Search - :: Global Underground: John Digweed in Hong Kong 14

Musical Quicksand: An Absorbancy Unmatched

LexAffection | Philadelphia, PA USA | 01/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is an essential Global Underground release, no doubt; the older, more exquisite sound. No anthemic, Balearic trance here. Nor funk-infused house efforts like Uruguay, Miami and Dubai. And even though this could quite possibly be another definition of the haphazardly thrown-about term 'progressive trance', another phrase which instantly enters my head is 'dirty house'. And this mix is about as dirty as you can get!!



Dark, brooding background melodies cascade over one another as hard-hitting 4/4 kickdrums and tribal drum releases waltz together atop grinding, relentless and thickly-lain bass lines. I have been known to blow out a subwoofer disc two with a bit too much enthusiasm.



I enjoyed someone else's sentiments on the disc; that this mix is not as dark as Los Angeles (which was a bit more lost, directionally, anyhow) and less diverse as Sydney. And as another reviewer stated, this album is one of the most consistent in the Global Underground series. In fact, in that regard it reminds me significantly of Nick Warren's Shanghai set - both Hong Kong and Shanghai don't vary widely from the aural range they set for themselves initially, yet both accomplish creating a musical labyrinth which seems to instantly captivate (with very different styles, I realize). Possibly even moreso with this release, though.



Hong Kong is nothing like Bedrock (released only several months prior to this) which is, by comparison, a dance album. I could see dancing to Hong Kong, but the way I prefer to enjoy it is through a nice set of headphones or playing through a quality stereo. These discs seem to find a cozy, semi-permanant residence in my car; they are the ultimate driving grooves. Or, as background music for a game of cards, a pre-club warm-up banger, this album is versatile while maintaining its steady downtempo sludge-funk. And really, only when one actually hears the release will they be able to comprehend what terms like 'sludge-funk' and 'mucky deep trance' actually mean. In my opinion, this album mirrors the slick, dark and uncertain urban life of Hong Kong's underground music scene almost to near perfection.



With very few discs of my extensive electronica library do I form some sort of unspoken bond; this release connected to me instantly, and has never been far from my heart, although as-of-late I've been exploring Digweed's more minimalistic dub tech-house releases like Transitions 1 & 2 and Fabric20. I love his new style, but I am IN love with his classics. Quite simply put: a must-own, and an essential addition to any electronic music library out there.



~Lex"

Flawless

J. Wahlgren | boston | 08/22/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This mix is flawless. I can't imagine any other mix being better than this. I have Foundations, Stark Raving Mad, Bedrock (which is also hard to beat) and Renaissance Transitions, and this tops them all. The uniqueness with which Digweed operates is amazing. It even has Heaven Scent on the second disc."