena.

In this strong package, Bearweasel tackle "Zap Dance" with their trademark lazy groove, Argy supplies two driving tech remixes with a touch of Detroit to the production, and Italy's Massimo Di Lena re-routes "Walkways" with an analogue driven deep excursion. The remixes are already finding favour with Djs like Radio Slave, Seth Troxler, Maya Jane Coles and Afrilounge.

"Zap Dance, And Other Moves" (Remixes) gets released on digital on 16th January 2011.

Nick Harris - Zap Dance & Other Moves (Remixes from Bearweasel, Argy & Massimo De Lena) clips by nicknrk

Kris Wadsworth new EP with remixes from Tevo Howard and Nick Harris

2010-12-09T06:22:00.001-08:00

Kris Wadsworth makes a welcome return to the house music scene after a few months off. And he returns to NRK Music after 2009's stellar "Direct"/"Full Body" EP that came out with David Alvarado and Nick Harris remixes.

So, back at the helm for Wadsworth, and his latest release, we are glad to say, includes all those ingredients that make up his inimitable sound. Raw, swinging, edgy tech house, made with minimum of fuss but maximum groove. Two new tracks then from Kris, "You Called" and "Crushed", and ably assisting on remix duties is the ultra hot Chicago producer Tevo Howard, and NRK's Nick Harris.

"You Called" is a melodic builder, perfect warm up or late night tackle, with it's nagging bass hits, solid drum programming and floating chimes and keys. Nick Harris follows up recent remix work for Nite Grooves and Moodmusic with a solid remix that retains the original's melodic touches.

"Crushed" is a darker slice of house, with a murky and reverberating production, with it's tough and stripped back drums, enveloping pads and pitch bending keys, Wadsworth creates some great warehouse vibes here.

"Escape From 48201" EP is out now on 12" vinyl and digital download

Purchase "Escape From 48201" EP from Beatport
Purchase "Escape From 48201" EP on vinyl from Juno

Time To Jack!

2010-12-09T06:17:00.001-08:00

NRK Music digs deep through the archives to bring together a collection of US/UK jackin house and acid trax. Representing the Windy City are legends Derrick Carter, DJ Sneak, Joshua and Gemini, whilst the UK throw back some suitably twisted grooves from the likes of Freaks, Rob Mello, Spencer Parker, Solid Groove and Paul Woolford.

Other artists featured on JackAttack include Ian Pooley, Foremost Poets and DJ Q.

"JackAttack" is out now as a digital download album, from Beatport, Traxsource, Whatpeopleplay, Stompy, iTunes etc.

Purchase "JackAttack" at Beatport

Nick Harris - Ibiza Voice podcast

2010-11-22T02:54:00.001-08:00

Stream/download here

Sascha Funke Vs Nina Kriviz - Moses (Stimming Remix) (Bpitch)
Terje Bakke - Chere Madame (Strictly Chosen)
Bearweasel - Time To Start Again (Tsuba)
Kiki - Cinema Obscura (Bpitch)
Akabu - Another World (Andre Lodemann Remix) (Z Records)
Jimpster - Inside The Loop (Freerange)
Nick Harris - Sueno (NRK Music)
Kenlou - The Bouce (MAW)
Chris Lattner - Golden Palace (Baalsaal)
Mood-Vibes - Morning Groove (Strictly Rhythm)
L.B. Dub Corp It's What You Feel (Ostgut Ton)

NRK Music hit the Berghain in January

2010-11-15T03:37:00.000-08:00

NRK Music, the UK based deep house and tech-house label, make a rare foray into the events world with a special showcase party at the legendary Panorama Bar in Berlin in January.

Label boss and fledgling producer, Nick Harris, will be joined by special guests Ed Davenport, Justin Drake and Ian Pooley, on Friday 28th January for a session that will keep true to the NRK sound.

NRK Music was set up in 1996, and has been a leading underground label throughout the years. Always keeping abreast with musical shifts, the label has released hundreds of singles and compilation albums from artists as diverse as Joey Negro, Nick Holder, Peace Division, Rolando, Joe Claussell, DJ Sneak, Miguel Migs, Audio Soul Project, Ame, Ron Trent, Dave Clarke and countless others. The label’s discography reads like a who’s who of house music.

The NRK Music night at Panorama Bar features new signing, and Berlin resident Ed Davenport, also know for his stellar releases on Liebe Detail and Poker Flat. Fellow Brit, Justin Drake, was one half of tribal titans Peace Division, and now flies solo with releases and remixes on NRK, Tsuba and Fear Of Flying, and will also be DJing, alongside long time NRK associate, Ian Pooley. Pooley really needs little introduction, but for the uninitiated, the German producer has a long career recording for the likes of Force Inc, V2 and his own Pooled label, as well as remixing Daft Punk, Green Velvet, Yello, The Beloved and many more. Finally, label boss Nick Harris follows up a 12 month period of production activity which has included 3 releases for NRK and remixes for Mood Music and Nite Grooves with a spot at his own party!

NRK Music at Panorama Bar, Berlin on Friday 28th January 2010. Admission from €8.00, the event starts at midnight and runs through til dawn.

Berghain/Panorama Bar
Resident Advisor event page

Kris Wadsworth new EP with remixes from Tevo Howard and Nick Harris

2010-10-18T06:43:00.001-07:00

Kris Wadsworth makes a welcome return to the house music scene after a few months off. And he returns to NRK Music after 2009's stellar "Direct"/"Full Body" EP that came out with David Alvarado and Nick Harris remixes.

So, back at the helm for Wadsworth, and his latest release, we are glad to say, includes all those ingredients that make up his inimitable sound. Raw, swinging, edgy tech house, made with minimum of fuss but maximum groove. Two new tracks then from Kris, "You Called" and "Crushed", and ably assisting on remix duties is the ultra hot Chicago producer Tevo Howard, and NRK's Nick Harris.

"You Called" is a melodic builder, perfect warm up or late night tackle, with it's nagging bass hits, solid drum programming and floating chimes and keys. Nick Harris follows up recent remix work for Nite Grooves and Moodmusic with a solid remix that retains the original's melodic touches. "Crushed" is a darker slice of house, with a murky and reverberating production, with it's tough and stripped back drums, enveloping pads and pitch bending keys, Wadsworth creates some great warehouse vibes here. On the remix of "Crushed" Tevo Howard shows just why he's hot property right now, with a superb acid laced remix that keeps the shuffling rhythm of Kris' Original Mix and just lets the groove run. Howard has been responsible for some great music and remixes for Rush Hour, Rebirth and his own Beautiful Granville Records label, and is keeping the true house spirit alive in his productions.

"You Called"/"Crushed" gets a release on 12" vinyl and digital download in November.

Kris Wadsworth - Crushed (Original Mix and Tevo Howard Mix) clips by nicknrk

Nick Harris returns with "The Everlasting" EP

2010-09-27T06:59:00.000-07:00

NRK main man Nick Harris has made quite an impression this year with just a handful of 12” releases on his legendary NRK imprint and his new outing ‘The Everlasting EP’ continues his run of form.

A DJ and A&R for longer than 15 years, it’s fair to say that the face of UK house music would be very different without Nick Harris. His stewardship of NRK and it’s now-defunct DJ agency introduced us to some of the finest house music and DJs the world has known, from DJ Sneak and Angel Moraes through to his current roster of young, impeccable talent. As one would expect with such a reputation, the jump to production was a cautious one but one that has resulted in fantastic support from DJs, press and crowds alike.

‘Rituals’ is the first of three cuts from the Bristol-based man and it’s a lazy, developing groove with some rich resonant bass and a warm, washed out topline which is drawn together with a classic sounding vocal sample. Cleverly put together and incredibly well balanced, this is a great late-night piece of house.

‘Sueno’ follows with a heavy, detailed drum track punctuated with light, breezy chords and a looping vocal excerpt. The upbeat vibe continues throughout which is a great counterpoint to the powerful drum/bass combination and with a brilliantly fluid arrangement, makes for a great piece of sun-soaked house.

The melodic old school vibes of ‘The Everlasting’ closes proceedings, and so memorably. With a massive Juno-esque bassline, classic keys and an 808 drum track it’s clearly a track influenced by times gone by but with modern production and Harris’ deft touch, is a suiting tribute drenched in real feeling. Another great outing for an imprint with a revered catalogue.

'The Everlasting' EP is released on vinyl on 11th October, and on Beatport from 25th October, with all other digital sites to release on 8th November.

Nick Harris - The Everlasting EP (NRK165 - clips) by nicknrk

Nick Harris compiles & mixes "Deep Sensation 3"

2010-09-21T03:57:00.000-07:00

The Classic NRK imprint delivers the third episode of its Deep Sensation mixes this October, with long-time A&R Nick Harris mixing up a selection of the labels singles output on one cd and a selection of unmixed highlights on another.

After a short break from releasing singles, label boss Harris revived the label’s 12” operations just over 12 months ago and has seen the label live up to it’s legendary history with tracks and mixes from the likes of Steve Bug, Kris Wadsworth, Spencer Parker, DJ Q and AlexKid – all featured here.

Harris himself has stepped out from behind the turntables and A&R desk in recent times, delivering a string of 12”s which have caught the imagination of a staggering list of DJs, from new blood like Seth Troxler through to veterans like Tedd Patterson. His tracks stand out from the crowd and this mix does the same, as good a sign as any that this music industry veteran is paradoxically one of the brightest new talents around.

Just as Carl Craig did with his epic RA Podcast earlier this year, Harris kicks off with Justin Drake’s remix of Amir’s ‘Narrativity’ and the mix takes hold immediately. Shifting through the bumping drums of Kruse & Nuernberg’s remix of Scope’s “This Rhythm” into the 3am trip that is Chris Lattner’s remix of Lewis Boardman, it’s evident from the off that groove rules but melody and texture more than ably assist.

From the darker edges of ultra-modern stripped house such as Amir’s “Anekdote” to the overtly old school sounds of DJ Q’s relentless ‘Superclique’ (allowed to stretch it’s legs for a full ten minutes, here), Deep Sensation III is a superbly executed snapshot of house music, culminating in the epic Paul Woolford remix of Shara Nelson and NuFrequencies “Go That Deep”.

Nick Harris, NRK and all of the artists showcased in Deep Sensation III are deserved of high praise, as no part of this label compilation falls short of excellent.

CD01
MIXED BY NICK HARRIS

01. Amir - Narrativity (Justin Drake Remix)
02. Scope - This Rhythm (feat. Sandra Lima) (Kruse & Nuernberg Remix)
03. Lewis Boardman – Mist (Chris Lattner Remix)
04. David Durango – Supernature (Matthew Styles Remix)
05. Nick Harris – Pony Trekkin
06. Spencer Parker – You Got Me
07. Amir – Anekdote
08. Alexkid & Rodriguez Jr. – Jeri Call
09. DJ Q – Superclique
10. Kruse & Nuernberg – Mirrorball
11. Scope – Frequencies (Steve Bug Flying Faders Remix)
12. Kris Wadsworth – Direct (David Alvarado Remix)
13. Ed Davenport – Overdub In Am
14. NUfrequency feat. Shara Nelson – Go That Deep (Paul Woolford Main Mix)

CD02
DJ FRIENDLY UNMIXED SELECTION

01. Nick Harris – Pony Trekkin
02. David Durango – Supernature (Matthew Styles Remix)
03. Scope – Frequencies (Steve Bug Flying Faders Remix)
04. Lewis Boardman – Mist (Chris Lattner Remix)
05. Scope - This Rhythm (feat. Sandra Lima) (Kruse & Nuernberg Remix)
06. Kris Wadsworth – Direct (David Alvarado Remix)
07. Kruse & Nuernberg – Mirrorball
08. Amir - Narrativity (Justin Drake Remix)
09. NUfrequency feat. Shara Nelson – Go That Deep (Paul Woolford Main Mix)
10. DJ Q – Superclique

Deep Sensation 3 is out on double CD and digital download as from October 25th

David Durango's "Supernature" EP out now

2010-09-21T03:41:00.000-07:00

David Durango, the Swiss based DJ producer, responsible for some great deep and techy house on labels such as Poker Flat, Dessous, Viva and Resopal, follows up his “In The Last Orient EP” for NRK with a bumper package. The “Supernature EP” features two brand new tracks from David, with some added remix pressure from Matthew Styles and Daniel Kyo.

