Involver

Sasha | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 5, 2004)
• Original Release Date: 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Involver
• ASIN: B00020H9ZW
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (138 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #92,366 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Grandnational - Talk Amongst Yourselves

2. Shpongle - Dorset Perception

3. Petter - These Days

4. UNKLE - What You Mean To Me

5. The Youngsters - Smile

6. DJ Spooky - Belong

7. UNKLE - In A State

8. Lostep - Burma

9. Felix Da Housecat - Watching The Cars Go

10. Ulrich Schauss - On My Own

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Pure, weightless elegance, Involver is true to its title, as Sasha comes up with a mesmerizing stunner. Two years after the lukewarmly received artist record Airdrawndagger, the Welsh waxman and frequent John Digweed co-collaborator has retreated into remix territory, but with a twist. In an effort to meld songwriting ambition with his feather-light touch behind the decks, 10 stellar tracks were totally remade in-studio, not just blended together. The result sounds livelier than dagger, putting Sasha's superb instinct for dance flow to work. Still, despite the presence of Felix Da Housecat's "Watching Cars Go By" stomper, it's a very even record; themes patiently recede and resurface from the bubbly bottom of the mix. The warm, warbling melody from Petter's "These Days," for example, reappears long after you think it's vanished for good, lifting U.N.K.L.E.'s "What Are You to Me?" into hypno-dance orbit. Songs like Spooky's "Belong" and Lostep's "In a State" breathe the same air, rising and falling with interlocking rhythmic poetry. It's a daze of a record, ideal company for moody afternoons spent staring up at wispy clouds and vapor trails. –Matthew Cooke

Product Description

Sasha is back!!! Dance music’s most respected and recognizable icon returns to the label that made him an international household name with a concept album so fresh and inventive that it completely recalibrates the notion of what is cool in popular music.

"Involver" meets the listener smack at the point where Sasha’s 2002 artist album "Airdrawndagger" and the future of electronic music collide. He is the DJ that rode in on a tidal wave of adoration from the North of England's explosive early 90’s club scene and has for the last 10+ years consistently sold out every venue, festival, and club that has been honored to witness his legendary performance abilities. And now "Involver" emerges. This is Sasha’s first mix compilation in nearly five years and his first full length release since "Airdrawndagger." It is unlike any album that has ever been released in that it completely and perfectly integrates the concept of the DJ mix compilation and the standard Producer/Artist album. Every single track on this album is an original Sasha remix, re-creation or production that has been exclusively recorded as an original piece for this project. He called upon some of his closest friends and peers including Felix Da Housecat, UNKLE, Spooky, and Ulrich Schnauss and asked for permission to recreate, especially for this album, one or more of their songs and they all agreed. In essence, Sasha has become the embodiment of what it means to be "involved" in electronic music on every level. Quite purely, he has taken on a new persona; integrating the DJ and the Producer, he is now the INVOLVER.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SHEER CLASS: Sasha raises the bar (yet again), August 3, 2004

By 

Ian Vance (pagosa springs CO.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Involver (Dlx) (Audio CD)

By its very moniker, "progressive house" has symbolized music in flux: a constantly changing, consistently evolving soundscape, the foundation held intact by kick-drum and snare, the melodic and harmonic elements as potentially free-ranging as a producer's imagination. From its earliest inceptions, DJ Sasha (Alexander Coe) has dominated this particular medium of electronica, touring the world over to spin ear-candy to the scions of the upper-middle, producing an array of tracks that encapsulate the serotonin-soar of the genre, and experiment beyond: from Arkham Asylum to Xpander to Airdrawndagger, Sasha's studio work always attempts to push the boundaries, raise the bar.

Yet times have changed, and with file-sharing networks available to any and all, DJ white-label exclusivity is now a legend of a decade past. Aware of this, Sasha has embraced new technology in an attempt to stay fresh and relevant. With software-based Ableton Live, the DJ can now move beyond mere beat-matching transition to full-blown track remixing, live and in-the-flow: and this CD, the first of a proposed three, is Sasha's blueprint of intent, ten of his favorite tracks remixed with a personal sonic fingerprint. And, to no real surprise, it is a progressive house masterpiece, the deepest and most nuanced of his work since, arguably, the first two Northern Exposure albums.

*Involver* begins with ambient atmosphere, sound-clouds morphing into a single chord. A backwards-looped riff emerges from the ether, and at its peak the hard drum of Grand National's "Talk Amongst Yourselves" slams in, augmented by slow, churning bass. Reverse samples snarl and boil in the background; the main riff of the original is given a glassy shine; and vocoder-tweaked vocals surge and sigh with the weight of a weary parable - "I blame it on myself `cause I can't keep anything out/...anything out.../however hard I do try/so talk amongst yourselves while I try to figure it out/...figure it out.../I'll let you know in my time" - an appropriate statement, given Sasha's prominence (and chemical reputation) within the electronica scene, his efforts to revolutionize its stagnant core-structure, and the chin-stroking carping endemic to the genre's fanbase. Interestingly, this remix retains the rock n' roll feel of the original mix while capitalizing on archetypical electronica elements, resulting in one of the best genre-fusions I've ever heard.

