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 29: Sharam - Dubai

Global Underground Ltd: 2006

Though I ordered all these used Global Undergrounds at the same time, 29 took over a week longer to arrive. Was there something special about Sharam's offering? I know the detail-blurb mentioned it was an “Ltd.Ed” copy, but surely it's not one of those copies of Global Underground - the super-expensive, long cardboard package with the large photo-booklet?

Sure is. Holy shit, and I got one for a pittance? Who cares if it's just Sharam, these deluxe packs are pimp, classing up any bookshelf they happen to occupy. I'm astounded someone wanted rid of it at only five-percent its regular price. So long as the discs work fine–

And CD1 is missing. Oh.

Gee, The Club (title of the first disc) isn’t that bad. Spider & Legaz’ Look Around has a funky house-jam going for it, Sultan & Ned Shepard provide a pleasant Balearic tune with Together We Rise, and... er, what’s with all the McProg? True, Deep Dish occasionally skewed pop, but their mixes were often deep and classy enough to forgive them for it. Free of Dubfire’s “music are serious” tendencies though, it seems Sharam went and unlocked his inner Tiësto, playing the sort of music you’d expect on CD1 of an In Search Of Sunrise mix. Hilariously, The Club only gets properly good as a set when Sharam goes full-cheddar towards the end, his attempts at breaking up the early vocal tracks with bumpin’ tech-house wrecking whatever flow the set tries to build.

This could not have been appealing for the Global Underground faithful. Paul van Dyk? Motorcycle? Folks were clamouring for the series to shake things up from the Deep Dish-Lavelle-Warren tedium that’d settled in, but I highly doubt they wanted things going in this direction - might as well check out Armada’s output instead.

CD2 is an even more bizarre affair, and not because it’s given the utterly unhelpful title of The Hub. Track selection is all over the place, going from pure funk house of The Reese Project's Direct Me at the start, then jumping around various forms of deep-pop (!?) prog house without any sense of flow, occasionally with a good tune dropped along the way (the twinkle-prog bliss of Simon & Shaker’s Zero, or Spider & Legaz’ dark Psych). No, check that, it's Sharam showing off a bunch of Yoshitoshi cuts, so I guess 'the hub' is simply Deep Dish's head office.

Easiest way to sum up CD2 is the utterly baffling choice Sharam makes in placing Felipe & Nicholas Bacher's kick-ass tribal-techno Manitou a mere two tracks after Armin van Buuren's limp-Balearic vocal cut Who Is Watching, then Planet Funk’s equally wack ‘rocktronica’ Everyday two tracks after Manitou! Given the musical surroundings, techno anywhere on these two CDs would have been a stretch, but Sharam’s weak set construction hardly allows him to go from tepid to tough and back in such a ballsin’ fashion. If he was so adamant in playing techno, might as well have pulled an Oakenfold and mixtape it.

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 003: Sasha - San Francisco

Boxed/Thrive Records: 1998/1999

Oh yes, Sasha's down here in the bargain bins too, though in this case, it's understandable. You've likely noticed this edition of Global Underground is headed with 003, when everyone knows Sasha's San Francisco edition was number nine. By '99, the GU brand had grown strong enough that Boxed tapped American label Thrive to handle stateside distribution. Sweet deal, except in a confounding bit of marketing, it was decided these Thrive discs were to be re-sequenced as they released them, not the original order. Oh, and forget having all the editions either, just the- hey, wait a minute, why are you cutting ties with us, Global Underground? No, we'll be good, we swear!

Like hell you will. What's with cutting Der Dritte Raum's Hale Bopp from the tracklist? It's hilarious hearing the anticipated mix from Narcotik's Blue, only denied the spacey goodness Sasha intended. Poor form, Thrive, poor form. It’s almost as bad as Ultra’s antics.

