Search - Various Artists :: Global Underground 001: Sydney

Just let John do it

alexvino | NYC | 06/06/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"So you've tried explaining to your out-of-town friends what good modern music is. No avail. You've tried convincing your parents that you no longer hang with the long-haired roadies. Forget it. Fitting the bridge-and-tunnel element into the Manhattan clubs? Don't even ask.At least John Digweed can take care of the music. That is, if you play Sydney 1 to weed out the losers and Sydney 2 - when the real party begins. Indeed, Synday 1 starts out a little slow and remains mellow throughout. If chill is the goal, you can stop there and be happy. But if a wider-than-you've-imagined spectrum of modern music is something you'd wanted to show off (as well as enjoy yourself), you'll need Sydney 2. If you need a sampler of all there is to hear of electronica, trance, techno, and dance in one album, John's got it on the second CD.After a mellow start, "Subversal" hints that there's more to come. "Release" so confirms. By the time "Steel Blue" comes along, you ought to be on the phone gathering the crew for Twilo where John plays every last Friday of each month. Save your breath and do listen to tracks 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 in one sitting (err, dancing - you won't sit still, believe me). Do stick around for "Propaganda" to top the experience off... and do wish that this kind of music does not become illegal."

More than excellent

R. Friesel Jr. | Burlington, VT USA | 12/27/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This CD continues to prove its worth to me. I've had it for quite some time now and it hasn't gotten old yet. The two CDs in this set converge, yet are distinct from each other at the same time and this set serves (I feel) as a milestone and measuring stick for the Global Underground series, as well as mixCDs in general.Disc one is the more adventurous of the two. It begins with an ethereal tone, floating inward from silence with "Imagine" before exploding into straight out trance with "Blu Savannah" only for Digweed to take the mix and ground it in a much grittier, heavier style of music. I am hesitant to label the tracks sandwiched between the Liquid Language track and the closer by Albion with a style. They don't quite seem to be trance. Nor deep house. Nor hard house. A deep techy hard melodic housey trance...? Regardless, the mix is expert and bold and for as much throttling of the ears and the soul that the middle portion does, he lets everyone off easy with a club classic: "Air" by Albion.Disc two is a little more predictable, a little more formatted. Easier to pin down, I'd say it's progressive trance -- but solid, building up nicely, exploding, then coming down. It kicks off well enough with that "Apache Spur" (which happens to have one of the catchiest basslines I've ever heard), peaks early with "Release", dips down and gets a bit techy for a few tracks until it blows up again with "Stargazer" and "Words" -- going off on an arguably psychedelic tip. Following "Words," the CD takes a turn as if it were headed back to the sound exhibited on the first disc, hitting you one last time with an unheard of mix of "Keep Hope Alive" and then bubbling out with "Out of It."Overall, excellent and a good CD to keep around as a benchmark by which to measure the performance of others. Of Digweed's available mixCDs, I am undecided which to suggest above all others. If you own none, buy the "Bedrock" set first -- it's more eclectic. And when it comes down to this one versus Hong Kong -- flip a coin. You'll be equally pleased. Just remember, while Sasha often gets more hype -- Digweed is the man to watch."