00Deep - The Album - Out Now

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.

Beatport https://www.beatport.com/en-US/html/content/release/detail/208129/00Deep
Traxsource http://www.traxsource.com/index.php?act=show&fc=tpage&cr=titles&cv=43928
iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/album/00deep/id343206778

00Deep - A Review Of The Decade - 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

David Alvarado returns to the fold

David Alvarado, the LA based house veteran, makes a welcome return to the music scene this month with a remix of Kris Wadsworth's "Direct". Alvarado has been a long time associate of NRK Music, and released the ultra deep mini album, "Transiguration" on the label back in 2004.

David has been a consistent favourite on the house scene since his early productions for Strictly Rhythm, Groove On, Yoshi Toshi and Ovum in the 90s, as well as productions for legendary labels such as Peacefrog, Guidance and Plastic City. Recent years has seen David taking a back seat from the wheels of music production, but it is hoped that his remix here for NRK will spark the flames of musicality for more productions to come out over the next year.

His remix of Kris Wadsworth's "Direct" is in classic Alvarado style, heavy tribal beats, dubby reverberations, trippy deepness, and dense and engaging production. His remix is already picking up support from the likes of Dixon,Rocky (X-Press 2), Paul Woolford and Jay Tripwire.

Wadsworth's new EP comprises two tracks, "Direct" and "Full Body", both treading similar paths of stripped back, raw house tracks. Bleepy yet with plenty of deepness, it's refreshing to see a producer out there not following suit, but producing an individual sound. Certainly these tracks are intended for those who like their house deeper than the black hole!

The package is completed by a remix from NRK's Nick Harris, who neatly moulds "Full Body" into a more club firendlier version, utilizing some of the original's chords and bleeps and turning out a solid, hypnotic rework.

Kris Wadsworth "Direct"/"Full Body" is released on 30th November as a digital EP, with the vinyl release concentrating on Alvarado's remix of "Direct" and the original Wadsworth version.

Direct (David Alvarado Remix)
Direct (Original Mix)
Full Body (Original Mix)
Full Body (Nick Harris Remix)

David Durango's "In The Last Orient" EP out this week

David Durango, the Swiss based DJ/producer who has been making some rather tasty deep house sounds for the likes of Poker Flat, Dessous, Perspectiv and Resopal , releases a new EP on NRK this month.

Two tracks from David; "In The Last Orient" is a solid, boompety house cut, with a distinct far Eastern flavour with its vocal sample and instrumentation, this cut has a great groove with a nice seductive feel, whilst "Calle Azul" intricately builds into a great tech-funk workout. Remixes of these two great tracks come courtesy of Tony Lionni, and NRK's own Nick Harris. Tony Lionni is hotly tipped right now, what with recent releases on Ostgut Ton (his "Found A Place" cut being absolutley huge over the last few months), Mule and Wave, as well as forthcoming material for Freerange. Lionni's remix of "In The Last Orient" is deepness personified, with some cracking drums and warm production. Nick Harris also goes deeper with his remix of "Calle Azul", with a dubby and reverberating version.

Out this week on Beatport, and 12" vinyl, Durango's EP has been picking up some great support from many of the scene's movers and shakers.

