Customer Reviews

Global Underground: Taipei (GU31)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Listeners everywhere will look the latest Global Underground release from Dubfire several times over with a shrewd magnifying glass, looking for hints of similarity with Dubfire's Deep Dish counterpart's GU mix, Sharam's Dubai. Such relentless scrutiny is in vain, however; Taipei releases into the Underground a dirty, relentless and brooding mélange of thickly-lain bass and dance-floor jarring beats which manage to generate the feeling of literally being underground. Dubfire, however, deftly provides precious breaths of fresh air with expertly mixed upbeat tempos riding distinctly along the slow, pedantically grooving basslines.

A potential caveat to the skeptic out there: Dubfire uses vocals; do not let this deter the purchase of this mix, or even a listen. The distinctive DJ makes use of vocals so sporadically that they almost seem not to exist, and for the most part being completely overridden by the music. And this actually poses a problem, because the vocal trance in this case is really enjoyable. Most of the vocals sound as if they were being chanted beneath the surface of water - sounds and reverberations which jive well in accordance with the deep bass. They add a fundamentally different edge to the mix; his relatively conservative use of drab, and complete absence of pop, lyrics distinguishes his style from Sharam's. Placed side-by-side, Sharam's Dubai and Dubfire's Taipei are polar opposites, illustrating the duality that lies within the collective name "Deep Dish," and I dare to remark that the difference between the two DJs has never been able to be fully appreciated until their solo mixes for Global Underground - Dubai and Taipei in particular - were released. If I were forced to, I would definitely tout Taipei as a superb mix of John Digweed's GU: Hong Kong and Dubfire's GU: Toronto. Initially sound incompatible? Give it a listen.

Conservative regarding "mass appeal", Dubfire somehow manages to incorporate fairly commercial songs into the flow successfully and many of them plod along at a decisive pace, although the first mix is actually more quickly-paced than one would expect from a mix of such depth. In fact, the first mix is stylistically dark but remains entirely danceable. What's surprising about it is its consistency: Disc one "goes somewhere" without really ever "going somewhere," a remarkable feat I have seen few other DJs accomplish. The second mix starts off with a spooky and transcendental aura similar to that of Nick Warren's Reykjavik mix. I think Dubfire meant to be so playfully deceptive; by the minute-and-a-half mark, the thickest, hardest beat rattles the organs exercises the heart with its intensity. Riding the second mix is an offroad journey of *deep* underground house; certainly more what one would expect from the second disc of any Global Underground release, but once the pace picks up at the two-minute mark, looking back is futile - you're in for the long-run, which does not imply it will be unbearable. In fact, the second mix is one of the better "clubbier" GU albums released amongst the past thirteen or fourteen GU mixes. In a heartily-crafted nutshell, imagine a handful of Dubfire's better tracks from his Toronto mix and expand upon that depth of sound and character. I did, and I discovered a (surprisingly) sophisticated dance album reflective of both dutiful insight and soulful abandonment.

~Lex

The second half of Deep Dish finally gets his turn in the solo spotlight, with GU's 31st release, and the second of the year (which already surpasses last years output and we're only in April). I mentioned in my review of GU29 that Dubfire would have his work cut out for him in topping Sharam's Dubai, and he certainly was up to the challenge, going the all encompassing route, and including just about every genre possible that can heat up dance floors around the world: house, electro, tech house, deep house, tribal house, acid house, minimal, techno, and even some trance. A very keen track selection by Dubfire.

As I felt Sharam's best part of his set was the latter half of Disc 2, the strong point here is definitely the first half of Disc 1, with some luscious deep house melodies, and tracks 3-5 being a stellar sequence of tracks. I felt the flow tapered off in the middle, with a few tracks that brought the tempo way down, but thankfully picked right back up again. Dubfire stays on the more on the tech and electro side of house for disc 2, for a very steady flow of tracks, barring the MTV track, and ending with a Paul Kalkbrenner techno remix of Ellen Allien and Apparat's track Jet.

If you are looking for a more standard house sound, check out Sharam's Dubai, and you won't be disappointed, however if you are looking for a mix incorporating all genres of the current house scene, you will reap the rewards with Dubfire's mix. You can't go wrong with either one, and if I had to choose, I would give the slight edge to Sharam, only because out of his two discs I only skip 1 track, and in this one, I skip 2.

