Renaissance: The Mix Collection
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| Renaissance: The Mix Collection | |||||
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| Compilation album by Sasha & John Digweed | |||||
| Released | 14 October 1994 | ||||
| Genre | Progressive House | ||||
| Length | 225:32 | ||||
| Label | Renaissance Records | ||||
| Producer | Sasha, John Digweed | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| Sasha & John Digweed chronology | |||||
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| Sasha chronology | |||||
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Renaissance: The Mix Collection is the first mix CD set by Sasha & John Digweed.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
[edit] Disc one
- Leftfield - "Song of Life" (Lemon Interupt mix) – 5:26
- Leftfield - "Song of Life" (Dub for Life mix) – 4:02
- Leftfield - "Song of Life" (Steppin' Razor mix) – 2:16
- Bedrock featuring Carol Leeming - "For What You Dream Of" (Full On Renaissance mix) – 6:19
- Rhythm Invention - "Chronoclasm" – 2:37
- Disco Evangelists - "De Niro" (Spaceflight remix) – 6:06
- Mephisto - "State of Mind" (Quiet mix) – 1:43
- Moonchild - "V.O.A.T" (original mix) – 5:28
- Sunscreem - "Perfect Motion" (Heller & Farley's Boy's Own mix) – 10:09
- River Ocean - "Love & Happiness" (X-Press 2's Junior Boy's Own Super dub) – 4:27
- That Kid Chris - "Keep On Pressin' On" (Didn't I Show You Luv mix) – 5:48
- Remake - "Bladerunner"/Inner City - "'Til We Meet Again" (Brothers in Rhythm Perkappella) – 4:24
- Bump - "House Stompin'" (Big Bump mix) – 7:02
- F Machine - "Child Bride" (Feedback Max mix) – 4:28
- M People - "Renaissance" (John Digweed's Full On mix) – 7:41
[edit] Disc two
- Fluke - "Slid" (PDF mix) – 4:43
- Funk Machine - "Let's Get This Party Started" (Party mix) – 5:20
- Fluke - "Slid" (Justin Robertson's Scat & Frenzy) – 5:01
- Corrado - "Trust" (Pink mix) – 5:02
- MBG - "Trance 1" (Oriental Psycho Estmix) – 2:01
- Hysterix - "Talk to Me" (Sasha's Full Master mix) – 7:04
- Annadin - "Angel" – 7:18
- Virtualmismo - "Mismoplastico" (Dirtysyncomix) – 3:30
- Virtualmismo - "Mismoplastico" (original remix) – 5:29
- Fishbone Beat - "Always" (Psychedelic Martini remix) – 3:39
- Grace - "Not Over Yet" (Perfecto mix) – 5:47
- Secret Life - "She Holds the Key" (H.A.L.F. I'm a Believer mix) – 4:16
- Funtopia featuring Jimi Polo - "Do You Wanna Know" (Gut Drum mix) – 5:07
- V.F.R. - "Tranceillusion" (Original mix) – 3:16
- Kym Mazelle - "Was That All It Was" (David Morales' Def mix) – 7:07)
[edit] Disc three
- M People - "How Can I Love You More" (QAT mix) – 7:20
- Moby - "Go" (Nightime mix) – 5:19
- Jaco - "Show Some Love" (original dub) – 6:38
- Spooky - "Little Bullet" (High Velocity mix) – 6:20
- Havana - "Sublime Theme" (dub) – 3:48
- Shawn Christopher - "Another Sleepless Night" (Bassman mix) – 4:17
- Unity 3 - "Age of Love" (Trance Dub & Fantasy mix) – 4:48
- EMF - "They're Here" (D-Ream Dream) – 6:10
- Solar Plexus - "Solar Plexus" – 3:31
- Havana - "Ethnic Prayer" (Euro mix) – 5:32
- 2 Bad Mice - "Bombscare" – 3:32
- Age of Love - "The Age of Love" (Jam & Spoon's Watch Out for Stella mix) – 6:14
- My Friend Sam featuring Viola Wills - "It's My Pleasure" (Rick van Breugel's club mix) – 5:24
- Lemon Interupt - "Dirty" – 4:03
[edit] Presentation
To this day, Renaissance: The Mix Collection is considered the first true fully mixed dance album. It should be remembered however that it was actually Ministry of Sound that released one of the first 'mixed' albums in 1993, with their album 'The Sessions'. Renaissance: The Mix Collection, however, received much more critique. Some wondered if the idea of a CD being mixed would take off, while others simply couldn't praise it enough. With an RRP of £20, and some shops charging, rarely has an album made such an impact on the music market. And music history, for that matter.
