supreme bliss
Written: Apr 18 '00 (Updated Aug 14 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: really more than "just" dance music. Very listenable
Cons: 2 CDs so costs more
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| davegingerich's Full Review: Global Underground 002: New York by Paul Oakenfold |
A truly unique and enjoyable trance-ambient experience
Who: Paul Oakenfold
What: Global Underground 002: New York A note in the sleeve states 'The enclosed recording is a reflection of Paul's recent sets in New York'.
Label: Thrive
Release Date: 1999
Two CDs
Sounds a bit like: Much of the other Global Underground releases and Oakenfold's Tranceport but it isn't derivative of either one.
Quick Pulse: I bought this 2 disc CD after listening to Tranceport. I'm not disappointed at all. This is a thrilling trance and dance sensation which widens the playing field established by Tranceport.
For those who may not know already, Paul Oakenfold is a super DJ who really knows music and can find some of the tastiest mixes and craft them together into what can only be called an experience. Yes these are dance mixes but unlike some other trance compilations, GU002 is not monotonous at all. The dance beat is always there but, surprise, so is melody, harmony, sound, tonality, dynamics, ... you know... something that elevates this CD from background for some other activity.
These two CDs can stand up to real listening where you're not busy doing something else and actually pay attention to the CD. Furthermore, they can also hold their own when listened to straight and while some might say certain perception-altering substances might enhance their own listening experience, they aren't necessary. (In my mind, that says a lot as too much of what's released under the 'trance' (marketing) label isn't really listenable by a mind that hasn't been diminished of some of its critical functions.)
Special Mention
The CD is without a flaw but there isn't room to tell you about all 23 tracks so I'll hit what I think warrants particular mention.
Disk 1
Track 01: Mystica, Bliss (Mystica Mix)
Starts off gently much like Deep Forest but within a minute it crosses over to an easy toe-tapper. This is what you listen to as you enter the club and scan it for signs of life, sit and relax and size up the room. The primitive influence of native voices continues to return to mark transitions throughout the piece and the overall feeling provides an ice breaker for the rest of the disk.
Track 02: Jamie Myerson, Rescue Me
Ice broken. Time for some drama and feminine voice (what's this? a real melody? lyrics? sacrilege!) provides that. A drawn-out torch song from a soul-sister c1973 carried by a dance beat that reminds you what you're here for. Consider this music to warm up to. The real workout, the sweaty parts, comes later.
Track 08: E Razor, Mantra
Well by now you're pretty intimate with the room so when someone sweet whispers into your ear, "Touch me", (continued from track 07), you're happy to oblige her. This track from E Razor actually has an appropriate name. In one of the CDs calmer moments Mantra provides you with a place for a little needed rest and maybe some TM. Everybody,... Ommmmmmmmmm...
Track 11: Greece 2000, 3 Drives On Vinyl
Basically lifted from Oakenfold's Tranceport but so what? If this is what Oakenfold was turning in NYC c1998/1999 then I want to hear it. The electronica of 3 Drives reminds me of old Kraftwerk, although they would have been much more pedantic and pedestrian with this.
Disk 2
Track 01: Ambrosia, Inside Your Arms
Starts with a hip-hop beat and rap, "Today in Los Angeles another youth loses his life. Gunshot wound to the head. Street violence is at an all time high." and followed by a faster tempo, soooo smooth, soulful female voice crooning "Inside your arms I'm burning." and back to rapper, "Me and this punk went at it. Automatic." The two then play back and forth, in and out, one in front, then back. It works. It really works. The conflict of gun-fire violence mixed against a soulful, romantic ballad that sounds like it could have been penned by Isaac Hayes. This is possibly the CD's best track.
Track 06: Cyclone Tracy, Balla Con Ritmo
Begins with a straightforward, simple dance tempo. Keyboards then lay in the foundation of a melody and chord structure in staccato bounces before you abruptly rise into misty air and Japanese vocals. The keyboards find you though and bring with them the dance beat and so it's up, down; space, earth. This one is very danceable and contains the feeling of head-back, eyes-closed release.
Track 07: Amoeba Assassin, Rollercoaster (Oakey's Courtyard Mix)
Bounce into the kitchen for some water or out to the mailbox for the first minute. The song won't go anywhere while you're gone. Be prepared for some action when you come back. This is one you want to dance to while looking right into your partner's eyes. Don't have a partner? Choose someone next to you, give them a piercing look and don't lose it. Now writhe like a tiger stalking its prey. Soundtrack for a tiger hunt. Long about 4 ½ minutes inwards, you'll both be getting delirious and Rollercoaster picks up on that as the tiger begins soaring, leaping and gliding forward.
Perhaps it isn't fair or accurate to single out these seven as highlights as all of GU002 is consistently even and you might select a completely different list. But that is what I mean about Oakenfold's superb command of this set. There is no filler here in over two hours of music and he doesn't repeat himself. He's found obscure selections, (I know, I've tried finding some of them myself... no chance), and packaged all of them together for your jumping, dancing, trancing pleasure.
If you're familiar with Oakenfold's Tranceport then you won't be surprised at the praise I heap on this compilation. This set pushes the envelope and is certainly meant for the dance floor. The words, samples, and variety of Tranceport are here but Oakenfold uses them more expansively. There's just a lot more variety in these 2 CDs. It's as if Tranceport is a freshman effort and so contains the seminal genius of Oakenfold as captured in his 1997 mixes but you don't get the full magnitude of his musical abilities and development until you hear this 2-disc set which provides him more space to take you up and down several times.
Either Oakenfold has gotten better between 1997's Tranceport and 1999's Global Underground 002:New York or one CD is just too limiting for this musical athlete.
Final Word:
If you can hold yourself and all your parts still while this CD is playing, how did you find the energy to read this review?
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
davegingerich
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Member: Dave Gingerich, ...duhhh...
Location: Colorado
Reviews written: 16
Trusted by: 10 members
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