Nervous Vinilo y CD

Review: Nervous will forever be etched in the heart of house music lovers. And even after all these years the legendary New York labels continues to serve up the gems. This time out they call upon the one and only Kenny Dope, one half of Masters At Work and a legendary DJ and producer. He adds his famously characteristic warmth and soul to Kenny Bobien and Wheeler Del Torro's 'The Sun Will Shine Again.' It is a gloriously sunny tune with lively, skipping and South Hemisphere tinged beats, a great vocal and plenty of percussive action. The instrumental strips it back to more direct beat work. Both sides bang.

Review: US house music legend Teddy Douglas is welcomed back onto Nervous Records for a rare full-length album on the label. I'm Here is Douglas' first full-length solo album following his esteemed stints with Basemen Boys and Jasper St. Co., and it's so far been hailed as one of his all-time career-defining greats, bursting will both originality and intertextuality, yet not straying too far from his characteristic Baltimore house sound either. Across the album he's pulled together an array of heavyweight international vocal talent, including UK vocal diva Pauline Taylor; Danish award winning folk and blues artist Richard Farrell; Chi Town hip house legend, Fast Eddie; dance music vocal queen Ultra Nate; up-and-coming Brit soul talent Sipho; and Buckshot from Blackmoon appearing under the name BDI Thug; and through this expansive penchant for teamwork he's conjured up a whimsical record, yet one still respectful of East Coast dance musical tradition, as ever riffing on the afterglows of a golden era yet still finding incredibly compelling fusions between the kicks.

Review: Doug Gomez brings all new level of artistry to this new album on Nervous. It's a collection of tracks that not only move the dance floor, but also work in a wider context thanks to their carefully infusion of Latin flair, rich percussive patterns and innovative Afro-tinged rhythms. Right from the off you will have your behind wiggling with the excellent 'New York State Of Mind' full of sunshine and salsa. Elsewhere there's the steamy and percussive Latin-house and gorgeous vocals of 'A Vida E' Boa, A Vida E' Sol'. 'Que O Amanha Vai Trazer' brings all new Accordion melodies and busy arrangements that enrich the soul. A timeless album from New York innovator Gomez.

Review: Some of Masters at Work man Louie Vega's greatest full-length projects have paid tribute to New York's 50-year dance music story, as well as his personal musical inspirations (most notably the Nuyorican Soul album he penned with long-time production partner Kenny 'Dope' Gonzalez in the 1990s). Expansions in the NYC, his latest epic excursion, treads a similar path, offering a large number vocal-heavy numbers that not only blend elements of disco, boogie, proto-house and house, but also feature some genuinely high-profile vocalists from that era (think Peech Boys' Bernard Fowler, Unlimited Touch). Vega also joins forces with 21st century house star Honey Dijon on the superb 'Feels So Right', while the hook-ups with Moodymann, Kerri Chandler and Joe Clausell are as inspired as you'd expect.

Review: The Master at Work that is Louie Vega has been a music-making machine all his life but in recent years has continued to reach new heights with various different projects. Here he is back on regular label Nervous with various different versions of his tunes 'Joy Universal' and 'Igobolo.' 'Joy Universal' (feat Two Soul Fusion) is classic Vega - soulful house music awash with Latin influences, loose-limbed percussion and funky basslines. And that template is tweaked over the ensuing tunes, with glorious pianos, jazzy grooves and tropical rhythms all making for a fine EP.

Review: Considering this track originally surfaced back in 1993, it's staggering how up to the minute it still sounds, not to mention setting the tone for the swathes of downtempo and broken beat that would flood out from the 90s and beyond into the 21st century. You simply can't measure the influence of "The Nervous Track" with its horn blasts and limber drum roll, and it proves that MAW were never just about tough New York house bump. Take your pick from any of the mixes, they're all classics in their own individual ways, and they'll set any listener adrift on a summery haze of soulful tones and magical drum patterns.

Review: True to the name, Nervous Records have always kept us on our toes, biting our fingernails, hind-waddling to the edges of our seats. That being said, they themselves have kept rather relaxed on the releasing front in recent times; any residual nervousness is mostly on our side. In a rare original EP move from the veteran garage house label comes Shaka with 'Hidden Lover'; this is the wisened work of a battle-torn Swiss producer, whose many previous outings on Yore, Mate, Selections and Vibes & Grooves has all paid off with this inclusion in said anxious pantheon. 'Sing With Me' brings nostalgic feet-sweeping recollections from singer Eva against modular rack rides and cowbells, while 'Sill Groovin'' sounds like the same location but revamped for the anniversary present: its grooving, cool, vitreous sound design recalls the clinking of martini glasses and the tinging of wine measures in a svelte art deco backroom.

Review: Nervous and its iconic logo is one of house music's most recognisable labels. It has been turning out a wide array of styles since the 90s and continues to have its own niche to this day. It is Super Flu who steps up here with a new single that combines two very unlikely worlds - house music and the vocals of Cher. They are either well treated or re-sung, we can't be sure, in a more vulnerable and delicate style over a minimal, tense beat and bold bass. An instrumental version is also included of this most alluring and sure to standout track.

Review: Ten years after volume one hit stores, legendary disco-boogie label SAM Records delivers a third collection of contemporary reworks of tracks from its enviable back catalogue. As you'd expect, most of the remixers strike a perfect balance between paying tribute to the original material and giving the '70s and '80s material 21st century dancefloor weight. Highlights come thick and fast throughout, from the energy-building loops and chops of the Dorothy's Fortress remix of Lucy Hawkins' 'Gotta Get Out Of Here' and the Saturday night-friendly boogie-house revision of Komiko's 'Feel Alright' by Dr Packer and Michael Gray, to the sensationally squelchy and soulful Pathcouli Brothers' rework of Steve Shelto's 'Don't You Give Your Love Away' and the filter-sporting disco-house hedonism of JKriv's take on disco classic 'Bourgie Bourgie'.

Review: Louie Vega's Expansions In The NYC album remains a classic of the house master's vast ouvre. It was an all-star affair from the Masters at Work icon which same him pay homage to New York disco, boogie and house with fantastic musicianship, arrangements and vocals from a superb cast which includes Peech Boys main man Bernard Fowler, Honey Dijon, Cindy Mazelle, Moodymann, Kerri Chandler and his son Nico. Two of the cuts from it now make their way onto this 12" on Nervous in the form of the soulful delights of the sooth a-side 'Another Day In My Life' and the jazzy, piano laced dancer that is 'Deep Burnt' (feat Axel Tosca) on the B-side. Life affirming stuff.

Review: New York legend Louie Vega and Detroit icon Moodymann - two titans of house with deep but divergent lineages - collide again on 'Seven Mile', reissued here as a hefty double pack with remixes. Originally released in 2022 on Vega's Expansions in the NYC LP, this expanded edition gathers fresh reworks from trusted names across the house spectrum. Dennis Quin goes punchy and percussive, Kai Alce turns in a soulful NDATL roller, and Rocco Rodamaal teams up with Alex Finkin before offering two lush solo interpretations across the C-side. Vega's own instrumental demo mix adds vintage bounce, while Charlie Soul Clap, here credited as Charlie Levine, delivers an ecstatic final pair - his 'Wild Version' the most unhinged of the lot.

Review: Louie Vega continues to offer up fresh remixes of tracks from his epic 2023 album Expansions In The NYC. The latest cut to get the rework treatment is Unlimited Touch hook-up 'Music Is My Life', a joyous and gently soulful fusion of disco instrumentation and house nous. There are two mixes from Vega and long-time studio partner Kenny 'Dope' Gonzalez as Masters at Work: an A-side full-vocal remix that gently beefs up the house elements and adds some tasty Rhodes licks, and an EP-closing dub in which the storied duo reach for spacey synth sounds, rolling grooves and selected vocal snippets. To complete a strong package, British veteran Dave Lee doffs a cap to his popular 'Remixed with Love' series and re-imagines the track as a punchy disco-funk workout.