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Most disappointing Comp/Mix albums.....
...Your picks.....name em
Every mix compilation by Armin since 2003.
Trance 2 Metroplis
The compilation that made me realize Hypnotic no longer had the magic.
Denny Tsettos did a couple of "Welcome To The Underground" mix comp cd's around the same time that Louie Devito was doing his. The levels were out of whack. All mid's and treble, which make the lesser known Mike Macaluso tracks that cd featured that much more difficult to enjoy. I remember sitting in my car in the mall parking lot as an 18 year old "where's the bass??"
As a fan of Digweed, I was a little dissapointed in Fabric 20. It was a few years ago since I last listened to it, so maybe if I gave it another whirl I'd feel different about it but it didn't last too long in my CD rotation in my car.
Seb Fontaine - Prototype 4
I really liked Prototype #2, from its percussive proto tech house on disk 1 to its lush trance mix on the second disk. But the 4th comp left me scratching my head. Many of the songs had one annoying element in it (like a gay guy with a lisp going "OK everyone start your engines"), or were just extremely bland percussive techno tracks. There was the occasional quality Quivver-esque prog track thrown in there, and I loved the dark and sinister Junkie XL remix of Jpop idol Ayumi Hamasaki's "Vogue", but there was more bad than good.
Timo Maas - Balance 18
Picked this up on a whim, since I was a big Timo fan back in 2000 (thanks to the Prototype #2 album mentioned above funny enough). But Timo's new sound just bored the shit out of me. The first quarter of the first disk sounded very promising, with some quality tracks dripping with atmosphere, including one of the few minimal songs I like (DJ Koze's remix of Matthias Kaden's Kawaba), but the rest of it is so bland and forgettable.
John Digweed - GU Los Angeles
Wait... put down the pitchforks! It's not that this is a bad album, but I have very high expectations for Diggers and this is content to stay in the realm of dark, raw, stripped-down prog for the most part, never quite reaching the highs of MM2, GU Hong Kong, or Bedrock.
Sasha and Digweed - Communicate
There's no question that the Northern Exposure series is LEGENDARY among EDM fans. So when I heard Sasha and Digweed were teaming up for another comp, I was ecstatic. But this was during the period when trance of the cheddar variety was blowing up worldwide (no disrespect since I love late 90's trance too :P) and S+D were desperate to not be carried along with the tide. So to stand out they went a lot more proggy (and to a lesser extent, techy) with this cut. Which isn't a bad thing, mind you, but it seemed to have lost the experimentation and the Northern Exposure series was known for, and there were even some parts where the mixing wasn't up to S+D's standard. There's still a couple of great cuts on it, namely Schiller - Ruhe (Humate mix), but out of all the pre-2005 S+D stuff this one is the one that I replay the least.
Nick Warren - GU Paris
Paris came out at the time when GU's relevance was waning, Nick Warren having yet another GU mixcomp was becoming a bit of a running gag, and prog was increasingly taking in more influences from electrohouse, minimal, and tech house. That being said, Reykjavik was one of my favorite albums ever, I enjoyed Shanghai too, and with the decline of melodic prog during the '07 year I was hoping this comp would re-ignite GU a bit. But it seems like I had some lofty expectations for this one... since it felt too disjointed. Disk 1 was Warren trying to recreate the magic from the downtempo, chilled disk 1 of Reykjavik, but it seemed to end prematurely and was missing the haunting melodies of aforementioned Reykjavik set. Disk 2 was a disjointed mess and there were a number of parts where the energy almost seemed to stop. It seemed like Warren was a bit confused where he wanted to take the mix, in a way that feels like a microcosm of the confusion where progressive house as a genre was going. I will say, choosing Eelke Kleijn's amazing track "8-Bit Era" as the peak was a great choice.
My biggest disappointment ever would have to be Sasha - Instant Live - Avalon, LA
Sasha has been a huge influence on my music tastes, wanting to get into DJing, and the like. When asked what my favorite mixcomp of all time is, I'll respond with GU Ibiza (or ISOS3). So, when this album dropped and I saw a copy at the now-defunct Borders I was all over it like white on rice. But the album was a technical mess. This was Sasha completely moving away from the progressive house that defined his career into a more minimal and tech house influenced path. Yet, he was still attempting to play out the tracks and do long, extended mixes like it was a prog set. The result was a bunch of bleepy bloopy tracks that went on for too long (like the Booka Shade remix of Lindstrom - "I Feel Space"). There are a few nuggets of gold here like the sleek, futurist electrohouse of Gus Gus - Mallflowers, or the bleak, post-apocalytpic minimal of Joel Mull - "Begun The End Has". Since this was a snippet of a liveset, the album lacked the intro - buildup - peaktime - outro of your typical Sasha sets and instead was a mess of different genres lacking cohesion. There were a few clangy mixes and even a spot where an equipment malfunction halted the music for a few seconds.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Mr Game+Watch John Digweed - GU Los Angeles Wait... put down the pitchforks! It's not that this is a bad album, but I have very high expectations for Diggers and this is content to stay in the realm of dark, raw, stripped-down prog for the most part, never quite reaching the highs of MM2, GU Hong Kong, or Bedrock. |
Yeah, I always thought GU:019 was boring. It's the stereotypical too-deep-for-its-own-good prog mix that started cropping up around 2001 and made everyone very sick of the genre. GU:014 was stylistically quite similar but stands out in the memory far more clearly.