David’s unique sound is on showcase here with his three originals, always production with depth and a healthy soaking of reverb! On “Supernature”, a relaxed tempo picks up the pace with sprightly percussion and cymbals, layered vox and big chords, sweet deep house music at its finest. “Qubota” builds layer upon layer of swinging drum patterns, hypnotic organ stabs, trebly strings and FXd vocal snips; a well put together house track

On the remixes, Matthew Styles has been building a great profile over the years, with releases and mixes for Crosstown Rebels, BPitch Control, Rekids and Music For Freaks. His remix of “Supernature” is a muscular, shuffling house groove, tossing around the vocals from left to right, whilst keeping things strictly heads down.

And Daniel Kyo helps complete the package with his remix of “Qubota”. Kyo has been super busy the last couple of years, working his sound onto remixes and releases for Noir, Plastic City, lost My Dog and Milton Jackson’s Dark Energy label. His mammoth remix utilises simple 909 drums, building stabs and classic house bassline, breaking out into filtered piano riff that evokes shades of many a classic house record.

Selected DJ reactions;

Seth Troxler (Crosstown Rebels) – Love the remixes here!
Brett Johnson (Classic) – Nice deephouse here, the remixes are my fav
Funk D’Void (Soma) – Unbelievable! A shining diamond in an ocean of today’s musical tripe!
Rocky (X-Press 2) – Loving Qubota, and played on the MOS show twice
Davide Squillace (Ovum) – Good stuff on here
Spencer Parker (Rekids) – Styles remix is amazing. Panorama Bar vibes!!
Moodymanc (2020 Vision) – all nice tracks...liked the Orig of Supernature and Daniel Kyo's mix of Qubota in particular...
Dean Mushin (Bearweasel) – Matthew in fine form as always, just rock solid house.
Florian Kruse (Kruse & Nuernberg) – Very good EP!!!! Love it! Daniel with an amazing remix...
MANIK (Ovum/Fresh Meat) – Nice release guys...NRK doing it up. Durango is a fav of mine for years and these tracks are legit. Remixes are nice too.
Markus Liefke (Afrilounge) – good deepness here!!! like all tracks, especially the Matthew Styles RMX of "Supernature" will play!!
Ed Davenport (Liebe Detail) – Wicked stuff.Matt Styles remix is dope
Huxley (Ethyl & Huxley) – Kyo mix for me. Very old school house! very nice.
Nils Nuernberg (8-Bit/Diynamic) – Wow... quality release! can't wait to play these out! thx a bunch!
Timewriter (Plastic City) – Excellent EP here.Loving Supernature. Will play this for sure. Thanks
Anthony Collins (Freak n Chic) – Matthew remix is bomb
Robert Dietz (Cecille) – Matthew Styles remix is definitely the one for me...
Chris Lattner (Moon Harbour) – Qubota is very cool! will play it!

Supernature EP on Beatport
Supernature Ep 12" vinyl on Juno

Ed Davenport "Curtain Call" EP out now

2010-09-13T02:47:00.001-07:00

UK born, Berlin based producer, Ed Davenport, is the latest artist to debut on NRK Music, with an awesome two track release. "Curtain Call" and "Overdub In Am" showcase Davenport's smooth, deep tech-house sounds, heavy on the dub side!

Davenport has already enjoyed positive attention on his releases for esteemed labels such as Poker Flat, Liebe*Detail, Vidab and District Of Corruption. Recent remixes for Len Faki on Cocoon, and Guy J on Jon Digweed's Bedrock label, are also helping to bring his name to the forefront of the scene.

His debut NRK release features a remix by NRK's Nick Harris. "Curtain Call" is a heavyweight, tribal workout, with plenty of rolling percussion amongst it's nagging vocal clips and big, twisted pads. "Overdub..." is a dub-heavy houser, an extremely well produced, warm and hypnotizing, deep dancefloor track.

Selected DJ comments;

Paul Woolford (Space Ibiza) – Nick’s remix of “Curtain Call” and “Overdub In Am” sounding really good, will support
Yousef (Underwater) – “Curtain Call” is excellent
D’Julz (Ovum) – I like the moody vibe of Nick’s remix, nice one
Laurent Garnier (F Comm) – Full support on both tracks from me, this is a strong release
Tedd Patterson (Vibal) – I’m feeling “Overdub In Am”, nice
Stacey Pullen (Transmat) – “Overdub In Am” is the shizzy! Will support
Rocky (X-press 2) – Good stuff, feeling Nick’s remix and played on the MOS radio show
Jim Rivers (Global Underground) – Brilliant remix from Nick, one of his best I think, top stuff!
Pol_On (Freerange) – Solid release from NRK as always. Like the Nick Harris remix very much!
Tini (Desolat) – Nice EP, my favourite is “Overdub In Am”
Andrew Grant (DC10) – Original of “Curtain Call” and Nick’s remix for me
Alland Byallo (Liebe Detail) – Incredible, Ed’s the man, I can’t wait to play the hell out of these original mixes
Sasse (Mood Music) – Nick Harris remix rocks – old school baby! Ace EP
Rob Salmon (Yoshitoshi) – Fantastic late night trax. Will support
Alex Flitsch (Conaisseur Recs) – Strong release
Ric McClelland (Scope) – Nick’s remix is my pick, sick bassline!
Smokin Jo (Boys Own) – “Curtain Call” is wicked, love this tribal tech vibe
Franck Roger (Real Tone) – Original Mix and Nick Harris Remix both really work for me, in my sets for sure
Terry Francis (Fabric) – Nick’s remix is great
Anja Schneider (Mobilee) – I very much like the Original Mix of “Curtain Call”
Dan Drastic (Rekids) – “Curtain Call” is cool, thanks

Preview "Curtain Call" (Original Mix)
Preview "Curtain Call" (Nick Harris Mix)
Preview "Overdub In Am"

Purchase 12"
Purchase from Beatport
Purchase from Whatpeopleplay.com

Nick Harris - "Hotter Than July" Mix

2010-07-29T04:08:00.000-07:00

Nick Harris - 'Hotter Than July' Mix by nicknrk

Mountain People - Mountain010.1 (Mountain People)
John Dimas - Slit 'Chez Damier Raw Mix' (Bass Culture)
The Gathering - In My System 'Jeff K Mix' (Silver Network)
D'Julz - Second Hand Feet 'DX Mix' (Ovum)
Nick Harris - Rituals (demo)
Markey - Bounce (Relief)
Franck Roger - Love Call 'Dyed Soundorom Mix' (Real Tone)
Nick Harris - Paradise Kissed (demo)
Ripperton - Leonor's Lanugo 'Radio Slave Mix 2' (Green)
Bubba - Drugs, Hugs & Thugs 'Bearweasel Mix' (Extended Play)
Robert Hood - Museum (M-Plant)
Pezzner - The Tracks Are Alive 'Rozzo Mix' (Freerange)
Watergate - Lonely Winter 'Dubfire Luv Dub' (Deep Dish Recordings)

David Durango returns with new "Supernature" EP

2010-07-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

David’s unique sound is on showcase here with his three originals, always production with depth and a healthy soaking of reverb! On “Supernature”, a relaxed tempo picks up the pace with sprightly percussion and cymbals, layered vox and big chords, sweet deep house music at its finest. “Qubota” builds layer upon layer of swinging drum patterns, hypnotic organ stabs, trebly strings and FXd vocal snips; a well put together house track. And the last of David’s originals, “Bad Room” is the more urgent sounding of all the tracks, with moody stabs and headnodding hats, very groovy club stuff from Mr. Durango.

On the remixes, Matthew Styles has been building a great profile over the years, with releases and mixes for Crosstown Rebels, BPitch Control, Rekids and Music For Freaks. His remix of “Supernature” is a muscular, shuffling house groove, tossing around the vocals from left to right, whilst keeping things strictly heads down. And Daniel Kyo helps complete the package with his remix of “Qubota”. Kyo has been super busy the last couple of years, working his sound onto remixes and releases for Noir, Plastic City, Lost My Dog and Milton Jackson’s Dark Energy label. His mammoth remix utilises simple 909 drums, building stabs and classic house bassline, breaking out into filtered piano riff that evokes shades of many a classic house record.

David Durango’s “Supernature EP” will be available on 12” vinyl from August, and digital download in September.

Preview Supernature

Preview Qubota

Preview Supernature (Matthew Styles Remix)

“In The Last Orient EP” on Beatport

Nick Harris new EP "Zap Dance, And Other Moves" out now

2010-06-21T06:07:00.001-07:00

Nick Harris has been on the bridge of the good ship NRK Music for the last 14 years, steering a course for the label that has worked with almost every legend in dance music. Earlier this year he took the step from label boss to artist with his debut single ‘In The Shadows Of Simian’ and now he follows it up with an EP that shows that Harris’ years of experience as an A&R (and DJ) have left him with an ear for outstanding quality production.

‘Zap Dance, And Other Moves’ is a varied 4 track release, soaking up deep house and techno influences. ‘Zap Dance’, a rolling and pulsating slice of tech fuelled house with a hypnotic, head down vibe. The wonderful ‘(Turn Down) The Lights’, is a stripped and sparse piece of basement house that uses simple drums and an old school DX style bassline to huge effect. ‘Bang The Box’ goes straight for the jugular with it’s no nonsense rhythm track and speaker testing B-line. Once again Harris’ house music pedigree is on show here with a strong sense of the dance music’s past meeting its future. And ‘Walkways’ is a lazy jazzy slice of driving deep house.

Selected DJ comments;

Seth Troxler (Wagon Repair) – “Bang The Box” for me, thanks!
Jim Rivers (Global Underground) - “Bang The Box” and “Walkways” are both ace!
Andy Graham (Sei A) – Nice EP, great range of styles
Marcin Czubala (Mobilee) – Another quality release from NRK, “Zap Dance” already in my May chart and full support
Terry Francis (Fabric) – Cool EP, I like a few of these
Rocky (X-Press 2) – “The Lights” and “Walkways” both bring it, playing “Walkways” on the radio show
Chris Lattner (Moon Harbour) – “Turn Down The Lights” is faaat!
Glimpse (Crosstown Rebels) – “Walkways” is amazing, thanks!
Yannick (Innervisions) – “Turn Down The Lights” is the bomb! Straight in my box!
James Teej (Rekids) – Diggin “Walkways”, nice track
H.O.S.H. (Diynamic) – Been into Nick’s stuff lately, always a unique atmosphere, thumbs up!
Claudio Coccoluto (The Dub) – “Zap Dance” is the one for me
James Flavour (Dirt Crew) – Liking “Walkways”
Ed Davenport (Liebe Detail) - 4 solid killers from Nick! “Bang The Box” is HOT!
Shinedoe (Intacto) – “Bang The Box”, nice one, thx!
Scope (Urban Torque/Large) - Proper low slung deep tech house.. Feelin it!

