Available now from online retailer HMV. Mixed by two of our fantastic Hardcore DJ’s, we’re proud to announce Hardcore nation 2009!
What others are saying:
Definately worth the money this is one of the best Hardcore albums I’ve heard in a long time. All I now wish is that producers think about doing a few more break beats as in the good old days.
There are some good female vocal tracks some thing which Hardcore excels & as always tunes that kep going around in your head. READ MORE
When people talk about polished professional performances in the dance world, one name crops up time & time again – that of Karen Danzig.
Audiences the world over are always thrilled by Karen’s onstage energy & great live vocals.
Karen is a real musician, having trained as a classical vocalist & achieved a First Class Honours Degree in Music & Performing Arts, & a Post Graduate Diploma in Acting & Musical Theatre. She has paid her dues in the music world, having previously enjoyed a career in jazz, pop & musical theatre. She has toured the globe with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain, and is in much demand as a vocal coach. She is also a gifted songwriter, having written hits not only for herself, but for many others.
Surprisingly, Karen was brought up by profoundly deaf parents with a deaf sister & hearing brother.
Her earliest recording project was with legendary pop producers Stock & Aitken, an exciting start to her career in music, fronting a ‘Blondie-esque’ pop-rock band called The Park. She continued writing pop with the likes of Ricky Wilde (Kim’s brother & songwriter) & Sam Bergliter (Lisa Stansfield).
Karen exploded onto the dance scene with the classic anthem Heartbeatz, with Hardcore legends Styles & Breeze, reaching a No. 16 position in the UK Top 40 charts and featuring on many Clubland and Floorfillers compilations, as well as the huge-selling Now That’s What I Call Music 60.
The provocative video for Heartbeatz, featuring Karen in sexy lingerie on a heartshaped bed, kept it at the top of the Box TV Video charts for four consecutive weeks.
Since then Karen has been on the speed dial of the UK’s top dance producers & labels, lending her vocal talents to many tracks by Styles & Breeze, Flip n Fill, Love To Infinity, Micky Modelle, Billy Bunter, Kenny Hayes, and countless others, on labels such as All Around The World, Ministry Of Sound, Sony ATV, & Serious Records.
Karen’s success continues, having been chosen to front all UK P.A.s for massive No. 10 UK chart hit ‘Dancing In the Dark’ (Micky Modelle), still a huge club tune.
She featured prominently on the sell-out CLUBLAND LIVE UK Arena Tour, with major dance acts Cascada, Scooter, Ultrabeat, Flip & Fill, Kelly Llorenna, and many more…
She has also performed to over 50,000 kids on the Choices For Life arena tour with the McDonald Brothers (X Factor) & Keith Jack (Any Dream Will Do) for 2 years running.
Last summer she sang on the Clubland Ibiza tour, & also fronted P.A.s for Tall Paul at BCM – Majorca, & for major pop-dance act Uniting Nations all across Europe.
This spring sees Karen joining the Hard 2 Beat DANCE NATION arena tour with Sash, Basshunter, September, Booty Luv, Angel City & many more…
Her latest release & accompanying video, La La La, with the Sound Selektaz, recently reached the Top 5 in the Music Week Commercial Pop Top 30 & is rapidly becoming a club favourite.
Now another promising chapter is being written for Karen, with her brand new project, ‘RADIOLA’, a collaboration with Ivor Novello winning songwriter Bill Padley (4 international & UK No.1 hit records, including Atomic Kitten’s Whole Again & That’s My Goal for Shayne Ward).
This exciting project combines great pop songs with great dance grooves, reflecting her influences and passion for pop-dance. Featuring a selection of original songs and classic covers, it promises to be a major release, ready-made for radio.
Watch this space! – Karen Danzig is a name you’ll be hearing for quite some time…
AMpm (Andrew Matthew Producing Music), is the production team of Andrew Green (DJ Greenie) and Matthew Wigman (Dj Wiggy). Both are highly recognised in the UK Bounce scene, and both are residents of the popular FREQUENCY team. AMpm have been working very hard in 2009, and have featured on the ‘BOUNCE HEAVEN’ album out in all major record stores.
AMpm was formed in the early months of 2008 and in under a year have already remixed for some of the biggest record labels in the UK including All Around The World, 3Beat Records and Ministry of Sound. AMpm pride themselves on pushing production boundaries and are gaining huge recognition for their unique trademark Basslines. With only less than a year under their belt as a duo… be sure to expect big things in the future!
One half of AMpm, is Dj Greenie, he has had huge success and exposure as part of Bad Behaviour. He is well respected in the UK bounce industry for a string of massive solo and band hits. Not only known for his production skills, Dj Greenie has also been amongst the best Dj’s for over 8 years, and was recently a close 2nd in the 2009 Bounce Heaven Best Dj Award category.
Dj Wiggy, the second half of AMpm, is a well travelled and experienced Dj. He is a resident for one of the scenes biggest promotions, Frequency, and is widely known for his intense crowd rocking skills and flawless technical ability. Dj Wiggy is also recognised for previous productions under alias ‘Donk Monks’, which have also taken the scene by storm. Wiggy recently won ‘Best Breakthrough DJ’ at the Bounce Heaven awards after nearly 10,000 people voted for him.
