Sasha – Invol2ver

Since I loved the dreamstate that the original Involver could put me into, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the long awaited and cleverly named In(vol2)ver.  It begins much like the original with a ‘Grand National’ in ‘You are the worst thing in the world’.  I was slightly disappointed as the mix slowed down a bit from there and nothing much happened in the next few tracks, but it picks up again at Charlie May’s Midnight.  The Felix Da Housecat moment happens again with ‘Destroy Everything You Touch’ with some horrible grating vocals and you would’ve thought Sasha had learned from the original but all is redeemed when M83’s ‘Coleurs’ comes on, a brilliant track.  The mix ends well with the also fantastic ‘Three Little Piggies’ and The Engineers.

Overall, I’m just a little disappointed.  Involver 1 was amazing but 2 is very different, being electronic and boring in places to equal the original.  However, it still has a great ‘white’ and neutral dreamy feeling to it that can hypnotize you like the original and I highly recommend this mix. 8/10

Andy Hunter – Life

Yes, it’s Christian dance music, but don’t let that put you off at all. This is a classy album. In the words of Flap Jackson from Amazon:

Fact: The British like to dance.
Fact: This album is so pumped with adrenaline, it’s bad to drive to this. You’ll find yourself doing 100 MPH. Yes, it’s that good. “Open My Eyes” is pure adrenaline, say goodbye to coffee, because this is a pure action song. You’d expect it to be played in huge action movie scene, like a high-speed car chase.

“Lifelight” is a song that actually has lyrics, but that doesn’t hinder the song, as it’s still a great dance song, and it could fit right in with the club scene. The rest of the album is filled with great beats, and cool vibes. Overall, a great unique album for the Christian music industry. This album is so cool on every level, even Andy Hunter’s name sounds totally cool. I just wish more people could hear him. So try it out, but don’t drive to it. You’ll get a ticket.

Basically, it’s very energetic, some of the best hardcore dance you’ll get.

Leftfield – Leftism

Since I’ve mentioned this album a few times, recently in Faithless – Sunday 8PM, I decided it was time to review.  Commonly seen as the best British dance album ever, its the atmopshere that holds this together.  Somehow the greeny ambient colour on the cover art explains the delicate, ‘green’ atmosphere throughout the album.

‘Release the Pressure’ is deep and spiritual, ‘Afro-Left’ energetic and powerful, ‘Melt’ beautiful, ‘Song of Life’ again beautiful – I have something to say about every song, since though they change they are all good and feel the same, like a certain emotion.  Top album, and very easy to get hold of. 

The Crystal Method – Vegas

This is big in America, not so much in UK. It’s a strong album, with a nice bassy techno sound. Great music to drive to/walk to etc. A lot of the tracks sound similar which joins them together better than the Chemical Brothers ever did it but it’s the main problem with the album, there’s not a lot of variation in the music.

“High Roller” is a pulsey, acid track and it’s my favourite on there. ‘Coming Back’ has some creepy female vocals on it as do a few others, but mostly its the same male voice throughout the album. I like this album but it’s not perfect, and doesn’t even come close to Sasha’s work for me since the work isn’t varied enough.

Global Underground 13 – Sasha in Ibiza

Yet another brilliant mix from Global Underground.  It goes without saying, both discs are flawless.  At first I preferred Disc 2 but I began to realise it was pretty cheesy.  Disc 1 is deeper – it starts off funky and as you move on it gets deeper and darker.

So as you open the case, again you feel it’s a bargain.  2CD’s, loads of artist info to read inside, and quality music for under £5 at amazon.co.uk.  I was a bit surprised to find a dude wearing a UK shirt swearing at me, probably just the DJ trying to keep on his cool guy act.

As stated Disc 1 starts the night with some slow, pulsing beats, getting more powerful until its all over.  Onto Disc 2 with some awesome Breakbeat that teaches you some maths ‘Fibonacci Sequence’, one of Sasha’s best tracks ever, ‘Xpander’, and you feel really in it by the time you get to the last few tracks, with some brilliant Bedrock to end it.  The only downside is that it doesn’t quite beat Sasha in San Francisco, but not much can beat that anyway.  They’re two completely different CDs.

