Nicewon Recordings: Inspiration Cuts

Nicewon Recordings has always been about feeling first… that low-slung, deep-and-dusty house pressure that hits differently when the groove locks and the room leans in. Run out of Minneapolis by Jeff Swiff and Christian James, the label carries unmistakable NoCoast DNA: swung drums, soulful grit, jazz-soaked textures, and tracks built by DJs who know exactly how a system breathes at 2 a.m.

As Nicewon resurfaces with its VA compilation (NCWN12) a love letter to the real ones, featuring Donnie Moustaki, Joint4Nine, JR From Dallas, Last Nubian (Check nightclubber.ro premiere HERE), Ugly Frankie, J. Fenix, and the label bosses themselves. We asked Jeff and Christian to dig into the crates and pull a handful of records that inspired how they play, produce, and run Nicewon.

This isn’t a list of “classics for the sake of classics.” These are cuts that changed perspectives: first-listen moments in front of big speakers, records that rewired how swing feels, how samples talk, how restraint can be heavier than excess. Each selection comes with a personal story and a link, straight from the source.

Christian James’ Inspiration Cuts

Daniel Bell – Phreak

Dan’s production bridged a huge gap between house and techno for me. The releases on Accelerate in the 90’s have always been in heavy rotation and never really left my record bag. Those tracks changed the way I thought about music & I’ll never forget the moment I felt that stripped-down vibe in front of a stack of speakers. 

Beastie Boys – Egg Man

I remember hearing Paul’s Boutique at a keg party when I was a freshman in high school (92’-93’). Years later, messing around with gear like the MPC 2000, it was like a sampling light bulb lit up for me. My dad was one of the founding producers of Soul Train, and all these records they were choppin’ were the same tracks I grew up listening to. Putting 2&2 together, from then on- I slowed way down and basically started to sample everything. Egg Man had so many different techniques in it…  I wanted to learn exactly how they did it!

Paul Johnson – Get On My Camel

Early 2000’s at a packed Rave in an ice area. My good friend DJ E-Tones steps up to the decks & opens with this track. Tony worked at one of the local record shops. It had just come out, and I hadn’t heard it yet, but it blew the lid off the joint. It just had all the sauce in it that I’d be hunting for. Was an automatic floorfiller every time I dropped it.

Max Graef & Andy Hart – Hawker

Both these guys and everyone that was (on) or involved with the “Box aus Holz” label really resonated with me. At the time- this was exactly the sound I was looking for and still sparks ideas when I hear it now. Loose as hell, yet together, catchy AF… The track is a masterpiece, IMO.  I remember messaging OYE Record Shop and had to transfer money from my bank directly to get them to ship records my way. 

Thomas Krome – The Real Jazz (Dahlbäck Remix)

I was lucky and got a copy when it came out, and I only bring it up because I gate-kept the shit out of this forever, lol. Times are very different now, obviously, and it seems silly saying that- but the mystery added to the moment back then. So many memories of kids catching the vibe & coming up to the booth like, “what the hell is this?!!”. Good times…

Jeff Swiff’s Inspiration Cuts

The Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy Hey Girl

It was 99' and I had just heard this cut, and it stuck out to me as a combo of sounds that I already knew I loved, and to a degree, melding of some genres.  (IMO, the song sat on a house frame, but had stylings of hip hop and breaks)  I later recognized that the "slight drag" of the drums that I liked when I first heard it, meant I was feeling the "swing" on the drums.  Swung out is now def an omnipresent "rule" for me when I buy/play/make tunes, nearly every single time.  Combine that swing on the drums with the way that the VOX was used like a percussive sample rather than a straight up hook.. it just spoke to hip-hop sampling.  Many many years later when I started making my own tunes, I can now recognize that I sample for "texture" in the same fashion when I'm pulling bits for background space filler behind drums and under synths.  Perhaps a coincidence, or maybe just permeation from yesteryear.  :]  Either way- I still carry what I first felt on thiswon with me, now that I'm thinking back on it.

Timba – (Tiefschwarz Club Mix)

For me- quintessential "firsts" all through thiswon. Live elements, vocals, instrumentation, melody, harmony, song structure- all with stripped back elements of percussion and drums that still "hit". The way everything was seated still had BOUNCE and made me want to move my body in ways that I still do today on floors. Continual energy but laid back groove that lets me escape through the top lines and imagine spaces and places.  I pull from that feeling when I'm writing my own stuff now.  This was one of the first "step down cuts" that showed me I could keep a heavy groove without requiring busy full body club drums and BPM ranges that I was used to on records that I was hearing or playing elsewhere.  It was the bridge to deep house sensibilities with musicality on the front edge of everything for me, as I came from a heavy music environment as a player, myself.  

Frank Booker – Hope

I will speak very fondly about thiswon as this cut was "one of the ones" that changed everything for me.  2012.. The year everything slowed down, but never lost the groove or the danceability, for me.  It was a mindset shift. More intentional, restraint, warm, human, honestly?.. nobody could ignore the groove as they were forced into sitting with it and themselves.  This cut made you wait for it, just like anticipating it on the floor.. and when it came in, it was a groove that commanded you to move, but didn't dictate how that was going to look, and you just knew that everyone would be experiencing the same thing.  It shifted how I played, what I played "for myself" and eventually set me on a path of discovery of sounds and artists that still shape what I am doing today when it comes to my own tunes, whether deejaying or producing. 

Andy Hart & Max Graef – Super Strain

Take all the great elements of what I mentioned for the Frank booker cut and kick em' up a notch for "Super Strain".  All the elements I've come to love, chase, and to a degree production wise- pull from.  This can be played slow and it translates pitched up too. It's a party starter, a vibe switcher and an announcement that we landed somewhere else and are now "just getting started".  (we can go ANYWHERE from here, is an unbeatable esthetic on a dancefloor)  It's a staple for early room vibes, daytime parties, heady lounges or "sound system only music” type rooms that require a certain level of PA for the songs to be able to fully take over your senses while the groove guides you through eyes wide shut territories, and gets you to wherever you were supposed to go.  (songs translating correctly IMO)  Fuzzed out and warm, downbeat stompin' and also musical- thiswon DID it, DOES it, and the production elements and themes can be heard in most of the music I play and what I channel when I'm sitting in the studio, chasing a feeling.

Crackazat – Back For You

It's hard to pick one singular tune from this guy, but when I think about it from an inspiration level- "Back for You" has EVERYTHING for me.  It has the soul drenched energetic piano riffs that (IMO) are unrivaled in modern house music of "right now", and it sings back to the loft cuts I cherish and stitches in phresh vocals, melodies, & bouncy AF drums, perfectly.  Round all of that out with warm processing and it gives out a "fits anywhere" vibe that can be pitched down or up.  (both work)  Such a versatile cut in any room, which is the mark of a truly timeless piece for me.  The production elements are a level of aspiration to chase for certain elements, but the feeling this tune kick out is familiar and warm.  (is it perfect, to me? looks like it!)

Nicewon Recordings VA (NCWN12) lands December 12, 2025 on Traxsource and Bandcamp, with general release following on December 26. If these inspiration cuts are any indication, the Nicewon signature still hits… deep, swung, soulful, and built for heads who know.

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