Music for polar bears (Northern Exposure 1 - Sasha and John Digweed)

Name: LittleEwok

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Product:	Northern Exposure 1 - Sasha and John Digweed
Date:	31.01.05 (287 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Did you READ the review???

Disadvantages: I'm free is the only duff track

I used to like my music mostly in the form of rock, indie and old school punk. However, with the increase in my studenty partying ways, I’ve been listening to more dance music, (proper stuff like Orbital and the like not pantsy charty and Ibiza stuff) and this has become one of my favourite albums of all time.

The album is not like any dance music you’ve heard before. Its impossible to be bored with the rich, layered texture of sounds. Those of you who find dance music boring and repetitive will still rejoice in this, because its just impossible to not be moved by listening to it. It is at once melancholic and euphoric, and if ever music could show you the delights of the world, then this is it. Its impossible to listen to it and not feel your spirit uplifted.

You will find everything from tribal drumming to rainforest sounds on this lush sounding album. This is nothing like the cheesy nonsense you find on Ibiza mixes, nothing like the nonsense that calls itself dance infiltrating the charts. There is not one empty moment on this entire album, everything is infused with love, and with great meaning. From the watery rainforest opening of “Satellite Serenade” with its David Attenborough sample to the chilling and beautiful “Last train to Lhasa”, the closing track from Banco De Gaia, I dare anyone who says Djs don’t have skill and that dance music doesn’t have meaning, to listen to this album. Its both a chill out album and a dance album.

As mentioned in another review on this site, and a great one too, the album is an unbelievably great study aid. It got me through my highers and soon it will be getting me through Uni. I’m not quite sure what it is about this album that makes it great for passing exams, but I’ve had about six people tell me it got them through their masters degrees!

I know nothing about mixing or any of the other stuff that dance fans talk about, so I’ll really just be talking about the tracks themselves. For those who like to put their music into categories, I’m told this falls into the “ambient trance” type of music. Whatever that means.

It opens with “Satellite Serenade”, a multi-layered and blossoming track which opens a quote from David Attenborough, and some chimes that sound like falling water, and a babbling brook. It is followed by a gentle, soaring tune from a flute and an acoustic guitar. If you listen to this and close your eyes you are instantly transported to the remotest areas of a tropical rainforest. This is probably the most “visual” sounding track I have ever heard, even the most cluttered imagination seems to be instantly lifted by it. Once the actual dance beat of the song kicks in, it loses none of its magic. The beat in the song is multi-layered and tribal sounding, it is backed with a regular drum machine, but the layered sound prevent it sounding like anything you’ve heard before. Its easy to see how people get so euphoric listening to this kind of music (all drug references aside) when you hear a dance song with the beauty of this track. You also instantly figure out why they call it trance!

“Raincry” is another of my favourites on the album, opening with the sound of roaring waves and a low, eerie female voice, followed by a beautifully layered “outer spacey” sounding tracks, with slight whispers of human voices and a wonderfully tight drum track. This is followed by an otherworldly-sounding human cry, sounding almost like a wolf howling and the moon, and under laid with a gentle piano tune. This one transports you to a lush, abandoned hilltop somewhere with a glowing full moon above, and a rave in a valley just below. The first time I heard this, it moved me to tears. Its absolutely stunning, with an at one melancholic and hopeful sound to it. Utterly beautiful.

“I’m free” is, I feel, the one duff point in the album. It sounds a lot more like your average dance-floor track. Although the sound is in general quite nice, its let down by the vocals, which are rather cheesy and very nineties sounding. It does open with some very beautiful sounding gloomy strings, however quickly descends into aforementioned irritating voices. I think this is a personal thing, most fans of this album seem to like this track too, I just personal have a thing about cheesy vocals, and I feel the tune is a lot “clubbier” and less “ambient” than the rest of the album, it just feels a bit out of place, in my view.

“Water from a Vine Leaf” by William Orbit is one of my favourites on this album. Again, it’s a beautifully layered track, and a much faster progression than the others on the album. The sparse vocals and bouncy beat break down into a wonderfully deep and soft sounding track. The general sound of the track is a lot more muted and less layered than the other tracks on the album. At one point in the track, a beautiful, simple high-pitched piano track, does indeed evoke the imagery of the title.

“Last Train to Lhasa” by Banco De Gaia is the albums closing track, and it is one of the most stunning tracks I’ve ever heard. Its sound is incomparable to anything else, and words just cannot do it justice. It uses sound effects to create the sound of a train, with actual train hooting in the background, and a layered sound of multiple voices crying and singing and occasionally screaming, all in the most unbelievably melodic fashion. Again, its another track that has the capability to have the hardest hearted of people in tears, and to send a chill down your spine. If you only ever hear one track from this album, it should be this one. Its truly magical, and the finest moment on the album.

I have never heard an album so deeply evocative of other cultures and places in my entire life. Listening to this, you will be transported to the Amazon, then India, then Tibet, to all-night raves on mountaintops in the middle of nowhere in uncharted lands…and this is without any drugs I swear. This is the album that trance fans and people who know nothing about the genre, alike. It is the one mix that everyone with a CD player, dance fan or not, should have in their collection. Even my dad like this one, and without exception he hates this kind of music. I’ve yet to meet one person who listens and isn’t incredibly impressed by it, dance fan or not. Absolutely stunning. I command you go and buy it J.

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