Customer Reviews

Northern Exposure 1

5 star:		(95)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The mix CD. Whereas the market is flooded with a bunch of substandard, cookie-cutter, no-name DJ garbage, it's comforting to know that we can always turn to the true masters of the Art. While the pace of Northern Exposure 1 may be a little slower than their individual Global Underground sets (which are also excellent), the technical prowess displayed within this mix by Sasha & Digweed is extraordinary. While listening to it - even when I was paying attention - it was difficult to discern just when they were mixing in the next track and when they weren't. No mistimed beats, no unbalanced mixing levels, no mismatched tracks. The songs blend together so seamlessly that they can't help but stir your emotions. The problem with most of today's mixes is that while they are accurately mixed, they're rarely seamless. This CD belongs in every aspiring DJ's collection, for both inspiration and study of technique.

I love both CDs in this set, but if you're more into the faster sound of today's trance mixes, buy the import, since disc 2's considerably faster than disc 1, although expect songs from the mid-90s, as this mix was created in 1996. However, disc 1 has some of the most amazing mixing around to date, and is definitely my favorite of the two, making the purchase of the US release (which doesn't come with disc 2) a great choice regardless... and a more economical one if the import price gives you second thoughts.

Bottom line is that if you're a fan of these guys, you already have this set. But if not, click that "Add to Cart" button NOW! You won't be disappointed.

Two warnings: 1. This is NOT a trance album, not even a "real" house album. This album takes you more to the chillout side of dance (i.e. Ambient-House). 2. This album is addictive. You may find yourself in a position when you can't click the eject button to take the CD out.

Sasha & Digweed are considered to be the most respected and of the most sophisticated DJs today. Listen to this CD and you'll know why.

The CD is a chillout mostly, begining with two 'real' ambient tracks (FSOL's "Cascade" is their best track ever) and slowly builds up to a harder beat with tracks like "Obsession" and a fantastic remix for William Orbit's "Water from a vine leaf" (yes, Orbit existed before "Ray of light"). Surprisingly, the tracks begin to mellow down a little towards the end, unusuall for mixed CDs - but puts you in the right mood, with tracks from Apollo 440 and Banco de Gaia (a very fast mix for "Last Train To Lhasa"..).

One thing that I must mention : This is only half of the story. This edition (the US edition) contains only one CD! I have the UK (original) edition that comes with two CDs. The second CD is a bit more trance like, but is as good as the first. I wonder why they sell it a single CD here (probably to sell two seperate CDs and make more money).

Just wanted to point out that this compilation is meant to be (by which I mean when it was originally released in the UK) a 2 disc set, one called North and one called South. I ordered this only to find out that on this US version you only get the one disc (North). It is still very good, but just thought I would warn those expecting a two disc set.

Simply incredible. There is no way to describe this album without using the word incredible. Listening to this cd from start to finish can be one of the most relaxing moments in your life, or can be one of the most intense moments just as easily. DJs Sasha and Digweed, two geniuses, have so flawlessly mixed songs together that you can't tell where one stops and the other starts. Every track compliments each other in a unique and superb way, in a way that is beyond description. Each track was so carefully picked out that for the first two years that i owned this album i thought the whole CD was all created by the same electronic music artist. Just as any symphony or jamband gig would have you looking at the album as a whole composition of elements, Northern Exposure forces you to focus on its layout in terms of track composition. Simply amazing, I have no more words that i could use to describe the experience I have when listening to this album.

Just like the second installment of this series, this first edition is a masterpiece. This is one of those very rare electronica albums that actually does not feel repetitive at all. Instead, the sound is very rich and complex, and the melodies are absolutely hypnotic. I have to warn those of you who do not know anything about the series that this is not really dance music. A good chunk of this CD is not fast: It is more for your headphones than for the dance floor. Having said that, the CD still has some nice beats. Close your eyes and listen to this 80 minute electronic symphony and you will find yourself in another world. I wish all DJs were as good as these too.

Sasha (whom British reviewers have called such things as "The Son of God" and "The Man Like") and John Digweed are the two finest DJs on Earth, amazing crowds at clubs and listeners with headphones for ten years now. Their first big hit in the U.S. was NORTHERN EXPOSURE, an awesome project that is the quintessential trance mix, transporting the listener to new realms of sound and emotion.

