John Digweed - Transitions, Volume 2 (Original TC Review)

Thrive Records: 2007

(2016 Update:
Holy cow, 2007 Sykonee, can you talk about the actual music on this CD at all? This review just peaks over the thousand-word mark, and I probably spend maybe one-hundred fifty going over the tracks. Granted, I needed some time devoted to re-introducing Diggers to the modern audience, where his career had gone since his peak years, what developments had led to his current sound, and all that. Probably not as many words spent here, but some, sure. But then I totally derail the review for some overlong tangent regarding genre demarcations and the like, and I'm reading it in the here and now thinking, "who fucking cares!?" There's a kernel of an interesting discussion lodged in that mess, but as with so many of my early writing efforts, is hopelessly lost in unfettered, ramble-bramble thought salads. Also, who'd have believed dubstep would be the first electronic genre claiming the "post" affix?

And as for our pal John, he kept Transitions going into the next year, realized the trends were a'changing once again, and moved onto heavier, groove orientated tech-house, with a few nods to melodic prog for good measure. He's found about as comfortable a niche in his market as any DJ could hope for at this late stage of his career, and shows little sign of shaking the gravy boat anytime soon. Aw, it'd have been funny hearing him try on some 'future garage' for size.)


IN BRIEF: Proggin’ along.

Ol’ Diggers certainly seems to be on a roll lately. These past couple years have seen his output rival even that of his time at the top of the DJ domain. Is it a renewed vitality after some downtime away from the glaring spotlight of superstardom? Might it be a rediscovered love affair for music after indulging in his roots with his Choice collection? Could it really have something to do with the hair?

Whatever the case, John Digweed’s career is proving to be quite durable. Of course, anyone who’s followed his DJing since the Renaissance era shouldn’t have doubted his ability to find a comfortable niche within current trends, but there were many who did: the prog house that made him a star had grown stale as this decade took form, and new sounds and ideas were engulfing clubland, many of which sounded radically different from the Bedrock template we all knew and loved. But with the cool confidence of a man who’s seen many such changes, Digweed rode the shaky initial waves of musical transition and held on for the ride until things settled back into clear forms, leaving those who couldn’t adapt in the backwash of the surf. (I’ll stop with the metaphors now)

For those still not clued in, Transitions is John’s radio show, and would also appear to be the namesake of his commercial DJ mixes now as well. This is the first time we’ve had a direct sequel to a prior DJ mix with Digweed the only man behind the decks, and word is this will be an on-going series. Perhaps it’s about time for such a series from him, as it helps keep his discography tidier than having all these seemingly randomly titled releases scattered about. In fact, it’s quite remarkable he never did establish one in all this time, but then it did take him a while to free himself from being joined at the hip with his buddy Sasha like a DJing conjoined twin (er... and the similes too), much less finally produce a track under his own name.

The first Transitions was met with lukewarm responses, as it seemed to try covering too much modern ground without much of a coherent theme. Additionally, while few wouldn’t figure it for a Digweed mix, it had the feeling of John attempting to fit in with what was trendy rather than carve out his own sound. Does 2 fix these problems? Considerably so.

This mix has the feeling of a traditional prog house set: you have your mellow intro tracks, followed by tension builders, a couple of scenic detours, and a climb to the climax to cap the disc off. Aside for one instance (the drunk-on-experimental effects Boul de Nerf by David K - Digweed’s duffed attempt at interjecting some glitch-wit, methinks), each track in John’s arrangement offers something intriguing enough to keep your attention maintained for the long haul as curiosity holds your interest. Well, um, that is if the initial ‘minimal’ overtones don’t send you fleeing fir-

Y’know, I’m getting really sick of having to use apostrophes around a buzzword to describe an unfortunate term for a stylistic trend. I suppose I could just break and accept it like so many others, but that would be doing proper minimal an injustice. Look, folks, because a pile of producers have reduced overproduction so harmonic frequencies are given a chance to breathe again doesn’t mean it’s suddenly a new sub-genre. It just means they’ve gone back to basics. Unless, of course, you’re all willing to call nearly everything produced before 1995 minimal. Yeah, thought not.

So, if the tracks on Transitions 2 aren’t ‘minimal’ (and first one to suggest electro gets a bitch slappin’), what are they? Easy answer: prog house with some splashings of tech house in the middle. Yes, that’s right. Structurally, the tracks on offer here aren’t all that different from the sort you’d have heard Digweed play back in the 90s; the reason why this mix works like a prog house set is because Digweed has managed to find prog house that has shifted from the old into the new.

