Global Underground 013: Ibiza [LIVE]

Sasha, Global Underground (Series)

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 21, 1999)
• Original Release Date: December 28, 1999
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Live
• Label: Global Underground
• ASIN: B00004WH0H
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (152 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #59,307 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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  Music > Indie Music > Dance & DJ > Trance

• This item is part of The Global Underground Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Sasha and his fellow turntable conspirators John Digweed and Paul Oakenfeld have been on impressive winning streaks since the mid- to late '90s, particularly with their increasingly popular and influential Global Underground series. This addition to the cycle, a live set recorded in the Spanish dance-music haven Ibiza, comes close to setting a new standard. Sasha is working solo here, and in addition to showing off his prodigious live mixing skills and inventive use of source material, he creates an undeniable identity for himself. Digweed accomplished the same thing with the masterful Bedrock, but where that record was elegantly light and airy, this one burns with a sharper, more manic energy. Throwing out resolute rhythms and melting house samples bathed in dreamy backdrops, Sasha cuts through dense structures and clever transitions with superhuman alacrity. It does take him a little while, as his use of trance-inducing repetition strays a bit while he establishes a groove on the first disc. Disc 2, however, simply tears into an incredibly danceable vibe. Mixing together melodic snippets and varying moods, from the dark trance of "Fibonacci Sequence" to the ecstatic release of "Xpander" (from his EP of the same name), Sasha mainlines rhythm and creativity through to a satisfyingly exhausted conclusion. --Matthew Cooke

Product Description
Sasha Global Underground (2CD) leaves behind the modulating tempos of trance and finishes up the set with some straight-ahead progressive house tracks. Features tracks by Bedrock, BT, Orbital & more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS IS ESSENTIAL!, December 22, 1999

By	Garrett M Schultz (Atlanta) - See all my reviews

If you own anything by Sasha, then you must by this. It's better than the San Francisco CD. There are so many stand-out tracks like BT's "Mercury and Solace", "Dreamstate" by Acquilla, and Cass and Slide's "Perception" which are prime examples of the best in deep, melodic trance. There is a style of House on here that is so trippy and hard to find anywhere else than in Sasha and Digweed's sets. Much like the SF CD, the first disc is more Housey and the second being faster and Trancier. Both discs will equally send you off on a voyage much like his live sets. This set is true to the Ibiza style just like SF was true to how Sasha plays over there. All the mixes are perfect and the programing is well done. I've had the import copy for months now and it still gets almost daily play. There are a few songs that I just can't get out of my head and they put a smile on my face everytime I play this. If you've never heard Sasha, then this disc will definitely get you hooked on his style. This is the finest in Dance music, hands down!

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars God, thy name is Sasha...., June 5, 2000

By	hannibalsmith "hannibalsmith" (Van Nuys, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This 2 CD set is truely excellent.

Contrary to some of the other reviews, I think CD1 is the better of the two. CD1 is sort of 'dark', but its on this disc that Sasha really takes his time building a tremendous groove that sort of just explodes out at you around track 5 or 6. It did take me a few listens of CD1, through which point I thought it was sort of plain, before I caught on and the absolute epic quality of what I was hearing hit me.

CD2 is also fantastic, but in a more obvious kind of way - not nearly as dark, it contains several big time songs, including two favorites "Mercury and Solace" by BT with the wonderful vocals of Jan Johnston, and Sasha's own Xpander. The mixing is seemless, as usual for Sasha - I think its particularly effective as he weaves into and then out of Mercury and Solace.

In the end, I'm not sure if this is the greatest trance CD I've ever heard (the entire Northern Exposure and Global Underground series are all very, very good) but if its not its certainly darned close, and is a very worthwhile purchase.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Are you kidding?, March 30, 2005

By	Magyar - See all my reviews

How do they choose the "spotlight review" again? Because the one up there right now is ridiculous... This album definately does not need another review, but I feel someone needs to stand up for it right now. Let's analyze his criticisms:

1. "The tracks are pretty weak..."

No, not really. At all: tracks 1-3 are the perfect "space-terrace" tracks. Humate is simply awesome, and Deep Progress is the most chill late 90's terrace/opener track ever. CD1 is the ultimate opener. Sander Kleinenberg's My Lexicon is definative of this entire era for progressive house. When I think back to that late 90's sound/2000, My Lexicon definately springs to mind..... CD2: Definately not chill. This is deep: deep progressive: deep progressive house. Is Fibonacci Sequence the shiznit? Yes it is. POB-Fly itches its way into your brain, and the Mercury and Solace mix which Sasha strings out over 3 tracks rocks like a mother-f***er. And as if having Bedrock's Heaven Scent wasn't "exciting" enough, Sasha puts in his very own Xpander. If you have not heard this track, buy the album just so you can own a copy of it. It's a powerful electronic, melodious track and, like the entire cd, works up a bass-infected trance that doesn't leave you until the disc stops spinning.

2. "many boring moments..." ???

Did your head-phone plug fall out of the cd player? dude. Wake yourself up and start the disc over. Clearly the trance was so deep you passed out and don't remember a thing.

3. Not fluid?

If "The Man Like"'s mixing and track selection is not fluid, please let the rest of us know what you listen to, lol.

BOTTOM LINE- THIS CD DEFINES ITS GENRE. IT DEFINES ELECTRONIC MUSIC AND WITHOUT THE SOUND SASHA (ALONG WITH DIGWEED, AND NICK WARREN) WAS PUTTING OUT 5-8 YEARS AGO, WE WOULDN'T BE WHERE WE ARE TODAY. BUY THIS ALBUM.