[size=7]does anyone have the elusive pillow pack?[/size]

Some people on bedrock were already complaining about the limited edition packaging so I think it's nothing special... :?

[quote]-Limited Edition Sleeve Notes-

1. Grand National - Talk Amongst Yourselves

I picked up this record at the end of the summer (of '03) and it lived in my stereo for months. I fell in love with it because it reminded me of so much music from my childhood... bands like America and The Police. It's quirky British pop at its best. When I spoke to Grand National they gave me free choice of anything from the album, which was a really tough decision... there is so much great music to choose from.

2. Shpongle - Dorset Perception

Dorset Perception will be familiar to anyone who saw me DJ last year; it was the last song in my set for a lot of the tour. This track is more of a rearrangement than a full remix. Apart from the guitars and vocals there were a lot of sounds in the original that I thought were electronic. But, when I got the parts I realised it was all live instrumentation. Even the bass was made from a cello. The original parts are all so amazing and there are so many of them that it will probably spawn some dubs.

3. Petter - These Days

This record was one of my favourites from last year. I could have taken These Days off in many different directions. It could have been an ambient intro to the album or I could have done a much more banging version at its original tempo, but when we dropped it to 124bpm we realized it was the same tempo and key as What Are You To Me? The original sounds I got from Petter were so rich that we ended up taking a lot of time nerding around with sound design. Petter is a remarkable young producer who has quite a future ahead of him if he keeps turning tracks out like this one.

4. UNKLE - What Are You To Me?

What Are You To Me is a bridge track, altered very little from the original. The acapella part fell in perfectly over These Days and carries the record into...

5. The Youngsters - Smile

Smile has been in my box since it was released a couple of years ago and it always comes out on those special nights. When I got the idea for Involver, Smile was one of the first tracks that came to mind. The bass line from the original is absolutely killer so I left that alone, left the vocals as they were, but we reprogrammed the drums and Charlie spaced it out with some beautiful keyboards. Again, the original sounds were so full and rich that we had a lot to play around with.

6. Spooky - Belong

Another record that has been in my box for a couple years... Charlie May's original mixes had two distinct directions. One had a summery house vibe - which I absolutely loved - and my original idea was to turn that up and make it a much bigger track. But when we started playing around with all the original parts we got such amazing sounds and textures from Charlie's ambient mix that the remix went off in a much more spaced out and melancholic direction. I'd still like to do another version of his house mix.

7. UNKLE - In A State

I originally remixed this record in 2003 and I didn't want to just include that remix as it was from last year. Initially, my thought was to use it as a bridge track, dropping in the acapella vocal and the guitar part to carry the Spooky track into Burma... However, I really wanted to mess around with the vocal as the song was already pretty we knwon in clubland. I broke the vocals up into about 1,000 pieces and then put it together. Once I'd done that to the vocal I really felt like we should finish it as a full dub.

8. Lostep - Burma

I absolutely love Lostep's original. Definitely one of my favourite tracks from last year and another one of the tracks that I thought of immediately when I came up with the Involver idea. Once Luke and Phil had sent me the original parts I realized it had potential to be a much bigger sounding track than their quite laid back original mix. At first I had it in mind to do a straight up four to the floor club mix. We played around with a few different directions but couldn't seem to get it right. Simon came up with a wicked bass hook, we went back to breakbeats and the track came alive.

9. Felix Da Housecat - Watching Cars Go By

I pulled this track from Felix's upcoming record. The whole album has a quirky, eccentric 80s pop vibe but I picked this track because of its punk house edge. This one turned out to be more of a rearrangment than a full remix, but we got some great results doing some mad processing to the vocal, which has given the remix a unique flavour. At the end I was struggling a bit to get the beats up from 132 to 140bpm which is where the Ulrich track is at. Most of the transitions between tracks on the album have bpm rises in them. I spent a lot of time when we were pulling the final master together trying to disguise those increases in tempo. However, doing an 8bpm rise smoothly was going to be impossible so we decided to speed Felix's track to 560bpm turning the whole track into high hats and allowing Ulrich's track to drop perfectly in.

10. Ulrich Schnauss - On My Own

On My Own was the first track I worked on and it started out as a mash up bootleg. I just pulled the original master off his album, we chopped it up, processed it, and wrote a track to fit underneath it, basically beefing up the drums and bass from his original. I sent the results to Ulrich and he loved it. He then sent me all the original parts to work with so we gradually went through the track and replaced noises bit by bit with the original parts. Ulrich's production is amazing... you'd think it was full of guitars but when I got the original sessions I realized everything came from synths. He has a really unique way of programming and processing synths to sound like warm fuzzy guitars... sort of the inverse surprise we got from working on the Shpongle track. [/quote]

Well ADD did nothing for me so I wasn't really hoping for too much, however, I'm halfway through the promo and I'm really digging it!! I'm definately going to be buying this cd. It's still not mind-blowing but I'd say it's an improvement!