Although the selected tracks are worked into a trance context (mostly retaining house music's 4/4 beat), they are very ambient and transcendental. A lot of eco-trance can end up sounding cheesy or pretentious, but Sasha and Digweed have arranged every beat carefully. The disc quietly opens with Suzuki's "Satellite Serenade," and by Young American Primitive's "These Waves" the beat is established. Then, these two deities of DJing let loose a string of pounding, explosive tracks, from God Within's "Raincry" to Rabbit in the Moon's "Out of Body Experience" and then the twin climaxes of Morgan King's "I'm Free" and Fuzzy Logic's "Obsession." By the last of these, the listener has gone through an incredible catharsis, and the aural ride smoothly returns to the quiet nature groove of William Orbit's "Water From a Vine Leave" and on, ending with the trippy babblings of Banco de Gaia's "Last Train to Lhasa."

This is quite possibly the best mix CD ever taken off vinyl, and it's a shame that the American edition is just this one CD. It's even more of a shame that the British 2-CD release is getting almost impossible to find.

This, the first in the Northern Exposure series, is much different from the two volumes that came after it, which were much more evocative of Sasha and John Digweed's live sets. Nonetheless, the series is excellent and every disc is worth buying.

Sasha and John Digweed are masters of their art.

I first listened to this only once back in 1995 when a friend had it on in his car and I was 14. I had no idea what it was, but it sounded wonderful (it then sent me to a Trance infused journey for the next 10 years). I never heard it again until in September '05 when I went to Fiji to be married and decided I needed some appropriate pool-side music. I remembered this album as Northen Exposure and purchased it from a local new & used records store. Putting it on again as I lay on the shores of a tropical beach, my mind was transported to a state of relaxation and emotion that I hadn't experienced even through some amazing live sets from the world's top DJs. I'd heard many of these tracks individually in Sunrise sets (especially RainCry and FSOL) but never blended together so masterfully and beautifully as this compilation has done. Raincry, Out of Body Experience, Cascade, Liquid Cool, Last Train to Lhasa all on the first CD are so amazing you will forget a 2nd CD even existed. Then to hear the likes of Underworld, Humate, Pete Lazonby and Dope on Plastic on the 2nd CD will polish off an already high experience.

I listen to this album probably 2 - 3 times a week, at work, on the train, at home, in the car. If I'm stressed this album instantly transports me to a place of mental euphoria which allows me to put things in perspective once more.

The world is a wonderful place when this album is on. Nothing seems to matter nearly as much as it did before you popped it in and pressed play - I've never had an album allow me to escape like that at will before, which is why it will be treasured as the best trance/ambient/electro album I've ever had the pleasure of owning.

You will have no regrets buying this one.

I've noticed that two of the things that make up a good DJ mix, flow and variety, tend to show up in inverse proportions. Most of the mixes I own that are very smooth usually aren't very diverse in the track selection - they tend to play a lot of one style of dance. By contrast, the mixes that are very diverse and cover a lot of genres are usually a lot rougher than the norm.

What makes this disc stand out, then, is the way it manages to be both smooth and diverse. The mixing is unbelievably subtle; in fact, you can easily not tell when a song is being mixed until the mix is already complete and you're straight in the middle of the next track. What's really impressive, though, is that Sasha and John Digweed have included ambient (Future Sound of London), house (Ultraviolet), trance (Apollo 440), and more world-type dance (Banco De Gaia) at the same time. "Northern Exposure" is not only nearly perfectly mixed, it covers more ground than most mixes. It's probably the best mix either Sasha or Digweed has done.

If the phrase "heading South" implies a progression towards Hell, North would have to be the direction of Heaven. In 1996, Sasha and John Digweed certainly exposed us to a little slice of Heaven.

This album as a single unit was perhaps as influential on modern mixing as the duo's Renaissance: The Mix Collection was to the introduction of mixing itself. The mixing is flawless, but unlike the acclaimed Global Underground series' mixing, this was done by Sasha and Digweed themselves, not a professional studio mixer using 21st century computers - making the album all that much more special.

