Dubai (re-release)

Sharam

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 15, 2008)
• Original Release Date: October 3, 2006
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Global Underground
• ASIN: B000HDR97C
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #70,848 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

• This item is part of The Global Underground Series.

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Sugar (Sweet Thing) [Nicka & Alse Remix] - DYAD 10

2. Look Around [Spider Funk Dub] - Spider & Legaz

3. Passing Lights - 16 Bit Lolitas

4. Bliss [Felix Da Housecat Remix] - Syntax

5. Majorca Roots - Spider & Legaz

6. Other Side [Deep Dish Other Than This Side Remix] - Wayne Jackson, Paul van Dyk

7. Mindstalking [Dave Audé Dub] - Lunascape

8. Timelapse [Moonbeam Pres Glockenspiel Mix] - Jiva, Jiva, Rula

9. Together We Rise - Sultan & Ned Sheppard

10. Deep Breath Sedna [Dave Dresden Mash-Up] - 16 Bit Lolitas, Motorcycle

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Direct Me [Joey Negro Remix] - The Reese Project

2. Timewarp - Babylon Timewarp

3. Spirit in My Life - Caroline, Cedric Gervais

4. Everlasting - Miss Nine

5. Connected [Spider & Legaz Remix] - Stereomovers, , , Sultan & Ned Sheppard

6. Zero - Simon & Shaker

7. Smaller [Dave Audé Remix] - Suite 117

8. Psych - Spider & Legaz

9. Cello Track [Dub] - Twotrups

10. Who Is Watching - Nadia Ali, Armin van Buuren

See all 14 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Following their success with 2005's George Is On, house duo Deep Dish (known individually as Sharam and Dubfire) set out to divide and conquer with individual mixes for UK label Global Underground. Sharam strikes first--and hard--with Dubai, a two-disc set that is likely to generate comparisons with GU's other epic releases such as Sasha's Ibiza (GU13). Disc one is the slow-burner here: Spider and Legaz's dub of "Look Around" funks things up with a vocoder-drenched synth line that could have been pulled off a Jeff Beck album before giving way to the druggy, cascading echoes of 16 Bit Lolitas' "Passing Lights." From the perspective of the second disc, the moody expanse of the first begins to look a lot like an elaborate launch sequence, as the infectious "Timewarp" merges into Cedric Gervais's "Spirit in My Life," which sends the whole business into orbit. Sharam has undoubtedly reached a new high here, with programming so organic it sometimes seems like the track list may have just dropped out of the sky. For those awaiting the next big Global Underground release, your time has come. --Brent Kallmer

Review

Amazon.com Following their success with 2005's George Is On, house duo Deep Dish (known individually as Sharam and Dubfire) set out to divide and conquer with individual mixes for UK label Global Underground. Sharam strikes first--and hard--with Dubai, a two-disc set that is likely to generate comparisons with GU's other epic releases such as Sasha's Ibiza (GU13). Disc one is the slow-burner here: Spider and Legaz's dub of 'Look Around' funks things up with a vocoder-drenched synth line that could have been pulled off a Jeff Beck album before giving way to the druggy, cascading echoes of 16 Bit Lolitas' 'Passing Lights.' From the perspective of the second disc, the moody expanse of the first begins to look a lot like an elaborate launch sequence, as the infectious 'Timewarp' merges into Cedric Gervais's 'Spirit in My Life' which sends the whole business into orbit. Sharam has undoubtedly reached a new high here, with programming so organic it sometimes seems like the track list may have just dropped out of the sky. For those awaiting the next big Global Underground release, your time has come. --Brent Kallmer --Amazon.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's House Music, People...., January 15, 2007

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

I think the reason most people reered back in disgust at this album after Warren's superb Shanghai is because this is HOUSE music, and not progressive trance or even trance at all. It's a deviation from the norm, and occasional change is most often an unwelcome circumstance. Dubai, ableit the addition of admittedly too many ridiculous vocals, sounds much like Darren Emerson's Uruguay release in its 'flavor' - fun, a bit retro, HOUSE music. I love both House and Trance (in all its glorious forms) but Trance > House for me. Yet I was still able to gain SOME enjoyment out of these sets and not totally deride Sharam as a sham.

For starters, these sets are nothing like the epic journeys DJ's like Seaman, Sasha, Digweed, Warren or Cattaneo will take you on. No comparison. Night and Day. And these discs, in my opinion, were not MEANT to be taken as progressive trance, and therefore should not be harshly judged based on their failure to BE something which they were never intended to be. As a whole, the album is alright. Not fantastic, not great, but alright. 3 stars would have been more appropriate, considering it does not match the steadfast quality of previous Global Underground releases and fails to enrapture me to the same extent; I've given it four, however, out of fairness - it IS a good progressive house mix; there is good track variation (although he uses quite a few artists twice, especially during the first disc) and, like Emerson's GU015, I never really know where this is going to go next. This is Sharam integrating the underground with popular culture, but I still do not believe he has crossed that red line as much as Oakenfold has.

