Customer Reviews

Bedrock

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This represents both a departure from the normal John Digweed set (and European DJ sets in gereral) by avoiding the common buildups and breaks pattern of most cd's, while still giving you a moving and enjoyable experience.

Disc 1 is filled mostly with vocal numbers, and is his most danceable stuff to date. It starts with the glittery "Listen" and smoothly transitions into the beautiful "The Sky is Not crying", with tranqil snippets of male vocal. It then (through a clever mix) goes into "Moody" a faster number also featured on the Tenaglia "Athens" set. From there he ventures into the dark stomper "Judy" and an instrumental track afterwards. "Reprocussion" is more traditional trance, with a shimmery female croon, and the disc closes nicely with "We are Connected", sampling Stephen Hawking I believe.

Disc 2 is almost pure beat and groove, and while somewhat lacking in melody, this style is maintained throughout the disc for a refreshing and different experience. It includes his hits/remixes "The Rising Sun" and "Heaven Sent" and reaches it's creshendo with "Flying"

This is a great set, two discs of different content mixed into a cheese free and glorious groove. Not to be missed.

i've seen a couple of other people putting this record down and saying that it doesn't live up to their expectations after digger's GU's and Northern Exposure sets, but i get the feeling they're missing the point of this set.

this record is one that attempts to capture the mood and vibe of digweed's decade-old "bedrock" night at the london club heaven. what digger's trying to do here is evoke the mood of a wednesday nite party in merry old england. disc 1 is a house vocal mix, highlighted with a screaming remix of bpt's "moody", two great dub mixes of morel's stomping "true", and even gets a bit into that early 90's techno feel with jondi & spesh's "we are connected".

disc 2 finds digger journeying into more familiar landscapes, spinning a great mix of progressive trance. while the mood and tempo of this are a little slower than one would expect, it still makes a great statement with pob & taylor's "ba ba" and of course sandra collin's anthem "flutterby". voyager contributes a pounding with "time travel", and slacker really is as hot a group as word on the streets says.

the point is, you can't listen to this set with comparisons in mind. you have to just put yourself into that moment, imagining yourself on the dancefloor surrounded by hundreds of other writhing bodies. that's why this mix was made, and that's how it should be listened to.

Although is been a while it was released, it still sounds like a cutting edge, John Digweed brings an aura of elegance in this mix that's unmatched by other DJ's even, even Digweed himself.
Unlike many other cheese trance, Digweed brings in a depth and a sofisticated groove that very soothing yet powerful, methodic but not boring, while captivating.
while many artists strive to delight the listener's ears as frequently as possible without any 'character', Digweed creats a mood that can captivate a listener without any forceful breaks, peaks, and bangs that many dj's uses as a method to attract the listeners.
for Digweed, a man behind long history of trance and cutting edge progressive house knows clearly that his intelligence in mixing is all he needs to create an 'atmosphere'. all selected tracks are a interwined, connected in a way that they all have a purpose in them, they have a goal, that of bringing together all the energy and sophistication of each tracks (you wouldn't notice the different tracks since they are mixed to a perfection) to introduce the last track "heaven scent" which is one of the best trance songs if not the best of all time.
However, if you are new to trance , you'd better begin from "northern expeditions" by Sasha and Digweed ,, and "transport" by Oakenfold. The reason for this is that you need first to develop an ear for this kind of music, for that it takes some couple of steps to appreciate the beauty of this.
Is much like learning how to play the piano, you don't start from Chopin or Lizt right away, becuase the difficulty and depth of those composers will make you just quit in an instant,
instead you should start from Mozart, then go to bethoven, and then after couple of years of training start with Chopin waltzes, then nocturnes, then Ballades ,and then , finally you have enought training and guts to learn to play Chopin's piano Concertos which are a masterpiece, . Bedrock by Digweed, simply put, is a true masterpiece.