MADE Records (Matthew Andrew Digital Evolution) is the official AMpm record label. Expect to find a wide variety of original raw thumpers and loads of uplifting vocal ‘hands in the air’ numbers over the next few years!
Currently Finchy’s main residencies are for Frequency, where he has regular spots across the North, in clubs such as Sanuk, Wigan Pier and Pada Lounge to name a few. Also Bounce Heaven is his other main one. The biggest event he has ever played, was an event in Barrowlands arena in Glasgow in 2007 where there were close to 3000 people in the arena. Bounce Heaven vs Frantic seconds that, being an immense night also were there were close to 4000+ ravers.
Picture the scene, a pub in Cantrill Farm (now known as Stockbridge Village), someone’s 21st, a buffet (the sausage rolls were stale) and a big massive fight at the end, yes… that was Lee’s first ever gig in the Phoenix, what a way to start your career!
It was in the State that Lee’s friends came up with the now legendary Monster Jam nights. Locking out every week and by now Lee was creating a style of DJ’ing all of his own, with his now famous accapella use creeping into his mixing more and more, soon Lee was being chased by all the major clubs in the North West.
The lure of a fresh challenge and a new night meant Lee would be the new resident / promoter of the Buzz club in Lime St. The State then closed down within 6 months of Lee leaving! It was at the Buzz Lee started his crazy club night’s best of British and soon the Buzz was up there with the best of them, locking out every Friday and Saturday, and every dance fan was playing Lee Butler tapes on the car stereo as they drove around the city.
Lee was now playing at gigs and clubs all over the North West; Wigan Pier, Bowlers, Maxines, The Pleasure Drome & Mr Smiths are just a few of the big name venues Lee was being asked to rock the rafters at week after week. It was at this time the 051 came in with an offer Lee couldn’t refuse and so Lee made the move from Lime Street to Mount Pleasant and the 051 was the new place to be. In partnership with Dave Graham, Lee was about to embark on the latest chapter of his tour around the club scene, and again it is no coincidence that within 6 months of Lee leaving the Buzz, it closed its doors for good. 051 were packing them in, and the new buzz on the streets was a phenomenon called sexy medicine… the rest is history, and Lee is riding the crest of a wave.
In 2002 Lee Butler was voted the Lpool Echo 24/7 club dj of the year beating off competition from Yousef and Huey ..The trophy still stands by his decks in his music room ..
Then Lee was offered a Fri night Dance show on the North Wests very own Radio city 96.7 which he duly took and named Plastic Fantastic but due to legal reasons had to change to Plastic Surgery .. After 2 years of doing his Fri night show the listening figures were so good that the Station offered him The sat night spot and Plastic Surgery part 2 was born ..Plastic Surgery has now become the most listened to dance show in the north west and kick starts the weeknd at 10pm .. Make sure you tune in for the very best in house, electro and old skool classix..There are many features inc “a trip down memory lane ” which is 40 minz worth of old skool spine tingling classic anthems from yesteryear. There are competitions to get on the guest list for all of the countries biggest nights out and chances to win cds and Butler goody bags plus interviews with the worlds biggest djs .. Make sure you tune in from 10pm every fri and sat night !!
Sound Selektaz are one of the hottest new acts on the “Clubland” circuit. The group formed by Alex Ridge & Mark Coupe have had major success since forming in 2005.
The last 2 years have been very successful after been taken on by Ministry of Sound to remix many of their top singles including Snap’s “Rhythm Is a Dancer” to the 5 week UK 1 Basshunters “Now You’re Gone”, which featured not only on the UK CD Single, but across Europe & the US.
In the summer of 2008 they mixed the massive “Put Your Hands Up 4″ compilation for Ministry of Sound.
The guys have just shot the video for their 1st single with Karen Danzig “La La La La La”, which will be released early 2009 in the UK, as well as a planned artist album to follow.
Bad Behaviour have practically been on every major dance compilation over the last 2 years. Featuring on the “Put Your Hands Up” series from Ministry of Sound and even on the hugely popular “Clubland” albums, they also won Best Producers and Best Record Label @ the 2008/9 Bounce Heaven Awards Party. Their mix is a blend of upfront bounce concentrating on the more vocally side of club land with monster break downs and riffs to make the spine tingle!
For a 2nd year running, Rob Cain has been voted the World’s number one Bounce DJ, which is no surprise given his epic talents behind the turntables and his ability to get a crowd bouncing off the walls from the moment he Cues his first track, you know Rob Cain is on the attack.
Rob’s main residencies include Bounce Heaven, Wigan Pier and Frequency and more, he is the UK’s most in-demand Bounce DJ, fully booked out three days a week playing at clubs ranging anywhere from 500 to 3500 capacity
On top of his superb talents as a DJ, Rob also produces under his own name many aliases and releases through his record label ‘Cained’ and the newest addition to his stable “Napalm Audio & Napalm Audio Black” aimed at the digital market.
Asides from his own label, many of Rob’s tracks are also featured on the very popular labels, 3 Beat Red and Ministry Of Sound.
