Dave Clarke - Back In The Box details....

Electronic music heavyweights NRK are back with a new edition in their retrospective “Back in the Box” series and this time have drafted in none other than techno legend, Dave Clarke. Having already seen instalments from MAW’s ‘Little’ Louie Vega and disco-don Joey Negro, “Back in the Box” is an opportunity for a DJ to turn rare secret weapons, b-side bombs and forgotten anthems into a brand new mix compilation.

Clarke’s selection for his “Back in The Box” is built around the sound of late 80’s Chicago house with a sprinkling of Detroit techno and a few classics from the UK’s emerging house scene. It displays an in-depth knowledge of the labels and producers whose pioneering work would go on to lay the pathway for dance music and club culture as we now know it.

The mix flows effortlessly through seminal tracks from the likes of Fast Eddie, Virgo and Foremost Poets, taking in the spaced out techno preachings of Blake Baxter, the acidic sounds of Bam Bam and the jackin’ soul of Ralphi Rosario along the way. To pick highlights from this album is an almost impossible task as it truly is stream of audio gems, many of which have never been included on a compilation before and will only be familiar to those who are used to blowing the dust from their shrink wrapped original Trax pressings.

Morales’ remix of Alternations ‘Feel it For You’ is a cut that has long been overdue for a return to the light as is Ben Mays ‘Lover Man’ and Julian Jonah’s ‘Jealousy and Lies’. Put these little known works of genius together with landmark records such as Pierre’s ‘Mystery Girl’ and T-Coy ‘Regret’, a track that helped launch the fortunes of the Deconstruction label, and you have a compilation that transcends the usual ‘Now that’s what I call Old Skool’ formula moves into the realms of classic status in it’s own right.

Whilst the UK is busy celebrating it’s ’20 years of Acid House’ Dave Clarke has drawn together the threads of dance music history and woven together a mix that truly shows how far back we have look to see where our roots lie. A snapshot of a bygone time that is truly timeless.

01. A Blackman, a Blackman and Another Blackman - I Believe
02. Fast Eddie Smith - Jack The House (Jack Mix)
03. Foremost Poets - Reasons to be Dismal
04. Scram - I Believe (Before The Storm Mix)
05. Virgo - In A Vision (inst.)
06. Bam Bam - Animal Attraction (Dynamic Guvnors Remix)
07. Da Posse - The Groove
08. M.E. - Ride
09. The Rude Boy Farley Keith - Give Yourself To Me
10. Mr Lee - I Can't Forget
11. Julian Jonah - Jealousy and Lies
12. Jungle Wonz - The Jungle
13. Blake Baxter - When A Thought Becomes You
14. Alternations - Feel It For You (Planetary Access Mix)
15. Master C & J - Face It (Club Version)
16. Ben Mays - Lover Man
17. Fantasy Club - Mystery Girl (Set Me Free) (Original)
18. T-Coy - Regret
19. Ralphi Rosario - I Want You (Transcontinental Mix)
20. Gil Scott-Heron - Space Shuttle (Paul Waller Mix)

Dave Clarke's Back In The Box is released on 6th October. the mix CD is accompanied by an unmixed CD; your chance to get some ultra rare house jams without the price tag!

www.nrkmusic.com/backinthebox

Skylark and Kemistry remix "Go That Deep"

"Go That Deep" by NUfrequency feat. Shara Nelson gets set for an official release on NRK next month; surely a contender for record of the year, this beautiful and infectious song has picked up a huge fanbase right across the board, with DJs as diverse as Pete Tong, Ame, Judge Jules, Gilles Peterson, Rob Da Bank, Laurent Garnier, John Digweed etc. supporting the many shades that this record comes in. From Charles Webster's mesmerising deep house version to Redanka's early 90's progressive club belter to the Original and Neon Heights laid back Balearica style.....

Nic Fanciulli and Andy Chatterley, AKA Skylark, have supplied a couple of brand new mixes of "Go That Deep"; a full vocal mix that is aimed purely at the deeper dancefloors, and a devestating Club Mix that will get lapped up by fans of Dubfire, Radio Slave etc. Meanwhile, another UK team, Kemistry, follow up their "City Slang" EP on NRK earlier this year with a great tracky remix, evoking shades of Sueno Latino with its infectious melody.