Sasha – Global Underground 9: San Franisco

This has slowly climbed up my list of favourite CD’s, and reached the top. It’s really got me into Sasha’s stuff and the Global Underground series. It’s a mix album, so always peaceful, and a total sea of emotions all the way. I suggest you listen to it on holiday, it’s the best ‘holiday’ style music I have. I’m off to buy some more Global Underground and Sasha CD’s, this is now the music I love. Just one seamless mix. The CD says you’re likely to get emotional having listening to Sasha live which I thought was a bit odd at first but now I understand.  ‘Some call it trance.  I call it magic’ his slogan.

‘Words cannot describe the genius involved in this. The flow of music from Classified Project – Ressurection into Medway – The Ressurection is enough to reduce me to tears.

This album is mindblowing, all I can say is that if you dont own it, you thought GU 016 was the best GU, just buy this and be blown away. It’s so much greater than the sum of its component tracks. In no other album I own has the actual way the tracks are mixed together had such a large effect.

Another section that stands out is the intro into CD2 and the following Track Narcotikblue – when you hear the tom-toms and then “Be aware of every Sound.. Sound.. Sound…” and the bass part hits in, it will put the hugest grin on your face, you will replay it over and over again in wonderment.’ – Miles JC

Very much agreed, love it. So do 18 other people just on co.uk.

Underworld – Dubnobasswithmyheadman

From the opening pulses of ‘Dark and Long’ through the wonderful melody of ‘Dirty Epic’ and the instant classic ‘Cowgirl, you can be assured of a brilliant experience.One of the few dance albums ever made that you won’t find yourself pushing the ’skip’ button, every song is enjoyable and different from each other.

It’s also an album that you can listen to, as well as dance to, actually I find it more enjoyable just to listen to it. There are so many beautiful sounds and textures, it’s good to take time out to appreciate the amount of work that has gone into this album.

This album is a shining light for the techno genre, it shows that not all techno is boring and loud. An album to savour – Jay MC

The Chemical Brothers – We Are The Night

This is the most recent of the Brother’s albums, I felt I had to write about them again as Ed Simons dumped girlfriend Lily Allen (celebrity relationships never last anyway). Back to the point, this album is definitely the worst they’ve ever produced. Asides from ‘Burst Generator’, ‘Das Spiegel’ and ‘Saturate’ the track listing isn’t anything special.

But hell, ‘Burst Generator’ makes up for it. Possibly the best song they’ve ever created, it’s a futuristic space-ish song using the best guitar sound ever for the choruses. The rest of the time is a huge tension buildup to the awesome-sounding choruses. Better download this song than buy the whole album…

In summary, this album is a big disappointment since the Brothers usually bring out brilliant albums. I hate to criticise them, being one of my favourite artists, but for this album just pick off the best tracks and ‘The Salmon Dance’ if you think some guy singing about a salmon and swearing is funny.

The Chemical Brothers – Dig Your Own Hole

This is the second of the Brother’s albums, and the last of their Big beat stuff. The album starts with the song that made them famous, ‘Block Rockin Beats’, a pretty solid song worthy of that title. However, there’s some even better stuff on the album. ‘Elektrobank’ is absolute brilliance, and makes you want to go mad and jump round like a lunatic (the neighbours will complain). ‘Lost in the K-Hole’ has an awesome beat, and ‘Where Do I Begin’ and ‘Private Psychedelic Reel’ are epic, especially the latter one.

However, I feel most of the rest of the songs unmentioned just don’t cut it for this album, they’re alright, if they were as good as some of the mentioned ones this album would be the best ever created for me. However, half of the album being pure awesome is better than it all being just decent.

Paul van Dyk – Out there and Back

One of my favourite techno and trance albums. You cannot remember the names of certain tracks since it all blends seamlessly together in one beautiful mix. It’s greatly emotional and at the end you feel like you’ve been on a rollercoaster ride through a beautiful city.

Look at the reviews on Amazon.

Strongly recommended for anyone who appreciates the genre. It takes you to a different place, I just wish there were more albums like this one.