John Digweed
Global Underground - Sydney
(Thrive)
From what I can gather from this release, Thrive is going to be releasing a whole series of 2CD mix-disc sessions from some of the worlds biggest club DJs. Mr. John Digweed (of Sasha and Digweed fame) has the lucky honor as appearing on the first release with mix from down under.
As far as the whole DJ culture goes, I have a really hard time judging mix-discs with the same standards as I do an original recording by an artist. Although they are technically playing an instrument, I simply can't view DJing the same as I do writing original music. Why they are creating something new, it's less of a creation than an assembling of something with pre-made parts. My one exception to this rule is with turntablists like Mix Master Mike (and tons of others) who rip through about 50 different tracks in just as many minutes.
Don't get me wrong, I have complete respect for DJs and even have a couple good friends who do it, but I simply have to disagree with the CD booklet when it says that DJs (the inventors and interpreters) are getting left behind by the actual electronic acts. I'll agree with interpreter (and some interpreters are better than others) part, but hold my tongue on the inventor part.
Now that I've ranted for a couple paragraphs, I suppose I should get down to business. Perhaps one of the first nice things to know about this release is that if you purchase it, you'll have a lot of music to listen to. The Digweed session spans 2CDs and about 140 minutes of smooth trance-infused dance music. Probably the two most well known artists used in the mix are Paul Van Dyk and the Crystal Method (in an almost unrecognizable form), and actually serve as a pretty good measure to whether you'd like the disc or not. Actually, the disc reminded me a lot of Van Dyks latest release Seven Ways in mood and flow. It's not too hard and not too soft and just about right for grooving late into the night.
Rating: 7.25
