NICKODEMUS Vinyl & CDs

Review: Brooklyn's Wonderwheel is kind of like an institution by now; a label which has been delivering high levels of quality since the early 00s, and who is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down. In fact, the imprint has only managed to develop and nurture their tribalistic style of the years, and it's fair to say that they have successfully managed to create a Wonderwheel 'sound'; heavy, club-friendly deep house with subtle Afro nuances. This new EP, Turntables On Ipanema, is a collaborative effort by a series of familiar names: DJ G's wonderfully tropical house ballad "Samba De Terra" leads the 12", and is followed by Simbad's darker, more broken house groove called "Detroit De Janeiro", a perfect blurring of the sounds of the two American cities. Over on the B-side, "BerimBOOM" by Nickodemus and Simbad is a warm, beat-heavy deep house tune, and Zeb's "Space Forest" winds the tempo down to a sweet, mid-paced groove with magnificently dubby harmonies, and a balearic kinda feel.

Review: Last year, Wonderwheel Recordings founder returned to Turntables on the Hudson with The Remix Machine, a vast digital compilation (and eight-track vinyl sampler) featuring some of the countless reworks he's completed since the 1990s. This second 12" expands on that set, serving up six more of the New York-based producer's favourite re-rubs. There's plenty to set the pulse racing throughout, from the rolling Cuban house business of his Megablast tweak ('La Isla'), and a low-slung, d&b-influenced Latin breaks take on OVEOUS & QVLN, to a suspenseful slab of psych-funk-goes house (the New Yorker's tweak of 'Yiorti' by Antois Antonio), and even some bouncy, low-tempo Balkan beats (Balkan Bump's 'Codek America'). Hot global fusion business!

Review: Nickodemus has always enjoyed skipping between musical styles, with previous releases touching on everything from hip-hop and Latin beats to reggae, ska, jazz and broken beat. This time round, he's decided to turn his hand to good, old-fashioned house music. "In My House", featuring the distinctive vocals of former Naked Music chanteuse Lisa Shaw, is a loose but driving number, where fuzzy, low-slung guitars and clipped electric bass notes are smothered in tech-house electronics and warehouse-friendly stabs. Art of Tones provides the flipside remixes, delivering a heavily electronic deep house Remix before serving up a deeper and dreamier Dub version that makes great use of Shaw's freestyle vocalizing. The EP's bonus cut, loose jazz-house shuffler "Funk That", may be the best of the lot.

Review: Nickodemus is the New York based DJ/Producer/Party & club promoter for Turntables On The Hudson and has been releasing records for well over a decade. This three track sampler are tracks taken from his forthcoming album Moon People and proceedings commence with ''Under The Volcano'' a collaboration with latin electro outfit Naveganto which is based around a melancholic electronic groove with elements of Cumbian accordion in the mix for a late night excursion. ''Nights Of Balaur'' follows, sporting pulsating sub bass and Arabic sounding percussion, whilst LA based DJ and producer Jose Marquez completes the release with a remix of ''Under The Volcano.'' Well established on the deep house scene for his ''Inspiration'' party and brought up on a on a stable diet of Latin and world music , Jose adds more thump to the bump of the original version adding additional western Asian instrumentation into the affair whilst upping the ante on the bpm ever so slightly.

Review: "Back From Africa" is the third 12" from the fine "Endangered Species" full length album by Nickodemus. The A-side gives us the two album mixes of "Back From Africa" & "Peace Pipe". Both have been favorites amongst DJ's over the Globe. "Back From Africa" is a festive African dance groove with guitar & lots of percussion. The Derek Sessions remix takes it a notch deeper into Broken beat deep dancefloor house.

Review: "Funky In The Middle" is a midtempo groove that features Jay Rogriguez of the Groove Collective on sax & Victor Axelrod of Antibalas on clavinet. The remix by Haaksman & Haaksman drops into a steady reggae stepper groove & deepens it a notch. On the flipside, the critic's choice cut on the album, "Crazy Stranger," takes us on a 125 BPM trip from the Blakans to Jerusalem and beyond. Featured musician, Harel Shachal of the group Anistar brings in textures of Turkish flute, sax & melodica while Tortured Soul's Ethan White on the keys locks into the heavy rhythms.

Review: "Give the Drummer Some" is the second 12" from the fine "Endangered Species" full length album by Nickodemus. It features the vocal stylings of Dionysos & Stimulus of the underground NYC group Real Live Show & the one & only Nappy G on percussion. Real Live Show has been tearing up the live hip hop scene in NYC for the past 2 years with raw, undiluted rhymes. Nappy G was the percussive backbone of Giant Step, the Repercussions & Groove Collective for many years & is currently the third member of Turntables On The Hudson for the past 7 years. This collaboration of beats rhymes & percussion make this a positive jem for both the radio & dancefloors. On the flipside, we have the funky Fort Knox 5 out of Washington DC with another heavy dancefloor remix. Also included on this 12" is the deep Balkan, middle eastern, hip hop instrumental called "Global Village". Global Village is an extension of the classic Nickodemus style of beats like "Cleopatra In New York" & "Desert Dancer".

Review: Both Nickodemus and the Wonderwheel imprint are from NYC, and both parties know how to lay down some pure, hypnotic goodness when it comes to house. This time, the former is joined by Alsarah, who provides the mystical, charming Eastern vocals over the deep, progressive beats of "The Crow", a vibrant house tune for the big room; Saangan does his best to inject a little more techno sensibility into the tune. On the flip, "Alkoan Kulu Bidoor" heads into broken beat territories with its slower, sloppier beats, once again guided by Alsarah's arabic spoken word, and iZem provides the 'umph' by layering a rolling, glitchy blend of percussion into the mix. Solid.

Review: After the success of "Jump NYC" last year, the duo of Sabo & Zeb return with more afro funk house in the form of "Afro Azucar". The flip features a gypsy, flamenco breaks remix of Nickodemus' "Gibraltar".