Ripperton - David is on top form, this EP looks like an heavy weapon. The Nick Harris remix is dope!
Lars (Funk F’Void) - Love the Tony Lionni mix, fantastic deepness
Peter Kruder (Kruder & Dorfmeister) - Looove “In The Last Orient” Original. Great tune. Will play this.
Alex Niggeman (8-bit/2020 Vision) - Really nice EP. Support!
Dylan Hermelijn (2000 and One) - love the original and the Nick Harris rmx
Mazi (Audio Soul Project) - Original is fat and chunky - tight musically and that reverb orgy in the middle don't hurt either.
Bushwacka! – “In The last Orient” is my fav...
H.O.S.H. (Diynamic) - into the Nick Harris remix. cool starting stuff. first track is cool also.
Nic Fanciulli - Great release !
Danny Ward (Moodymanc) - Very beautiful lush sounding tracks....really dig em...
Dave Ellesmere (Rekids) - nice Lionni rmx again and the other that works for me is Nick Harris rmx ... cool release
Matthias Voght (Motorcitysoul) - NRK on fire... amazing release again, Tony Lionni remix is outstanding!
Yannick Labbe (Innervisions) – “In The Last Orient” is my pick here. verrrry good!
Willie Graff (Liebe/Drumpoet) - Enjoying the Toni Lionni remix!
Chris Duckenfield (Swag) – great package, all playable
Jimpster (Freerange) – Really love the original mixes here, both are fresh sounding and keep the floor nicely
Alex Flitsch (Connaissuer) – Brilliant, “In The Last Orient” (Original) and Tony’s remix for me!
Chris Lattner (Moon Harbour) – House with a feeling! Great EP from NRK
Diesel (X-Press 2) – Love “In The Last Orient”
Kevin Griffiths (Tsuba) – Nice package of mixes, Nick Harris is the best here
Milton Jackson (Freerange) – Tony Lionni remix is really nice as is the Nick Harris mix
C-Rock (Motorcitysoul) – Nick Harris remix for me, nice, deep and moody but kicking at the same time
Nils Nurenberg (8-Bit) – Awesome release
Burnski (Poker Flat) – Awesome, love it
Brendon Moeller (Wave) – “Calle Azul” tickles my fancy, Tony Lionni mix is hot too!

Purchase from Beatport
In The Last Orient (Original Mix)
In The Last Orient (Tony Lionni Remix)
Calle Azul (Original Mix)
Calle Azul (Nick Harris Remix)

Back to basics with Kris Wadsworth

Kris Wadsworth, an artist who has had an incredible year to date, with releases and remixes on labels like Poker Flat, Hypercolour, Dark Energy and Fresh Meat, showcases two fresh new tracks on NRK Music next month.

Renowned for his "back to basics" approach of house, prefering the raw and gritty sounds of yesteryear to the somewhat sleeker production sounds of the current crop, Detroit based Wadsworth drops two tracks in his own inimitable style.

The new EP comprises two tracks, "Direct" and "Full Body", both treading similar paths of stripped back, raw house tracks. Bleepy yet with plenty of deepness, it's refreshing to see a producer out there not following suit, but producing an individual sound. Certainly these tracks are intended for those who like their house deeper than the black hole!

Kris Wadsworth "Direct"/"Full Body" gets a release on 2nd November with remixes.

Full Body
Direct
Kris Wadsworth Myspace

Spencer Parker's "You Got Me" out this week with Alexkid remix

This week sees the release of Spencer Parker's debut release for NRK. Available now as a Beatport exclusive download, and a trusty 12" vinyl disc, "You Got Me" is backed with a very tasty Alexkid remix, and another cut, "Do You, Do You".

"You Got Me" is no nonsense trackhead material; nagging sleaze vocal, beefy old skool bass and bouncing percussion. On the remix duties, NRK are pleased to enlist F Comm old timer, Alexkid, who delivers a gritty and raw remake. Alexid has also just released an album for Cadenza's (Luciano) offshoot label, Split Compilation, and we expect to hear lots more great music from him over the coming months. Alexkid's remix seems to be picking up a fair few fans from the promo on this, including Josh Wink, Matthias Tanzmann, Laurent Garnier and Timo Maas, so check it out!

"Do You, Do You" gets Spencer is jacktronic mode, delivering a hyped up, jackin sax trak, reminiscent of those old Chicago records on the liles of Dance Mania and Relief. Definately an EP for the trackheads!

Spencer has risen up the ranks over the last couple of years, and is currently enjoying a blinding run of killer releases, remixes, and global DJ gigs. His tracks for Buzzin Fly, Rekids, Liebe, Saved and Tsuba have become firm favourites with many peeps out there, and his remixes for the likes of Skint and Om Records have catapulted his sounds far and wide.


