Journeys By DJ: Desert Island Mix [Import]

Journeys By DJ (Series) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 12, 2002)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Import
• Label: V2 Music
• ASIN: B00000B6TS
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #526,004 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute must-have for fans of either artist!!!, January 28, 2005

By 

fetish_2000 (U.K.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Journeys By DJ: Desert Island Mix (Audio CD)

Largely considered to be amongst two of the U.K.'s most highly regarded 'eclectic' DJ's, who are as equally at home spinning: Rare Groove, Funk, Soul, Drum 'n' Bass, Northern Soul, Samba,
Jazz, Hip-Hop...and any genre that fits in-between. Both have a collection of sublime albums under their own name, so the decision to complie an album with the both of them featured, in which each DJ's allocated their own Disk, should be a case for massive celebration, shouldn't it??.........(of Course it is!!!)

Gilles Disk (Disk 1), which is by far the jazzier of the two disks, and leans heavily towards Latin, Samba and Acid-Jazz, and leads with the scattershot spoken word Jazz of 'Mark Murphy's - Dingwalls', and the stylish Nu-Jazz of "Jazzanova's - Fedime's Flight". The utterly sublime garage mix of "Gabriel" (feat. Roy Davis Jr), gets a deserved airing, and is refreshing to see this incredible track not just relegated to Garage/2-step compilations. And it's here that the tempo increases, by moving into breakbeat /Drum 'n' Bass territory
with two "Roni Size" productions....the hyperkentic breakbeats of "Breakbeat Era's - Breakbeat Terror", before surging nicely into the Jazzy/Drum 'n' Bass fusion of "It's Jazzy". Its also worth mentioned the effortless mixing by Gilles here. Seeing as a wide variety of genres of being interlaced here, its surprising and a testament to the DJ skills of Mr Peterson, that the transitions are superbly executed, without too many discernible contrasts in sound. Rounding out...is a Peterson favourite, "Rotary Connection's" legendary soulful "Black Gold of the Sun", which Peterson frequently drops in his Club nights, and has at least made one other compilation of his....although this version seems to contain more vocal and a little more laid back (probably the "4-Hero" remix that I'm familiar with), but a truly perfect album closer.

Norman Jay's disk by contrast (Disk 2) is more informed by Rare Groove, Chicago House, Northern Soul, and a dash of Funk & Dub. Kicking things off brilliantly is the rare-groove sound of "Carl Davis & Chi-Sound Orchestra's - Windy City Theme", before moving into the sensual gospel-tinged Detroit Soul of the "Voices Of East Harlem's - Wanted, Dead, Or Alive", and it becomes quickly apparent that this man (Norman Jay) knows a thing or two about track selection. Norman drops the best track (for me) on both disks, the utterly sublime retro-house of "Most Wanteds - Calm Down"....(several rewinds of this
is required), after which the sentmental Blue-eyed soul of "Hall & Oates - Maneater" comes to the fore. What follows all this is a perfected realised mix of Funky Disco ("B.T. Express' - If It Don't Turn you on"), R&B-tinged Synth-pop (Alexander Robotnick's - Love Supreme"), Jazz-House ("Ballistic Brothers - Blacker Revisited"), and terminating beautifully with the smoked out Dub of "The Truth All Stars - The Truth".

Unfortunately this album has since been deleted for several years, so unless you happen to chance upon a second Hand copy (as I did), then getting it from Amazon looks to be the easiest alternative. If you like either of these artists, this truly is, required purchasing. Which finds both artists digging deep with their selections and proving not only through inspired
explorations in music, but tremendous mixing, and a (very) broad variety of genres, with no noticeable filler to pad out the album. I'd even go say far as to say that is easily amongst the greatest releases, that either artist has released under there own names, and for that reason alone, this is very,very highly recommended.