In ten years time when vinylcologists investigate the hard house phenomenon of the turn of the century they will only need to look at one series of pioneering EPs to see what all the fuss was about! Running from 1997 until well into the first decade of the 21st Century, the Hard Beat EPs consistently redefine the parameters of hard dance. Loosely based upon seminal label showcase releases such as XL Recordings' '4 Play' series or Kickin' Records' 'Six Pack' series, the Hard Beat EPs soon took on a life of their own as the newly emerging hard house scene chose BK and Nukleuz Records as their leader. In the short period between summer 1999 and the beginning of 2000 sales had doubled and still continue to grow today, making these EPs the most consistent and highest-selling hard house records to date.

Track Listing:

CD1 - Mixed by BK
1. Blow Da Joint � BK
2. I Got The Music � The 49ers (BK & dBm Mix)
3. Hold It � BK & dBm (In2Orbit Mix)
4. Eternal 99 � Eternal Rhythm (BK & dBm In2Orbit Mix)
5. Higher � Cortina (BK Mix)
6. Tragic � BK
7. Noise � BK & Nick Sentience
8. Here It Comes � BK & Nick Sentience
9. Soundman � BK & Nick Sentience
10. Clattered � BK
11. Don�t Give Up � BK
12. Here It Is � BK
13. (Let The) Rhythm Move You � BK
14. Bad Ass � BK (3AM At Frantic Mix)
15. So Wot � BK
16. Corrupt � BK
17. Flash � BK & Nick Sentience
18. Khemikal Imbalance � BK & Andy Farley

CD2 - Unmixed
1. Higher � Cortina (BK Mix)
2. Please F**k Me � BK
3. Let Me See Ya Move � IQ (Hardbeat Mix)
4. Eternal 99 � Eternal Rhythm (Paul Glazby Rmx)
5. Here It Comes � BK & Nick Sentience
6. Tragic � BK (Pants & Corset Rmx)
7. Music For The People � BK
8. Baddest Mutha � Lisa Pin-Up (Ingo Rmx)
9. Pulsar � Mauro Picotto (OD404 Mix)
10. All I Need � More (Knuckleheadz Dub)

David Garcia & Jay Walker drop the Bomb once again with 3 floorfillers. 'Fascinated' was featured on Bad Bill's 'The Box 5' mix series has now turned out to be one of the most requested records in stores now. This track is so funky with a nonstop groovy disco loops and stuttered 4/4 beat while a cut up vocal rides over the top. Flip to the B side which mashes up an awesome 80's feel tune into a rockin' floor banger with a robotic breakdown. David and Jay are fairly new but received much exposure after their big release on Florida's Soul Phusion.

This new EP from Robbie Rivera really shows his versatility. On the A side 'Harder Faster' takes you on a hard shuffled disco journey with unbelievable bass compression and manic filters. 'Electric' is another hard edged disco stomper reminiscent to Rhythm Masters with little vocal snippets, great filters and breakdowns. On the B side, Robbie rides into the tribal side with 'Confusion' Parts 1 & 2. 'Confusion' straps you down and takes you to another dimension with this set of tribal rockers, which bring all the congas, trance elements and build ups for the ultimate floor filler. Florida's Robbie Rivera has proven himself time and time again releasing everything from house to tribal and back. He is now in the process of starting his own label - expect nothing but the best from Mr Rivera.

Amato Distribution is proud to present the first release from new exclusive label signing Subversive Records. Subversive have produced many classic house anthems and is home to exclusive artist Cevin Fisher. Previous releases have included Cevin Fisher's 'Love You Some More', Lithium's 'Ride The Rhythm' and George Morel's 'Morel�s Grooving Again', amongst many others and their first single of the year sees the return of Cevin. Cevin is one of the pioneers of the New York House Scene and has had a string of top 40 hits including 'The Freaks Come Out' and 'Buring Up'. �My Shadow� sees a return to more familiar territory for Cevin: a deep, techy tribal house track, which builds and builds, utilizing Cevins trademark �dirty� production skills. Haunting and unusual vocals give a quirky feel to the track, which will make it stand out a mile from the usual tribal and progressive house fare.

