Global Underground 19: John Digweed In Los Angeles

Right, now onto the compilation itself: Deep, sometimes dark, pumping progressive house. The first 2 tracks seem to sum up the whole compilation: Pole Fodder & CP's "Apollo Vibes", laid back and somewhat uplifting, leads onto Satoshi Tomie's dark "Love in Traffic" (which boasts some of the strongest vocals in house music). And then its more of the same. John Digweed's choice of tracks mean that the highpoints really do standout: for instance, the strings of "Music" are enhanced by the strong basslines that appear throughout the whole album. And if your just listening to it at home, then when the mood picks up late in CD2, you actually feel the nodding of your head become more pronounced.

Special mention goes to Bedrock's remix of WOW's "The Fall", Cass and Slide's "Genesis" and the last couple of tracks.

John Digweed seems to have the knack of bringing the best out of deep progressive house and he used his midas touch while making this compilation. Oh yeah, and the mixing is exactly what is to be expected of Digweed. However, I suppose I was disappointed that more of Bedrock's own material did not appear on compilation (nor, indeed, anything else involving John Digweed). However, other than that the choice of music is perfect so it is not really a criticism.

So we have 3 cases for potential buyers:

1)If you really don't like this type of music, it is unlikely (by the very nature of the content) to make you change your mind. For this reason it could be a waste of money.
2)If you are interested and have an open mind: buy this as some of the best the scene has to offer.
3)If you are already into progressive house, then buy this compilation...YOU WILL LOVE IT!!


A must for progressive trance fans but might pass others by   September 16, 2001
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

an unbelievably awesome opening track leaves the listener in no doubt that Digweed is going to be pushing the envelope with this contribution to the Global Underground series. Which is great if you are a devoted fan of progressive trance but might be harder to appreciate for those who aren't. For me personally, some tracks were great, others had me reaching for the skip button. Maybe this set needs to be worn in and will start appealing as a cohesive whole after repeated listenings. Right now it doesnt. I had a tough time deciding whether to give this 3 or 4 stars, but settled on 3. CD 2 also seemed a little weaker to me than CD 1 (But oh what a killer opening track!)