I've listened to both discs twice now, and have gotta say I'm not loving the first. The second, however, comes with some very hard tracks that sound great out of a good system. Reminds me of a bassier version of GU: hong kong.

As far as the 'progressive' aspect, it's there, more notably on the second disc. Also the discs ring true to Dubfire's style.

It was worth the money

I used to go to Renaissance's Master Series for the latest, greatest and most creative in EDM, but GU has been amping up the competition for some time now, and this 31st installment is barely an exception. Taking the helm this time around is one-half of the dark groove duo known as Deep Dish: Dubfire (although his mother calls him Ali Shirazinia).

I've seen Deep Dish live twice, and both times I was struck by how emotionally removed the two were from their sets. I know it's a job that requires a certain amount of focus, but it's also an art of a kind. Art is about communicating on a level beyond the explicable. It's not enough to turn the tables with skill; you're also trying to engage the audience with a music that speaks to everyone involved. Watching the Deep and the Dish soberly flipping discs in and out made me wonder if they felt the music as much as they wanted the audience to.

Live sets, of course, are much different than recorded discs (even if the discs are recorded live), but I offer that observation up to underscore the only real issue I have with Dubfire's two-disc GU set. The trickiest part to writing about music is about pinpointing elusive (and usually subjective) emotional resonances, it's about putting into words something that is meant to be indefinable. After all, isn't that why EDM music exists? Because nerves don't know how to talk?

Dubfire's discs run the gamut, and they run them well, but they seem more intent on displaying technical proficiency than on capturing a groove. Both sides of this set sound like a primer course in the evolution of EDM, which is nice for someone who wants a sampler platter of sub-house sound. For others who seek out music on the basis of their mood, well, you'll find yourself both loving and hating this compilation.

Disc One, for instance, pours out slow and smooth with the caramel grooves of Dubois' "I Try." Dubfire adds a little Haunted to his House with Barbeque's "Myself" and a taunting mix of Jordan and Boryka's "Sun Is Rising." This mood -- a low-blood, endothermic simmer -- moseys not-so-poorly up to the ninth track -- Ballroom's "Remember Me" -- at which point Dubfire, perhaps bored, stops riding the trance rails and starts throwing on the tribal thrusters. There's a really, really nice mid-octane quartet in the 11th to 14th tracks, sort of a sloppy supersonic space race of music, but shoved where it is at the tail end of a gut-deep, lounge-lizard line-up, it seems oddly out of place. It forces you to motivate your mood, instead of following the natural rhythms of the music that preceded it.

The second disc has perhaps a better ratio of stand-alone tracks, but it is even less cohesive than the first. It's always bad, with sets like these, when the reviewer feels compelled to pluck out favorite tracks instead of mentioning how well everything meshes, and that's exactly what I'm about to do here. I kept going back to "The Sax Track" (a super crunchy psy-trance number), Robbie Rivera's endearingly cheesy "Float Away" (which Dubfire deliciously over-coats with a minimalist techno twitter that I found highly addictive), and Heinstein's head-banging, aptly titled "Tuff Tribal." The connective tissue isn't bad, either (although the inclusion of the Huntermann and Bodzin redub of Depeche Mode's "Everything Counts" I found jarring and bewildering). But it all lumps together styles and genres that -- while not mutually exclusive -- need more than masterful mixing to get them to meld.

Like those live sets all over again, I found Dubfire's GU submission delightful but also disappointing. I appreciate and even admire his talent in this rather difficult of art forms, but it seems to me that he (and many of his contemporaries) would do well to remember that before they ever mix music to move their audience, they should be mixing foremost to move themselves. Sets like these are stunning in the the talent they display, but missing still is the sense that this is someone doing something other than showing off what they can do. The lamest dancers out there are the ones who are acutely aware of being watched, who aren't having fun with themselves at all. Dubfire did well with GU31, but I doubt he mixed it while dancing with his headphones on.