"Zap Dance, And Other Moves" EP is out now on 12" vinyl and as digital release through Beatport.

Preview "(Turn Down) The Lights"
Preview "Zap Dance"
Purchase 12" vinyl
Purchase from Beatport

Nick Harris - May 2010 Resident Advisor chart

2010-05-14T03:33:00.000-07:00

NRK Music present... Underground Goodies

2010-05-06T06:05:00.000-07:00

“Underground Goodies” is a collection of some of the rare nuggets, forgotten classics, heavy dubs and criminally ignored tracks to be found in NRK Music’s envious back catalogue. The label, now in its 14th year, digs deep……

Hi-lights on this digital compilation include older cuts from Chicago's Gemini, DJ Jes, Plastic Avengers, Sirus, Kings Of Tomorrow and Ian Pooley, and some tasty dubs and stripped down mixes from the likes of Nick Holder, Peace Division, Spencer Parker, Peter Dildo (Mountain People) and many more. All the material picked for the album holds up very well against todays productions, and firms up NRK's reputation as one of the best deep house labels around.

“Underground Goodies” also includes a new and exclusive track from NRK's Nick Harris. Titled "Under The Bridge", Nick submerges deep underground for a sparse, old skool house workout.

This digi album is available now on Beatport and Traxsource, with all other reputable digi sites to follow in the coming weeks. A 12" sampler is also out this month, featuring cuts from Kerri Chandler, Foremost Poets and Nick Holder.

Preview - Nick Harris "Under The Bridge"
Preview - Kerri Chandler - "Bar A Thym (Peace Division Mix)"
Preview - Sirus - "Shaman"

Purchase from Beatport
Purchase from Traxsource

Faith Fanzine/Ministry Of Sound Radio - NRK Music special

2010-04-23T03:47:00.001-07:00

Nick Harris - Faith Fanzine/Ministry Of Sound Radio - 2 hour feature/mix by nicknrk

1st hour - selection on upfront NRK releases, classic NRK releases and some personal influences, plus "chat" with Roual Galloway

Lewis Boardman - Mist (Chris Lattner Remix) (NRK)
Ed Davenport - Curatin Call (NRK)
Nick Harris - (Turn Down) The Lights (NRK)
Gemini - Body (NRK)
Sirus - Shaman (NRK)
DJ Jes - The Visit (NRK)
St Germain - Alabama Blues (F Comm)
Speedy J - De-Orbit (Plus 8)

2nd hour - Nick Harris 60 minute mix
Estroe feat Miss Kittin - Le Flaneur (Kollectiv Turmstrasse Mix) (Connaisseur Recordings)
Brett Johnson - Missing (Eight Tracks)
Mike Shannon - Under The Radar (Rozzo Mix) (Cynosure)
Sacha Dive - Jus Groove (Tsuba)
Afefe Iku - Mirror Dance (Yoruba)
Liefko - Free Your Mind (Bearweasel Lazy Dub) (Akbal Music)
Rick Wade - Intelligence (Laid)
Nick Harris - Pony Trekkin (NRK)
Chris Lattner - Sick (Fear Of Flying)
Jerome Sydenham - Bang Me (Apotek)
Cobblestone Jazz - Chance Dub (K7)

www.faithfanzine.com

Nick Harris - Tru House/Ibiza Sonica Mix

2010-04-13T03:17:00.001-07:00

Nick Harris - Tru House Guest Mix on Ibiza Sonica by nicknrk

01. Tiger Skin - Love (Dirt Crew)
02. Still Dreaming (Soul Phiction Remix) (Freerange)
03. Nick Harris - Pony Trekkin (NRK Music)
04. Chris Lattner - Sick (Fear Of Flying)
05. Amir - Narrativity (Justin Drake remix) (NRK Music)
06. Alain Ho - Je Pense A Toi feat Marlene (Kruse & Nuernberg Remix) (Composite)
07. Massi DL - Raw Track (Cadenza

Chibuku resident debuts on NRK

2010-04-13T02:56:00.000-07:00

Lewis Boardman is an emerging talent in the underground house scene, and his “Mist” EP is his debut release. Lewis has been learning his craft through a DJ residency at Liverpool’s uber session, Chibuku @ Circus, alongside resident Yousef, whom Lewis remixed for recently on the Renaissance label.

Lewis presents an EP of raw, back to basics, tribal house tracks, big on the groove yet keeping it interesting with some choice samples and playful automation and arrangement. Remixes come from the unstoppable Chris Lattner (Fear Of Flying/Moon Harbour) and NRK’s Nick Harris. Early support coming in from Terry Francis, Jay Tripwire and Kevin Griffiths.

Mist EP will be released on 12" vinyl at the end of April, with digital download available mid-May.

Preview - Mist (Original Mix)
Preview - Mist (Chris Lattner Remix)
Preview - Snaggle

Ed Davenport to release new EP on NRK

2010-03-17T06:16:00.000-07:00

UK born, Berlin based producer, Ed Davenport, is the latest artist to debut on NRK Music, with an awesome two track release. "Curtain Call" and "Overdub In Aminor" showcase Davenport's smooth, deep tech-house sounds, heavy on the dub side!

Davenport has already enjoyed positive attention on his releases for esteemed labels such as Poker Flat, Liebe*Detail, Vidab and District Of Corruption. Recent remixes for Len Faci on Cocoon, and Guy J on Jon Digweed's Bedrock label, are also helping to bring his name to the forefront of the scene.

His debut NRK release will feature remixes by Germany's Daniel Stefanik, and NRK's Nick Harris. "Curtain Call" is a heavyweight, tribal workout, with plenty of rolling percussion amongst it's nagging vocal clips and big, twisted pads. "Overdub..." is a dub-heavy houser, an extremely well produced, warm and hypnotizing, deep dancefloor track.

"Curtain Call"/"Overdub In Aminor" will be relased in 12" vinyl and digital download late April.

15 minutes with Scope

2010-03-11T03:01:00.001-08:00

Belfast’s Ric Mclelland, AKA Scope, has had a dream start to his career, fulfilling his wishes to record for his favourite house labels so early on in his production career, and travel the world DJing in some of the hottest spots. His latest single, “Frequencies”, will be his third now for NRK, and quite possibly will be his “tune to date”. Accompanied by remixes from Steve Bug and Nick Harris, "Frequencies" appears to be blowing up right now, so it seemed like a great time to catch Ric for a quick chat.....

Hi Ric, hope you are well…..so let’s start off with the new single “Frequencies”, seems to be blowing up the spot, as they say! Can you give us a little insight into the track, how you approached it etc. It’s definitely a very forward thinking sound on that track…
I get really inspired by the music i listen to. A lot of what i have been playing as a DJ recently, has a real 'raw' and 'old skool' House sound to it, with strong Chicago and Detroit references in it. I remember that week i was listening to some Galaxy 2 Galaxy in the car and just wanted to take some of the vibes i was feeling there (and also the tracks i had been playing out recently) into the studio. The track came together quite quickly as i just made some chords and the string i used with them had a lovely spacey sound to it. I was looking for another sound to back the string up and just by accident it feel on an arp, which sounded wicked right away. So that was the core of the track put together really. 'Frequencies 0.020' is just an edit of the main mix and with the arp taken out. Then '0.003' is a more bumpin, techy dub approach to the original. So i felt i had tackled the idea form all angles there to provide a bit of something for everyone ;)

So let’s take it back to a few years back, what was your introduction to house/dance music, and tell us a little about how you got into producing, DJing etc.
Probably like most people my age, i grew up more with Rock/Metal & Hip-Hop. I played drums in a band and to be honest was pretty ignorant to Dance or Electronic music at the time. As you do though when you get older, you start going to clubs with friends. I always remember liking some of the music. The deeper, groovier and more musical stuff they would play at the start of the night. I have always been really hungary for new music, so i really wanted to find out what this kinda music was. Listening to Danny Rampling on Radio 1 really helped me get into House and discover a whole new side to music that i didnt even know existed. Before i knew it i was buying cds left right & centre, going to clubs to check out new djs and then naturally the want to be a dj followed. I moved into Belfast city when i was 20 and was hanging around with a lot of like minded people which was great. There was also a great scene in Belfast at that time. I remember seeing the likes of M.A.W, Ian Pooley, Terry Hunter, Miguel Migs, Onionz, Derrick May etc week in and week out. So inspiring! In 2001 i started running my own club nights and booked people like Tiefschwarz and Rob Mello. A few years later i started dj'n at other clubs warming up for big names (in favour of running my own nights). 1 thing i always noticed though, was that the big name travelling DJ's were also producers too. Again, following the natural progression, i got a copy of Reason and started making some really bad music lol. I was so determined to better the music i was making, so i enrolled for some courses at a local music academy. That really helped to teach me the fundamentals of making electronic music. Then moving on to work with more experienced friends was by far the most important thing. Its vital to keep moving as a DJ & Producer, learning from more experienced people, adapting with technology and being open minded to new ways of developing your craft. I love it though.. I wouldn't be doing otherwise!!

Who/what were your early influences?
Damn, so many. Probably the main things were hearing Danny Rampling on Radio 1, the NRK Nitelife series, seeing Joe Claussell DJ, going to Ibiza, the West Coast House sound, Classic Recordings, Bob Sinclair & Dj Gregory's Africanism project, Kerri Chandler, Miguel Migs, Ian Pooley, Underground Resistance, Ashley Beedle, DiY Records, Farley & Heller, Chez & Trent, M.A.W, Doc Martin.. I could go on :)

You’ve recorded for labels like Large, Forensic, Urban Torque and NRK of course, a lot already achieved since your first productions. What’s been the secret to your success?
I suppose just believing in what i do.. Hard work, determination and staying focused.

Push comes to shove, what is your favourite Scope production/remix to date?
I really couldn't just pin down 1 track. Maybe 'Strung Out' on UrbanTorque. My 1st release and possibly my biggest. Everyone was on that track. From Eric Prydz to Fish Go Deep. The same could be said for 'Omoplata' on NRK too. My fav Scope track to play out is 'It's The Funk' on Detroit's Kolour Recordings. But quite possibly my favorite track (which no one fucking picked up on at the time lol) is 'Love In Space'. It's a beautiful track and i'm hugely proud of it. I reckon if Levan was still alive, he'd be playing it.. Timeless House music! Thankfully though, Miami based Dutchie Music who signed it have got a few great remixes in on it from Roberto Rodriguez and Brendon Moller under his Beat Pharmacy guise.

So what is the scene like in Belfast now? You play regularly at Yello club which seems to be the leading party in the city right now..
Belfast has a great scene of DJs and Producers, but there is a lack of faith from venue owners and strict licensing laws in the city which really hold back the scene. In Belfast i play exclusively at Yello and have done now for 3 years. They have a good music policy and have brought over some wicked djs. They also host UrbanTorque and Buzzin Fly parties every quarter.

Who are your favourite artists/labels right now?
I really respect the artists and labels who are keeping it House. So many artists and labels that im into right now but heres some names of who i'm diggin in no particular order.. The Revenge, Roberto Rodriguez, Massimo Di Lena, Alex Niggemann, Lovebirds, Chris Lattner, KiNK, Uner, Coyu etc etc.. Labels: Freerange, Diynamic, NRK, Kolour, Compost Black Label, Fear Of Flying, Einmaleins, Rejected etc etc.

