Hear The Sound Of Bedrock (No, Not The Flintstones) (John Digweed in general)

Member Name: jeff2000

Product:	John Digweed in general
Date:	25/10/01 (43 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: seamless mixing, great tracks

Disadvantages: none

I've known of John Digweed for quite a few years now but up until June of this year I had dismissed him as playing rather boring progressive house that I wasn't really too bothered about. That was until I had the pleasure of hearing his essential mix, broadcast live on radio 1 from Homeland's. My brother had recorded the mix and I though I might as well listen to it, how glad was I that I did? Very, I can tell you. His mix was 1 1/2 hours of seamlessly blended beats which took you on a journey, or something like that. I have been DJ'ing for 5 years and couldn't even notice the mixing, this man's amazing. His style was placed between progressive house and progressive trance, so it was all a bit progressive really, his set did not contain any obvious big tunes, the biggest being a remix of Moby's 'Go', but big tune's aren't his style, if you don't like prog then you probably won't like John Digweed, stick to Dave Pearce, sorry I didn't mean to be that nasty, anyway...

That's enough of me going on about him, you probably don't even know who he is, do you? Well, shame on you if that's the case, but here's some info to get you started:
John started DJ'ing at the tender age of 15, the same age as when I started, spooky, eh? Probably means that I'm going to be as good as him or something. Anyway, after blagging a set at Renaissance in the early 90's there was no stopping this soft spoken man, his sets with Sasha became legend and he built on this success with a number of 'Northern Exposure' albums, each mixed by John and the man like (Sasha, for those not in the know). He is now a world renowned DJ, having had a residency at the world famous Twilo club in New York, before it was sadly closed down earlier this year and his talents have been recognised by the people who matter, the public, who in 2000 voted him no.3 of the world's best DJ's, only being beaten by
Coxy and Sasha, and he was also nominated for best essential mix in 1999 at the Muzik awards, though he was narrowly beaten there as well.

As well as being a top notch DJ John also runs his own record label 'Bedrock' which specialises in John's own progressive sound and is currently up to it's 22nd release. The label releases work from the likes of Jimmy Van M, Steve Lawler and Revolt. John has also released some of his own work through this label, notably 'voices' and 'heaven scent', both produced with Nick Muir under the Bedrock name. He has also scored a film soundtrack hit with 'for what you dream of', one of his tunes, appearing on the 'Trainspotting' soundtrack.

Alongside the Bedrock label a Bedrock club night is also run, every Thursday at Heaven in London and also every Saturday in Brighton. John is the resident at both nights and they are apparently rather good, not that I'll ever get to go as they are far too far away, and anyway, what kind of night is Thursday for a club? If you want any more information on the club or records then checkout www.bedrock.org.uk. He also appears regularly at Renaissance in Nottingham and has a radio show on Kiss on a Friday night, as well as releasing many mix CD's, such as many of the 'Global Underground' range, so there's no excuse really, well, maybe there is as he doesn't seem to do as many gigs as some of the other 'big names', but then again maybe that will prevent over exposure, who knows?

Although I am yet to see the man himself that will soon be remedied as tomorrow I am off to Tribal Sessions in Manchester to catch on of his 4 hour sets, I can't wait. If what I have read about him is to be believed the work he puts into his sets is amazing, pushing the music that he loves to a crowd begging for more, those seamless mixes, that flowing set, releasing the passion that he has for the music they call prog. No,
I really can't wait.

Summary: