Wow. It's not often I put on my headphones at work and find myself really wanting to listen to something in a serious way, but Sasha's Invol2ver isn't just any DJ mix. After so many disappointments recently, where the mix seemed, at best, an exercise in Ableton, Sasha has put out a deep, engaging reminder of what a truly talented producer can accomplish.
In many ways I'm reminded of the classic Northern Exposure, but there are more vocals samples here, and straight up rock moments, and while Northern Exposure offered the listener a vast space in which to lose themselves, Invol2ver, perhaps true to its name, comes off as a more plaintive, anxious, and personal statement. This makes it difficult, at times, to think of this as a dance mix; there are moments when I can imagine the lights and the crowd, the rush of exhilaration, but as it slowly unwinds toward the end I find myself meditating on what this final statement of "the one thing I've yet to find/has found me" means. But then, this is an mix that brings in two of the most angst-ridden tracks in contemporary music, Apparat's "Arcadia" and Thom Yorke's "Eraser."
I've always liked Sasha's sound; where others go for the easy anthem, he treads lightly, kicking in a sharp bass beat to propel things along but maintaining a sense of space and expansion. Sasha's scale is symphonic, and he has a real composer's sense of texture and arrangement. After hearing so much over-compressed bloghousery lately, where it's all amount the most bang for your buck, Sasha's sound is a breath of fresh air.
3 comments:
That's the Northern Exposure series, but who's counting. This amazing disc has also reminded me of what the DJ mix can can be. The M83-Thom Yorke sequence is great.
Oops, I stand corrected; I was trying to crank that out in a few minutes before I left work today, and skipped doing the Google to check the name (I kept thinking "no, that's a tv series"). Corrected, and thanks for the catch.
Phil, are you getting old and forgetful? Hope not
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