Aside from house music, what other music do you listen to?
A lot of lounge, downtempo, disco and jazz funk.. I have a massive selection of CDs, so i like to just go a grab a few and listen to them in the car throughout the week.

What are your plans/aspirations for 2010?
To keep making music and travelling as a DJ. I've been doing this for a while now, so as the honeymoon period is over i'm really looking to focus on quality now. Making quality music, releasing on quality labels and playing in quality venues. My 1st child will also be born in April, so thats another good reason to slow things down and make what i'm doing really count.

Who would be your dream DJ/artist line up for your party? You can choose DJs and bands….
Wow, I suppose there is a few ways of doing this. I think probably the best way would be to have just my real DJ buddys playing. Friends I have made over the years in the industry. Good fun and good music is by far the most important thing there! If it was something i was promoting, I'd probably have like a live room with Bent & Crazy P, an eclectic room with Giles Peterson, Jazzanova, Atjazz and Domu and a house/techno room with Joris Voorn, Dennis Ferrer & DJ Sneak. Then if my imaginary budget could stretch, i'd have Francois K, Danny Krivit & Joe Claussell host a Body & Soul room. Haha, thats more like a festival line up!! :)

What are your all time top five house music records?
FUCK.. Now you're putting me on the spot. I have a kinda top 10-15 in my head. Hard to pick 5, but heres a go at it..

Kerri Chandler - Track 1 (Atmosphere EP) - 157 Shelter Records (1993)
Dubtribe Soundsystem - Do It Now - Imperial Dub Recordings (2000)
Metro Area - Caught up - Environ (2001)
Africanism - Block Party - Yellow Productions (2000)
Black Science Orchestra - New Jersey Deep - Junior Boys Own (1994)

What are your current top five house tunes?
Ha.. This is a lot easier now..

Ercolino & Durango - Repeal (Alex Niggemann Remix) - Moonpool
Roman Alfieri - Hell's Smile - Strictly Chosen
DJ Sneak - Something - Magnetic
Scope - Runnin The Game (The Revenge Rubdown) - Large
Scope - Frequencies 0.100 - NRK

"Frequencies" is out now on 12" vinyl, and will be on sale on Beatport as from 22nd March 2010.
Purchase 12"
NRK Music on Beatport

15 minutes with Amir

2010-03-10T02:18:00.000-08:00

This month sees the release of Amir's debut release for NRK Music, the great 3 track "Uneasy Listening" EP. Amir, AKA Rimah Khalouf, has been bubbling under on the house fraternity for a couple of years, and with a slew of stella releases for high profile labels such as Nick Curly’s 8Bit, Trapez, Great Stuff Recordings and bouq. And now he takes 15 minutes with us here on the NRK blog, to introduce himself and discuss some house music bizzness!

Hi Amir, glad to have you on board at NRK Music, with the release of your “Uneasy Listening” EP. Can you tell us a bit about how you got into house music, and your first few productions, labels you produced for…

Well after all the minimal hype, I got a little bored with everyone playing the same stripped down rhythms, so I decided to get some more musicality into my music again, which is why I started my “Bodymusic” series in late 2006, mainly released on BCB Tec, but also Suchtreflex and another label. I wouldn’t ever say I only produce House music, but basically all facets of electronic dance music. I’m not the one who’s re-invented the wheel, but I’ve been loving and living this music since the mid-90s and I look at the cycles it moves in and find my own interpretation of what is going on in the music. A lot of people think I’m ahead of my time, but maybe it’s only because I have just lived through so many dance-music phases that I notice which genres get ignored for too long. So I look for elements I enjoyed in this niche and start something new. I guess there aren’t really any new ideas, simply new surroundings, combinations, circumstances and interpretations of the ancient rhythms and melodies.

Who have been your best supporters so far from the DJ community?

Oh, I can’t really say. Loco Dice has currently been playing a lot of my stuff as well as Richie Hawtin. The biggest “wow-moment” for me was when Booka Shade decided to put my tune on their DJ-Kicks mix two or so years back. Luciano also says he plays my stuff, I really don’t like bragging, but my promoter tells me that any DJ getting the feedbacks I get, should tattoo them on his body, because their so incredible (laughs). Personally I love it as well, like 10 years ago, when I started producing, Richie and Booka Shade were major influences and then getting props by them is very beautiful, but obviously not the reason why I make music. I think that is also reflective, because I get positive reactions from all sorts of artists, also one’s I’d have never dreamed of them liking my music. Thanks to everyone out there supporting the songs, I honestly appreciate it. (hesitates) Oh, why not, I’ll give a big round of props out now (grins): Thanks to Dubfire, Karotte, Loco Dice, Monika Kruse, Tiefschwarz, Santé. 2000 and One, Gregor Tresher, Johnny D, Reboot, Thomas Schumacher, Stephan Bodzin, Lauhaus, Paco Osuna, Someone Else, Anthony Collins, Tim Green, Sebastien Leger, Mathias Kaden, Kabale und Liebe, William Kouam Djoko, Eric D. Clark, Matthias Tanzmann, DJ Hell, Brother’s Vibe, Robert Dietz, Nick Curly, Gorge, Tobi Neumann, Piemont, Hernan Cattaneo, Laurent Garnier, Anja Schneider, Martinez, DJ Thomilla, Nic Fanciulli, Livio & Roby, Shinedoe, Konrad Black, Gavin Herlihy, &Me, Rampa, Chris Liebing, Danny Tenaglia, Ivan Samgghe, Rainer Weichhold, Jennifer Cardini, Kiki, Toni Rios, Agoria, DJ T, Jimpster, Sebo K, Sahin Meyer, Onur Ozer, MANDY and all the other people who are said to have played my music in the last year or so. Should I have forgotten to mention you now, I’m sorry. Man, I feel like someone from Wu-Tang paying props to the whole 5 boroughs (laughs).

Who are your favourite artists/labels right now?

I play a lot of Moon Harbour at the moment. Vakant is also great, NRK of course, Suchtreflex, Blabla, Desolat, WeCanDoIt, Trapez, Area Remote, Souvenir, Bangbang!, hmm, there are really many great labels out there at the moment. Without wanting to be biased, I’ve got to say Butch is my favourite artist right now. He is so versatile and really so experienced with dance-floors, his tunes are always exciting, driving and emotional, whether he does real thumping techno, experimental minimal or jazzy house. I am really happy to be friends with such a great producer.

Can you tell us about the Bouq family, and what you guys represent and do?

The bouq.family consists of Butch, Chris Laut, Sebastian Lutz and me. Butch is without a doubt our most famous member, but it doesn’t mean we don’t still give each other a hard time (grins). He works as our A&R and obviously if he doesn’t find a good song, he’ll just make one for bouq. (laughs). Chris does the whole PR and label-work. But don’t get me wrong, he is a real artist at heart probably more than a proper office worker. He also produces music and DJs and you can look forward to some good music from that direction. The kid’s still very young and simply doesn’t care about any rules in music, which makes his stuff really exciting. Sebastian Lutz is now our uprising star, who currently has released on Suchtreflex and really made a big impact with his first songs last year, already gaining support by Carl Craig, Karotte, Dubfire and many more. He is such a relaxed guy, he’s a dream for any club-owner or booker, also because he connects so well with the audience. For bouq. he mainly looks after the events and license requests and other fun things. We currently tour a lot together, obviously we have the label and now we’re getting together to do a lot more exciting and fun stuff, trust me, you’ll want to check bouq. some time soon.

You are based in Mainz, Germany, what is the music scene there currently like? Do you travel to Berlin often? What are your thoughts on the huge club scene in Berlin and the amount of music coming out right now from German artists?

I can’t really tell concerning Mainz. I know many musical people living here, many people also making music, but there doesn’t seem to be any connecting going on much, except within close circle of friends. Thomas Heckmann is quite close to us, he does our mastering and works closely together with Chris, who does his DJ promo and of course with Butch. Also Robert Dietz lives here, but we somehow never get together. Not that there is any intent in not meeting, it just doesn’t happen. Of course there are many people you see regularly, when you go clubbing, Mainz isn’t huge and with Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Mannheim and Offenbach near, there are enough options to do your own thing I guess. Berlin is always incredible. I have family living there, so I go up quite frequently, but it is important to sometimes be undercover, otherwise you simply don’t find any rest at all. I love the place but doubt I could live there. At least not for long in one piece (laughs).

Long time NRK friend, Ian Pooley, hails from Mainz. Do you guys know each other?

Yeah, of course I’ve meet Ian many a time. I was a little too young to be hanging out with him and his clique back in the 90s, but I remember us having a chat at his legendary “TNI” party, where I went to still my thirst for dance. After that we saw and got to know each other, seeing as I also already played at some local clubs here back in the days. Very humble and interesting person, his music has always been high class and top notch and him moving to Berlin has definitely been a loss for Mainz.

Aside from house music, what other music do you listen to?

I like a lot of Swing and Big Band Jazz. Chris often puts on free jazz and abstract stuff on in the office, but it’s too confusing and strenuous for me, especially when I work. I also love early 90s rap music, Dr. Dre and Too Short and so on. Hmm, I don’t really know, it is totally dependent on my current mood, mind frame and so on. Sometimes I love Steve Reich, but sometimes I’ll politely ask you to f*** off with that annoying music. It simply depends, I guess anything that reaches me, I listen to. I’ve recently given up on CDs in the car, I listen to the local Rock’n’Roll radio station now mainly.

What are your plans/aspirations for 2010?

A lot of beer and sex (laughs). No, sorry, I’ve just come back from Berlin and played at the Watergate club, so I’m not so sure, what my next goal is (grins). Nah, I’m still lying, we have enough on our plate. We’ve got upcoming bouq.family gigs in Bootshaus/Cologne, Q-Club/Zurich and Cocoonclub/Frankfurt, new music coming out, I’ve just finished my diploma and am now heavily hitting the studio, which is a great deal of fun. Can’t tell you any real facts right now, but I’m keeping busy and there will be some releases coming soon, maybe even my first biggie (smiles).

Who would be your dream DJ/artist line up for your party? You can choose DJs and bands….

Hmm, I’d have the Rat Pack start off, Jamie Cullum take over, after him Coblestonejazz and then have Mathias Kaden, Luciano and Loco Dice play. That should be fun (smiles).

What are your all time top five house music records?

Soul Vision – Come Into My Room
Jon Cutler – Its Yours
Deep Swing – In the Music
Phoenix - If I Ever Feel Better
Josh One - Contemplation(King Britt)

What are your current top five house tunes?
Butch - No Worries
Johnny D- Blue Shoes
Alex Dolby & Giorgio Roma Viola
Mendo - Encantos EP
Amir – 1st Try

Amir's Myspace page
Uneasy Listening EP on 12" vinyl
Uneasy Listening EP at Beatport

Scope's "Frequencies" EP out next month with Steve Bug remix

2010-02-26T04:21:00.000-08:00

Belfast's Ric McClelland, AKA Scope, announces his latest EP for NRK Music, "Frequencies", and the Poker Flat and Dessous label boss, Steve Bug (pictured), has added a remix to the already solid package, out next month.

“Frequencies” is Scope's third single now for NRK Music, and quite possibly will be his “tune to date”. “Frequencies” is a heady mix of deep driving house, Detroit techno soul, and moody European analogue sounds. Destined for the world’s most discerning dancefloors, “Frequencies” is both classic in sound and futuristic in style, and should easily bridge that gap between those who like their house deep and soulful, and those who like an edge. Two mixes of “Frequencies” on this 12”, with “0.003” providing an alternate take, stripping it back to the raw.

