Friday, December 11, 2009

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".


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