Avalon Los Angeles Ca 06/24/06

Sasha (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 18, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Instant Live Rec.
• ASIN: B000GBEW34
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #369,369 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Stop Clock (Part 1) – Badger

2. Night Falls – Booka Shade

3. Süssholz (Falko Brocksieper Remix) – Gabriel Ananda

4. The Girl From Botany Bay – Minilogue

5. Ahck – Minilogue

6. Forces Fiction – John Tejada

7. I Feel Space – M.A.N.D.Y. – Lindstrom

8. Body Hunter – Rusty

9. Meeting At The Cornfields – Tomie Nevada

10. My Blue Car – Robert Babicz

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. My Bleep (Roman Flügel Remix) – Radio Slave

2. Monkeybreak – Nils Noa

3. Duende (Lost in Robert Babicz Space Remix) – Martin Eyerer and Toni Rios

4. Begun the End Has – Joel Mull

5. That’s A Nice Way – Minilogue & Kab

6. Espoo? Rose – Tim Delux

7. To The Music (Lotterboys Dub) – Colder

8. Mallflowers – Gus Gus

9. Tatu Tata - Paul Kalkbrenner

10. Stop Clock (Part 2) – Badger

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great tech tracks on here, but the mix could have been better., July 28, 2006

By 

Doctor Trance (MA, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Avalon Los Angeles Ca 06/24/06 (Audio CD)

Taking a look at the tracklisting before I purchased this, I saw a lot of great names and tracks. My other thought prior to purchasing was whether or not it is going to be really live, with crowd noise, or they just meant it was recorded during a live show, straight from Sasha's decks (or whatever he uses now or is calling it), with no computer editing afterward, and leaving out the crowd. I was hoping it was the latter, as crowd noise is always a slight distraction for me, because I feel electronic music needs to be heard in all it's pure digital glory, with no interuption.

Well, what I found was 1) it is live, with lots of whistling and some annoying, uninterpretable chanting through a lot of the tracks, and even an equpment failure where the music stops suddenly on disc 2, track 1; and 2) despite the great looking tracklisting, the mixing just wasn't up to snuff. Now, I don't mean technical mixing, which Sasha has obviously proven he is a master of in the past, I mean track selections, times, and the entire flow of both discs. 15 of the 20 tracks are between 5:56 and 9:59, and only 2 are under 5 minutes. Most of these tracks go on way too long, and I really feel like I am listening to a CDR that I burned for myself, containing tracks in all their full lengths. It's almost lucky they have the crowd noise, because that's just the feeling you get, until the someone starts chanting and you realize it is a mix cd. While Sasha does do some live editing, it's nowhere as technical or involved as Involver or Fundacion. The tracks go on and on and it really gets to be a boring mix, on both CD's. That's not to say the tracks are boring, as if the same tracks WERE on a CDR I had burned, I would have no problem listening to them and not feeling bored. It's just when they are mixed, minimal and tech house need to be trimmed to fix the mix and continue the flow, rather than be heard from start to finish, which most of the tracks sound like they nearly are.

While it's not a bad listen, with lots of great stuff, including Booka Shade's catchy minimal track Night Falls, the techy Roman Flugel Remix of Radio Slave's My Bleep, and the groovy tech house sounds of Monkeybreak by Nils Noa, it just doesn't cut it as a limited edition 2 disc mix. Check my listmania list of the best tech house, minimal, and techno mixes this year, you'll find much more enjoyable discs of tech.

With John Digweed's Transitions tech house mix, and now Sasha here with a minimal and tech house mix, just about everyone has gone over to the tech side of house now. Hernan Cattaneo and Paolo Mojo have been the two biggest names I can think of this year who have stayed with a lot of standard house and progressive house in their mixes, although both have incorporated either electro or techno sounds in the mix.

I just think Sasha needs to tighten up these tech tracks, into shorter durations, and it would have helped the flow a lot. Some of the tracks also didn't seem to flow well in their order, especially on disc 1. I think that the next artist in this new Instant Live series ought to think about leaving out the crowd noise. They should also put the tracklisting SOMEWHERE on the CD or sleeves, as the only listing is a sticker on the outer wrapper that you have to either cut out and put inside (which would probably get lost) or carefully try to peel the sticker off the wrapper and reapply it to the back of the CD cover. Even though they were quick to get this mix out (1 month after recording it live) it didn't seem like they were rushed and forgot about putting the tracklisting on there, especially since they took the time to print on one of the inner CD sleeves that you need to go to a website to print out the trackslisting, and then slip it inside your CD case. That is pretty lame.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I WAS THERE, AND I WAS DISSAPOINTED....., October 1, 2006

By 

M. Deaton "Stretch" (Southern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Avalon Los Angeles Ca 06/24/06 (Audio CD)

Maybe my expectations were too high, or maybe the Avalon was simply ready for a really thick, funky night. We were not in Ibiza-and Sashas set seemed to be geared towards a more mature, chill crowd..it might have worked on a beautiful island somewhere; but it sure didn't with the needy Hollywood crowd. I guess I thought he would have been able to sense that vibe and adapt accordingly. I have heard him do mindblowing sets that were pretty high energy and intense, but that did not take place on that nite. The DJ that was on before him was twice as good and probably got about 5% of Sasha's fee. Too bad. Buy something else by him...but not this. 2 stars because he has proven himself in the past, and it could have been worse.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for the close minded..., October 20, 2006

By 

L. Doremus (NJ/NYC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Avalon Los Angeles Ca 06/24/06 (Audio CD)

The reason most people don't like this mix is because they are trying to "pigeon-hole" Sasha as a "Trance" dj. Everytime an artist expands their musical repetoir, there are always people who attempt to restrict their growth. Keep this in mind when reading other amateur reviews.

I found this cd to be outstanding. Before purchasing this compilation, I already owned quite a few original versions of the tracks on it. I was surprised to see the reworking Sasha did to these tunes to make them uniquely his own. The mixing throughout both discs is solid, especially in the first half of cd 1. The mix does explore quite a bit of headspace through its blend of lush melodies and chunky, minimalist, tech house basslines.

If you are looking for a disc filled with anthems and other mindless music, then Instant Live at Avalon is not for you, but if you are looking for a timeless mix that is brilliant and subtle, then I highly suggest making this purchase!