In its original format, 'Flash' was the follow up to the mighty '7 Days and One Week' by French chart-toppers BBE. Originally released by Positiva five years ago it didn't match the commercial success of its predecessor yet it bubbled away on the underground and remained a firm favourite in the box of a certain Birmingham-based turntable legend called Tony De Vit at a club called Trade... Fast-forward to 2001 and the 21st Century torch-bearers of TDV and Trade's legacy are now moving to a totally inspired cover of the very same track! BK & Nick Sentience's re-work first saw the light of day on the limited edition Nukleuz In Ibiza 12" sampler. All 5000 copies of this release sold out within two weeks making the release one of the most desirable hard dance tracks of the year:

"[It] has the potential to be a crossover hit for the dynamic duo. The production is flawless, combining the trance feel of the original with a tough techno/hard house feel. Inescapable!"

Mixmag, August 2001.

The latest release from Plastic Fantastic, which was voted UK�s Best Independent Record Store at the Muzik Magazine Awards 2001 is from Chonga (a.k.a. Jas or Phil Jason.) He was first introduced to dance music through his roomate who eventually persuaded him to take a weekend trip to Twilo. Within a few months, he was determined to make music of his own. A few months later and the world was already calling him "the greatest dance music producer to come out of Long Island in the past 5 months". His production credits include Jas - The Carnival House EP on Saw Recordings, Chonga - Soul Doing Dishes (Out 2002), Blackwatch pres Professor Okku - Word Unspoken both on Yoshitoshi and the latter featured on Deep Dish�s recent Global Underground CD. He has also produced and remixed for Mechanism and Fade Recordings.

This double A-side has been produced by Automatic act Filter Tip, who are Graham Camp and Ian Cashman. �In Season� is driven by a massive synth bass line and layered with swirling electronic atmospherics and haunting strings over tough techy percussion spliced with funky keys. It dubs out nicely with some choicely used reverb on the percussion during the drops. Graham Camp�s production 'On Heat' is best described as filthy. Haunting strings are layered over sparse, dubby, tech house rhythms with nasty basslines that make you grimace at the same time as nodding ya head. It consists of trippy, dubbed out sections, swirling atmospherics, subtle drops and funky keys bursting into the proceedings midway through.

�Quality Progressive music; most straight up Progressive music doesn�t excite me any more but this is a bit special!�

Pete Gooding (Renaissance)

First released back in August 98, this now massive club anthem finally gets its revamp in stunning style, and kicks off 2002 to great effect for Tidy Trax. On remix duties are some of the best up and coming and established production teams on the planet. First up we have Kumara, who recent hit was 'Crash the Party' on Y2K and of course their awesome remix of the Nukleuz anthem 'Music is Movin' by Cortina. On the flip side comes the Stimulant DJs who dish up their usual banging formula, taking the original to the doors of those die-hard clubbers! On disc two JFK carries on his rich vein of form with a cool credible mix and on the flip we see another outing from Flash Harry, taking the original in a totally different direction and even funking it up! Featured on 'Euphoria 2' mixed by the Tidy Boys and Kumara.

The first release on this new and exciting label was by Big Ron, who gave us the fantastic �Cold Chills�, and next up is this stunning track by Wide Mouth. The mysterious duo deliver in the shape of �Drop Nice�, which is a driving, tech-disco, funk-fuelled, masterpiece, using the finest bass, percussion, effective chants and melodies to create a building, dancefloor destroyer. The remix on the flip comes from TDR, who were responsible for the massive �Squelch�, which saw huge radio and DJ support. Here, they amaze us once more with another deep, delectable, funky journey, full of wicked stabs, heavy percussion and a delicious hypnotic groove, which is the perfect partner to the original.

Rising star Yahel is the latest in a string of successful trance artists hailing from Israel. He follows in the footsteps of Astral Projection with his style of straight-up melodic, blissed-out trance. Yahel is immensely popular in Israel and his sound has also proved popular with a host of big name European DJs such as Paul Van Dyk, Ferry Corsten, John 00 Fleming and Tiësto, who has released several Yahel singles on his own label, Black Hole. Here in the UK �For The People� and �Sound And Melody� will no doubt be causing more than a few hands to be cast sky-high at venues such as Gatecrasher, where his style of �big room� trance proves itself to be a winning formula.