Remix duties are ably handled by the one of the Masters of deep house music, Steve Bug. The Poker Flat boss was bowled over by Scope’s original track, and was eager to provide a version. Bug’s “Flying Faders Mix” is a punchy remix, with those building chords and strings and some nice cowbell percs, very reminiscent of a Kerri Chandler moment! Bug remains faithful to the original, yet delivers a classy alternate that will no doubt get rinsed in clubs over the coming months…did someone say a deep house revival?

NRK headhoncho, Nick Harris, also ably weighs in with two heavy, heavy versions. Nick’s “Freaqy Dub Mix” does what it says on the tin, a DJ tool with some heavy pounding drums and some otherworldly twisted synths, whilst Nick’s main remix plunders the same pounding style making the most of Scope’s synth arps and classic chord stabs.

"Frequencies" EP is out on 12" vinyl on 8th March (with the Steve Bug remix + two Scope original mixes) and on Beatport as from 22nd March.

Amir's "Uneasy Listening" EP out now in vinyl!

2010-02-22T06:29:00.000-08:00

Amir, AKA Rimah Khalouf, has been bubbling under on the house fraternity for a couple of years, and with a slew of stella releases for high profile labels such as Nick Curly’s 8Bit, Trapez, Great Stuff Recordings and bouq, he debuts for NRK with a cheeky 3 track EP. "Uneasy Listening" EP is out now on 12" vinyl, and will be available as a digital download on Beatport as from 1st March, with all other digital sites to follow a few weeks later.

“Narrativity” is a funky, bass driven workout with some frenetic percussion and shuffling groove, and is backed up on this release by a Justin Drake remix. “Drakey” is no stranger to the NRK label, being one half of house ‘legends’ Peace Division, who recorded for NRK many times over the years. Justin delivers a murky yet swinging remix, holding down some strings for a bit of drama.

“Anekdote” on the flip is a stripped back percussive track, not too dissimilar to that old Derrick Carter style from back in the day, with assorted vox clips, heavy stabs and teasing FX easing the track along. Perfect deep, jackin house.

DJ support;

Paul Woolford (Intimacy) - "Anekdote" is fuckin killer and I'll be playing loads.
Johnny D (Oslo) - I like the rhythms here
Rocky (X-Press 2) - Drake remix is for me
Timo Maas - "Narrativity" is very cool
Luke Solomon (Freaks) - Justin's mix is killer
Stacey Pullen (Transmat) - "Narrativity" is da bomb!
Dylan Hermelijn (2000 and One) - Great Justin Drake mix
Holgar Behn (H.O.S.H.) - Justin Drake is the master of swing and groove! He does it again. Great and will play and support.
Franck Roger (Real Tone) - I love "Anekdote", Blue Cucuracha style!
Dave Mothersole (Ministry Of Sound) - "Anekdote" is a cool track
Nils Nurnberg (8-Bit) - Wow, both original mixes are great, definately in my box! Timeless deep groovers.
Anja Schneider (Mobilee) - Justin Drake mix is very sexy!
Matthias Vogt (Motorcitysoul) - Another strong release from NRK
Alex Tepper (Drumcode) - Great release, will play all tracks.
James Teej (Rekids) - Liking the Justin Drake mix and "Anekdote", got a dope roll to it
Burnski (Back To Basics) - Justin Drake mix is nice and dubby
Stuart Geddes (Mulletover) - Justin's mix is cool
Robert Owens - Very nice vibes

Purchase 12" vinyl from NRK webshop

Dean Mushin (Bearweasel) February Beatport chart

2010-02-08T06:59:00.000-08:00

Bearweasel are firing on all cylinders right now, what with recent remixes for Soma, NRK, Classic, Viva and many more. Dean Mushin, one half of Bearweasel, selects his February choice cuts and current Bearweasel goodies for Beatport.

1. Telefon Tel Aviv - Immolate Yourself "Miss Fitz Rmx" (BPitch)
2. Martyn - Seventy Four "Redshape Rmx" (3024)
3. Freaks - Dance & Re-Ordered "Doc Martin Rmx" (MFF)
4. Mike Edge - Walking Alone (Sistrum)
5. The Persuader & ADNY - Omnipotent Tone (Earthtones)
6. Silicon Soul - Hurt People, Hurt People "Bearweasel Rmx" (Soma)
7. Alexkid & Rodriguez Jr - Le Doigt Africain "Bearweasel Linear Dub" (NRK)
8. Sonotheque - Sugar Blues "Bearweasel Lazy Dub" (Metroline Limited)
9. Beat Pharmacy - Pump "Bearweasel Extended Dub" (Steadfast)
10. MANDY & Bookashade - Donut "Bearweasel’s Lazy Dub" (Living The Dream)

View Dean's chart on Beatport for clips and purchasing

Faith Fanzine's Top 15 Records Of The Noughties

2010-02-08T03:16:00.000-08:00

Our friends over at Faith Fanzine (www.faithfanzine.com) ran a poll late last year amongst its readers to try and put the years 2000-2009 into some sort of musical context, and select the top house records of the "noughties". So many great tunes over ten years, but of course there are those that have/will stand the test of time, and these are the cuts that filtered through to the Top 15 Records Of The Noughties.

And we are pleased as punch to see two NRK signings (Kerri Chandler's "Bar A Thym" and Quentin Harris "Let's Be Young") right up there in the Top 5!

Thanks to Miles and his excellent blog "Beyond The Stars", you can check out the Top 15 here.

Nick Harris - In The Shadows Of Simian EP - out Monday

2010-02-05T04:30:00.000-08:00

NRK Music's headhoncho, Nick Harris, delivers the latest release for NRK on Monday, and Nick's debut for his own label. Three tracks then from Nick, each with a differing vibe and pace to them....

"In The Shadows Of Simian" is a chugging, loopy, tribal affair, with a chant based riff that powers this track nicely. "Shangri La" is a sparse, melancholic deep houser. A throbbing sub bass and heavy kick provide the bed for a slightly abstract percussive cut, lots of atmospherics, and a nagging bass riff.... The third track on this release, "Pony Trekkin" is perhaps the most straight up house cut on the release. Crisp drums, some subtle vocal touches, and one big fat groove on!

Nick Harris set up NRK back in 1993 as an artist management/promtions company, and the NRK label followed in 1996. The label's discography now reads like a who's who of house and electronic dance, so many artists have passed through his doors over the last 14 years. Nick has recently been remixing for a rejuvinated NRK label (Scope, David Durango, Kris Wadsworth) and has been busy recoding original material, much of which will see the light of day in 2010.

Check some reactions from selected Djs;

Paul Woolford (Intimacy) - Great to see & hear Nick flourishing! Great tracks, with 'Shangri La' being the favourite.
Stacey Pullen (Transmat) – “Shangri La” is the one i'm feeling. Good job
Terry Francis (Fabric) - like “Shangri La” . Cool
Florian Kruse (Kruse & Nuernberg) - Proper Deephouse!!! “Shangri La” is my fav here! Another great release on NRK!
Osunlade (Yoruba) - Lovin “In The Shadows..Nice percussion groove!
Lars (Funk D’Void) – “Shangri La” is great
Sasse (Mood Music) - “Shangri La” is a burner, wicked ! Full support !
Tedd Patterson (Vibal) - Love it!. Nick brought the drums back on “Shadows”. That’s the cut for me.
D’Julz (Soma/Ovum) - “Shangri La” is superb
Claudio Coccoluto (Italy) - Fine Tribal, full support
Ed Daveport (Liebe*Detail) - Yeah! Super funky workable grooves from Nick.
Alex Niggemann (2020 Vision/8-bit) – “In the Shadows of Simian” & “Shangri La” are really nice...
Jim Rivers (Global Underground) - Really tasty this...all good, “Simian” is nice and I like the low slung funk of “Pony Trekkin”
Matthew Styles-Harris (Crosstown Rebels) - Nice tracks from Nick, shadows will get the play i think :)
Chris Lattner (Moon Harbour) – “Pony Trekkin” and “Shangri La” are the tracks for me on this EP.
Eli (Wolf & Lamb) - Cool release. “Shangri La” is our fave and pony trekkin is cool too.
Enzo (Circo Loco) - Nice EP, liking In the Shadows of Simian
Mazi (Audio Soul Project) – “Pony Trekkin” will twist some brains in an afterhours
Alex Flatner (Circle Music) – “In The Shadows Of Simian” is amazing...Full support
Patrice Baumal (Get Physical) – “Shangri La” is my favourite here, hypnotic grower.

Purchase from Beatport from 8th Feb
Nick Harris on Myspace

Kruse & Nuernberg Top 10 for February

2010-02-04T04:19:00.000-08:00

German duo, Florian Kruse and Nils Nuernberg, are fyring on all cylinders right now. So many great productions and remixes currently on the market from these guys! And of course, their latest NRK release, "Blunder EP", has been doing really well on 12" vinyl and download (has been in the Beatport Deep House Top 5 since release!).

Here's the tracks/records that are twisting the melons of K&N this month!

01. Kruse & Nuernberg - Mirror Ball (NRK)
02. Kris Wadsworth - Deep Inside (Dark Energy)
03. Ethyl & Flori – Tanqueray (Freerange)
04. Alex Dee – Fireworks (Supplemental)
05. Jimpster – Sleeper (Freerange)
06. Lovebirds - N2 Deep (Lazy Days)
07. Florian Kruse - Be Active “Daniel Kyo Remix” (Brown Eyed Boyz Records)
08. Neighbour feat. Think Tank – Reputation (Kolour Recordings)
09. Scope – Magic (Large Music)
10. Audio Soul Project - In The Tide (Kolour Recordings)

All these tracks are available to purchase from Stompy.com

Kruse & Nuernberg - Blunder EP on 12" vinyl

Scope (Ric McClelland) Top 10 for February

2010-02-04T04:06:00.000-08:00

Scope AKA Ric McClelland, compiles his Top 10 tracks for February. Look out for his new single on NRK later this Spring, "Frequencies" with remixes from Steve Bug and Nick Harris.

1. Scope – Magic – Large
2. Marcel Jochmann – Booty Count – Opsm
3. Scope – I Want - Onethirty
4. Delano Smith – Truth – Third Ear
5. Erich Bogatzky – Murex (Phogenic Mix) – Dieb Audio
6. Sanasol – Tambourine Man (Christopher Groove mix) – Fear Of Flying
7. Sebo k – Spirits – Mobilee
8. Yosa – Plastic People – Dirt Crew
9. Scope – This Rhythm - NRK
10. Einmusik – Fountain – Einmusika

All these tracks are available to purchase from Stompy.com

Amir gets "Uneasy", with Justin Drake on the remix

2010-01-29T07:04:00.001-08:00

Nick Harris February Top 10 chart

2010-01-28T07:38:00.001-08:00

Alexkid & Rodriguez Jr's "Jeri Call" EP out now

2010-01-25T03:46:00.000-08:00

Frenchmen Alexkid and Rodriguez Jnr, both respected producers in their own right, have collaborated on a new release for NRK, out this week on 12" vinyl, and as a Beatport exclusive release for the next 4 weeks.

