Customer Reviews

Singapore

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Okay, now first off let me tell you guys that when it comes to electronic music I'm new to the game. I've been a hip-hopper for the past 5 years, but recently I've beeen swaying towards the electronic genre a tad bit. I actually brought this record accidentally because the bonehead salesman at the shop put it in the wrong case. I went home thinking I had brought a John Digweed cd until I popped it my deck and heard how funky and fast this mix was. Now with all that said....THIS CD IS ROCKIN'! After realizing that what I was hearing through my car cd deck was too uplifting and moving for the dark and murky (yet amazingly dope!) Digweed, I started nodding my head and mashing the accelerator to the floor. Seriously, this cd starts off with a crazy Latin sounding house song with vocals over it and then moves into some sweet jazzy, funky, straight-up, "no-nonsense" dance music! But Emerson doesn't stop there--the next journey on his trip is back to the 80's with a couple of electro-break-beat soundin' tracks that just scream "pop" and "lock". Tracks 14 and 15 fade you out with a nice soulful groove. If you're looking for some fun, up-beat dance music to get your party started and have people asking the same question--"Damn! Who is this ill soundin' cat?" then GU20 Darren Emerson is for you!

Upon acquiring this disc, i first listened to it at a very low volume @ work. Hearing just the drums (basically), it seemed to be a very 'driving' cd, and I knew that I was in for much more when I had some private time to really turn it up. From the opening swirls of accordian, it just builds and builds into a
hOUSe-like crescendo, so that you end up wherever it is that you want to be. I myself, would like to be at a club absorbing it at a very loud volume.
Now I find out that Darren was w/ Underworld (whom I also love) and I see that he has a history. If you are looking for Underworld, then you should just play your UW cd's. Darren has entered a different world here.
Coming from the world of the sf hOUSe scene, I cannot more highly recommend these discs. Disc 1 is much stronger than the second,
but the guy is only tryng to evolve in as many directions as possible. If you buy this album w/ hOUSe in mind, you will keep it next to your cd player for a few months, then you will file it, then you will look for it, and then you will keep it by your player indefinitely. Myself, I will be ordering his other discs, searching for something else that may be as good as this one. Whether you are driving, sitting at home, or at a club, this album makes you want to do whatever it takes you to get in the right frame of mind to spin it over and over again. Looking forward to peace in the future.

r. struck

This record is great, it moves you and drives your emotions. It really makes you want to dance. All of those complaining about the electro-voice effects all over the mix should listen to an Underworld record, thats what they always use!
So I don't understand all the other reviews that complain about this being far from the Underworld sound and far from good. Actually this mix is EXCELLENT !

GU has consistanly put out great, yet varried, mix disc's. Personally I felt like that last couple have been very serious, topping out with the brilliant, yet "serious" Digweed LA.

#20 is Darren Emerson (late of Underworld) with another wonderful bouncy fun set, that tries to shed the progressive house feel that many DJ's are embrasing, and instead bring back fun and joy to trance. While it is not quite the free for all that GU 16 was, it is still solid and is a good representation of what an evening with Darren might be like. Imagine disc one as the 11pm to 2 am set and disc 2 as the 2 am to 5 am set and it truly does feel like a all night set from a world class DJ

The first disc is a bit more bouncy and hit a personal high when he throws down a wonderful Nitzer Ebb remix which caught me totally off guard and then follows up with samples of Harry Dean Stanton's twisted Hunter Thompson readings from "Fear and Lothing in L.V", again a sample that put a smile on my face. Disc 1 was as strong as anything he did on GU16

The second disc is a bit of a let down becasue i feel like the middle is very soft. He brings the tempo down a bit (leaving a graceful Sasha-esque taste in my mouth) in the center but finishes off with some lovely brazillian stomp and beaty techno to end with a bang.

In a time where all of the great dj's are trying to dish out perfect shimmering trance (Digweed, Seaman, etc) or serve up meaty trance (Maas, Oakenfold...except when he plays "HIS" songs like bullet in the gun, but i digress) Emerson find a middle ground that is a plesant reminder that trance should be fun and filled with surprises to delight listeners around the world.

Blade Runner should have been a movie about Singapore. It's got that high tech feel, and everything is multi-story. WHile I am not sure if the place is full of "Replicants" or not, that notion has crossed my mind on occasion. If Darren Emerson is a human, I hope he enjoyed a Singapore Sling at Raffles, Fullerton, or some other upscale locale.

Global Underground is teetering badly. After commercial flops from Dave Seaman, Nick Warren, Danny Tenaglia, etc. And one "hit" from John Digweed -- "Los Angeles", which also rivived sales of "Hong Kong"), the label was in danger of becoming irrelevant. So, Emerson's latest has a lot riding on it.