Presented in a card Digi-Pack, the case unfolds into 4 faces; each CD section has a separate flap that folds over it, while the case packaging itself folds like a bible, continuing the Renaissance theme. Pictured on the front flap is a typical renaissance painting by Michelangelo, while a landscape portrait of a colleseum under a bright blue sky stretches inside the packaging. The CDs are arranged by colour; blue, orange, and green. The story behind Renaissance, the club, between 1992 and 1994 is written of top of the CD flaps. Due to the case's heavy faces only being held by card, it's rare to find an original completely intact from damage to the seams.
[edit] The Music
Renaissance: The Mix Collection is a mix of Italian House and Trance, with a brief selection of UK house songs of the era between 1992 and 1994. The songs chosen were supposed to give the listener "an idea of what Renaissance was all about" (quoted from packaging). As suggested by the albums name, it was given the title "Renaissance" for two reasons. Firstly, it reflected a surge of Italian piano/funky house that was being mastered by the likes of Alexander Coe (Sasha) at the club "Renaissance" in Britain. But more importantly, "Renaissance" also stands for 'rebirth' or more freely, 'a time of change, and so with the dance music scene heavy on acid house up north, it gave the mature clubber a more brighter and beautiful outlook on what dance music 'should be'.
The album was mixed by Alexander Coe (aka Sasha) and John Digweed - both resident DJ's at Renaissance in 1994. Each CD reflects a different style of music - CD 1 (Blue) has a more 'Leftfield' sound to it, with what was then trance, though it would be foolish to call it a pure trance CD because at this time, much dance music represented a unique blend between house and trance, giving this era a unique feel and sound. Stand-out tracks that mark 'high points' include the hit "Perfect Motion", and a high euphoric remix of Blade Runner's ending theme tune, simply titled 'Blade Runner'. This CD starts with a very clever mix between 3 versions of of Leftfields 'Song For Life', which sets the tone for the first album.
The second CD (Orange) has a more funky theme to it. It can generally be said this is a house mix, though odd songs like 'Not Over Yet' by Grace can be seen as trance. This CD reflects best what Italian House was all about in a truly psychedelic, bouncy, and fun way. A rare 12" mix included is Kym Mazzelles 'Was That All It Was', which has been covered many times over, but the remix included on this album has a house feel to it. Out of the 3 CDs, the second CD is technically more varied in its mixing between songs than the other two.
The Third CD (Green) has a slightly darker, but at the same time more euphoric feel to it than the other 2 CDs, reflecting a typical club situation with a continuous build-up of tension until the end. In this case, the 2 DJ's progress to a goose-bump moment in which the albums highest point is met on 'Age of Love' - perhaps the finest example of what Renaissance, and this era was all about musically. With a more tech/synth sound to it, this CD sounds all the more powerful than the previous, leading up to its stunning ending.
[edit] 10th Anniversary Reissue
In 2004, Renaissance reissued a remastered edition of the album for the 10th anniversary of its original release.
Both M People tracks were removed from this release and replaced with other contemporaneous dance singles: "Renaissance" with "Stand Above Me" by OMD, and "How Can I Love You More" with "I Can't Forget You" (Fathers of Sound Pleasure mix) by Anthony White. The changes were due to Copyright issues from the record labels.
Fans of the original album may be disappointed to learn that the re-issued album is not a re-mastering, but a whole new session. Though the original blend sequences remain the same, as does all the original elements, Sasha and Digweed re-created the album using Apple G4 laptops in order to create, what they considered, a better quality version of the original mix, with recording techniques simply not available in 1994, as well as the advantage of crystal clear audio, and spatial separation of frequencies within the song, making it sound more dynamic.