I haven't even made it to disc 2 yet, but I can confidently recommend this if you're a fan of the GU sound. I must say that I didn't care for Nick Warren's Paris comp. It just didn't grab me and I actually forgot that I even own it, which is suprising since I generally like Nick Warren and I really liked his Shanghai comp. I've never particularly enjoyed anything by Deep Dish before and I very reluctantly purchased this. I obsessively get every GU when it comes out and I actually skipped Sharam's Dubai comp, causing dismay to my inner completist. Like I said, Deep Dish never turned me on and I read some reviews of Dubai that gave me a hunch to stay away. Then I read some reviews of Dubfire in Taipei that made me very curious, so I gave in and I must say that I'm really glad that I did. I can't stop listening to Disc 1. It's sparkly, then creepy, then beautiful, then dark, then it's over. I love it. Props also to Dubfire for his vocal turn on Trk 14. His voice sounds really cool because apparently, he's a cool guy. I get the feeling that you won't feel stung if you buy this. My continued faith in GU has been tried lately but has been restored by this comp. Who knows, maybe Disc 2 will be horrible and dash my hopes and nullify this review. But I doubt it. So far, Disc 1 is worth the price of admission. Dig in. Hooray for Dubfire.

This comp is a must buy for all Deep Dish fans. I was a little disappointed with Sharam's mix but this one nailed it. Dubfire's style is a bit darker and the funny thing is, I always perceived it to be the other way around. It was on the Moscow mix as Dub's mix there was a lot darker. And if you compare their Afterclub GU mixes, Sharam's was darker there too. Yeah, DJ's evolve and those are the ones that stay on top and at the forefront. No one does that better than Deep Dish.

I have not given Disc 2 a full rotation yet, but if the peak on disc 2 is as good as the peak on disc 1? Wow. Just wow!!

Get this and you won't be disappointed.

This is a great mixed up compilation of good house and minimal house.

Last weekend we were at the camping village of Nature One. And we played this CD's the hole time.

It was a great time there with the finest of electronic music.

Dubfire's Taipei represents his rebuttal to his co-conspirator Sharam's Dubai outing on GU29.

Dubfire starts out in afterclub mode and is silky smooth to track 5 but then follows a difficult and somewhat awkward/weird segue/transition to track 11 where he veers "right" into a tribal, minimalisitic Digweed - Hong Kong/Sydney/ Deep Dish - Moscow mode...track 13 turns vocal, with Dubfire's own "I Feel Speed" highlighting the final part of the set...transitions notwithstanding, a rather solid, though uneven first cd.

Anticipation of a more theatrical second set proved disappointing. Dubfire seems neither here nor there on the second cd, which is even more uneven, with only tracks 3,6,8,13 & 14 worth any mentioning. It sounds hodgepodge/generic in places and never really flows until the end. He's better than this.

In hindsight, he probably could've done the job with one disc, though it would've been harder to meld the tracks together.

I give Dubfire the benefit of the doubt as clearly he is'nt in experimental mode this time around. It does seem, judging by the track-by-track explanations, that a little self-indulgence entered into the process.

The brilliant Moscow and Toronto discs set the bar high for these guys and it seems that since then there's been a little regression (George is on).

I have'nt heard Sharam's Dubai but i'm less inclined to the more vocal aspects of house music. Nevertheless, i'll check it out and put it through paces.

That said, Dubfire remains a class act.

I think this is probably the best Album since Toronto. I did like Sharam (Dubai) as well, but the deep tracks is what gives this one the edge. The point is you can't go wrong with either Dubfire or Sharam. Though after hearing both CD's, CD 1 is far better, sort of what happened with - Deep Dish, Moscow.

Doctor trance was right, dubfire indeed throws everything at you but the kitchen sink. Now I know who is the better half of Deep Dish... (sorry Sharam). You actually can't help by compare the two Global underground releases (Dubai & Taipei), whereas unlike Sharam, Dubfire really burns the house down with scorching tracks right from the very beginning. Dubai, on the other hand, was more garage and commercial, and I don't mean that in a good way either.

If you want irresistible dance music for your friends and yourself to dance to all night...well think nowhere else but here my friends. Dubfire will instantly take you on a virtual rave at a posh venue that feels so real, right at the comfort of your home. During my first listen to GU Taipei, I couldn't stop myself from having flashbacks of clubs I've been to recently; full dance floors, beaming laser lights, people jumping, screaming, music coming at you from everywhere and of course that thumping BASS that drives your soul and escorts you to the labyrinth of the tracks. All of that is found right here in GU 31.

And so when you are done, completely fulfilled and ready to calm down then you might want to play Sharam's Dubai. Maybe they do complete each other after all.