Various - Global Underground Nubreed: Steve Lawler

Boxed: 2000

The Nubreed series from Global Underground was set up as a sort of farm league for the main series. It's tough cracking that starting line-up, see, featuring such legendary talents as Sasha, John Digweed, Nick Warren, Dave Seaman, and Danny Tenaglia, and British clubland had plenty of hot, young prospects in the pipeline waiting for that call-up from the big leagues to rub shoulders with the f'n All-Stars. The series didn't last much past 2002, though sees occasional dusting off to promote another wave of generational talents, most recently this past month with a tenth volume featuring Oliver Schories. Wow, I don't know these kids at all.

Of the original Nubreeders, only Danny Howells made it to the big league roster, but Steve Lawler got himself a mini-series called Lights Out. Does that mean he was drafted into his own league? Man, this sports metaphor's stressed, but I can't help it – 'tis the season!

Heck, Lawler's own career fits the metaphor: starting out in real underground settings (street ballin', y'all), struggling in the literal 'beer leagues' (re: playing out at bars), then hitting a personal rock-bottom before lucky fate handed him a Cream residency. The year 2000 proved his big breakout, not only landing this Nubreed mix, but two more DJ mixes (Home on INCredible, Dark Drums on Tide), plus a gig for Essential Mix. Just goes to show you don't have to play for the LA Lakers or NY Yankees to have yourself a successful sportsrun. I'm reaching.

By this point in his career, Lawler had built a rep' as the UK's Danny Tenaglia, that dude who'll take you on a long, deep, dark journey through tribal house and dubby prog. This mix comes out when this sound was deemed official “new hotness” status, both Digweed and Tenaglia's recent offerings on Global Underground paving the way for a few years of relentless, unwavering sweaty thump of a groove. And hoo boy, is Steve ever on that sound, making this my third release in a row with a tribal theme going on. (The... odds...!)

Most prog mixes of the time kept the deep shit on CD1, serving as the warm-up for the energetic, peak-time rinse-outs of CD2. Long wary of jocks relying on anthems, Lawler says nuts to that, going with the deep shit for pretty much the duration of both discs. There are a few recognizable tunes – Tenaglia's Elements, Cevin Fisher's Love You Some More, Green Velvet's Answering Machine (“I don't need. This. Shit!”), but that's not the point of this set. Lawler's goal is to drag you into the club, with him in full swing at his personal peak hour, home listening practicality be damned. It makes his Nubreed offering rather samey throughout, and still comes off like an extended warm-up set before a superstar jock takes over the decks. If you're down for a DJ that can ride such a vibe for that long, you'll probably like this. Prefer a little spicy variety myself.

Various - Global Underground 014: John Digweed - Hong Kong

Boxed: 1999

In a bizarre coincidence, John Digweed’s our next offering of Global Underground on the cheap. Funny, since he and Sasha were still intimately tied at the hip as far as the clubbing consciousness was concerned in '99, such that Boxed likely thought it'd be right jolly having the two DJs release separate editions of their DJ mix series one after the other. Of course, the prior GU to Digweed's Hong Kong was Sasha's ridiculously popular Ibiza, but I get to enjoy the same cheeky fun what with having just done San Francisco.

And why has this particular copy of GU014 made its way to the bargain bins? Well, the jewel case pivots are cracked, and, um... hmm. Gee, there’s nothing else wrong with it. Even the original cardboard sleeve’s still intact, surprising since it’s almost a given you’re not getting those from a resell. Maybe the previous owner ...just hated it?

But... this is a Digweed set from nineteen-ninety-f'n-nine, at the height of the man's clubbing clout. His Bedrock label had become firmly entrenched within the burgeoning prog market (when the term ‘prog’ wasn’t even a thing yet), Heaven Scent was an inescapable hit with critics and punters alike, and he'd even broke Hollywood with his cameo in the movie Groove (pft, Carl Cox did it better in Human Traffic). How could anyone not like GU014?

Well, that second disc is rather muddled in execution. While it’s obviously the ‘peak time’ CD, with tons of big names (Tilt! Breeder! Bedrock! Quivver! Hole In One?) and big tunes, it doesn’t flow like you’d expect a Digweed set to. Track selection and mixing isn’t the problem here, as they all go well together, but that sense of journey most progressive trance sets have is lacking, songs playing one after the other and little else. It’s rather like an anthem trance set in that regard, only this being Digweed, like hell you’ll hear anything the Crasher Kids would cream their pants over – even Heaven Scent is the subdued Evolution Mix.

Most likely, he’d grown bored of trance in general (almost all the old progressive jocks had by ’99), thus he focused more on CD1’s arrangement. This is the Digweed that came to define his sound of the new millennium: deep, dark, tribal progressive tech-house (oh hell, that’s convoluted; just call it prog). While a bit dull in the background, it’s ridiculously infectious and absorbing once you’re locked into it. Hooks reveal themselves in patient, due time, making the peaks that much more rewarding. It’s music that forces the DJ to work harder to keep the listener’s attention, with teases, mixing, and phrasing that coaxes out a track’s full potential, and Digweed pulls off the challenge expertly here.

GU014 isn’t the best pair of mixes you’ll find in ol’ John’s discography, as his transitional period is apparent while listening to it. It’s still a solid Global Underground offering though, and a worthy companion piece to Sasha’s Ibiza, assuming that was Boxed’s intent.

