3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Departure from most GU works, June 6, 2004
This review is from: Romania #026 (Global Underground) (Audio CD)
I've been a long time GU fan, though I have to admit, I avoided the Barcelona mix, as I felt it would be too far off GU's progressive music focus. This mix is a deep and edgy bunch that really alternates between jiving to some dark bass lines and them some outright classic "smilers" on the second disc.
Not sure why they would allow James to mix in the same track "In a State" twice on the same comp. It's a beautiful track, but I pay good money for these sets - not to hear duplication.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best Dance I've Heard in Years, August 2, 2004
This review is from: Romania #026 (Global Underground) (Audio CD)
I have spent a fair amount of time thinking of a way to properly describe this album. This is one of the best mixes I've heard in years, since Steve Lawler's Nubreed or Richie Hawtin's "Closer to the Edit". I have not heard many DJs over the years that can traverse a large amount of styles and still have the set maintain a cohesive feeling, but James Lavelle accomplishes it with ease (Darren Emerson gets a close second). Bouncing between acid house, breakbeats, techno, and other styles liberally usually feels awkward and seems out of place. Lavelle seems to scoff at this concept, using the changes in style to emphasize the breaks and beat drops when they come. It makes some of the breaks alot more effective than they would be on their own, and the overall effect is the enhanced desire to shake one's booty. This is the true measure of a DJ's ability, as I have heard plenty than can rock within the confines of one genre, but to be able to rock them all is a trait that deserves to be recognized.
Disc 1 (beauty) is able to hold it's own weight, despite some other sentiments. Highlights include DJ Shadow featuring Roots Manuva on a UNKLE remix of "GDMFSOB", Meat Katie and Elite Force's "Juju", and the Evil 9 mix of Santos' "Evil Robot". This disc does have some darker tracks, but overall it has a more laid back groove when compared to the second and the difference will be noticed right away.
Disc 2 (the beast) takes a much darker, grittier approach than its counterpart and in the end succeeds more so for it. Granted, this is coming from a man who enjoys the darker edge of dance, so be warned that I am somewhat biased in this arena. The UNKLE edit of Plastikman's "Ask yourself" is blended perfectly into a uber killer track by Scumdolly (Craig Richards) titled "making ends meet". You should know what you have gotten yourself into when the beat to this one kicks in. To keep it short the two other high points on the album are Peace Division's "No More Subliminal S**t" and Chemical Brothers featuring Flaming Lips' "Golden Path". I can't say enough about how good this particular disc is, for driving or dancing it doesn't get much better. I first listened to this album on a 5 hour drive and boy did it make the time fly!
All in all, you owe it to yourself to check this out if you like dance music at all. If you're a DJ, even more so. Bring some paper and a pen as well, cuz you'll want to take notes. All hail Lavelle. :)
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
So good., January 25, 2007
This review is from: Romania #026 (Global Underground) (Audio CD)
This is just one more Global Underground stamp of qualtiy. Anything GU stamps its name on is wonderful.
This is a great and well-blended 2 disc set. Lavelle is his own animal and you can hear the uniqueness in his mix. A lot of others imitate Sasha, John Digweed, Paul Oakenfold, Matt Darey, etc.... Remember that Lavelle is UNKLE, someone who all of these folks have mixed at one time or another. When you listen to this set, you realize a unique and different refreshing style of DJ.
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