It's a pensive GU. It keeps you on edge as it fluctuates between throroughly enjoyable progressive house/bordering on trance and purely house music. Sharam rides the fine line between the two genres, and this is upsetting to most people for reasons that I can understand and fully sympathize with. To others, it may be exciting. To each his own...

...but, for God's sakes! To give this album 1 or 2 stars based on its inability to live up to mixes like Seaman's Buenos Aires, Sasha's Ibiza, Warren's Brazil/Shanghai/Reykjavik? That's certainly a travesty. Every DJ is going to possess his or her own unique style and genre preference, especially when making a mix album like Dubai. Rate this album for what it was MEANT to be, and not for what you would LIKE it to HAVE BEEN. Sure, up until recently Global Underground has prided itself on consistency and we've all grown complacent to that fact. It is mixes like the 29th GU which shake us up a bit and keep this burgeoning dance scene a bit unpredictable, and a bit exciting.

I hope someone sees my point on this. This is House music, people; not "crappy progressive trance".

~Lex

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A little slightly less than limited this year, but a still great mix!, January 24, 2007

By	Doctor Trance (MA, United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Dubai (SPECIAL COLLECTOR'S 2XCD BOOK EDITION) (Audio CD)

I don't mean it has less production than other limited releases, I just meant it's a little short on bonus features in that long book. It's the same fold out book format as the previous two GU's and it's also filled with location photography like the the others. The one thing the other two had were interviews and bios about some of the residents of Miami and Shanghai. They weren't the most interesting of features, but at least it was more than just the annoying Dom Phillips sleeve notes. It's just the notes and the photos. If GU hasn't used a better writer than Dom after 29 releases, I don't think we'll ever get that benefit.

Now, onto the mixes:

After two stunning GU's in '05 from Danny Howells and Nick Warren, we had to wait until late 2006 to get the only release of the year from their prolific GU series, #29 by half of the Deep Dish duo, Sharam. It's less progressive than Warren's and more upbeat than Howells, so it's more like a danceable Miami. If you liked Miami, but wanted some faster paced house, this is it.

There are a lot of vocals on both discs, but they are all good tracks, especially the one to open disc 1, a stunning remix by Nicka & Asle of the Julie Dennis voiced Sugar (Sweet Thing). It's a killer track to start the mix, although I wasn't keen on the choice to start disc 2, an old school house tune that just didn't cut it for me. Aside from that opening track on disc 2, and where he lets the Deep Dish remix of Paul Van Dyk's The Other Side play a little too long on disc 1, I thought both discs were great. I liked disc 2 slightly better, only because of the incredible line-up of tracks making up the latter portion of the mix (tracks 8-14).

You've got great vocals, chunky house tunes, thumping dance floor beats, some guitars and cellos thrown in for good measure, all adding up to a fine release for the GU series. I actually liked Dubfire's Toronto Afterclub mix a tad better than Sharam's, but I think he is going to have his work cut out for him when he tries to top this with his own solo GU mix due out this year. Also due out in February is Nick Warren's GU30, and Adam Freeland is set to do GU32, after Dubfire's 31. I don't know if all 3 will be released in 2007, but at least two should be, which is at least one more than '06!

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disc 1 Solid Afterclub Disc 2 Awesome House - One of 2006's Best, January 10, 2007

By	Matthew W. Paradise "nutmegs" (Indianapolis, IN United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For starters the idiot that gave this 1 star also gave Balance 008 1 star so it's apparent that he has no credibility when it comes to the latest house music. As for myself I have to say that this year I had been waiting for a house CD like this for some time.

This is definitely one of the best house sets to come out of 2006.

Disc one is more laid back than disc two (an afterclub type disc) and is probably a 4 star disc in itself, but wait until you hit disc 2. Sharam kicks it up a notch with some of the best driving beats and vocals. Just enough of both will get you pumping all the way through to track 10. It starts slow but ramps up fast. It steadily keeps you satisfied all the way through to track 10, at which point it takes a turn. Almost as if to let the crowd get a breather. Track ten starts to go toward tribal beats without vocals. That's cool for about 5 minutes, but it goes on for about 2.5 tracks. I would have liked to see Sharam use some tracks from the first CD here if he was going to slow it down, but oh well. After the rather lackluster tracks of 11 and 12 he starts his return flight home bringing you in for the finale. (In my opinion he probably could have done without tracks 11 and 12 since it's too long of a break from the first 10 tracks) After the break 13 is solid while 14 leads you off with a vocal dance-beat filled reprise in "Feedback"... "I'll be chasin' you home..."

Make no mistake this isn't comparable to a disc like Renaissance the Masters series, since it's the house that will make your girl want to get out of her seat at the club and hit the dance floor. It's solid (dark at times) powerful dance house on the second disc that just radiates energy.

I can see the lasers cutting through the fog machine now with the strobe hitting the whole dance floor bouncing up and down...

Buy this set if for no other reason than for disc 2.

Keep the beat going Sharam...