Disembodied murmurs arise out of the final riff, and eventually mold into the Arabic-flavored chant of Shpongle's "Dorset Perception." With its strong break, sludgy bass and background synth-murk, Sasha's remix is harder-edged than the original: he withholds the horns and strings until the song grinds into its peak, which in turn emphasizes these instrumentations, particularly the classical guitar solo. The melancholic notes of Petter's "These Days" underscores the subsequent peaktime roar; its central riff seems to capture perfectly the `Sasha sound' - profound beauty shaded with haunting sadness - a soundtrack for the human condition. The acappella of Unkle's "What Are You to Me" gives lyrical support to this impression, a mash-up made in heaven (or the earthly equivalent thereof ;) - the two songs play off each other in stunning unison. Out of it clatters "Smile," courtesy of the Youngsters. Beneath the surface, a whole host of tweaked riff-beasts mutter and mutate; above, ethereal keys float across the controlled cacophony, like the aeon-glare of stars over the festering hives of mankind. . . After the final chorus, a growling bassline shatters the mood with articulate abruptness; in the distance, while the foundation snarls itself into oblivion, the textures of Spooky's "Belong" wander in like a summer scent: but Sasha has transformed this house classic into a moody mini-epic, throwing the keys of the ambient mix over busy 4/4 percussion. Halfway through the song the bassline of Unkle's "In a State" rolls in, giving "Belong" a concrete direction; still, Sasha takes his time (as in several _minutes_), peaking the latter before giving any other hint of the former.

Eventually the distinct riffs of "In a State" filter through the gnashing bass, and over it emerges the chopped, diced, and thoroughly re-configured vocal - Sasha claims to have broken it up into a 1,000 pieces (!) to attain a different take to the original version and his own 2003 club mix. Guitar-riffs crackle within and then above the dub grooves; the chorus builds the tension; and the song peaks into a flat ambient line quickly subsumed by the uber-edited vox-hum and the main guitar riff. When beats explode back into the mix, it's the hard break of Lo-step's "Burma." From here Sasha builds a solid hands-in-the-air peaktime stomper, weaving various elements of the original mix over his irresistible drum n' bass programming - exotic howls, razor-sharp riffs, lush synthscapes - while giving the main trance-riff an increasingly chaotic stutter-effect, a difficult trick done perfect.

After this shattered denouement, the mix takes a hard left-turn into old-school 80's techno terrain with "Watching Cars Go By," an experimental joke from a DJ renown for his peculiar sense of humor - remember "Requiem's" 4:20 moment, anyone? - vocoder corruption and Bolivian-influenced 4/4 madness simmer and crash into a clubland nightmare, and we arrive to the dark peak of the entire album, utterly unlike anything that has come before, and intentionally so. The song eventually breaks down into a declarative statement: out of it pounds the natural drums of Ulrich Schnauss's "On My Own," a psychedelic anthem for the 21st century.

The limited edition of Involver packs the CD in a plastic bubblewrap case, and includes ten cards featuring photos of the session equipment, various scenic atmospheres, and a portrait-glimpse of the artist at work; on the flip side of these cards Sasha ruminates on the songs and his work process. Also included is an essay about the position of the musical producer/DJ in these turbulent techverse times, a long awaited and extremely appropriate response to the incredible information-channel changes wrought within a few short years.

Highest recommendation.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm not a typical Sasha fan, but loved this one!!, July 24, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: Involver (Dlx) (Audio CD)

I have to say, I am not the biggest Sasha fan, having only his Xpander EP in my collection. I've had his Ibiza, Airdrawndagger, and San Francisco CD's in the past, but decided not to keep them, because they just didn't motivate me.

This one is a keeper and I love the track selection and flow of this CD. I also liked the limited's notes for each song, where Sasha tells you what he did with each track. It's a little annoying opening that plastic pillow case up every time you want to play this, so I actually pulled the CD out and put it into a blank CDR case for easy access (because Lord knows I am dropping this one in the player a ton).

The remix of Watching Cars Go By by Felix Da Housecat is incredible. It essentially makes the CD and lifts it to an enormously groovy feel toward the end. It's so much better than the original version, and truly shows how Sasha's touch greatly enhances each and every track in this mix.

This is one of the best and most innovative mixes of the decade, so go out and buy it!!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this, January 7, 2007

By 

J. E. Pickenheim (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Involver (Dlx) (Audio CD)

I'm mostly writing this just to give the album my 5 stars since the last few reviewers gave it less, but this album is one of the most beautiful electronica albums I know. It's even up there with my favorite albums of all time. It's a little on the slower side; it's very surreal and beautiful, and a mellow album for the most part. Probably not something people will want to dance to, but rather to get lost in thought while listening.