There will be no better album then ADD....cuz theres no one who'd like to work so hard on the one thing as Sasha did. This compilation is not even comparable :) IT just new GU CD..bit different form others but still a set a mix, but im not an expert :)

i have listened to the promo many times and it's nothing great. i mean i think Chris Epoch's progressive breaks mixes are better than Involver is. that's just my opinion, there are a couple of standout tracks, but overall i'm disappointed.......................again

[quote=Jammer8]i have listened to the promo many times and it's nothing great. i mean i think Chris Epoch's progressive breaks mixes are better than Involver is. that's just my opinion, there are a couple of standout tracks, but overall i'm disappointed.......................again[/quote]

Don't wanna diss the master...he may throw a vinyl at your face.

i hope sasha's still got skills as a producer, because behind the decks in NY he was a little lackluster.

Is Involver a new production or a mix cd???? :wtf:

If its a new production i can't wait

it its a new mix......i'll probably give it a listen but i don't expect anything big.

Involver

Involver is one of the best comps I've heard in a long time. Extremely impressed with it.

I don't see how any person that loves Sasha's music could not like Involver. I admit I was concerned that it would be boring since some of the tracks were old, but sasha's remixes made the tracks better.

The man is far out front, so try and keep up.

i also had pre-ordered from the amazon and they confirmed the dispatch, yesterday.i haven't heard any of the tracks or any prmomo(although i know some of them)and i am really looking forward to receive the cd.i think next week,i'll be with my discman all day listening to involver where ever i go.i can wait and i don't think that i'll be dissapointed

You just can?t compare Airdrawndagger (disappointed) with Involver. Two different things. But i think Sasha have done it. Just listen to his mix of Lo Steps Burma 10/10.

Finaly got my copy. Surprised that there was only one disc - I guess we get spoiled with two discs being the norm.

Really enjoyed it, need to listen to it a few more times to really catch the mood.

[quote=dalex]i hope sasha's still got skills as a producer, because behind the decks in NY he was a little lackluster.[/quote]

he's back at crobar tonight - i'm going to try and check this out. but not looking forward to the crowd/lines...

I really enjoyed ADD....and from what I have heard so far, I am really digging Involver as well. Really cool, and upfront...even though there are many old songs remixed, it is a top notch production.

peace, Steve

The stuttering on Burma is annoying IMO. (It is meant to be there, right?)

cd rocks, got it this weekend and hasn't left my player yet...his best stuff in a long time

[quote=MJDub]It's quality. The only track that hurts it a little is the Felix da Housecat mix IMO.[/quote]

Yeah, I really like it but am not feeling that track at all. Usually I skip it or just turn it off when when that track comes on. All in All, it's a great album but I really don't think a comparison can be made to ADD...

please sasha, no more mellow melodic junkie xl-influenced sounds that began with add. i never dug add b/c it lacked danceable tunes save one or two (blood lock and wavy gravy (remixes are better)).

involver is add all over again in terms of the melodic feel. i'm really hoping for a cd from sasha that will take the club vibe and pack it into a cd so you can take it into your car, crank up the volume and bop your head up and down while you drive like mad and attempt to recreate the energy at the club. seriously, please, a follow-up to gu013 already!

[quote=fred1971]Involver is the best album of this year so far. :D[/quote]

absolutely,is amazing!!! :D

I love the first track and the Felix track, overall it's very good. I think I'll enjoy ALive and Steve Gerrard's compilations when they come out more though..we shall see.

I love it. It different, fresh, beautifully arranged. The album of 2004, so far in my opinion.

Well done on doing someting different and timeless compared to a lot of comps that are released every year.

Quality album all the way through....Brilliant IMO.

Truly shows why Sasha is still the master.

This album gets better and better after each listening.

I agree with many of you that this is by far the best album this year.

Hybrex

I'm absolutely LOVING this mix!! That Felix track is DOPE too... I can't understand why some peeps aren't into it. I guess they're just behind the curve is all! ;)

[quote=konfussion][quote=MJDub]It's quality. The only track that hurts it a little is the Felix da Housecat mix IMO.[/quote]

Yeah, I really like it but am not feeling that track at all. Usually I skip it or just turn it off when when that track comes on. All in All, it's a great album but I really don't think a comparison can be made to ADD...[/quote]

at first i wasn't feeling the felix track either but i heard him play it live in nyc and baltimore and it went over massive in the clubs.