This is pretty obscure, but one that recently disappointed my was THIS. The tracklist looks like an awesome blend of early '90s classics, mid-90s prog/trance favourites and a few very tasty looking rare remixes and tracks to vary it up. Nothing too challenging, but perfect summer's day listening. Unfortunately the mixing was really bizarre, there ere some shocking key clashes and the flow is generally wonky.
Haven't listened to Hong Kong yet but Sydney is fantastic, escpially CD1. Track 5 really puts the mix into overdrive and takes right the hell off. Track 7 on that CD is my favorite.
Joris Voorn's Balance 014 was also another dissapointment for me. I actually like quite a few tracks in the mix but because he is doing so much layering with other stuff, you really only get to hear what you like for a minute or two.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Mr Game+Watch John Digweed - GU Los Angeles Wait... put down the pitchforks! It's not that this is a bad album, but I have very high expectations for Diggers and this is content to stay in the realm of dark, raw, stripped-down prog for the most part, never quite reaching the highs of MM2, GU Hong Kong, or Bedrock. |
On the subject of disappointing Digweed compilations, Renaissance: The Mix Collection 2 was something of a let-down. It didn't feel like he'd had total control over the tracklist, a lot of odd programming choices and some unusual transitions, not in the style of Digweed at all.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Guest engage pitchfork!! Nah I can see what you're saying. There's some Satoshi Tomiie material from the same time period that has a similar dark tribally proggy lexicon avenue type vibe. It does get boring after a bit. |
Man, at least 3 times a year that GU Los Angeles mix makes it in my CD player for like 2 weeks straight. CD2 is just everything that I want to hear and CD1 is also awesome but the highlight for me is Tijuana � Groove Is In The Air (Simon's Future Dreams Mix). He pulled that track out of the bag last year in NYC and it just lit the place up.
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| Originally posted by Adam420 It's basically well suited for a club but not the mic comp. format. P.s. Mark check your PM |
the transition into "Aria - One" on GU19 
Disc 2 track 9 from 4:40 until track 10 at 1:01, the whole transition is about 4 minutes long, I would fucking lose my mind if I heard that at a club. And he did it with vinyl, it's matched so tight and the transition is so subtle it takes a trained ear to even notice there's 2 records playing. Really it's a mastery of what spinning this kind of music was about, there's a reason he saved it for the money shot at the end usually artists are able to recognize their best work
Did he actually do it on vinyl? Almost all the GU compilations were digitally mixed.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by meriter the transition into "Aria - One" on GU19 Disc 2 track 9 from 4:40 until track 10 at 1:01, the whole transition is about 4 minutes long, I would fucking lose my mind if I heard that at a club. And he did it with vinyl, it's matched so tight and the transition is so subtle it takes a trained ear to even notice there's 2 records playing. Really it's a mastery of what spinning this kind of music was about, there's a reason he saved it for the money shot at the end usually artists are able to recognize their best work |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by meriter the transition into "Aria - One" on GU19 Disc 2 track 9 from 4:40 until track 10 at 1:01, the whole transition is about 4 minutes long, I would fucking lose my mind if I heard that at a club. And he did it with vinyl, it's matched so tight and the transition is so subtle it takes a trained ear to even notice there's 2 records playing. Really it's a mastery of what spinning this kind of music was about, there's a reason he saved it for the money shot at the end usually artists are able to recognize their best work |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Adam420 It's basically well suited for a club but not the mic comp. format. P.s. Mark check your PM |
Yea Adam, this is probably the best home-made mix that I can recall in I dont know how long. First off, your mixing is pro-level imho. Your track selection and programming is brilliant. Its a fucking good mix.
http://www.discogs.com/Various-Tran.../release/206971
http://www.discogs.com/Various-Extr.../release/146143
http://www.discogs.com/Varius-Trace-House-Express/release/1825335
this looked so promising with the Soul Train-like locomotive chugging along.
| quote: |
| Originally posted by DOOMBOT As a fan of Digweed, I was a little dissapointed in Fabric 20. It was a few years ago since I last listened to it, so maybe if I gave it another whirl I'd feel different about it but it didn't last too long in my CD rotation in my car. |
| quote: |
| Originally posted by Mr Game+Watch John Digweed - GU Los Angeles Wait... put down the pitchforks! It's not that this is a bad album, but I have very high expectations for Diggers and this is content to stay in the realm of dark, raw, stripped-down prog for the most part, never quite reaching the highs of MM2, GU Hong Kong, or Bedrock. |
yall motherfuckkers need jesus
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