Live In Sydney

Following his name-making collaborations with Sasha in the Northern Exposure series, John Digweed made his solo album debut with Global Underground: Sydney. The double-disc set moves along steadily through a range of mainly progressive house tracks, demanding a bit of patience from listeners expecting lots of hands-in-the-air action. Digweed opens the album wonderfully with Fortunato & Montresor's "Imagine" and Liquid Language's "Blu Savannah." From there he opens up a bit, pacing his way toward an excellent finale to the first set, Albion's "Air," by way of Danny Tenaglia's midset percussion workout "Elements." The second set is a likewise varied affair, albeit one that's a bit more intense than the first, highlighted by the back-to-back punch of Deepsky's "Stargazer" and Paul Van Dyk's "Words." Regardless of the careful pacing, welcome variety, and choice highlights, however, Global Underground: Sydney isn't one of Digweed's more memorable mixes, seeming relatively uneventful compared to some of the more colorful ones he followed with. [The differently packaged U.S. and U.K. versions share the same track listing.] ~ Jason Birchmeier|