Getting back to Sasha here, this was his first entrant into Global Underground, capturing his ascending American popularity like few other British-based jocks ever achieved before. His and Digweed’s Twilo sets in New York were becoming legendary (or just had really fucking good PR), so it was only natural for GU to set this one in New York. Sadly, that Oakenfield guy already did a GU based on the Big Apple, so the West Coast clubbing paradise gets the nod instead. Doesn't matter in the end anyway. San Francisco is essentially a Twilo set condensed into two discs, so the location's unimportant (as Oakenfold proved when he did his New York mix in the UK!), but hey, nice locale pictures in the booklet.

If you know your progressive house/trance/garage (!) double-disc mixes, then you know the drill on how this one goes: first disc features groovy, early evening vibes (with a touch of the dark dub), while the second’s all about the peak, late hour anthems. I’m almost tempted to claim Sasha and Diggers were responsible for the trend (their sets at Twilo certainly set a standard), but I’m sure there’s a few earlier mix CDs floating about that hold similar arrangements. What I do know for a fact is it went on to be highly imitated in the following years, and even improved upon from what we get offered on GU009/3. These are still a strong pair of discs, but a few odd choices flub up the flow towards the end of each (Movin’ Thru Your System from Jark Prango, really?). Mostly though, you get familiar names of the era (Oliver Lieb, Breeder, BT, Tilt), plus fun surprises (DJ Sakin, Joi Cardwell), expertly mixed (*cough*inastudio*cough*), and perfectly capturing a moment in time when prog house and trance was going from strength to strength.

If you’re relatively new to this scene, it’s worth your while to seek this out and discover exactly why many old schoolers feel this was progressive trance’s proper peak. Just double-check you don’t get a bust copy missing a track.

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.

Various - Global Underground 31: Dubfire - Taipei (Original TC Review)

Global Underground, Ltd.: 2007

(2013 Update:
Well, doesn't this capture a moment in a time, written in that uncertain in-between of Dubfire's career, post Deep Dish, pre-Ribcage. I mentioned at the end of the review that ol' Ali had to do something more significant than continue peddling this brand of deep prog-house if he was to have a memorable solo career, and boy did he ever, deciding instead he are serious techno producer, making serious underground music. If you hated that turn, guess this mix will still serve you fine. Heck, I found myself enjoying the tribal-groove far more this time out.

And yeah, this is the only proper edition of the Global Underground series I actually have. Never saw much reason to pick them up in the series' glory years, as all my peers had copies anyway. Fortunately, as with the Fabric series, I've decided to pick up those that can be found at Bargain Bin prices on Amazon, to see which editions have been brought low by disinterest and- what, only Sharam's solo outing is that cheap? Oh fuck it then.)


IN BRIEF: Where the ‘deep’ part of Deep Dish comes from.

It looks as though Global Underground has come to the end of an era. For longer than anyone can remember (five and a half years, specifically), the once premiere DJ mix series has been the Deep Dish/Nick Warren show. With Ali ‘Dubfire’ Shirazinia (aka: the non-bearded member of Deep Dish) tapped to do #31, word has it this will be the final time we’ll see any of them on a GU compilation. I’m sure I speak for many when I say this: it’s about fucking time!

Seven out of the last eleven editions of Global Underground have seen this trinity strut their stuff, and unless you were a big fan of either, it grew tiresome five releases ago. Although GU often had repeated talent crop up in the past, at least it wasn’t to the laughable extent we’ve seen lately; nor was the recent token nods to Lavelle and Howells going to cut it for old fans. Small wonder many began to flock to newer DJ mix series like Fabric and Balance for cutting-edge DJ mixes.

How did Global Underground let it happen though? Did they sign some sort of binding contract to these guys? Were they afraid to take risks on smaller names? Was Deep Dish’s commercial clout too tempting to pass on? Are too few DJs playing the sort of house GU prefers to champion now? Sure, Deep Dish and Warren are good, but not that good so you’d want them to carry a highly respected series for half a decade.

