Renaissance: Transitions, Vol. 4 [Import]

John Digweed | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 6, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• ASIN: B0013NFN0K
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #480,785 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Julien Parise/A5B (Mikro Remix)

2. Henry Saiz/From Empty Lands Guy J/Geko

3. Jeff Bennett/In Spite Kabale and Liebe and Daniel Sanchez/Mumbling Yeah (Loco Dice Tribute Remix)

4. Nightguy/Pretty Face Henry Saiz/From Tangled Seas Myers Briggs/Forever

5. Sian/Wear Your Scars Like Medals Kim Runic/Suspicious Blue Two Lone Swordsmen/Shack 54 (Jet Project Remix)

6. Plasmik/Pitch It (Claude VonStroke Remix) Jamie Stevens/Keep her space (Smith and Selway's Control Mix)

7. Jerome Sydenham and Tiger Stripes/Elevation (Ink and Needle Remix) Guy J/Under Pressure

8. Pascal Feos and Marc Mirror/Rezolution Spector/Mineral Orive (Jamie Stevens Remix) Jorg Burger/Superpicture

9. Pig and Dan/Dreams of Bells Emmanuel/Parade (Original Mix)

10. Solquid/Piknic Bugz (Original Mix) Solquid/Piknic Bugz (Gone Wild Mix)

Editorial Reviews

2008 release that finds John Digweed concluding his Transitions series with a bang! Since it's launch, Transitions has become one of the most anticipated releases in the compilation calendar; over the past two years its single disc, twice-yearly format has provided Dance music fans a regular, contemporary snapshot of John. Now the first chapter in the Transitions' series reaches its conclusion with the highly anticipated fourth volume. 22 tracks from the likes of Jerome Sydenham & Tiger Stripes, Claude VonStroke, Jeff Bennett, Loco Dice, Guy J, Henry Saiz, Julien Parise, Nightguy, J”rg Burger and others. Renaissance.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Programming. Mixing. Tracks. Yes, indeed., September 25, 2007

By 

LexAffection (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Renaissance Presents Transitions 3 (Audio CD)

Entering with the audibly dark and spookish wavelength's of Sasha's "Coma," the third installment of John Digweed's Transitions series immediately displays the type of savagery that previous minimal-tech albums have all seemed to lack - that is, when the listener is looking for the dark side. When I listen to music of this caliber, I often think what the general progression might be analogous to; in this case, the best description I find myself with is that of a dimly lit room with a sharp and meticulously designed machine clicking, spinning and drilling away towards some undetermined end. And in this spirit, I liken Transitions 3 to Transitions 1; the direction that the mix will ultimately lead you does not appear predetermined, almost as if the album were being mixed live simply for you. I dig that.

After a stiflingly robotic series of introductory tracks, the mix gains its much needed heated flow with Lawrence's "Along The Wire." And so begins the madness.

Fans of minimal-tech house will know what I mean by the statement that much of the album has an undercurrent which "bobs" up and down, taking the listener up and down in a constant sea of audible motion. Electronically, Digweed's programming techniques are so finely tuned that it is easy to see his personal Transition from merely dipping his feet into the waters of minimalism to literally redefining the genre in three short years. Not only that, but he is able to program extremely re-worked and exclusive Transitions-Edit versions of the newest songs to hit the minimal scene on a grand scale - in this case, amounting to a twenty-track progression including lots of great artists. Sasha, obviously, who begins the mix, but alongside him are many fairly unknowns. Einzelkind, Joel Mull, Chaim, Ink & Needle, Solead and Guy J all make great representations here - but we all knew John has the technique for picking out obscurity and molding it into something cohesive.

It would be unfair to claim that this album is purely electronically programmed, for that simply isnt the case. Digweed's lavish mixing is evidenced by beautifully landscaped tracks like Daniela Stickroth's "Chest In The Attic" and Joel Mull's "Begun The End Has." What's obscure in a name comes across as beauty in a melody. And I think that the tracks which Digweed lets run the show solo for quite some time make this album even more of a buoyant release relative to the other bogged-down-by-monotony minimal mixes being released right now - case in point, Booka Shade's DJ Kicks... but that's another issue. Digweed's demeanor slides to and fro from a mish-mash of minimalism I liken to Tiefschwarz, M.A.N.D.Y. and James Holden (the latter two's "At The Controls" releases). That is to say, within this dimly painted mosaic emerge some quirky, fun and ultimately positive attributes that only someone with the mixing skills John possesses could contrive in album form. Paul Ritch's "Messene," or perhaps "Hedonism" by Reshufle, are tracks that can confirm this idea. Hedonism may in fact be my favorite track on the disc.

Expanding further on track selection, this album is something of a gem worthy of a particular kind of distinction. Aside from the fact that several virtual unknowns are *made* known by means of this mix, tracks that have been around long enough to be remixed and re-tooled are perfectly selected. Adam Freeland's "Silverlake Pills" would not have worked as well as it did had it not been for the wise selection of its Gui Boratto Remix. The Superpitcher Mix of "Along The Wire" is superb, and Chaim does an excellent re-working of "Come Into My World." Wink's Profound Sound Interpretation of "Lowdown Brittle" is a jewel in and of itself. Most of the aforementioned remixes are what I consider the better of the two possible choices at hand, and it appears that Digweed knows when, and when not to, insert a re-tooled version of a track. At long last, the album closes out with one of the most fantastic minimal pair-ups I've ever heard - Umek's "Ricochet Effect" and Guy J's incredible "Save Me." These tracks in sequence produce a heavily bassy, regally symphonic sound; crisp, resonant cymbals and occasionally frenetic synthesizer's simply heighten the brilliant and climactic atmosphere.

Programming. Mixing. Tracks. Yes, indeed, it would seem that John Digweed has yet again produced a 5-star release. I did not find Transitions 2 to be as innovative as 1, but 3 brings back that level of experimentation - and that is truly what this album represents. This music is absolutely nothing like what John is currently playing live; his album release party at Pacha NYC was a heavy club banger which left the dancefloor in shambles after six + hours. Instead, Transitions 3 is John in the laboratory, producing another tasty concoction for those raving for more.

~Lex

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Production in the Fourth Dimension, April 15, 2008

By 

LexAffection (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Renaissance: Transitions, Vol. 4 (Audio CD)

I spoke with John briefly amidst the frenzy of his North American Club Tour with Sasha; it was like watching a volcano aroused from dormancy. His enthusiasm, coupled with genuine giddiness, for this album flowed from his words like fresh magma. I had heard the album a few times by this point, and so could thus share his enthusiasm - but putting the fourth Transitions journey into words is an exercise in frustration. John spoke of the album earlier in the year, saying "Really happy with this one. I have spent lots of time on it with loads of edits and layering of tracks." `Lots of time' may perhaps be one of 2008's more notable understatements, but judge for yourself!

John Digweed first displays layering techniques in the fusion between "From Empty Lands" and "Geko." When combined, these tracks churn and mix to create impressively deep and rich strides with unfamiliar tribal momentum. As melody slowly trickles in, the delicacy of the groove recalls Hernan Cattaneo's Sequential Vol. 2. Like Cattaneo's brilliant edits and mixing on his last disc, Digweed shows similar attention to craft and detail. Clearly this is a thinking man's mix, a distant echo from the sandblasting techno John has been rocking the clubs with - from the Winter Music Conference to his North American Club Tour - and apparently, this is the target mark. To quote the man himself, "I've used modern production techniques to create an album that's unlike anything you'll ever hear me do in a club."

Despite being the delicately balanced electronic house of cards it is, Transitions 4 - as do John's other installments - graciously dodges the bullet that is 'glitchy' minimal-tech. The trick, as time has shown, is to embrace the medium of a particular type of bass and percussion acting like a musical undertow. The melody, rhythm and all else is ensnared and reshaped by such exotic forces. "Wear Your Scars Like Medals"/"Suspicious Blue"/"Shack 54 (Jet Project Remix)" and "Pitch It (Claude VonStroke Remix)"/"Keep Her Space (Smith & Selway's Control Mix" embody the raw force of a driven undertow and lend Transitions 4 a powerful presence amongst its contemporaries. Celebrated tracks like the Ink & Needle Remix of Jerome Sydenham & Tiger Stripes' "Elevate" in concert with Guy J's "Under Pressure" cement some familiarities into the foundation of John's latest laboratory creation, which tops off with an absolutely fantastic selection: Mixing both the Original and Gone Wild versions of "Piknic Bugz" into a twelve and a half minute epic bomb, Digweed closes Transitions 4 with unrequited supremacy. "Piknic Bugz" has been no stranger to John's club roster in 2008, but this layered version is one of the best tracks to be included on any Transitions release.

A well-played game of chess, the latest `Transitions' release extends John's winning streak to four. Although he never ceases to amaze me in a club, this disc strikes the chord of opposition in regards to his live performances. Ideally, any great DJ should be able to play both sides of the field with ease; in John Digweed, we find exactly this type of charisma. Infusing the Midas touch on yet another ample collection of brilliant tracks, John extends the limits of a studio DJ's production capabilities to the fourth dimension.

~ Lex

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The electronic configuration, April 28, 2008

By 

OverTheMoon ([e-mail]) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Renaissance: Transitions, Vol. 4 (Audio CD)

Lighting up our neurons and firing on all cylinders John Digweed has reinvented house music and given every dance lover a stimulating modular mediator between the worlds of trance and ambience with experimentation which counts as probably the next great leap forward in innovative electronica.

For those who thought it doesn't get much better than Vol. 2 or Vol. 3, Digweed has gone atomic. If you haven't been following the transitions series then start now. Sanctify your MP3 player with these tunes and go for a trek around town for a voyage into awe-inspiring sonic surroundings. This is ear candy of a variation not even matched by some of the best names out there. Vol. 4 is extensive also and each ten minute track covers virtually the originality of any timeless dance album.

It almost seems as if nature evolved sound for this album.