It took me a while to get into John Digweed, but now I consider him the best DJ on the planet. In my opinion, Digweed displays an original style, flawless mixing, and stands above other DJ's that I respect, such as Oakenfold in his early years, Pvd, and Tiesto. My first Digweed album was his amazing GU: Hong Kong and ever since, I have listened to his other GU's and other works. While I have yet to come across anything with Digger's name on it that I didn't find to be very good, I recently came to the conclusion after listening to GU: L.A. that Hong Kong was just one of those CDs where everything came together, and to expect anything that compared to Hong Kong's brilliance would be unrealistic. That is until I came across Bedrock. CD 1 in my opinion is the better of the 2 exceptional discs, better suited for pre-midnight. CD 2 is the more danceable, accessible disc. All I can say is get this CD; it is a must have for trance followers and is on par with Hong Kong in brilliance.

Lesson #1: Never write reviews for Digweed's CDs soon after you buy them (please ignore my earlier three star review ). They take some getting used to because they give you something you don't expect. Now I realize how amazing Digweed's hypnotic mixes are. Incredible collection, especially CD2. The more you expose yourself to trance, the more you will realize how true that is. In my opinion, there is simply no comparison between, say, Paul Van Dyk's CDs and Digweed's. Mainstream stuff that PVD plays, as good as it might be, gets tiresome fast. Good progressive trance, however, never loses its appeal.

unbelievable album. very chilled. saturday afternoon. hifi set to medium volume. bass gently beating through your body. dreamily lying on your bed. and before you know it the music grabs hold of you, and takes you away to a place filled with warmth and dreams and beauty ... languidly slipping back and forth in and out of reality. completely relaxing and ... takes you to your core.

This disc may be by John Digweed, who's a relatively big name in techno, but it ain't cheesy. It's deep, deep, deep house and trance with the main focus on the beat and almost no mainstream concessions other than a few points. This makes the mix rather difficult to get into, and I'd still prefer "Hong Kong", but this is a worthwhile purchase if you're into the genre. The mixing is flawless (and I mean flawless, as in 'best of the genre' type of quality) and the beat is interesting to those in the know. If you still aren't sure about the idea of a beat-driven, deep mix like this, this probably isn't the best bet. But if you like trance or progressive house, this is one of the better mixes out there.

Having purchased almost every mix CD he has released, this one ranks high. Reading the insert before taking on the tunes was a definite plus. Although I have never seen a "Bedrock" show, I can appreciate the vibe. CD1 at first listen was a bit of a disappointment because I am not a huge fan of vocal house tracks. However, not trying to make myself like it, I gave it more of a chance in different settings. Bingo. Very solid, deep, seamless beats that you can feel, even at low volumes (certainly not recommended though :) The tracks grow on you like kudzu. You could just as easily break it down as you could sit on the couch with a Newcastle. CD2 follows a more familiar deep trance highway. A great transition between the two Global Underground's: Sydney and Hong Kong. BTW if you are having trouble finding Hong Kong at a decent price, check out Disc Vault.

I find writing reviews for mix albums a bit difficult. After all, rarely does a DJ include his own material into a mix. So what do you review the album based on? For me I review mixes based on picks and transistions. With Bedrock, John Digweed has created quite possibly the first esential mix CD for anyone who either aspires to become a DJ or for those who are just entering into the the world of techno.

The transistions are seemless. John Digweed wastes no time inbetween each track with a single looping beat or sample but rather pushes forward onto the each song. The actual songs on here are stellar. Ranging from hard hitting house, to soothing trance, and finally to a great mix of both. What's great about these tracks are the way they are presented to us. Generally this two disc collection starts with heavier dance tracks to the final tracks which tend to be more relaxed and less pulse pounding. The only exception is the self-produced track(and album highlight) by Digweed and Muir called Heavent Scent(under puesdonum Bedrock). It starts off with a delayed keyboard flurish before turning into one of the best dance anthems I can think of. Not even celebrated Oakenfold could concoct something of this mangitude.

Techno affiliates and techno newbies should both emensly enjoy this. John Digweed has crafted the perfect mix album and I seriously believe that everyone one should own a copy of this. This is the ultimate party mix.

As an avid Digweed collector I have to rate this set as one of his best. I kinda bought this CD on name appeal only- somthing I have taken to doing as I find much of Digweeds stuff takes a few listens to grow on me. This one grew indeed. Much of it is quite puncy and agressive for a classic trance album. It's a great set which sounds just wicked in the car, at night with low fog.