Dubai (SPECIAL COLLECTOR'S 2XCD BOOK EDITION) [Limited Edition]

Sharam | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 15, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Limited Edition
• Label: Global Underground
• ASIN: B000HDR97M
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #360,009 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Sugar (Sweet Thing) [Nicka & Alse Remix]

2. Look Around [Spider Funk Dub]

3. Passing Lights

4. Bliss [Felix Da Housecat Remix]

5. Majorca Roots

6. The Other Side [Deep Dish Other Than This Side Remix]

7. Mindstalking [Dave Audé Dub]

8. Timelapse [Moonbeam Pres Glockenspiel Mix]

9. Together We Rise

10. Deep Breath Sedna [Dave Dresden Mash-Up]

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Direct Me [Joey Negro Remix]

2. Timewarp

3. Spirit in My Life

4. Everlasting

5. Connected [Spider & Legaz Remix]

6. Zero

7. Smaller [Dave Audé Remix]

8. Psych

9. The Cello Track [Dub]

10. Who Is Watching

See all 14 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's House Music, People...., January 15, 2007

By 

LexAffection (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dubai (re-release) (Audio CD)

I think the reason most people reered back in disgust at this album after Warren's superb Shanghai is because this is HOUSE music, and not progressive trance or even trance at all. It's a deviation from the norm, and occasional change is most often an unwelcome circumstance. Dubai, ableit the addition of admittedly too many ridiculous vocals, sounds much like Darren Emerson's Uruguay release in its 'flavor' - fun, a bit retro, HOUSE music. I love both House and Trance (in all its glorious forms) but Trance > House for me. Yet I was still able to gain SOME enjoyment out of these sets and not totally deride Sharam as a sham.

For starters, these sets are nothing like the epic journeys DJ's like Seaman, Sasha, Digweed, Warren or Cattaneo will take you on. No comparison. Night and Day. And these discs, in my opinion, were not MEANT to be taken as progressive trance, and therefore should not be harshly judged based on their failure to BE something which they were never intended to be. As a whole, the album is alright. Not fantastic, not great, but alright. 3 stars would have been more appropriate, considering it does not match the steadfast quality of previous Global Underground releases and fails to enrapture me to the same extent; I've given it four, however, out of fairness - it IS a good progressive house mix; there is good track variation (although he uses quite a few artists twice, especially during the first disc) and, like Emerson's GU015, I never really know where this is going to go next. This is Sharam integrating the underground with popular culture, but I still do not believe he has crossed that red line as much as Oakenfold has.

It's a pensive GU. It keeps you on edge as it fluctuates between throroughly enjoyable progressive house/bordering on trance and purely house music. Sharam rides the fine line between the two genres, and this is upsetting to most people for reasons that I can understand and fully sympathize with. To others, it may be exciting. To each his own...

...but, for God's sakes! To give this album 1 or 2 stars based on its inability to live up to mixes like Seaman's Buenos Aires, Sasha's Ibiza, Warren's Brazil/Shanghai/Reykjavik? That's certainly a travesty. Every DJ is going to possess his or her own unique style and genre preference, especially when making a mix album like Dubai. Rate this album for what it was MEANT to be, and not for what you would LIKE it to HAVE BEEN. Sure, up until recently Global Underground has prided itself on consistency and we've all grown complacent to that fact. It is mixes like the 29th GU which shake us up a bit and keep this burgeoning dance scene a bit unpredictable, and a bit exciting.

I hope someone sees my point on this. This is House music, people; not "crappy progressive trance".

~Lex

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Oh, I get it. Good music. Imagine that., December 5, 2007

By 

Jon Peckman "musician,dj" (Wallingford, Connecticut United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dubai (re-release) (Audio CD)

I own every frickin' GU that there is and I skipped this one when it was released because I didn't think I liked Deep Dish. I hated Toronto and I thought the after club discs were lame. I didn't trust Deep Dish and the change that their releases were bringing to the GU empire. But then I unexpectedly loved Dubfire in Taipei which I got just to give Deep Dish and GU one more chance. So, I decided to take a chance on Sharam, fully expecting to be dissapointed. well, the joke's on me because I think this disc is just fine. It's shiny, funky and not quite as ponderous as some ultra serious GU mixes can tend to be.I finally surrendered my expectations of what I thought a GU disc was 'supposed' to be and as I enjoyed this set, it dawned on me: GU releases GOOD MUSIC. It doesn't matter that trance is over. When trance was the big sound, they released the best trance mixes of all. Now, they're just releasing good dance music, whatever the style,cheese free. Some mixes are still trance-y,some aren't. Some releases are better than others, but they are all noble efforts by masters, including this one. Then, I went back to the older Deep Dish GU releases to make sure I didn't miss anything. I still didn't like Toronto much, but I realised that Sharam's Toronto after club sounded better to me than before. It was then that I fully realised what the term 'ahead of it's time' means. That disc was ahead of it's time. Wow. Now, I get it. And this release is right on time.
Don't be late.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A little slightly less than limited this year, but a still great mix!, January 24, 2007

By 

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

This review is from: Dubai (SPECIAL COLLECTOR'S 2XCD BOOK EDITION) (Audio CD)

I don't mean it has less production than other limited releases, I just meant it's a little short on bonus features in that long book. It's the same fold out book format as the previous two GU's and it's also filled with location photography like the the others. The one thing the other two had were interviews and bios about some of the residents of Miami and Shanghai. They weren't the most interesting of features, but at least it was more than just the annoying Dom Phillips sleeve notes. It's just the notes and the photos. If GU hasn't used a better writer than Dom after 29 releases, I don't think we'll ever get that benefit.

Now, onto the mixes:

After two stunning GU's in '05 from Danny Howells and Nick Warren, we had to wait until late 2006 to get the only release of the year from their prolific GU series, #29 by half of the Deep Dish duo, Sharam. It's less progressive than Warren's and more upbeat than Howells, so it's more like a danceable Miami. If you liked Miami, but wanted some faster paced house, this is it.

There are a lot of vocals on both discs, but they are all good tracks, especially the one to open disc 1, a stunning remix by Nicka & Asle of the Julie Dennis voiced Sugar (Sweet Thing). It's a killer track to start the mix, although I wasn't keen on the choice to start disc 2, an old school house tune that just didn't cut it for me. Aside from that opening track on disc 2, and where he lets the Deep Dish remix of Paul Van Dyk's The Other Side play a little too long on disc 1, I thought both discs were great. I liked disc 2 slightly better, only because of the incredible line-up of tracks making up the latter portion of the mix (tracks 8-14).

You've got great vocals, chunky house tunes, thumping dance floor beats, some guitars and cellos thrown in for good measure, all adding up to a fine release for the GU series. I actually liked Dubfire's Toronto Afterclub mix a tad better than Sharam's, but I think he is going to have his work cut out for him when he tries to top this with his own solo GU mix due out this year. Also due out in February is Nick Warren's GU30, and Adam Freeland is set to do GU32, after Dubfire's 31. I don't know if all 3 will be released in 2007, but at least two should be, which is at least one more than '06!