While folks may be calling much of the sonic tricks here minimal, what we actually have been hearing lately is an infusion of IDM experimentation; many of the IDM artists from the 90s loved to tinker and toy around with oddball sounds, quirky effects and bizarre timbre. Aside for rare instances though, hardly any of it registered beyond only the most ardent fans, usually of the nerdish sort. However, it has been given a chic make-over this decade, and is now quite fashionable to produce. Oh, and with new sound patches and plug-ins. Can’t forget the new sound patches and plug-ins. These factors have contributed towards a new prog house sound that is quite different from the sort John used to play out, yet still with enough familiar attributes to make it unmistakingly the Digweed we all know.

The big question, then, is what this new form of prog should be tagged, to entice those who think John is still all about Heaven Scent. Obviously, minimal and electro are out, as those styles have nothing to do with what we have here. And IDM-prog is just stupid. This is rather more like nu-prog. ...or, to be really chic these days, neo-prog. Hmm, but if we wish to pursue this question courageously, even neo’s already passé - it’s soooo 2006. How about then... post-prog! I don’t think any sub-genre of EDM has a ‘post’ yet.

Actually, all of those are ridiculously redundant. Prog itself more or less meant ‘new house’ all those years back. And to be honest, that’s all it has ever meant: a form of house music that continues to morph and change with the times, to always remain the leader in new sounds that house music can provide -interestingly, by usually borrowing from other genres (trance, for instance at one time, and now IDM it seems). And with Transitions 2, Digweed finds himself once more the leader in prog house, digging up some of the most current sounding cuts available for us to enjoy. All you prog heads out there shall not be disappointed.

Written by Sykonee for TranceCritic.com, 2007. © All rights reserved.

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 - Creamfields: Mixed By Paul Oakenfold

Thrive Records: 2004

For the inaugural Grammy Award For Best Dance/Electronica Album in 2005, Paul Oakenfold’s DJ mix Creamfields was among the nominations. As it stands, it’s the only DJ mix to ever be nominated in the category, which makes sense since a DJ mix isn’t an album of original material and probably shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Why was it, then? As anyone will tell you, it's because the Grammy Nomination Committee’s filled with morons. They probably didn’t even realize ol’ Paul had only half-a-dozen tracks to his name on the double-CD, but he did have that pop charter Starry Eyed Surprise a couple years prior, so throw him on the ballot for the name recognition. See, club culture, we’re hip to your music. We know you like that Pauly Oaksenfield guy.

Still, wouldn’t it have been funny if he had won that year? Could you imagine the huge can of worms opened? All DJ mixes would have to be considered then. In a sense, that could work, as plenty of DJ mixes have just as much artistic merit as producer albums. Oh, who are we kidding? A Grammy for DJ Mixes would turn into a worse debate gong-show than even the DJ Mag poll.

Back to Creamfields, I recall this was hailed as a proper return to trance-form for Oakenfold, with many of his fans believing he’d given up his pop pursuits by getting back to his roots (re: the music his fans first loved him for - I highly doubt they’d want him to go all the way back to his Happy Monday roots). Of course, that didn’t happen, as his follow-up artist album A Lively Mind (also a Grammy nominee because it’s Oaken F’n Fold!) jumped on every EDM bandwagon he could find in Hollywood. Not that it should have surprised his fans since Creamfields is something of a bandwagon jump itself.

McProg - the lightweight, poppy variation of progressive house - was gaining traction in 2004; right alongside it was Markus Schulz’ ascendency, who offered a form of progressive trance that emphasized low, rumbly basslines contrasted with twinkling melodies. Oakenfold noticed, and CD 1 of Creamfields prominently features this sound, including cuts from Schulz and others of similar stock (Andy Moor, Probspot, Young Parisians, and Interstate being the biggest names). It’s a fine enough mix, though nothing you couldn’t find on a typical Coldharbour collection.

CD 2’s an odd one to conclude on, mixing a few genres up into baffling set. Opening with proggy breaks is fine, and it’s not long before we’re in trance territory, some tunes apparently winks to the sort of goa Oakenfold used to play out. Unfortunately, every so often, it’s broken up by pop remixes, throwing whatever marginal flow was built off the rails. Guess he couldn’t fit them on CD 1, so here they are instead. Gotta show off that new U2 remix, after all. Maybe he’ll get a Grammy nomination for it!