Purchase from Beatport
"You Got Me"
"Do You, Do You"
"You Got Me" (Alexkid Heat Mix)

NRK's Nick Harris on his Lifetracks

NRK's Nick Harris is the subject of the Bristol based Byte Blogspot's Lifetracks series. Focussing on the various talent from the city, Lifetracks features a special "influences" mix, and an accompanying in depth interview with its subject.

For his mix, Nick delved deep into the tracks that influenced him and helped shape his long career in the dance music industry, drawing on significant tracks from the likes of The Clash, Dub Syndicate, Plastikman, St. Germain and Killing Joke.

You can read the full interview with Nick here, and also listen and download his special Lifetracks mix.

Steve Bug's "The Lab 02" out this week

This week sees the release of Steve Bug's "The Lab 02" mix compilation project. Already picking up rave music in the dance music press, Bug follows in the footsteps of Loco Dice by compiling and mixing for NRK's newest series.

The album is available as a mixed 2CD and also as highly popular unmixed 2CD, featuring selected tracks in their entirety. We have also issued three seperate 12" samplers for those that still play and cherish the vinyl format!

And so to The Lab, a double disc treat from Bug that does not disappoint. Over the two discs, Steve shows his depth of DJ style, encompassing more deeper house sounds on disc one, and heady “tech” flavoured grooves on disc two. Showcasing many “leaders of the new school”, from the likes of Motor City Drum Ensemble (MCDE), DJ Koze, Ben Klock, Audiofly, Markus Worgull and Chateau Flight, alongside established artists such as Peace Division, Cobblestone Jazz and Trentmoller, Bug dedicates this Lab mix to those house music producers with an edge and flair for innovative and futuristic sounds. Bug’s “The Lab” mix perhaps sets the trend away from the minimal-by-numbers music from the last couple of years, and pushes the sound to more interesting and deeper territories. The mixes are the sound of now, from the terraces of Ibiza to the beach parties of Croatia, from the underground clubs of Berlin to the sweat soaked warehouses of London and beyond.

Click on the tracks below for audio previews

CD01 (mixed by Steve Bug)
01. Nick Höeppner - Makeover
02. Kevin Griffiths – Cantona Kung Fu
03. Kai Alce feat. Azulu Phantom – Power Thru Pt 3 (Mush Remix)
04. Alex Flitsch & Audiofly – Long Way To Go
05. Rocco – Da Men (Dub)
06. Dplay – Huub Sand
07. Claire Ripley - Kismet
08. Henry L – The Other Day At The Basement (Marcus Worgull's Flugskompensator Dub)
09. David Durango – Perfect Day
10. Sideshow ft. Paul St. Hilaire – If Alone (Chateau Flight Remix)
11. Dan Berkson & James What - Cycles
12. Jay Tripwire – Save Each Other
13. Stl – Silent State
14. Nick Solé – Simple Things
15. Kiki – Good Voodoo

CD02 (mixed by Steve Bug)
01. Craig Smith & The Revenge - The Soul Part 2
02. Outmode - The Examiner (Tom Taylor Remix)
03. Blagger - Strange Behaviour (DJ Koze AKA Swahimi Remix)
04. Channel X - Ticket
05. Jay Tripwire presents 8 Channels - Control
06. Andrade - Fingers (Dirk Lamprecht Remix)
07. Ben Klock - Subzero
08. H.O.S.H. - Better And Sweet (Audiofly Remix)
09. Steve Bug - Swallowed Too Much Bass (feat. Paris The Black Fu) (Joris Voorn Remix)
10. Art Of Tones feat. Jaw - Call The Shots (Motor City Drum Ensemble Remix)
11. DOP - 36500 Days
12. Cobblestone Jazz - Traffic Jam
13. Peace Division - Eh Oh Um
14. Trentemøller Vs DJ Lab – Rauta (Girls Mix)
15. Re-Up - Inside Us
16. Newworldaquarium - Trespassers (Redshape Remix)

Steve Bug - The Lab 02 (2CD Mixed)
Steve Bug - The Lab 02 (2CD Unmixed)
Steve Bug - The Lab 02 (12" vinyl sampler 01)
Digital album on Beatport