Rodriguez Jr is also one half of the hugely successful The Youngsters, who graced such leading labels as F Communications, Ovum, 2020 Vision and Soma Recordings. Meanwhile Alexkid is no stranger to the world of electronic dance, having a well respected CV that includes recordings and remixes for F Communications, Rekids, Get Physical and Luciano’s Cadenza Split Composition label. Alexkid also recently remixed Spencer Parker’s “You Got Me” for NRK.

The duo collaborate on two tracks, “Jeri Call” and “Le Doight Africain”, with the latter getting the remix treatment from rising stars Bearweasel (AKA Dean Mushin & Louisa Page). “Jeri Call” is a simple yet powerful tribal beats driven track that ushers in some haunting horn-like sounds, not for the faint hearted! At the other end of the spectrum, “Le Doight Africain”is a delicate and minimal percussive moodpiece, with tropical vibes aplenty. Bearweasel bulk up this cut on their remix, retaining the relaxed pace of the original, but with a more solid house beat and some playful programming.

Joris Voorn - Bearweasel remix for me!! Nice sexy groove..
DJ Hell (Gigolos) - some good tunes in this package !!
Orde Meikle (Slam) - nice grungy trippy house - like this- originals of both tracks are great
D’Julz (Ovum/Poker Flat) - Bearweasel delivers again
Michel Cleis (Cadenza) – Nice release!
Yousef (Cocoon) – Love ‘Jeri Call’! So good
Tony (Brothers Vibe) - Like the beats on Jeri Call - Bearweasel Rmx of Le Doigt Africain is tight as well...
Wally Lopez (Pacha/Underwater) - Jeri call for me ...excellent ethnic grooves
Milton Jackson (Sole Music) - quality package here, liking all 3 mixes thanks
Ed Davenport (Liebe Detail) - lovely intricate work on the remix! support!
Chris Woodward (Buzzin Fly) - great package, Bearweasel mix is the one for me
Chris Lattner (Moon Harbour) - Le Doigt Africain original and Bearweasel remix are great tunes! Especially Bearweasel did it again!!!
Enzo (Circo Loco) - Really feeling all these tracks. Looking forward to playing them all, full support.
Alex Cellar (Freak n Chic) - 3 very good productions, Bearweasel rmx for me :)
Louis Osbourne - A great release. All trax are in the playlist for the festive season. Jeri Call will KILL IT in the right environment! 10/10
James Teej (Rekids) - Bearweasel does it once again, great remix. like the original of le doigt africain tho, will definitely play both of these
Brendon Moeller (Wave Music) - the Bearweasel mix for me!
dOP - great hypnotic record.Like all the tracks here .

12" vinyl release
Beatport digital release

Kruse & Nuernberg's "Blunder EP" out now

2010-01-18T07:57:00.001-08:00

German duo, Florian Kruse and Nils Nuernberg, have had a rather busy 2009, releasing and remixing on labels such as Moodmusic, Dark Energy, Global Underground, and remixing Scope’s most recent NRK single “This Rhythm”, a remix that held top ten position in the Beatport deep house chart for over 6 weeks.

And now a full EP for NRK Music, with three solid deep/techy club tracks to get your ears round. “Blunder” is a bouncy, jackin cut, with an almost Teutonic techno breakdown.

“All That Djass” is an all together more funky affair, produced in Hamburg but with almost a Chi-town house vibe, cut up vocal snips coming across like a Derrick Carter production from yesteryear, and some deep Rhodes keys to drive the track along. “All That Djass” is currently sitting pretty in the top 5 Beatport Deep House charts.

Finally, “Mirror Ball” wraps up this solid EP with a distinct French house flavour, some nice filtering and a heavy backbeat, with a subtle D.I.S.C.O vibe stamped all over it.

The "Blunder EP" is out now on 12" vinyl and digital download.

Listen to "Blunder"
Listen to "All That Djass"
Purchase from Traxsource
Purchase from Beatport
Purchase 12" vinyl

00Deep - The Album - Out Now

2009-12-31T00:42:00.000-08:00

00Deep celebrates another 10 years passing for UK label NRK Music, a label that has always stuck true to the deep, underground house and techno sounds. If the 90s saw house music come to mainstream appeal, then the 00s fought off the inevitable backlash and threw up so many different sounds and styles which won over a new generation of fans.

2000-2009 is the period then that 00Deep delves into, and this compilation really does show the breadth of styles that NRK Music has pushed over the last decade. Kicking off in 2000 with cuts from Sirus and Plastic Avengers (with H-Foundation on the remix), the deep, tribal house sounds pick up pace throughout the following ten years, taking in the tech-house sounds of Jamie Anderson, Peace Division and Rocket, whilst the deeper styles were reflected with the likes of Nick Holder, Joey Negro and the awesome Francois K remix of Audio Soul Project. Middle of the decade saw two bonafide classics come to the NRK stable, in the shape of Kerri Chandler’s “Bar A Thym” and Quentin Harris’ “Let’s Be Young”, nuff said! And the latter years saw NRK’s A&R policy as diverse as ever, with the disco vibes of Blackjoy, the ultra dark minimalism of Radio Slave, the classic garage sounds of Trackheadz and the polished deep techno of Chymera.

00Deep collects the best of NRK’s output over the last ten years, and the label is gearing up for more solid music releases over the next 10 years.

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00Deep - A Review Of The Decade - 2009

2009-12-30T06:12:00.000-08:00

2009 was a testing time for NRK, with the label having to downsize and restructure itself, and so the year started slowley, with those involved taking some time to reorganise and evaluate the future of the label. However, you can't keep an old dog down for too long, and the label fired out a serious contender for "compilation of the year".

Planned in 2008 and finally released in April 09, Loco Dice, the infamous DC10 resident and doyen of deep grooves, compiled and mixed the first in NRK's new mix CD series, The Lab. Designed to let the selector experiment with music, the Lab 01 found Loco Dice rejuvinate his love of pure deep house, and so his double CD spanned the more techno orientated sounds that he is know for as well as some classic deep house sounds from the likes of Nick Holder, 95 North, Tyree Cooper and many more. The Lab 01 was a great success, Loco Dice scooping the front cover of British dance bible iDJ, and the album appearing in the Resident Advisor Top 20 compilations of 2009.

September of this year saw The Lab reappear, this time with fellow German-based DJ/producer Steve Bug at the helm. Notorious for his labels Poker Flat and Dessous, Bug mixed up a double CD delight for The Lab, again pushing the sound towards the deeper end of the spectrum, as Loco Dice did. Choice cuts from MCDE, DJ Koze, H.O.S.H, Ben Klock and Joris Voorn made this compilation a must have for lovers of the deep tech groove.

Back In The Box also carried the torch for retrospective compilations, this time it was Chi-town legend DJ Sneak who got to ransack his record collection, all in the name of creating a mix that will drag you down memory lane to some of house music's most memorable years. Sneak literally slayed the turntables on this double mix, including blinding tunes from the likes of Daft Punk, Ian Pooley, Cajmere, Bob Sinclar, Cricco Castelli and Global Communications. Sneak showed us a masterclass in jackin, boompety house, with flawless mixing and tune selection.

And Belgium's Spirit Catcher offered us a brilliant mix in (the last of) the Coast2Coast series. A superb, contemporary mix of great electronic dance, Spirit Catcher selected great music from the likes of Carl Craig, Johnny D, Jerome Sydenham, Matthias Tanzmann and Motorcitysoul.

NRK got back on the singles racks in September of 09, after an absence of a year, with new singles by Scope (including a massive Kruse & Nuernberg remix), David Durango (with Tony Lionni and NRK's Nick Harris on the mix), Spencer Parker and a new single from Detroit's Kris Wadsworth (enlisting David Alvarado and Nick Harris for remix duties).

00Deep - A Review Of The Decade - 2008

2009-12-30T05:19:00.000-08:00

2008 saw some more inspired single releases on NRK Music. Originally released on Italian Rebirth label, NRK picked up the rights to the sublime "Go That Deep" by NuFrequency feat. Shara Nelson. Championed by DJs across the board, from Laurent Garnier to John Digweed to Giles Peterson, this deep vocal house record featured the unmistakable voice of ex-Massive Attack collaborator Shara Nelson, and included mindblowing remixes from Charles Webster.

Another inspired re-release came in the shape of Foremost Poets legendary "Moonraker". the infamous spoken word cut that had a reissue on Junior Boys Own was dusted off again for NRK. This time, remixes from Magik Johnson and Spencer Parker breathed new life into this track, and was championed by Pete Tong and many others.

Other single releases in 2008 came from Spirit Catcher's chugging tech-funk of the "Brain Candy EP", a return to the scene for Scotland's DJ Q and his superb "Superclique", some great remixes of Nick Holder's "Time" from Dixon's Wahoo and Manuel Tur, a re-issue of the classic "The Theme" from Hot Lizard (AKA Charles Webster) with new mixes from Charles to go with the original mixes and Carl Craig mix from back in the day, the retro-house vibes of Osborne's "Ruling (with King Britt remix) and new singles from Kemistry, Matthias Heilbronn and Chymera. Some great singles in 2008 that showed the breadth of sound that NRK deal in.

Coast2Coast continued to release great contemporary Dj mixes from Peace Division, Charles Webster and X-Press 2, whilst Back In The Box welcomed the "Baron Of Techno" himself, Dave Clarke, to plunder deep into his box of tricks and mix up an incredible audio journey back to those days sweat soaked warehouse walls and sleazy underground Chicago house.

NRK's Nick Harris also got in on the mix album game, compiling and mixing a "past and present" selection of Winter Music Conference tunes for "Miami Underground", and a label retrospective "Deep Sensation 2", the follow up to "Deep Sensation 1".

00Deep - A Review Of The Decade - 2007

2009-12-30T04:45:00.000-08:00

After a few of years off the mix CD circuit (after wrapping up our nite:life series in 2004), the musical climate was a lot more vibrant in 2007, and so our Coast2Coast series, that kicked off with a great mix from Quentin Harris late 2006, really picked up pace in 2007, with mixes from Kerri Chandler, Ron Trent, Ame, Karizma and Miguel Migs. With minimal tech-house beginning to bore the pants off many, it was the classic deep house sounds that began to find favour again with DJs, and so C2C concentrated on these classic sounds. Ron Trent mixed up a sublime selection, reminding us how influential he and his Prescription Underground label was, and Germany's Ame mixed up an ode to the deep sounds with a great compilation featuring many underground gems.

Another new mix CD series that was launched in 2007 was the Back In The Box compilations. Taking the world's finest DJ legends, and letting them crate dig to mix up those underground cuts that didn't quite get the recognition on release, but those tunes that have stood the test of time, and shaped the selector's musical careers, Back In The Box enlisted Joey Negro and "Little" Louie Vega to work their magic. And these compilations were/are hot hot hot! Anyone with even a passing interest in house music should check these albums out...Joey Negro mixed up classics from the likes of Faze Action, Eddie Folkes, LFO, Mood II Swing and Derrick May, whilst Vega went on a sprawling 2CD set that included Gerideau, Romanthony, Reese Project, Norma Jean Bell, Black Science Orchestra and Todd Terry.

Single release in 2007 came from Audio Soul Project, with re-rubs from Peace Division and Fish Go Deep of the classic "Community" track, Trackheadz urban house defining "Feel", Nick Holder's two singles "Swimming" and "Time", some lovely deep techno house from Chymera with his epic "Wish" EP, and Fish Go Deep remixes of Kerri Chandler's "The Promise".