Various - Global Underground: Paul Oakenfold - Live In Oslo

Boxed: 1997

When I wrote the 2013 Update on that Dubfire Global Underground, Sharam’s offering was the only one available on the cheap. A couple weeks later though, while looking around for other material on Amazon, I found a few more Global Undergrounds in the ‘under-five’ price range. So what the hey, let’s grab them, since they’re surprising names to be rendered low.

“But wait,” you say, “this is Global F’n Undergroud! How can such a prestigious DJ mix series be so cheap?” (a likely crappy Sharam-solo effort notwithstanding) Well, these are used CDs, and sometimes they come in less-than-mint condition, which I'm perfectly fine with – chipped case here, minor doodles on the booklet there, a hint of white powder embedded, and so on. This Oakenfold one though... my goodness, but is it ever a disgrace. Jewel case wasn't the best, but the booklet appeared to have something poured on it, rendering all the pages stuck (until I tried prying them apart anyway, ripping them in the process). What was even spilled on this? Pop? Beer? The previous owner's splooge? Whatever. All that matters is the condition of the discs, which were fine.

So what is there to even say about Live In Oslo at this late stage? As the third entrant of the series, Global Underground was still finding its footing, trying to capture the superclub phenomenon without the direct superclub association. Swiping Oakenfold from his Cream residency of '97 certainly helped give them more clout, but it'd be another year or two before the series' mystique really took off, especially overseas where British media hype properly penetrated American clubbing (tapping other big-name DJs didn't hurt). At best, it’s fondly remembered as a unique addition to the Global Underground legacy compared to all the prog that came in the years after, so its weaknesses are overlooked.

Oh yeah, the music. This was during Oakenfold's 'jazzy, atmospheric jungle is cool' phase (really, all of Britain was on that), and the Side A of CD1 is where he indulges in the stuff. There isn’t anything here that someone with at least a passing fancy for Bukem won’t have heard before (and mixed better), but it’s a nice collection of tunes nonetheless. After that, plus the shameless plug of the Perfecto Mix of Olive’s You’re Not Alone, it’s all aboard the Balearic and Goa vibes. Standard stuff as far as most Oakenfold mixes of the era goes, yet I can’t complain about hearing Bedrock’s Forbidden Zone, Taucher’s Waters, Astral Projection’s Ionized, or Pablo Gargano’s Trance In Saigon again (Noob Sykonee fun-fact: for the longest time, I thought Chapel Of Rest’s Last Prayer was a remix of Banco de Gaia’s Heliopolis; silly, it’s just the same vocal sample).

Of course, Oakenfold’s mixing is naff – almost mixtape like in some parts – but then Global Underground hadn’t quite become the progressive standard yet. Definitely hints of potential in this early edition though, what with such a slick package and all. Except my copy, sadly.

Various - Global Underground Departures

Boxed: 1998

There they sat on the shelves, so many Global Undergrounds, so little money. You've heard a few from some friends who splurged on a volume or three, and the name recognition these jocks garnered as the century drew to a close was top of the tier, untouchable, Godlike even. You wanted to experience the Global Underground phenomenon for yourself, but cash, man, cash. Hello, what's this? Global Underground Departures? Hm, a collection of music from previous volumes of the series, and all for such a significantly low price. Well, with so many great tunes you've heard on those Digweed, de Vit, and Oakenfold discs, who can argue with this bargain?

This was the first in a sort of ‘greatest hits’ series Boxed would put together every couple years, highlighting the most memorable cuts that’d be featured on various prior main releases. Though this sounds like the best thing ever, part of what made tracks like Greece 2000 and Lose It so memorable on the Global Undergrounds they were featured was the context of their respective sets. In other words, those big name DJs knew how to utilize music for maximum enjoyment (even if their technical skills weren’t always the best), but taking a bunch of ace tracks of disparate styles and cramming them into an entirely separate mix… well, it doesn’t quite work the same.

For starters, duo The Forth aren't exactly high on the radar of most folk, almost exclusively known as remixers during the '90s. Even then, their task can't be an envious one: “Hey, you know how Tony had all this hard dance music, Oakenfold had these trancey tunes, Digweed had some tech house, and Nick used breaks? And they all had two CDs to create strong context within those sets? Yeah, mash all that into a single CD, chaps!” They do as good of a job as they can, going from a nice Balearic opening, then deep grooving tech, before capping off with a few trance anthems, but for a series often priding itself on computer-perfect programming on nearly every edition (*cough*), the rough transitions and awkward flow are noticeable.

Can't fault any of the music though. Ferry Corsten's “holy cow, he did real trance?” track Air (under his Albion guise) is here. Tekera's Breathe In You is here, care of the M&M remix. Tech house stormer Bombay from Dave Randall is here (oh, how I miss tribal tech house!). The Forth’s own prog-breaks smasher Reality Detached is here, and not shameless plugging either as Warren used it on GU8: Brazil. Pink Bomb's Indico is here, a track that brings back a ton of nostalgic memories (that whole second disc of GU8 does, really).

Ah yes, nostalgia, now the only real selling point to GU Departures if you already have the original volumes (also, super-cheap prices typically found for this disc) - a pleasant, brief trip through Global Undergrounds past. A might better tagline than “Tracks You’ve Already Got, Now In A Different Order!” anyway.