Go That Deep gets a full release on September 15th, with a couple of new extra Charles Webster mixes, Neon Heights and Original mix all available digitally as well as on 12" vinyl. A second 12" disc featuring the Skylark Club and Redanka mixes gets released in October. Your full support is much appreciated, it would be great to see this record do some damage in the commercial charts!

Skylark Club Mix
Kemistry's Shack Music Mix
Charles Webster Remix

Belfast's Scope debuts on NRK

NRK Music welcomes Belfast DJ/producer Scope (AKA Ric McClelland) to the fold, and his debut for NRK has 'epic' stampled all over it. Influenced by producers as varied as Kerri Chandler, Ian Pooley and Funk D'Void, Scope has been making great headway in the production world with some stella works for labels like Urban Torque, Forensic and CR2. bridging the gaps between soulful, deep house and techier territories, Scope has also remixed for the likes of Francois Dubois, Milton Jackson and Little Green men.

On his NRK debut, Scope delivers a great anthemic deep house production. "Omoplata" delivers steady, swinging punchy beats, heavy , thick stabs and dramatic strings not heard since Quentin Harris's "Let's Be Young". Comparisons will be made to Quentin's finest hour, but Scope commands his own style here. The "313" mix gets all acidic on yo ass with some classic old skool pianos giving this mix a nice retro feel.

"Omoplata" gets a full release on digital late September 2008.

Omoplata (212 mix)
Omoplata (313 Mix)

Charles Webster Coast2Coast Podcast

September 8th sees the release of the eagerly anticipated Coast2Coast mix by UK dance veteran, Charles Webster. Available on double mix CD, double DJ friendly unmixed CD, and two very limited edition 12" vinyl samplers, Webster's Coast2Coast project displays two different takes on the his sound.

Disc 1 features a host of exclusive remixes and edits by Charles himself and is an insight into the production sound that makes him ever popular with Dj’s, producers and music fans worldwide. Amongst the artists featured on this disc we have Roy Davis Jr, Henrick Schwarz, DJ Koze and Shara Nelson helping to create an eclectic mix that is shot through with percussive rhythms and soulful melodies. High points include the opening segment featuring Frankie Valentine’s ‘Zumbi’ overlayed with the acapella from Nick Holder’s ‘America Eats it’s Young’, as well as wonderful Webster rework of Justin Martin’s ‘Sad Piano’ – both truly sublime.

Disc 2 is a truly soulful affair which draws its influences almost exclusively from the early nineties with the odd smattering of post millennial recordings. This is like a trip down memory lane taking in some of the forgotten gems of US produced/inspired house music. From the opening cut of ‘Missing You’ by Larry Heard you know you are in for a treat and Webster never fails to disappoint, twisting and turning his way though classics from Groove Committee, Pal Joey, Alex M and Black Orchid to end on the spine tingling ‘Love Break’ by Basic Bastard & Blake Baxter. For those who like a little musicality in their club music it really doesn’t get any better than this. An inspiring selection from a standout DJ and producer.

NRK's Nick Harris caught up with Charles recently in London to discuss the C2C project, and other musical matters. You can download the free podcast here

To purchase advance copies of Webster's Coast2Coast CD, click here

X-Press 2 Balearic Mix

One dance crew synonomous with the Balearic sounds of the White Isle of Ibiza is X-Press 2. The UK trio have been visiting and DJing on the island since the late 80s, and have found it a constant source for their productions and DJ sets throughout their illustrious career. Dig out a copy of the legendary Channel 4 documentary "A Short Film About Chilling" and you will find X-Press 2's Rocky waxing lyrical about the island way back in 1990.

The X-Press 2 guys have very kindly supplied us with an exclusive "Balearic Mix" to this month's NRK newsletter, click the link below for an awesome one hour chilled out session courtesy of the guys.

Listen/download here

X-Press 2's recent Coast2Coast mix is a bumper 30 track comp spread over two discs, artists and remixers present and correct on this comp include Carl Craig, Blackjoy, Los Hermanos, Peace Division, Phuture, Mr. Fingers, Stefan Goldmann, Ame, Dennis Ferrer, Audion and Solomun. Future music blends with old classics, and the guys really impress on this mix. Also available is a DJ friendly Unmixed 2CD and two unmixed 12" vinyl doublepack LPs, all available from the NRK shop now.

NRK shop