Well, whatever the reason, that’s all in the past. Fortunately, it does indeed appear everyone is ready to move on, and Ali has been given the honor of closing this bizarre chapter of Global Underground’s legacy. Although he’s often done productions away from his longtime partner Sharam, this is only the second time we’ve seen Mr. Dubfire do a commercial DJ mix on his own (the first being an Afterhours special to an earlier double-release, with Sharam naturally doing the other). Since the duo have claimed their partnership as Deep Dish at an end, Ali has taken this opportunity as a chance to make a mix that will distinguish him from his former DJing buddy. The music, he says, has a more personal connotation and draws from his early influences of new wave, acid house, and other similar sounds.

For fans of Deep Dish, this may prove to be an intriguing plan: an upfront DJ mix that also lets you get to know the guy behind the decks a bit better. For non-fans... well, this still may be intriguing anyways. Just how much will Dubfire distance himself from the house music that made him famous? Are there significant enough differences as a solo DJ to raise him above the famous Deep Dish sound?

(2013 Edit: removed a pointless paragraph)

Taipei is the locale chosen for Ali’s mix, and as with Global Underground releases this usually factors in what you’re going to hear. The house clubs in southeastern Asia have gained a reputation for often playing out deep tribal tech house, and that’s what the first disc provides. To be honest though, there isn’t a whole heck of a lot going on here. It opens promisingly, with some catchy house tunes that suitably move you, and BarBQ’s Myself is a synth-poppy delight. Unfortunately, the mix never takes off in any major way. It lays out the groove early, and keeps it on an even keel for the duration. There are nice moments along the way, mind: And If’s lush Finest Dream; Deetron’s devilish The Afterlife; Markus Schulz’ bumpin’ remix of Yoshimoto’s Du What U Du (did I just give the Schulzer props...?). But with Ali maintaining a running theme of moody atmosphere throughout, it’s little more than a pleasant listen. There’s just not enough variation in this mix to get excited about.

Should I also mention his semi-debut track I Feel Speed, which comes near the end of disc one? Well, it’s a decent house track, and Ali’s gentle voice is suitably unassuming for the tone of it, but hardly a standout. I’m straining to think of much more to say about it, as there’s nothing terribly unique about it other than the fact it’s by Dubfire. How about I just move onto disc two, then?

So here we are in disc two, and we are off to another promising start. Bringing some murky techno to get us on our way, it seems Ali is ready to take us into grimier pastures, perhaps leading to something more thrilling than what was on the first disc. It’s not to be; instead, he seems content sticking with this sound for the duration. Interesting to listen to, certainly, but the mix suffers for the same reason the first one does: it doesn’t go anywhere. Actually, that’s not entirely accurate. Some of the scenery along the way is better here - the remix of Depeche Mode’s Everything Counts being a highlight - and there’s better groove to be had. However, until we get to the final stanza of this mix - where nifty remixes from Extrawelt and Kalkbrenner take us out with class - Dubfire’s set merely maintains the mood without lifting us out of the techno murk.

I suppose this is to be expected though. Many times when a DJ makes a mix more personal, the emphasis on ‘paying attention’ is stronger than laying out the bangers. Unfortunately for Ali, his offering is hardly unique. In fact, there are plenty of DJ mixes already out there that cater to this deep-tech-tribal-minimal-progressive-yada-yada-house sound, and the Taipei association doesn’t do much to distinguish it either. Hell, I could go down to the local semi-underground club in town here and listen to this stuff live for cheaper than what you’d have to pay to purchase this release. Why should one get this if it can be heard anywhere?

Well, it is a nice mix to listen to, of that there is little doubt. Nice though doesn’t necessarily mean memorable, and if you’ve been following this sound for the last year, you won’t find much new in Dubfire’s take on it. For the most part, he keeps his mixing and track selection so steady that surprising or exciting moments are few and far between. It’s going to take more than this to emerge from the shadow of his Deep Dish legacy.