Darren Emerson's set at Zouk was far better than what appers on this CD. There are none of his own compositions from UNDERWORLD days, and the really big hits that rally got the crowd out dancing are probably left off of this set due to rights issues and other Lawyer problems.

But, as a CD, this is still excellent material. The only way you would know that this is less than the best is if you were there at Zouk on New Year's Eve.

CD1 is the better of the pair here. It's definite 5-star material. High energy, funky techno with a Latino feel (incredible as it may sound, Mexican food is all the rage in Singapore in 2001). THe best cuts are the opener "Hablando", "Junior Aspirin", "Spaced Invader" and "Purple".

CD2 is OK, but it has the feel of good filler, rather than the snap and energy of the first. "Make Me Do Right", "Magaenta", "Alpha" and "Voices" (at teh end) are the best cuts.

This is a very different set from the "Uruguay" Set Emerson put out a few years ago. That featured lighter, somewhat lusher material -- danceable, and listenable. This is more of a party CD: hard edged modern 21st century techno & funk. Will it keep Global underground alive? prbably. It will also indicate one of the future directions that techno needs to take. Digweed: intense, cerebral, dark, upscale, techno-trance. Emerson: Rhythmic, modern, Upbeat, techno-funk.

This is an O.K. mix from a decent DJ. It's too "stacked" a market to give this CD any more than 4 stars.

If you are like me, then you read Amazon reviews to get a good idea of the product before you buy to save wasted money. In this case 3 stars will let you know exactly what caliber of Global Underground album you are getting.

It has pretty good song selection and very good mixing, but when compared to the likes of the Sashas, Digweeds, Deep Dishes, Kleinenbergs etc. there is no way you should be buying this album ahead of their GU offerings.

Take the 2nd disc for example. It is a good CD... after you get 35 minutes in. I should have known though since it took 3 minutes to hear one beat on the first track alone. If you can suffer through the first boring 30 minutes on CD2, then it really picks up, launching it into the REAL Global Underground quality realm for House CDs.

I look forward to hearing more from Darren Emerson as I feel his mixing is great and track selection pretty good. Since this album is old I would expect his more recent albums are much better.

A few days ago I bought this album.I haven't stopped playing it since then.This is an excellent album people should have.It's worth the 5 stars rating.

I can't believe Emerson left Underworld to do this....spinning the same old stuff as Digweed and Tenaglia. After 20 of these things, and I've got all 20, it's getting dull and predictable. They need some new blood or something. Stick with the Nu Breed series if you want to hear something a little different or the first 2 Prototypes...the 3rd is Ok and the 4th is plain awful. What happened, Seb? Keep buying GU's if you just have to have a 37th Oakenfold or a 25th Sasha set....whatever. I'm sure people will disagree with this since the MTV crowd has now finally gotten around to hearing Oakie and will be posting their insightful reviews...cant't wait. Peace.

This album is very interesting. It has so many styles mixed into it, its as if u were listening to one of those 'clubber's guide to.." compilations. Most of it is housey, funky, groove sorta stuff, though u get vocals,effects, and some synths in some tracks as well. So what the hell is this? well, who cares. it sounds good, its fast enough to keep u moving without being a cheesey. As much as i love this stuff i have to admit i miss trance. This may be the new style, or whatever.. progressive this progressive that. who cares. the whole electronica/dj scene is now so jaded its not funny. Anyways, this has a nice cover, nice packaging, quality quality quality. The bass on this thing is awesome. Great tunes.. very interesting mix. Expect the unexpected. Very unique sounding. Highly enjoyable. Original.

Yes he was with Underworld, makers of some truly big musical moments. But as a DJ, Darren Emerson has yet to prove on plastic that he's at the level of his Global Underground company. Uruguay proved solid but didn't hold up to repeats. Singapore seems even more of-the-moment, perhaps due to the New Year's Party that inspired this session.

Chock full of upfront tunes, disc one sifts through stacks of drum fodder and electro-voice distortion before finding anything memorable. The caustic, pounding Medicine "Junior Aspirin" hits hard at ten minutes in, while Emerson's mix of Hatiras "Spaced Invader" pumps more disco juice into an already robust big room moment. Leave it to the Circulation boys to pull things out at the end with drum loopy "Purple" followed with UBU's clever vocal "Pixels." Disc two serves as the comedown set, with spaced out and bass free Shyman & DJ LJK "Make Me Do Right, Jori Hullkonen's faint piano tune "Man From Solaris," and the lush synths of Juan Recoba "Alpha" as highlights.

Yes, it's reasonably enjoyable and mostly listenable, but packed with too much filler and not enough rewind moments. Not up to Global Underground standards.