00Deep - A Review Of The Decade - 2006

2009-12-30T04:02:00.000-08:00

Things started to get a little bit more experimental in 2006, co-incidentaly our 10th year in the business. The wave of European "minimal" techno and house was beginning to take a hold, not that this was a bad thing when we were able to call upon hot producers such as Radio Slave and Paul Woolford to rise above the identikit minimal sound and produce for us some amazing techno influenced singles and remixes....

Paul Woolford (also know for his residency at Leeds nighterie Back To Basics, and releases on 2020 Vision) released a trio of heavyweight singles for NRK under the "Modernist" series...what started out as a remix request to Paul spawned into these three singles where no sounds or styles were off limits. Radio Slave, AKA Matt Edwards, was still carving out his sound back in 2006, and NRK alligned with him nice and early, as he produced stunning remixes of Peace Division's "Blacklight Sleaze" and Jamie Anderson's former Honchos release, "Time Is Now".

As mentioned, 2006 heralded our 10th year as a record label, a milestone that we never thought we would achieve from our humble beginnings. A label retrospective, "NRK:10" was released as a triple CD, and showcased the many influential names and records that NRK have released since 1996.

Still though, there was no time to bask in former glories, as the task of breaking new singles was on hand. Displaying our love for all styles of house, NRK picked up Blackjoy's disco heavy "Moustache" (a track that had been building momentum for a couple of years on Bob Sinclar's Yellow label) and we complemented the re-release with great remixes from Prins Thomas and Franck Roger. 2006 also saw single releases from Peace Division (with the aforementioned Radio Slave mixes of their "Blacklight Sleaze" and John "Mood II Swing" Ciafone remixes of "Club Therapy"), Kerri Chandler's awesome "The Promise" (featuring the man himself on vocals) and Trackheadz legendary "Our Music", which also featured on their debut album "Trackheadz".

With the scene started to pick up and get stronger in the more "experimental" circles, it was decided to release a couple of mix album projects, a format that NRK had opted out of for a year or so. And the mix album to end all mix albums came in the spiritual shape of Joe Claussell's "Translate" project. Claussell is known to many as one third of the Body & Soul crew (along with Francois K and Danny Krivit) and he pulled out all the stops to produce a mix album that would differetiate itself from the rest of the pack. "Translate" featured "social commentary", street vox-pops, ambient passages, and the now legendary "10 tracks of silence", as well as stunning music from the likes of Ame, Jeff Mills, Alton Miller, Virgo and many more. "Translate" is truly a mix CD that has to be heard from start to finish, and is a project that we are very proud of at NRK, if only because it confused the hell out of half the people, and totally struck a chord with the other half.

2006 also saw the opening account on our Coast2Coast DJ mix series, and who better to compile and mix for us that Quentin Harris, an artist that had shined throughout 2005 with his "Let's Be Young" cut, and who started our C2C series with an awesome NYC inspired mix that threw down Mick Jagger, Franck Roger, Bizarre Inc, Blaze, Byron Stingly and more into the melting pot.

00Deep - A Review Of The Decade - 2005

2009-12-30T03:36:00.000-08:00

Halfway through the decade, and it seemed like house music was flagging somewhat, NRK had decided to rest up any DJ mix compilation series largely due to a rapidly declining market, and concentrate more on single releases. And any doubts about house music's future were swiftly dashed, as NRK put the A&R work into overdrive, and signed up what are possibly the most important house tunes of the noughties ...

Kerri Chandler, a long respected member of the house scene, came up with such a huge house bomb in 2005. Originally released on legendary US label King Street Sounds, and picked up by NRK for re-release, "Bar A Thym" was such a simple track, yet hugely effective and influential. It's marriage of precision drums, funky cowbell percussions, and almost rave like stabs, produced a track that was absolutley caned the world over by house DJs and techno DJs alike. NRK treated the project with care, and enlisted Tom Middleton to remix the track, and in doing so, created one of those remix beasts where the remix is just as hot as the original mix; Middleton turned out a huge deep house track that works every time it's played. Another version of "Bar A Thym" was released with Foremost Poets laying down some spoken words, and producing a very worthy alternate remix.

One huge tune in a year is every labels dream, but to score two.......step forward another US house producer, this time it was Quentin Harris and his mammoth "Let's Be Young" track that NRK picked up on. Originally out on UA Records, this string laden, 10 minute epic track was the sound of 2005, part garage, part techno, it had all the elements to get DJs of all persuasions salivating. Parisian Julien Jabre and Trackheadz ably remixed the unremixable, and "Let's Be Young" can still be heard out every weekend all over the world, still scoring the same euphoric reactions time and time again.

Also in 2005, NRk found time to release records from former H-Foundation fella, Hipp-E (with his deep-ass "Psych-Delics" trilogy), Rulers Of The Deep's "The Last Survivor" with it's crucial Buick Project remix (AKA Nic Fanciulli & Andy Chatterley), more musical goodness from Magik Johnson ("Follow The Groove", "Rollergirl") and Peace Division's minimal tech funkness on two EPs, "Poke" and the mighty "Club Therapy".

2005 was also the year that NRK celebrated 100 single releases, and issued a couple of special 10" vinyls to commemorate the occasion. NRK100 "The Remixes" and NRK100 "The Edits" brought together some of our favourite tracks and remixers; step forward Pete Heller, Sirus, Joey Negro, Miguel Migs, Nick Holder, Magik J). We also decided to go rummaging in the vaults, and released the ReMasters 12" series and triple CD album, literally re-mastering some of the finest moments of the last 100 releases and sonically dragging them into the noughties .

00Deep - A Review Of The Decade - 2004

2009-12-30T03:13:00.000-08:00

Canadian deep house legend, Nick Holder, has been a regular on NRK since the very first releases, and 2004 was definately his "coming of age" on NRK Music. The previous year had seen his third album for NRK, "The Other Side" get a release, but it was in '04 that the killer spoken word/anti-DJ mantra, "No More Dating DJs" became of of Nick's most memorable tracks. More of a sultry R'n'B track that a deep house tune, "Dating Djs" featured the vocal of Gemini, and went on to show up in places we least expected. Radio 1's Trevor Nelson championed the track from out of nowhere, playing it on his hugely popular radio show for weeks, with Giles Peterson to follow suit. Remixes were swiftly organised from Mood II Swing's John Ciafone (for the house heads), Yam Who, and US hip-hop legend Pete Rock. "Dating DJs" went on to become a hugely popular track that year, and other remixes of Nick's album tracks came from the likes of Solid Groove, Harmonic 33, A Man Called Adam and Freaks, resulting in the remix album "The Other Mixes".

Dick "Magik" Johnson also followed up an album from the previous year ("Cardboard Journey") with singles "Follow The Groove" (also remixed by that man Solid Groove) and the "Kingsland Dubs 2" EP.

Miguel Migs also featured heavily on NRK in '04, releasing the smooth deep house "City Sounds" trilogy of EPs, and also compiled and mixed the last ever nite:life compilation (more of that in a bit).

Meanwhile David Alvarado produced a stunning mini album of deep, hypnotic, electronic tracks, heavy on the Basic Channel influence but also pre-dating the "minimal" explosion by a year or two. The "Transfiguration EP" was an underground gem.

NRK also collaborated with London party collective, Faith, and produced a mix CD and "fanzine booklet", taking things away for the same ole "mix CD" format and offering a reading companion to the Dj mix ably created by Terry Farley and Stuart Patterson.

2004 was also the year that we decided to put closure on the nite:life mix CD series. It was felt that we had taken it as far as we could, and wanted to end the series on a high, but not without another three stunning entries to the series from Tom Stephan (nite:life 018), Rulers Of the Deep (nite:life 019) and that man Miguel Migs (nite:life 020).

Meanwhile, Honchos Music continued to release the finest tracky/acid/tribal moments, with releases from D'Julz, Jamie Anderson, Dano, Noel Nanton, and the debut album from Bristol based sci-fi tech house bod A J Scent. His "B Good" album was perhaps a little ahead of its time, with heavy electro and synth based ideas, a sound that would come to prominence later in the decade.

Nick Harris - December 09 Hotmix

2009-12-16T06:06:00.000-08:00

NRK's Nick Harris presents a brand new 60 minute DJ mix. Download here

Martin Landsky - Who's Laughing Now (Poker Flat)
Mountain People - 008.3 (Mountain People)
Justin Drake - Slow Hand (Tsuba)
Pawas & BLM - Online (Cally Vinyl Remix) (Fear Of Flying)
Steve Lawler - Hocus Pocus (Radio Slave's Mole People Mix) (Viva Music)
Alexkid & Rodriguez Jr - Le Doight African (Bearweasal Linear Dub ) (NRK)
Matthias Meyer - Infinity (Liebe Detail)
Neville Watson & Kink - Blueprint (Rush Hour)
Ben Klock - Goodly Sin feat. Elif Bicer (Robert Hood Remix) (Ostgut Ton)
Baeka - Right At It (Michael Cleis Deeper Remix) (Rekids)
Radio Slave - Orchestrating Maneuvers In the Dark (Om)
Nick Harris - Another Sleepless Night

DJ bookings: ally@avant-booking.co.uk

00Deep - A Review Of the Decade - 2003

2009-12-11T07:06:00.000-08:00

NRK's mix compilation series, "nite:life", was fast gaining a reputation as one of the best series in a largely saturated market. We were not interested in ploughing one musical path, rather we wanted to provide a snapshot of the current sounds and trends in dance music. The year of 2003 was no different, as NRK released another 5 mix albums in the series from label regular Jamie Anderson (nite:life 013), Pete Heller (nite:life 014), Chicken Lips (nite:life 015), Rolando (nite:life 016) and Kenny Hawkes (nite:life 017). Out of these, it was perhaps Chicken Lips and Rolando that pushed the boundaries for us, with Chicken Lips enjoying huge success with their electro/disco tinged sounds that blended together old electro classics from Captian Rapp and Electra with contempory experimentalists Playgroup, Daniel Wang, Freaks, the Idjut Boys and Kelvin Andrews's Soul Mechanik. Subtitled "Body Music", the Chicken Lips nite:life offering was just that, and vertainly helped pave the way for today's electro fascinations. NRK also scooped a major compilation in '03 from one time Underground Resistance member, DJ Rolando. Enjoying huge success from his "Knights Of The Jaguar" track, Rolando mixed up an amazing DJ mix for nite:life 016, fusing Detroit and European techno and house sounds with great flair and energy.

Single releases in 2003 included our debut from Dick "Magik" Johnson, with the brilliant "Kingsland Dubs EP", a revisit to a genuine house classic in the shape of Ralph Falcon's "Every Now & Then" with remixes from Pete Heller and Kenny Hawkes, another offering from Dave Lee, AKA Joey Negro, and his single "The Way" which came with remixes from Magik J and Octave One, and Nick Holder announced his third album "The Other Side" for NRK with the release of the single "On My Mind" which came with a very groovy Ian Pooley remix.

2003 was also our year with Peace Division, who released their three part single series "Beatz in Peacez". Devastatingly deep, tribal monsters, "01" and "02" were typical of Peace Division's big sound, and perhaps marked a turn in style for NRK to the more minimal sounds. However, it was "Beatz in Peacez 03" that caused the most ruckus, with it's heavy disco bassline and hypnotic vocal sample, so big was this tune that it was re-released later in the year under the title "What Is This Sound" and was remixed by Tom Stephan, and later King Unique.

Honchos Music saw the release of a brace of A J Scent singles, including the brilliant Medicine8 remixes of "Pling Plong", Rob Rives double EP "Standing Alone", singles from Scott Pace and Dano, and another offering from Ian Pooley & Magik J, with the masterfull "Heke".

