8 labels that shaped the New York City house sound

Nervous Records

Nervous may have been wedded to the New York underground but it was a matter of months rather than years before the label made it into Billboard magazine as the new sound of NYC. Founded in ’91 as a house label with a hip hop lean in artwork and logo, you could say that the label had a running start with Roger S, Kenny Dope and Todd Terry the first three to release Nervous 12″s. While the label refused to produce purely house, Nervous was at one time or another home to Armand Van Helden, Frankie Knuckles, King Britt, Mood II Swing, Masters At Work, Kerri Chandler and Todd Edwards, the latter two helping to re-establish it as a major influence on the mid-‘90s garage house revival. Nervous also preside over a series of sub-labels taking care of the label’s more eclectic tastes.

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Sandy B
Feel Like Singing
(1992)

Listen / Buy

Probably the label’s first major dance release Sandy B’s ‘Feel Like Singing’ was also Barber’s debut #1. All lungs and hips, this 12” has even got David Morales on mix duty.

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Masters At Work present Nu Yorican Soul
The Nervous Track
(1993)

Listen / Buy

Classic Masters At Work and the duo’s first appearance as Nu Yorican Soul, Nervous took the plunge to go with messrs Vega & Dope before anyone else. A deep-as-you-like entry in the NYC house canon.

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Kim English
Nite Life
(1994)

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Kim English’s ’94 debut on the label was a big sign of things to come from both artists and label; a crisp downbeat nocturnal groove with a soulful vocal track ringing true over the top.

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Winx
Don’t Laugh
(Sorted Records, 1995)

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Another whose output on Nervous led to bigger things, Josh Wink aka Winx’s third release on electronic sub-label Sorted was a sparser, demented affair that sold hundreds of thousands of copies around the world. Sorted’s logo was a thing of beauty too.

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Kerri Chandler
The Mood EP
(1998)

Listen / Buy

Not in itself a landmark record for the label, but home to the effortlessly brilliant ‘Rain’, touching on the deeper edge of the NY garage house sound. Recently reissued, it’s probably our favourite cut on the label.

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