The Vitals

Label: Global Underground
Genre: Progressive House/Trance, Tech House
Number of Tracks: 18
How you can obtain a copy: http://www.djsasha.com/, www.amazon.com

Factor Scores:

• Production Quality: 7.9
• Programming and Arrangement: 8.5
• Entertainment Quality: 7.5
• Total: 7.9 – Good

 Summary:

Sasha's new mix CD "Fundacion" has a very strange opening to it. Tension builds in the opening through a series of computerized vocals, followed by Badger's "Rise Of The Machine." The mix builds very slowly, with many important stops along the way, such as Swayzak's "Another Way" (Remixed by Richard Davies). I saw this song as a pivotal moment in the progression of Sasha's genre in general, not only in that of the mix. Much like many of the best songs found in this mix, "Another Way" combined the very best of tamed electro with the up and coming spacey acid progressive sound. Another such highlight was when Sasha played both the "Last Version" and "Club Mix" of Holden & Thompson's "Come To Me" back to back about halfway through the CD. He was even able to throw some funky sounds into the mix, such as Phonique's "99 And A Half" directly before "Come To Me". Another favorite of mine was Playgroup's "Behind The Wheel". It (along with others from this album, like Tiefschwarz' dub of "Electromagnetic") added a new electro touch to Sasha's style that you just don't get when listening to his old Global Underground mixes. The song “Blacklight Fantasy” by Freaky Chakra also impressed me. It "moves" unlike most other dance songs do, by a groove of triplets. The following song, “Strict Machine” by Goldfrapp is also very original, another one of my favorites. Parts of it even sound like a heavy rock song, due to the fact that it is a remix of one. Finally, M83’s “Don’t Save Us From The Flames” wasn’t the strongest ending Sasha could have gone with, but it was a decent one nonetheless.

The very first part of the CD led me to expect the mix to go nowhere and be nothing but dried up progressive with no more value than a used Styrofoam cup. However Sasha proved me wrong very quickly. One thing I noticed him doing that not many DJ's can fully achieve, is building not only up, but down as well (without losing everyone's attention or getting boring). Not to say that the album didn't have its dull points. For example, I found the intro to be overdone and fairly uninspired. Also, if you look at the track list you'll notice he played Closer Musik's "One, Two, Three" twice in the mix, which I found a little strange. The way he did it (playing different parts of the song each time), I never would've known if I hadn't been watching a track list. Another flat line moment happened in the tedious early minutes of James Holden's remix of "Safari". Fortunately it picked up into the strong work that we're normally used to from Holden. Of course Sasha did it all with his trademark long mixes. If anyone can make a mix sound like one long song, it is Sasha. I will conclude by saying that, like most mixes, this CD is definitely not for everybody. I know there will be plenty of people out there complaining how boring this CD was, but as long as you're into progressive, tech house, electro, etc. I guarantee there is something on this CD that you will like.

Factor Scores:

Production Quality: 7.9

There was nothing outstanding in this area, but also no complaints. As I mentioned before the signature long mixes were very evident on this CD. All the mixes were spot on (as to be expected from any professional mix CD), and the mastering job for the whole CD was tiptop.

Programming & Arrangement: 8.5

This is by far the most successful area of the mix. Not only were the tracks selected and ordered expertly, but also they gracefully built up and down. From blurring the line between every song, to surfacing top-notch tracks that would otherwise go unnoticed, Sasha has easily gotten my approval here.

Entertainment Quality: 7.5

Entertainment level on this album definitely could have been a lot better, but there were many capturing moments. The summary mentions some of the album's low points, such as the early moments of James Holden's remix of "Safari", as well as the mix's intro. Other than these brief moments of colorlessness, most of the CD had me hooked. I can't promise it will have the greatest replay value, but I will be sure to give it a listen from time to time.

Total: 7.9 – Good

If you're into progressive, electro, house, or techy music of any kind, pick this CD up. It will make a fine addition to any collection of mix CD's. It is definitely on a different type of scale than Sasha's older mixes. I don't think the album deserves to be in any kind of running for best mix CD of its genre of the year, though it is NOT something that should go without being heard.

Brian's Take:

Personally, Sasha's recent remix album "Involver" is going to last longer in my memory than this CD, however "Fundacion" does deserve and will get a fair amount of running time on my CD player over the years. I hope to hear more mixing, and more production from Sasha very soon. He has yet to extremely disappoint me with anything.