The track progression is seamless; I love the ethereal sounding beats mixing, melding, churning subtly together to form this astounding musical mosaic. The music is now eleven years old. 1996-2007. But it is as fresh, as seamless, as illusory and divine as it was in the mid '90s.

One thing to be said - for years, I owned the U.S. release (long after the UK release had been discontinued) and was ignorant of a second disc to this release. And I cannot convey to those out there with enough urgency that the second disc completes this epic journey, even though the first disc (North) could very well stand alone as a 5-star album and has for quite some time.

The second disc (South), never released in the United States and only limitedly available around the rest of the globe, matches the mysticism of the North disc. Yet it is so very different. While the North disc is a bubbly landscape of dreamy, beautiful and luscious ear candy melded into one long 11 part track, the South disc adds the balance necessary to call this a real trance album. There are solidified beats on the South disc, straight from the get-go. This disc has an icier feel to it, a bit more cryptic whereas the North disc feels somewhat organic and earthen to my ears. I love it. Phased vocals, beat crescendos and chopped inserts lay the foundation for the rushing peaks that the North disc lacks. The North disc still remains my favorite because it is a humble work of beauty, but the South disc feels a bit more like the perfect segue into the future Northern Exposure releases.

The biggest complaint with these masterpieces is that the songs sound too dated. NOT SO WITH THIS RELEASE. I promise that anyone, from an older ex-raver to the trance newcomer will find these songs accessible. This album surpasses that boundary which can snag some listeners' appreciation for the music.

If you want something truly historical, aurally divine, musically enigmatic and a work of technical genius, then purchase this album. Sell a kidney if that should be the prerequisite to getting the South disc. I have finally found the whole package, and I refused to review this album without having experienced it first in its 1996 completeness.

~Lex

I bought this album in 1997 since I was a fan of Sasha and into "raves" back then, with totaly naivete about how much it would eventually impact me. Even though I haven't been to a "rave", and completely out of that scence for like 7 years, this cd it still remains one of my "most listened to" albums. In fact, I am on my second CD from this album (the first one was played to hell for years and eventually lost). It is the standard that I measure all other trance/house/electronic cd's I listen to today.
The beginning starts off mellow -- it's like warming you up for the auditory experience you will get to when "Raincry" and "OBE" comes on. I loved these early songs, but it took me about 5 years to truly see the genious in these first songs.
"Raincry" and "OBE" is truly magnificent. First brought together in the Hardkiss Bros. cd "Delusions of Grandeur" (which is nearly or as good as this cd and WAY ahead of it's time too). Sasha and Digweed reversed the order, and remixed them seamlessly (in fact, the whole cd is seamless).
After which comes "I'm Free" and "Ultraviolet". For me these two songs are weakest part of the CD, but they still fit in very well and are not "weak" by any means.
The end of this cd, from "Obsession" to "Last Train to Lhasa" is pure gem. Again, you will experience the euphoria that you had while listening to "Raincry" and "OBE" -- however this part of the cd lasts like 30 minutes -- 30 minutes of a trance/euphoria. Man who needs drugs when you can just listen to this? Again, the mixing is seamless.

I've played this CD for many people who don't care for electronic music (even my dad, totally different generation), and they love it. It's just a beautiful cd that *most* music lovers will love.
Caveat: Certainly in recent years other artist have come out with lovely music as good as this. Hence if you listen to this for the fist time now you may feel like it's a bit anticlimatic after reading all these glowing Amazon reviews (probably written by old ex-ravers who bought the cd years ago like me). However, what must be realized about this CD is that it came out nearly a decade ago. As my title mentions, this album was way ahead of its time -- I'm sure it's in the top five most influential electronic/DJ albums of all time for most DJ's and electronic music afficionados.
As a funny little side note, I was skimming the reviews and I came across a person who mistakenly bought this cd thinking it was a soundtrack to the TV series Northern Exposure. Probably not into person into trance/house, they described the cd as "a single long song". Anyway, they (the assumed non-electronic music fan) gave it four stars. That should probably say something