Sister shows she can mix, too
Douglas A. Greenberg | Berkeley, CA USA | 08/11/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Sister Bliss is well-known as a major part of Faithless, an electronic act that has experienced remarkable crossover success in recent years. She also has been a producer/remixer in her own right, and here she shows that she knows how to prepare a first-rate dj mix, as well. In this remarkably fresh-sounding and energetic brace of mixes, Sister Bliss takes the listener on a veritable all-stops tour of contemporary progressive dance music.The first mix begins in socko style with "American Dream," an electronic adaptation of the theme from "American Beauty." This segues into THE progressive anthem of 2001, Pete Heller's "Sputnik," followed by a soulful, uplifting, U.S. garage-style number, Annette Taylor's "Faith." Track five represents the only real clinker in the mix, a tweaky piece by Synapses called "The Instigator," much of which connotes (to me, anyway) the imagined vocalizations of some wounded alien life-form. Things get back on track quickly with the next track, however, as the mood shifts toward deep and jazzy house with Heiko Laux's "Moved" before meandering back toward a progressive groove with Harrison Crump's "Racing Rotors" and Saints and Sinners' wonderful "Pacific High," with its breathtaking combination of atmospheric synths and churning bassline and beat. The Linus remix of Trisco's "Musak" and Medway's "Release" draw the mix into yet deeper territory, and this dark-ish groove continues until Simon's "Free at Last" shifts the mood through presentation of yet another version of the wonderful but now-overexposed samples from Martin Luther King's speech from the August 1963 March on Washington. Scanty Sandwich's "Las Vegas" features a slightly annoying breathy-female vocal loop (You're something else"), but Swag's "The Soundworks" re-establishes the mix's momentum as it decelerates toward a satisfyingly conclusion with Parks & Wilson's soaring "My Orbit."The second mix is just as strong as the first, including contributions from from such musical standouts as Trancesetters, Futureshock, Starecase, Sander Kleinenberg Cass, and Timo Maas, and highlighted by a brace of tracks by Sister Bliss herself, "Sister Sister" and "Deliver Me." The pacing and transitions are exemplary throughout.Overall, the two-cd package delivers a terrific cross-section of progressive yet energetic dance tunes, intelligently programmed and gorgeously mixed. This definitely is one of the better dj mix releases of 2001, and given the number of fine mixes that have emerged this year this is high praise, indeed."
Track Listings (17) - Disc #1