John Digweed - Transitions, Vol. 3

I have been a fan of John Digweed ever since I was introduced to electronic music through the Communicate album. He has been my main influence as I pursue my own musical endeavors. Every time he releases an album, I think to myself as I start it, "Is he really that great of a DJ?" Before this mix was released, his first Global Underground in Sydney had remained at the top of my list.

This one blew the rest out of the water for me. The mixing is absolutely fantastic, and the style of the tracks I think is where we see the first concrete example of Digweed's change from the traditional progressive house to a techno/tech-house based sound.

This mix features a flashback to some old-school 8-bit Nintendo sounds that work so well with tech-house music. Tracks 11-16 are a perfect example of this.

After my first few listens to the mix, I would have to say the one that completely sold me was the mix from track 10 to 11, Papparazzi to Come Into My World. I don't think I have ever heard a mix based on complimentary bass lines weaving that way, and when layered it was pretty much the audio definition of Synergy.

In comparison to Transitions volume 4, which I also love- I would say this one is more innovative in the track selection as well as the mixing, whereas part 4 was leaps and bounds ahead of the pack in mixing, but has a less innovative track selection.

While this cd very much so captures the minimal side of house and is mixed the perfection I feel It doesn’t really capture any emotive, vocal or uplifting tracks that I can relate to. In places it gets my attention but slowly goes back to chirps belches and whistles that are currently in fashion within electronic music. I dislike the way john try’s to capture the listeners attention right away as he has done so often on similar compilations but here with Sasha’s coma on the intro.

I know this is a single cd and time is limited but I feel a lot of time could have been sacrificed for the greater good. I also know this is nothing like john spins normally and is purely experimental but I also know if he could get away with it you would play it regularly and I feel that would be his demise (sorry john) Looking forward to transitions 4 and hoping it will be a vast improvement.