00Deep - A Review Of The Decade - 2002

2009-12-11T04:43:00.000-08:00

2002 saw NRK continue to nuture the existing talent on the label, as well as reaching out to artists new on the label. Miguel Migs had another busy year for NRK, releasing the "Dubplate Sessions EP" and "Satisfied EP", on each one throwing down his trademark dub inspired house tracks. NRK continued to work albums from the previous year from Audio Soul Project (pictured) and Jamie Anderson, with key single releases.

The legendary Francois K enlisted studio partner Rob Rives to create his timeless mix of Audio Soul Project's "Community", a track that has since been sampled to death, but FK and Rives did the original justice with an epic mix. Also enlisted to remix the ASP "Community" album were artists such as Rob Mello, Tony Thomas, Joeski and Ricky Montanari & Davide Ruberto. A "Community Remixed" album was released in this year. Meanwhile, Jamie Anderson's "Blue Music" album was revisited with the "Rebel Sound" single, complete with remixes from The Beloved and Jeno. Ian Pooley was also busy in '02, unleashing a trilogy of 12" singles; "Missing You", Ready To Flow" and "The Fly Shuffle", all released on coloured clear vinyl!

NRK Music has always liked to 'keep it in the family' and certain artists were brought back to the label to keep a sense of continuity. The aforementioned Ricky Montanari & Davide Ruberto released the killer "Redzone EP", a huge Italian deep piano track, and Jeno cropped up again on the label via his now legendary "Stormy Weather Remix" of Rocket's "People".

Other big singles for NRK in 2002 included Q-Burns Abstract Message and their "Innocent" single, remixed by King Britt and Magik Johnson, Sandy Rivera & Jose Burgos produced a great tracky EP titled "Keep Flowing", and UK stalwart, Pete Heller, supplied some great remixes of Louie Balo's mystical "Guiding Light".

The nite:life series continued, again breaking down genre barriers, as we brought to the platters some great mix comps from Joeski & Onionz "Nu-York nite:life", the dark and druggy sounds of Peace Division's "nite:life 010", the solid tech-house sounds of Lexicon Avenue, and a great double mix CD by Danny Krivit, one of the Body & Soul crew and all round NYC legend. His "Expansions" mix was a masterclass in mixology, including cuts from 808 State, Pal Joey, Blaze, DJ Food, Dennis Ferrer and Kerri Chandler.

Our sister label, honchos Music, delivered its biggest record to date. "Piha" by ex-pat Dick "Magik" Johnson, and Germany's Ian Pooley, was picked up by Pete Tong who hammered it on his BBC Radio 1 show for five weeks on the trot. With a remix package from DJ Sneak and Jamie Anderson, "Piha" was released at the end of the Summer 2002, narrowly missing a Top 40 chart position, but certainlybecoming one of the most memorable house cuts of the year, with its blazing disco strings and funk driven beats. Honchos also released key singles from Noel Nanton (including the still huge Ian Pooley remix of "Your Love"), and A J Scent's "ahead of its time" vibes on "I Love Digital".

00Deep - A Review Of The Decade - 2001

2009-12-09T08:34:00.000-08:00

2001 was quite possibly the year when NRK Music went for global house domination! In this year, NRK released a slew of quality releases from some of our favourite producers, Honchos Music began taking huge strides with some great, tracky/tribal/wobbly club trax, and the NRK nite:life compilation series dominated the year, with no less that five releases from some of the scene’s most revered names.

It seems like a distant memory now, but the 12” vinyl single was very much alive and kicking in 2001. Whilst not possibly enjoying the sales in house music’s honeymoon period, the vinyl single was the format that drove NRK’s busy 12 months of 2001. Hot singles from this year included Miguel Mig’s “Soul Selecta EP” and the double EP and CD “Underwater Sessions”, Joey Negro and Linda Clifford’s absolutely huge “Ride The Storm” (which narrowly missed a UK Top 40 chart position) and Joshua’s “Watch Da Bass”.

01 was definitely the year for most things samba/latino in house, and NRK scored two big singles in this year, namely Nick Holder’s now legendary “Summer Daze”, and Joeski & DJ Chus “El Amor” (with the remix courtesy of Tim Deluxe).

Tech-house also scored highly for NRK in this year, with the release of albums, and respective singles, from Chicago’s Audio Soul Project, and UK’s Jamie Anderson. Audio Soul (AKA Mazi Namvar) had his sprawling concept album “Community” released, with singles “Techtonic Blur EP” and “Memory” out, and Jamie had his “Blue Music” debut album released, with the devastating “Black Sun” and lighter “They See Nothing” released as singles.

Our sister label, Honchos Music, also got in on the act, with pivotal singles from Mood II Swing and DJ Dan, alongside new rising talent such as A J Scent. Mood II Swing’s “Slippery Track” was picked up from Stickman Records, and Honchos added an awesome Dano remix to the package that already included a Jamie Anderson and a Josh Wink remix. DJ Dan’s “Put That Record Back On” got the re-rub from Junior Sanchez, H-Foundation and Peace Division, a heavyweight package if ever there was one!

And so onto nite:life, our DJ mix compilation series. Such was the breadth of DJs and punters out there at the time, it was possible to squeeze in no less that five compilations that year. Terry Farley (Junior Boys Own) gave us a taste of the darker tribal rhythms working the clubs, whilst Nick Holder’s “nite:life 05” was pure deep house, with those aforementioned latin influences. “nite:life 06” was brought to us from our favourite German friend, Ian Pooley, with some wonderful funky/techy/discotech moments on there, and NRK showed big support for the underground by enlisting ex-pat, DJ Garth, to the series, and his wonderfully trippy/psychedelic deep house offering. Finally, Joey Negro completed another year working closely with NRK with his mix for “nite:life 08”, a pure hedonistic deep garage house mix that still gets an airing in the office regularly!

00Deep - A Review Of The Decade - 2000

2009-12-07T04:15:00.000-08:00

As we approach the end of the decade, the NRK Music blogspot hi-lights each of the years that made up the "noughties", a year that had it's ups and downs for the house music scene, but is certainly come out on top as we approach 2010. So here we go with the first installment...

2000

NRK Music surged into the new millennium with all cylinders’ firing, having already spent the late 1990’s making a big impact on the deep house scene. Already a label noted for bringing forward cutting edge trends in house music, via artists and releases from the likes of Dimitri From Paris, Francois K, Ian Pooley and Nick Holder, the year 2000 saw the label’s long standing relationship with a certain Mr. Miguel Migs, via a release called “Inner Excursions EP”, featuring the classic “Petalpushing” track.

Miguel Migs was already making a name for himself, via super deep and sophisticated releases for Naked Music and Yoshi Toshi. And the “Inner Excursions EP” marked out Miguel’s love of deep, tracky house music, a sound that was to become synonymous with NRK Music over the decade.

2000 also saw another relationship develop, this time with UK house stalwart Dave Lee AKA Joey Negro, who went on to record for NRK many times. He releases the superb “Your Wildest Dreams” 12” in this year, along with a robotically funky 2020 Vision remix (AKA Ralph Lawson and Carl Finlow) on a nice clear 12” vinyl pressing!

The decade also kicked off with one seriously major music trend, that of the reverberating, dub heavy house sounds of the West Coast crews. NRK Music was one of the first UK labels to pick up on these sounds, and in 2000 releases 12”s from Twisted Pair (AKA Dano & Joeski) “Horny Hustle”, Onionz & Master D’s “Celia’s Groove” and Dano’s “Drifting On Continents”. Perhaps the most successful artists emerging from that scene, H-Foundation (AKA Hipp-e & Halo Varga) supplied a killer remix of Plastic Avenger’s “El Bombata” whilst Halo went solo for a devastating remix of Sirus’ “An Eye For An Eye”, a track that was already huge with Danny Tenaglia that year.

It was decided to test the waters in this year with out first ever DJ mix compilation series (a format that the label still excels in to this day), and so “nite:life” was born. The scene’s most celebrated DJs, and the most cutting edge, underground sounds, our first three selectors did not disappoint. Jon Marsh, lead singer and producer of The Beloved, mixed up a great CD to kick start the series, whilst the aforementioned H-Foundation set the standards high with a genre defining double CD mix for “nite:life 02”. Miguel Migs nailed the sound of the Millenium with “nite:life 03”, a mix that has beome such a huge favourite with many fans.

Other notable releases for NRK this year include Nick Holder’s second album for the label “Underground Alternatives” and Sirus’ “On The Edge Of A Dream” featuring the singles “Big Ben” and “An Eye For An Eye”. The year 2000 also saw NRK’s sister label, Honchos Music, make its first steps with a more trackier/tribal sound, and it’s first two releases from Dirty Gringo and George T.

Alexkid & Rodriguez Jr collaboration for NRK

2009-11-26T04:02:00.000-08:00

Frenchmen Alexkid and Rodriguez Jnr, both respected producers in their own right, have collaborated on a new release for NRK, to be released early in 2010.

Rodriguez Jr is also one half of the hugely successful The Youngsters, who graced such leading labels as F Communications, Ovum, 2020 Vision and Soma Recordings. Meanwhile Alexkid is no stranger to the world of electronic dance, having a well respected CV that includes recordings and remixes for F Communications, Rekids, Get Physical and Luciano’s Cadenza Split Composition label. Alexkid also recently remixed Spencer Parker’s “You Got Me” for NRK.

The duo collaborate on two tracks, “Jeri Call” and “Le Doight Africain”, with the latter getting the remix treatment from rising stars Bearweasel (AKA Dean Mushin & Louisa Page). “Jeri Call” is a simple yet powerful tribal beats driven track that ushers in some haunting horn-like sounds, not for the faint hearted! At the other end of the spectrum, “Le Doight Africain”is a delicate and minimal percussive moodpiece, with tropical vibes aplenty. Bearweasel bulk up this cut on their remix, retaining the relaxed pace of the original, but with a more solid house beat and some playful programming.

“Jeri Call”/”Le Doight Africain” gets a release on 12” vinyl and digital in January 2010.

Jeri Call (Original Mix)
Le Doight Africain (Bearweasel Linear Dub)
Alexkid remix of Spencer Parker’s “You Got Me”

Kruse & Nuernberg "Blunder EP" coming soon on NRK

2009-11-23T04:40:00.000-08:00

German duo, Florian Kruse and Nils Nuernberg, have had a rather busy 2009, releasing and remixing on labels such as Moodmusic, Dark Energy, Global Underground, and remixing Scope’s most recent NRK single “This Rhythm”, a remix that held top ten position in the Beatport deep house chart for over 6 weeks.

And now a full EP for NRK Music, with three solid deep/techy club tracks to get your ears round. “Blunder” is a bouncy, jackin cut, with an almost Teutonic techno breakdown.

“All that Djass” is an all together more funky affair, produced in Hamburg but with almost a classic Chicago house vibe, cut up vocal snips coming across like a Derrick Carter production from yesteryear, and some deep Rhodes keys to drive the track along.

Finally, “Mirror Ball” wraps up this solid EP with a distinct French house flavour, some nice filtering and a heavy backbeat, with a subtle D.I.S.C.O vibe stamped all over it.

Kruse & Nuernber's "Blunder EP" will get a 12" vinyl release on 7th December, with a Beatport digital release to follow on 21st December.

Listen to "Blunder"
Listen to "All That Djass"
Kruse & Nuernberg's Myspace