Rob has also mixed three major compilations to date having his own dsic on three projects.
Stu Allan has been one of the UK’s top Hardcore DJ’s since the very beginning. His hardcore radio shows on Key 103, Manchester were legendary and his productions as Visa have been some of the all time classics.
Since the success of the first CD, Stu has been back in the studio producing some absolute belters and remixing for some of the biggest names in the business.
He is the big Daddy of Hardcore. Raise your hands and salute Stu Allan. He also appeared for Fantazia at a number of parties including Fantazia Bowlers, Club Tours amongst others.
It all began at the tender age of 11, he was enticed by the hardcore vibes which lead to his obsession with music. After seeing his favourite tune’s being spun on the deck’s the first time he ventured into his local record shop, he began to realise his purpose in life. He realised from that moment on that he was destined to be a hardcore DJ!. After months of begging, lots of ass kissing and many letters to Santa, young Kurt got his first DJ set up for Christmas. On Christmas morning Kurt unwrapped his new Kam BDX 180’s and Kam GM-25 mixer. From then on he practised religiously day in day out, 5 ,6
and even 7 hours a day learning the art of being a DJ!.
At the age of 14, it was time to move up from belt-drive’s to a pair of Directs! He saved his pennies and bought a pair of Omnitronics, this was also the year Kurt attended his first rave, Hysteria at the North gate arena in Chester. When Kurt reached the age of 16, all his dreaming finally paid off when he bought the ultimate set of decks. “Yes you know what IÕm talking about”… Technics 1210’s!!!. Just as Kurt grew and developed, so did his taste in music, as well as his musical influences. During the period between 1998 and 2002(roughly) when hardcore music went through abit of a rough patch, Kurt found himself experimenting with other styles of music such as… Hard Trance and Techno/Gabba. However… he never lost his faith in hardcore music and still played it because of it’s fast pace.
When Kurt was 16 he was picked to play at Dizstruxshon’s DJ competition, after the promoters heard his exciting demo CD. The Competition lasted for 3 rounds over a period of 6 months and it was held at Scunthorpe’s Bath Hall. By the second round Kurt had already made a big impact and had started to get booking’s for other smaller night’s around the Yorkshire Area. This excited young Kurt considerably and encouraged him to pursue his hardcore aspirations. Not surprisingly… Kurt won the Competition!
He gained booking’s in Dizstruxshon’s main room’s at Bath’s hall and at Doncaster’s almighty venue… “The Dome!” He also played at more venues local to Yorkshire and at SheffieldÕs number one rave… Uprising at the Adelphi in 2003. Not much happened for Kurt after that until his own production’s started getting played out in the club’s, but… I’ll get to that in a sec!
Kurt has now played at some of the UK’s biggest and best Hardcore event’s like… Hardcore Heaven, Uproar, HTID, Dizstruxshon etc. Kurt’s got loads more booking’s coming up… playing out near enough every weekend up and down the UK. Check out the Gig’s section of the Forum for future booking info!!!
Kurt’s technical ability was developed through the Play-station .”Yes your reading this right… it was the Play-station!”. This helped Kurt to recognise his production abilities. In November 1998, Playstation released music for the PS1. The excited schoolboy rushed out to snap a copy up of it straight away! This £30 product turned out to be a very worth while investment as it taught him the whole basic’s of how to sequence and arrange music. A year later an updated version of music was released named music 2000 which he also mastered. It was time for a step up because thing’s stared to get abit more serious. In 2001, Kurt purchased his PC and installed Logic Audio, Halion and a few soft-synths, sky was the limit from then on! At the age of 18 when Kurt was finally allowed to indulge in his first legal beer, he also made his first major track in Logic Audio which got released on Quosh records. “Yes you know it… the legendary SY and Unknown’s record label!”. The track titled Rock Ya Hardcore was an instant hit and boosted Kurt’s confidence to a higher level. However… it wasn’t until nearly a year later that it was actually signed up-to Quosh record’s. This track was not only Kurt’s first track to be released but it also defined his style of hardcore. This is the same style that he sticks with today. ‘hard and bouncy’as he likes to define it!
Unfortunately Kurt never made any music for several months after that. due to the loss of a close family member, but we won’t go into that. In 2004 it was time for a technical update and a move to Cubase SX 2 and Kontakt. This was due to Logic Audio being took over by Apple Mac, which put a stop to anymore updates for the P.C. Now Kurt work’s with Cubase SX 3, rewired with Reason, and more recently Ableton as well. Kurt has written, produced and remixed track’s for, Quosh Record’s, Maximum Impact, Notorious Vinyl, Thin N Crispy, Bedlam Record’s, Lid Record’s (scouse house), and Blatant Beat’s, with lots of new forthcoming material as well on the way! His material has also been incorporated on many well known compilation album’s such as Hardcore Heaven, Bonkers and Hardcore Decadance. At the age of 21, Kurt is now currently working on new power bounce material (as some people like to call it) for Lethal Theory Record’s, in his own studio that he has built up over the past couple of year’s.
Available now from online retailer HMV. Mixed by two of our fantastic Hardcore DJ’s, we’re proud to announce Hardcore nation 2009!