I got my hands on the full length promo and it is great...I am really enjoying this set

:Respect: :Respect: :Respect: :Respect: :Respect:

This CD is awesome

I can't tell exactly what the "sasha" touch is but whatever he added/subtracted/looped/edited has come together in an absolutely beautiful compilation!

[quote=Weizy]How can anyone knock ADD. Or for that matter even compare a mix cd with an artist's own produced album. ADD was a monumental album that has influenced progressive dance music as we know it. Go back and listen to ADD again. Then go back and listen to all the amazing records that have come out since then. ADD's influence on progressive is clearly heard in many of the awesome records that have come out. As a novice music production student when I hear ADD I hear an amazing quality that is so hard to find these days with all the bullshit that comes out.

Does anyone else feel this way?[/quote]

I definitely agree. ADD is amazing, the more you listen, the more the intricicies (sp?) come out at you. Yet the songs are left somewhat raw for remixes to be made from them. But comparing an artist album, with a mix album is tough to do, IMO. I'm looking forward to hearing Involver with an open mind.

I agree with this >> "You just can?t compare Airdrawndagger (disappointed) with Involver."

However I also think ADD was a breakthrough for electronic music in many ways. If you ever signed up on Sasha's website and downloaded the individual wav files from each track you will hear how detailed each sound is, and therefore appreciate the time Sasha spent creating them (with his producer friends of course). Being a sound junkie myself I cannot imagine how he created the stuff!

I need to check out the Involver promo some more. But to compare the two is like comparing oranges and apples.

And this is how the Limited Edition of Involver looks like...

[img]http://www.dancemusic-source.de/get/sasha_limited_1.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.dancemusic-source.de/get/sasha_limited_2.jpg[/img]

I heard the CD box is covered in faked fur. Can anybody confirm this? :|

I'm lucky enough to have that limited edition too ..... It's not very handy but does like nice (and very different) :D

Involver is without a doubt the best mixalbum I've heard this year !! Listening to it takes me back to the Involver promo tour @ Powerzone Amsterdam :arrow: I got owned so much :shock: especially by Burma & Watching cars go by :!:

[quote=chuckc]Quality album all the way through....Brilliant IMO.

Truly shows why Sasha is still the master.[/quote]

Excellently put dude :Bingo:

An essential set of wax in my opinion.. Don't know what the titles of the tracks are but one of the caught my ear, and I'll buy it for that song alone. Definately will be one of my favorite records in the crate for this summer! :o

[quote=Dajshin]And this is how the Limited Edition of Involver looks like...

[img]http://www.dancemusic-source.de/get/sasha_limited_1.jpg[/img] [img]http://www.dancemusic-source.de/get/sasha_limited_2.jpg[/img][/quote]

Just ordered mine off of amazon. the limited edition even. NOICE :Bingo:

[quote=djkix]please sasha, no more mellow melodic junkie xl-influenced sounds that began with add. i never dug add b/c it lacked danceable tunes save one or two (blood lock and wavy gravy (remixes are better)).

involver is add all over again in terms of the melodic feel. i'm really hoping for a cd from sasha that will take the club vibe and pack it into a cd so you can take it into your car, crank up the volume and bop your head up and down while you drive like mad and attempt to recreate the energy at the club. seriously, please, a follow-up to gu013 already![/quote]

IMO this is a awesome cd. It may not be like a live set (and i'll admit that is what I was looking for at first) but it still is mighty fine at that and should be appreciated for what it is and that is musically GOOD!

I haven't heard it yet. What does this sound like?

[quote]so we decided to speed Felix's track to 560bpm turning the whole track into high hats[/quote]

This has been a top 'most played' on my iPod for the last couple of weeks and it just keeps growing on me. ESPECIALLY the 'felix the Housecat' track - Watching Cars Go By which is such a great mysterious tracks that leaves you hanging the first couple of times you hear it and then suddently sneaks up behind you - grabs you by the balls and throws them around the sound-universe with you hanging in the end... The whole timing and tuning of that mix is just eminent and world class!

phew..

One more day!!!! The US gets so screwed with release dates.

Hope they have the limited pack at Tower!!!

:D

ADD is a great production album and will always receive frequent play in my car and home decks. Involver grows on me very similarly with every new rotation. Nice work from the progressive sound pioneer. Tasty indeed!