Nervous Anticipation

If you thought Space resident Oscar G's releases so far contained the darkest, dirtiest tribal house you'd ever heard ... well, you're right. Which makes Saturday an extra-special occasion — a party at his home base to mark the launch of his latest and best mix release.

The forthcoming Nervous Nitelife: Space Miami, due out October 23, teams him up with New York's Nervous Records. The famed dance music label was the first imprint stateside to sign and release tracks from dance industry luminaries such as Armand Van Helden, Paul Van Dyk, and Nuyorican Soul. The mission statement behind this particular project was capturing the primal feel — not just the sound — of an Oscar G set at Space.

Nervous Nitelife is the second live album Oscar has recorded at the club, the first being 2003's Live@Space. When Nervous Records called, he leaped at the chance for a do-over. "With Live@Space I was focused on what the crowd was hearing from the speakers," recalls Oscar. "So it was more like a compilation album.... I think the new record gives a much better impression of what it's actually like to be there." One thing that helps on that score is Nervous Nitelife's bonus DVD, which, among other things, provides a dance-floor-eye-view of the set, clearly demonstrating the sway Oscar holds over the Space crowd that so faithfully turns out for him.

But it's the music itself that stands out most. It is newer stuff, a deliriously hard collection of tunes expected to explode this year, not the usual suspects that have been recycled to death on DJ compilations. Among the standouts are Bingo Cache's "Dancin' (Cue's Original Mix)," Sébastien Léger's "Mars," and Oscar's own "Chunky Buddha." The entire set is punctuated by the robotized voice of New York DJ Danny Tenaglia lathering up the crowd.

Also appearing is "Need Someone (Stoned Someone Remix)," the tribal-house slammer from Ralph Falcon, Oscar's partner on the Murk Records production team. The two are in studio mode right now, writing songs and examining rough takes.

That's not to say Oscar isn't taking notice of newer talent in his hometown of Miami. "There are tons of great new guys around town handing me incredible stuff. DJ Stryke is doing some really cool production stuff. [Nikki Beach resident] Armand Peña too — he's an up-and-comer for sure."