Search - Sasha :: The Empire Collection: Mixed, Unmixed & Remixed

Disc 1 is mindless recycled pseudo-art

Matthew S. Irwin | Champaign, IL | 05/05/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I have been a die hard Sasha fan ever since I heard GU009 back in the late 90's. And I've loved every release, for the most part, that he's come out with since. That being said, this is a unique release for him and I was extremely dissapointed with disc 1. Since this isn't a live album, I was expecting the quality of a typical Sasha studio album. Which, at the time they are released, seem to have a revolutionary quality about them. This is certainly not the case with disc one of this album. There is not a single track on it that I wouldn't say is worse than the original track (maybe with the exception of Audion's "Ain't God No Friends" remix of Park it in the Shade). Disc 2 is where its at though. The tracks are shortened and edited from their full dj ready length to a length that is conducive to unmixed listening. The highlight of the album is probably the New Emissions of Light and Sound soundtrack. It gives the album the studio feel that it craved from track 1, and it's great to hear Sasha experimenting with other styles of Electronic music. But if someone has listened straight through from disc 1 it might be too little to late. Either way though, disc 2 is definitely worth grabbing off of an mp3 site somewhere, such as iTunes or Amazon. I would possibly also grab The Slam Coma Mix and the aforementioned Audion Remix."

No Xpansion here

Y. Ronnen | Toronto, CA | 07/11/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"When a compilation album of the new Sasha's label EMFire was announced I was a little surprised. After all this label had released 4 singles only yet a 2 CDs album is about to be released. Unfortunately, instead of getting new material, this album sinks into the recycling fashion booming in the club music industry (i.e. re-releasing old stuff).



The first CD is a compilation of 8 tracks, two mixes for each track - one is a club version and the other is a chillout interpretation of the Sasha's tracks. All of these mixes, with the exception of "Park It In The Shade (Audion Ain't Got No Friends Mix)" are not even comparable to the originals. They lack the melody and are all a quite dull techno remixes that in many cases they sound like the producer really didn't have any idea or insperation for the remix.



The second CD include "exclusive edits" to 3 of the 4 tracks and a slower version of "COMA". Simply put, if you want the originals, buy them somewhere else. The last part is a 45 minutes track called "New Emissions Of Light & Sound Film Score" which is a nice listening piece, but don't expect a Globalunderground-ish type of mix there - it's a very laidback mix.



All in all, it seems like this album was quickly compiled just to "have something to sell" and it definitely sounds like this. Too bad."

Tight emFire edits & soundtrack, mostly weak remixes

Torley | torley.com | 09/04/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is a mixed bag -- the gems here are on the 2nd disc, because most of the remixes on the 1st disc are droney, boring, and don't add substantially to the originals' worth. For example, "Park It In The Shade (Audion Deep Steeple Mix)" is 12:20 min. long, but fails to really evolve aside from formulaic adding/removing elements in 8-bar sections. As background filler, it sort of works, but isn't compelling active listening. Overall, the remixes package is regressive, sad, and aimless -- the only one I'd speak up for is "Mongoose (The Fields Disco Mix)", because The Field has a rare gift to float hypnotic loops without being mind-numbingly boring. That's really rare in electronic music, and to give you a better idea where I'm coming from, I love it when producers can weave loops together with solo melodies, or introduce little bits and edits to spice things up (key example: James Holden's "A Break in the Clouds").



If you're new to Sasha's (and his collaborators) music, the 2nd disc is a fine dish, because the tighter edits are shorter (removing the long intros/outros meant for DJs to mix), punchier by virtue, and the melodies are in fine form. Progression abound! "Who Killed Sparky?" is a fine piece of melodic tech-prog-house-whatever-they-call-it-nowadays, peppered with glitchy edits that a fan of James Holden would love -- infact, it's reminiscent of Holden's ostinato-laden remix of Nathan Fake's "The Sky Was Pink".



The emFire melodies find their way into the "New Emissions Of Light & Sound Film Score", which is overall ambient/chill-out in mood and features variations of some of the aforementioned at slower tempos. For example, the distinctive lines of "Coma" find their way shortly past 13 minutes in. Very nice to go to sleep or relax to. As a mix that goes over 40 min., there are some parallels to past mixes Sasha's done, like Involver (Involver 2 coming up!): long pads, cloppy mid-tempo beats, and swirling arpeggiations bind the groove. It's a seamless, rewarding listening, which makes me wonder why some of the individual themes weren't developed more and included as unmixed tracks instead of the uninspiring remixes."